Wall Worm

Wall Worm is a script and tool developer focused on 3ds Max and various Max-related pipelines. Historically, Wall Worm was devoted soley to optimizing the Source Engine asset pipeline. The Wall Worm toolset itself is a Source-only toolset. However, many new tools are generic in nature (for any game engine, VFX, VIZ, etc), such as the CorVex plugin and most other new tools.

See the official Autodesk blog feature about Wall Worm developer Shawn Olson, Wall Worm and Black Mesa: From Black Sheep to Black Mesa and Beyond.

Wall Worm tools allow you to create assets for Source in a way that was not possible before. You can build models, textures and levels inside one environment (3ds Max) and compile them straight into Source. Wall Worm tools have been used in the pipelines of many games including Dear Esther, Black Mesa and by designers of CS:GO Operation maps and many more.

CorVex level design plugin Carver Tools Normal Tools

Wall Worm works in collaboration with other 3ds Max/Source developers to help enhance all the tools available to designers and mod teams.

Featured Articles

Anatomy of a Design Team

Teamwork in 3ds Max
Posted on Jan 17, 2018 | Last Updated Sep 22, 2023
Anatomy of a Design Team

This documents the most efficient setup of 3ds Max, Wall Worm and team organization for a Source Engine Project.

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teamwork, setup, wallworm, 3ds max, anatomy of a design team, source, team

VMT Browser

Posted on Oct 31, 2018 | Last Updated Aug 18, 2021
vmt browser

The VMT Browser in Wall Worm allows you to browse, preview and assign materials from your game.

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vmt, vmt browser, vmt import

Latest Articles

Using 4Way Blends

Posted on Dec 29, 2016 | Last Updated Mar 13, 2017
Using 4way blend

Overview of creating and working with Lightmapped_4WayBlend shaders in Wall Worm.

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Lightmapped_4WayBlend, 4way blend, vertex paint

MDL Loader isn't working

Posted on Dec 23, 2016 | Last Updated Dec 23, 2016

Instructions on manually setting the correct plugin paths if WW did not set them during installation.

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plugin paths, mdl loader troubleshooting

Convert Scene to Model

Posted on Dec 19, 2016 | Last Updated Dec 27, 2020

Instructions on converting a scene into a model or clustering multiple model props into single models.

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propper, cluster, clustering, merging, optimizing

Porting Levels

Posted on Dec 19, 2016 | Last Updated Dec 30, 2020

Articles related to porting levels into Source using 3ds Max and Wall Worm.

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port

A Source for New Tools

2016 Year in Review for Wall Worm
Posted on Oct 31, 2016 | Last Updated Oct 31, 2016

Halloween 2016 news for Wall Worm and the release of a new MDL Importer for 3ds Max.

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halloween, 2016, mdl importer, black mesa

MDL File Loader

Posted on Sep 23, 2016 | Last Updated Nov 20, 2023
Wall Worm and Black Mesa MDL plugin

Geometry Plugin to load Valve's MDL files directly into 3ds Max.

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mdl, model, import, vpk

Entities are Missing in Exported Scene

Solutions on missing entities in exported game level
Posted on Aug 29, 2016 | Last Updated Jun 18, 2018

Information on why some entities might not export into the game and how to fix that.

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entities, missing, fix, help, vmf, export, level

Setting Up Wall Worm for Goldsource

Posted on Aug 28, 2016 | Last Updated Oct 18, 2019

Overview of setting up Wall Worm for Goldsrc.

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goldsource, goldsrc, hl1, cs1.6, installation, setup

Wall Worm, the Angry Teapot and the Art of Xen

Posted on Jun 5, 2016 | Last Updated Jun 5, 2016
Angry TeapotSurface Tension Uncut

Latest news on Wall Worm development, the Angry Teapot Awards and some insight on the future development of Xen in Black Mesa.

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blog, angry teapot, xen

Animated Textures

Posted on May 19, 2016 | Last Updated May 19, 2016

Instructions on creating an animated texture in 3ds Max and exporting to Source.

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animated texture, vtf

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