[Nuke]

i downloaded gmax, and although no one wants to pay all the licensing fees to make an fs2 game pack, i noticed that it allows you no save in a format called plasma, which suposidly is a microsoft directx format  thnie. could it be possible to upgrade pof tools to use this format? that way gmax could become an unofficial mod tool.

[Nico]

That would rule. period.

[Deepblue]

Anything wrong with 3ds max venom?

[Nuke]

well 3ds would be fine, but gmax doesnt save in it. 3dsmax costs a few thosand bucks, but gmax is free. now if someone knew the specs on the *.gmax format we could have a *.gmax to pof converter, but i think that format is bound by the gmax license and cant be leagally used. plasma on the other hand is a microsoft format, which is probibly part of the d3d sdk.  eighter way, i just want to ba able to use gmax to create stuff that can be converted directly to pof, withought going through additional conversion tools which cause scaling problems, model coruption and other side effect..

[HotSnoJ]

Originally posted by Nuke
well 3ds would be fine, but gmax doesnt save in it. 3dsmax costs a few thosand bucks, but gmax is free. now if someone knew the specs on the *.gmax format we could have a *.gmax to pof converter, but i think that format is bound by the gmax license and cant be leagally used. plasma on the other hand is a microsoft format, which is probibly part of the d3d sdk.  eighter way, i just want to ba able to use gmax to create stuff that can be converted directly to pof, withought going through additional conversion tools which cause scaling problems, model coruption and other side effect..

That sounds cool. But I still think the SCP guys should when they are done (?) with the FS SC, start work on Blender to make it an official moding tool. It is open source now so they could add stuff like a POF exporter or COB. As well as making a better texturing GUI. But thats allot of work.


*goes and starts reading "C++ for dummies" again*

[Liberator]

Ab-so-lutely!
Blender is the easiest modeler I've ever encountered.
It's intuitive, so it's newbie friendly.  If it was as easy to model in GMax or TrueSpace as easily as it is in Blender, there would be a lot more modelers out there!

[Nico]

absolutly not. Gmax is way better, why using a low-end prog?
and it's darn easy modeling in (G)max, so no excuses.

[HotSnoJ]

Originally posted by Venom
absolutly not. Gmax is way better, why using a low-end prog?
and it's darn easy modeling in (G)max, so no excuses.

Well I think blender is the way to go. I think it just needs more file exporter options (i.e. cob) and maybe better uv mapper/texture functions.

Also Blender was the only 3D program that was able to run on my mom's computer decently, tS was slow and lightwave took forever to start. Blender is less then 2MB while gmax is way more, so it's frienly for 56Kers.

So why is Blender so bad? If you say it's the GUI, have you looked at lightwave or tS lately?

[Nico]

I have looked at TS and LW, yeah, and I don't like them. And I like max and won't support blender. you see, it's a matter of taste, you like blender and you support it, and I'm for max. max is easy to use, as great UV mapping tools, you can animate with it ( who knows, that might be useful some day with the SCP ), Gmax is free, etc etc. Gmax is better, that's it.
as for 56k, well, use a d/l manager, that's all. you see problems, I see solutions

[Tiara]

Meh, I don't model a lot but I found Gmax far less confusing the either Blender or LW (though LW had its charms). I'm a n00b when it comes to moddeling but Gmax has my vote.

[HotSnoJ]

Originally posted by Venom
I have looked at TS and LW, yeah, and I don't like them. And I like max and won't support blender. you see, it's a matter of taste, you like blender and you support it, and I'm for max. max is easy to use, as great UV mapping tools, you can animate with it ( who knows, that might be useful some day with the SCP ), Gmax is free, etc etc. Gmax is better, that's it.
as for 56k, well, use a d/l manager, that's all. you see problems, I see solutions

GREAT UV MAPPING TOOL?! Is there such a thing?

My new job is going to have broadband internet so I'll download and try it. What plugins/add-ons would you suggest I also get?

