Well, we definitely need to keep the current POF format around for compatibility, I think that goes without saying. But there's no reason why we couldn't simultaneously support more than one model format.
As I am not a very successful modder
I don't have much exposure to the tools the "real" modders use, or would like to use. Forgive my ignorance, but what are people using besides TS? Do people use 3DS Max or Maya :drool: ?
Are there any existing 3D formats out there that we could base this on? We would probably still need to do some sort of post-processing to add all the BOUNDBOX stuff for collision detection. But in an ideal world, your 3d tool could just spit out the files necessary, and then plug it in and go...
So (this is a rhetorical question), what's wrong with the current POF and OBJ2 formats? What are its shortcomings, and how can we improve on it?
As far as I can tell, the hierarchy thing is probably necessary for subobjects.
(My pet peeve is the PCX files, only about 50% of the graphics viewers I have can handle them... something more standard, like PNG, would be better IMHO)