Preparing Your Model

Posted Feb 12, 2012
Last Updated Jan 5, 2014

The Wall Worm Model Tools is not actually a modeling program... it is a tool to send your model from 3ds Max to the Source Game Engine. As such, you should not expect to use it to make your model. The one exception is that you can use WWMT to create lower-detail LOD models--but only when working on peripheral models. If the model you are working on is a primary focus in a scene and gets a lot of close scrutiny--you may want to hand-craft your LODs.

Below is a brief synapsis of things you should do before you've opend the Wall Worm Model Tools:

  1. Finish all modeling of your model. All the geometry should be finished.
  2. Apply UVW Mapping to your model. Important models should have custom-made Unwrap UVW applied. Models that do not need special attention can get their mapping with the Automatic Unwrap from Render to Texture.
    • The mapping channel must be set to 1 for use in game if using the Wunderboy or Cannonfodder SMD Exporters. With the WW SMD Exporter, you can use any mapping channel.
    • With the WW SMD Exporter, you can auto-detect the map channel by setting the mapping channel to 0 in the WW settings.
  3. Your model needs to have a material applied to it. More specifically, it needs to have a Standard, Multi/Sub-Object or Shell* material.
    • *The shell material is currently only supported by the Wall Worm SMD exporter.
    • For all materials, you are required to have TGA Bitmap in the Diffuse map slot if using the Wunderboy or Canonfodder SMD exporters! For Multi/Sub-Object, each slot should be a Standard Material that, in turn, has a TGA Bitmap in the diffuse slot. (So when making textures with Render To Texture, make shure the bitmaps are saved as TGAs.)
    • The bitmaps must use the same Mapping Channel as is used by the UVW. Furthermore, for use in game, the channel must be set to 1 in some circumstances (see notes on point 2 above).
    • The texture exporter will also make VTFs (Valve Texture Files) for bitmaps that are in many maps: the Bump, Specular, Ambient, Displacement and Self-Illumination slots, for example.
  4. Finish all animations. You can add animations after you have animated your model... but if you use the LOD Generator to make LODs, the auto-generated LODs will not update with the changes to animations and will have to be manually updated to match the main model.
  5. Choose the model output path. You should make sure that your target model destination (folder) already exists before you run WWMT.
  6. Choose the material output path. You should make sure that your target material destination (folder) already exists before you run WWMT.

Newsletter Subscription