This page details the steps to set up Wall Worm for Garry's Mod in 3ds Max 2018+ using Wall Worm 3.71+.

General Notes on Gmod

Gmod doesn't use the gameinfo.txt file for game paths like most Source Engine games. Instead, it uses a mount.cfg file. Wall Worm does not use the mount.cfg file. So to properly use all the assets available in your game, you will need to edit the gameinfo.txt file to include all of your paths used in mount.cfg. The gameinfo.txt file resides in your root game folder (unless you create a local gameinfo file as discussed in the collaboration section below).

• In gameinfo.txt, remove the garrysmod/ prefix from most paths that start with it (relative paths). Do not do this for any absolute path.
• When mounting other games, make sure to use absolute paths (c:\path\tp\folder or c:\path\to\file.vpk )

Generate a GameConfig.txt File

1. Look for a GameConfig.txt file in your game's bin folder. This will be something like this: C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\GarrysMod\bin\GameConfig.txt
2. If there is no GameConfig.txt file there, run the hammer.exe found in that same folder. This will create the file.
3. Open 3ds Max.
4. Click Wall Worm > Wall Worm Settings to open the global settings.
5. Click the Import GameConfig File button in the settings floater and browse for the GameConfig.txt file listed above.
6. Select the Garry's Mod from the preset list and click Load Selected Preset.
7. Click the Project Folder button in the paths tab to set the project folder for 3ds Max and your project.
8. Click the Save button by the preset list.

Collaborating with Others

If you intend on collaborating with other artists or game developers, it is best to create a local path for all your game assets you are working on in a team. For the most part, this entails using the setup described in Anatomy of a Design Team. The main difference is that when setting up for Gmod, you do not edit the original game's gameinfo.txt file but edit mount.cfg instead.

1. Making sure you set a project folder (steps above) click Wall Worm > Wall Worm Settings.
2. Make sure the current settings are a preset for Gmod.
3. Click the Create Local Gameinfo button below the preset list.
4. When prompted to use the newly created SDK paths, click yes.
5. Wall Worm will now create a garrysmod and a content_sdk folder inside your project folder.
6. Wall Worm will now open the garrysmod/cfg/mount.cfg and copy the path to this local garrysmod for you to paste into that file.
7. Paste this path as a new line inside the curly brackets of the "mountcfg" block.
8. Save the mount.cfg file.
9. In the global settings, right click the Game Info button to open the new (local) game path in Windows Explorer.
10. Open the gameinfo.txt file and remove the "garrysmod/" from any SearchPath that is relative and starts with "garrysmod/". (Do not remove this from any line that has an absolute path--ie. files that start with a Drive letter like C:/.)
11. Save the gameinfo.txt.
12. Optionally mount extra game content (see below).
13. Restart 3ds Max. 

The steps above will do these things:

• Force Wall Worm to save all assets to paths inside the local project folders (VMT, VTF, MDL, BSP, etc) will compile to your Max Project/garrysmod subfolders (maps, materials, models, etc).
• Force Wall Worm to save intermediary files (QC, SMD, DMX, VMF) into the local content_sdk folders.
• Force Wall Worm to save TGA files to the sceneassets/images subfolders.
• Tell Garry's mod to include all the assets included in the local garrysmod folder.

Mounting more content into Wall Worm

If you need to add extra game content into Wall Worm (loading models, materials and textures into Max) you may need to edit the local gameinfo.txt file. You can do this by adding absolute paths to VPK files for your games.

For example, to add content from Team Fortress 2, you can add these lines into the SearchPaths block of your local gameinfo.txt file:

   game    "C:/Program Files (x86)/Steam/steamapps/common/Team Fortress 2/tf/tf2_lv.vpk"
   game    "C:/Program Files (x86)/Steam/steamapps/common/Team Fortress 2/tf/tf2_textures.vpk"

To edit this file:

1. Click Wall Worm > Wall Worm Settings.
2. In the Paths tab in the global settings, right click the Game Info button to open the new (local) game path in Windows Explorer.
3. Add a line as in the example above for each set of VPK assets you want Wall Worm to have access to.
4. Save your file and restart 3ds Max.

Note that restarting 3ds Max or loading another game preset and then reloading the Garry's Mod preset are necessary for Wall Worm to know about the newly mounted assets.