Frankly I don't even recall if it's always done this, but I'm in 3ds Max 2013 and it's annoying the shit out of me. It's so basic, but I'm realizing just how much time I'm wasting because of this. Workflow sample - If you press 1, you're in Vertex Mode. If you press 1 again, you exit sub-object mode and go into Object…
Activate "Keyboard Shortcut Override Toggle" (located to the left of the Snaps Toggle on the main toolbar) should disable entering/exiting sub-object mode via repeated number keys presses.
I solved this issue via script years ago: https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/4210886/g_subObjectLevel.mcr Just go into category > GregsScripts, and assign them the the keys you want to use for each sub-object level.
Ugh, wtf. Ok, yeah that does it. I had turned it off by default awhile back to work with the Edit Poly modifier. What relevance this button has to Sub-Object toggling is beyond me. Now I know. Thanks!
Hey guys I'm using 3ds Max 2016 now, and the exact same issue is still happening. Whether I am using my hotkeys for regular editable poly sub-objects or the UV unwrap, pressing the hotkey again turns the function off. The old Keyboard Shortcut Override Toggle button worked before - now it doesn't. Anyone got a workaround?
If you use RappaTools, it has functionality built in to automatically find the next Edit Poly or Editable Poly in the stack after you select an object and go into component mode when you press 1/2/3/4/5. There's also a setting that effectively also gets rid of the double-tap to exit subobject mode too. Worth buying just…