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

Scrolling Textures

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

Steps for creating scrolling textures and exporting to Source.

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scroll, scrolling, texture, vmt, proxies

Porting Levels into Source

General Overview of Converting Scenes that Were Not Designed with Source in Mind
Posted on May 14, 2016 | Last Updated Dec 30, 2020

Overview on porting scenes and levels from other sources.

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port, convert, scenes, games, levels

Bitmaps to Materials

Posted on Apr 5, 2016 | Last Updated Dec 19, 2016

Information on creating substance-driven material libraries and generating tri-planar projection textures without need for UV mapping.

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substance, bitmap2material, triplanar, blended mapping, blended projection, uvw, material library

Back to the Future with BSP

Posted on Feb 20, 2016 | Last Updated Apr 7, 2016

Newsletter #2 in 2016 with recent updates in Wall Worm, talk about the level design contest and random thoughts.

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2016, contest, random

Displacements Fail to Export

Posted on Feb 15, 2016 | Last Updated Feb 15, 2016

Some tips on troubleshooting displacements failing to export from Max into Source.

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displacements, troubleshooting, missing, fail

Displacement edge abutting other edges

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

Help understanding the VBSP compile warning about displacement edge abutting other edges.

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displacement, edge, abutting, other, edges, compile

Wall Worm Sends Greetings in 2016

Posted on Jan 10, 2016 | Last Updated Jan 10, 2016

First Wall Worm blog of 2016 with new videos, new level design contest and review of 3ds Max 2016.

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blog, contest, 2016

Displacement Alpha Blending

Posted on Dec 29, 2015 | Last Updated Jul 26, 2017

Information on displacement alpha blending and the shaders you can use to visualize the blending.

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worldvertextransition, alpha blending, blend material, directx shader, 3ds max, wallworm, anvil

Wall Worm Turns Five Years Old

Posted on Nov 17, 2015 | Last Updated Jan 16, 2023

Wall Worm launched on November 18, 2010. This post discusses the journey from then through November 2015.

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anniversary, development, history

Exporting Animated Particle Textures

Posted on Oct 20, 2015 | Last Updated Oct 21, 2015

Instructions on exporting animated textures straight from 3ds Max into the Particle Editor.

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animated vtf, particles, makesheet, mksheet, .mks, .sht

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