[Martinus]

Originally posted by Venom
absolutly not. Gmax is way better, why using a low-end prog?
and it's darn easy modeling in (G)max, so no excuses.

[color=66ff00]You're going to have to give me lessons dude, Gmax is a pain in the arse compared to Rhino, IMHO of course.

BTW you can already save all models in quake format (using the toolset they wrote) which can be converted into COB using a number of programs. I've already used it to export a mesh after I UV mapped it.
(Just in case this format is useable).

BTW GMax is compatible with the rather excellent chilliskinner script which allows you to make good planar UVmaps.
[/color]

[Anaz]

gmax is most definitly a wonderful modeler. I've tried all 3 (blender, ts, and gmax) and I only use TS because I don't want to go through conversion hell. I didn't like blender because it didn't have the degree of control that I like (it probably does, I just didn't find it before I found TS) And yes, gmax does have an excelent UV mapping tool.

[Nico]

Originally posted by HotSnoJ
GREAT UV MAPPING TOOL?! Is there such a thing?

yes. there's a few, in fact. the normal UVW mapper, and the unwrapper. in the latest versions of max ( especially in max5, and I assume in Gmax ), they're about perfect. how do you think I can map a cruiser like the one posted in the inferno forum in less than 3 hours? ( well, 1.5 and 1.5 hours of work, on two days )

[redsniper]

*points*

[DragonClaw]

Funny, IMO, Lightwave has the best layout I've yet worked with, which includes, gmax, 3dsmax, blender, truespace(3 and 4.2), and rhino

See, 3ds max is for those that learn graphically, if you like pressing little lightbulbs and other buttons, its for you. I personally don't like all that clutter, just give me text telling me what the tool does.

To each his own, as they say.

[Bobboau]

T|2u3 Zp4C3 0\/\/nZ jo0

[IceFire]

Originally posted by DragonClaw
Funny, IMO, Lightwave has the best layout I've yet worked with, which includes, gmax, 3dsmax, blender, truespace(3 and 4.2), and rhino

See, 3ds max is for those that learn graphically, if you like pressing little lightbulbs and other buttons, its for you. I personally don't like all that clutter, just give me text telling me what the tool does.

To each his own, as they say.

Maya is a bit of both (at least version 4.5 is).  I didn't use it much but I did do a short 10 second animation and model in it back in December.

[Nico]

Originally posted by DragonClaw
See, 3ds max is for those that learn graphically, if you like pressing little lightbulbs and other buttons, its for you. I personally don't like all that clutter, just give me text telling me what the tool does.

that would work if you actually tried max
it's friggin text in max, I don't understand all that talk about icons and crap, all those are on the top bar, that you use about once a day. in max, you use the modifiers, etc. and when I want to create a target spot, the button is a bar with "target spot" written on it, not some crappy drawing, like you think to know. don't talk about what you obviously didn't try. I at least did try LW, I spent a night on it with Killmenow explaining it to me. Do the same

[DragonClaw]

Originally posted by Venom


that would work if you actually tried max
it's friggin text in max, I don't understand all that talk about icons and crap, all those are on the top bar, that you use about once a day. in max, you use the modifiers, etc. and when I want to create a target spot, the button is a bar with "target spot" written on it, not some crappy drawing, like you think to know. don't talk about what you obviously didn't try. I at least did try LW, I spent a night on it with Killmenow explaining it to me. Do the same

Well, when I _did_ try it, I was always pressing icons and that crap... when I wanted to add a light, I had to press a blasted lightbulb. Maybe this is only for 3ds Max 3, because thats what I was using. Not to mention it was freezing on me left and right... Only time I've had Lightwave crash on me is when my hard drive space was empty, or when I tried putting a sh*tload of polys in a single scene, or tried to put a 50,000x50,000(no exaggeration) texture on a sphere. Max constantly crashed on me, but I heard that the newer ones improve on that and that Max 3 is the most unstable of all of them.