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Gmax is a powerful toolset, and offers direct support for almost a dozen titles currently on the market. But what do you do if the game you want to work with doesn't have an official game pack? Don't worry! With the addition of some external tools, the models you make in gmax can be converted and used in pretty much any game you like. You'll find these below, along with some additional tools to help model, record, import and export, and more.

● Game Packs ●

Trainz Asset Creation Studio: Installs gmax game pack for Trainz. Allows users to export files created using the gmax 3D modelling software into Trainz format. 1.25 MB zip file, for Win98 or better.

Battlefield 2 : It's new, exciting and has a great community behind it. Grab it here, go to the forums and check for updates, get some questions answered and get your mod on!

● Importers ●

NEW! How would you feel about some new and improved Gmax file importing scripts? Grab all of them one by one by clicking on the links, or grab the whole zip file by clicking here.

3ds importer v1.1 - gmax
dxf importer v1.1 - gmax
Half-Life SMD exporter v1.0 3d - max 4.2+
Half-Life SMD importer v1.0 - gmax/3d max 4.2+
md2 importer v1.1 - gmax
OBJ importer v1.1 - gmax
OBJ importer v1.1a - gmax
Quake-3 MD3 exporter - 3d max 6
Quake-3 MD3 exporter beta v1.0 - gmax
Return To Castle Wolfenstein mdc importer v1.1 - gmax
Return To Castle Wolfenstein MDS importer v1.0 - gmax/3d max 4.2
 

Common format importers: Go here to grab your ASC, NDO, 3DS, OBJ, MD2 and DFX importers. You can also grab some Tempest tutorials here as well.

Loads of Importers! Find your MDC, DFX, NENDO, DFX, 3DS, OBJ, PLY, MD2, XFROG, MDS and more more more!

Dungeon Siege  These will allow for import of SNO, ASP and PRS FILES.

Trespasser  It's a zip file with the import and export scripts included for the old Dreamwork Interactive dino-action game. Read some more about the game and the exporter script below...

● Exporters ●

NEW! Don't miss the new exporters listed above ... cool stuff for Quake 3 and Half-Life .

GmaxSLGab:  This script is a simple binary that will grab the full text buffer from the maxscript listener and save it to a file of your choosing. Use it along with YaFray to render and export ( yes , I said render!) your gmax scenes. Download the gmax render kit containing both programs, the maxscript and the tutorials by pressing here.

Trespasser: A few years back there was quite a buzz about Dreamwork Interactives upcoming game Trespasser. Featuring a dinosaur themed action concept with bleeding edge graphics, it sure sounded great! Sadly, the game bombed at release when it wouldn't play smoothly on even the absolute high end PC's of the day, let alone average PC's. Well, technology marches on and the game will play well on modern PC's, so if you can dig up a copy of it, these scripts will let you do your modeling within gmax. Be sure to read the 'readme' for all the details and check out the authors' site. This script utilizes Maxscript listener cut and pasting...

Battlefield 1942 mod tools: This is the official game pack for use with the outstanding Battlefield 1942. You must have the game loaded on your PC to use this gamepack, so get out there and buy it before you start to install the tools. Be sure to check for updates as well before you bust out with your new mod.
 

Genesis3D exporter: This is a package of scripts and instructions that will allow for the export of objects from Gmax in to the Genesis3D engine via the Maxscript listener. Genesis is an open source engine that has been around for years and has a wide user base and offers many of the advanced features of the commercial engines.

.md3 exporter : Unzip this and put it in the stdplugs folder ( C:\gmax\stdplugs) inside gmax to enable .md3 export from gmax. This little script is the key to using gmax to model for games that don't directly support gmax, so it's a must have!

Never Winter Nights This site will show you how to use gmax to get your models in to the game. The NWN community is interesting to watch, as they freely promote a "workaround" to the gmax export limitations on the site... an Official site, no less. Well, it has been available forever and Discreet seems to have no problem with it, so if you want it, grab the NWN gmax import/export script by pressing here. It has some examples to get you going on how to use it, so read the readme.

* New Tool Update * NWN has a very nice new tool called NWmax. Here's the scoop from the official website...

NWmax is a suite of import, export and modeling scripts and utilities for Discreet’s free gmax 3D modeling software. Unlike the previous scripts available to the community, NWmax is a no compromise full implementation of all features available to NWN 3d models. Skinmesh, Aura Lights, Emitters, animations, danglymesh… it’s all there and it exports and saves without any copy+pasting required. NWmax offers the user a suite of custom utilities to use while importing, creating and exporting NWN weapons, creatures, placeables, tiles and VFX creations.

Sounds like a must have for NWN modding! Be sure to check the author's site for updates.

Blitz Basic : Blitz basic is a programming toolset for people who aren't afraid to some coding. You can do some good things with it if you want to spend the time to understand the code. This link takes you to the gmax site for Blitz basic. In a manner similar to the NWN crowd, the exporter uses the Maxscript Listener window to output raw data.

Voxel Export : A nice little script that uses that Listener window to output your voxel data. Just cut and paste it in to a text file and you're ready to go. Not too many games use this format, but I believe some of the newer C+C games among them... grab the exporter by pressing here.  UPDATE: I've heard from the Author of this script, Mr. Geert Van der Poorten.

He writes " The voxel exporter is not for a star wars game, but was written for the Comand &Conquer RTS games “Red Alert 2” and “Yur”i (expansion pack). However, only the converting core was done, so it misses coloring and automated normalizing. (60%done). I’ve since then shifted my attention to other things so there is very little chance I’ll do any more work on it." This is good news for fans of these games, and many thanks for the corrections!

● File Format Conversion Tools ●

Milkshape . Milkshape is a must for converting those MD3's to formats you'll need for non-supported games. No longer free,  but worth every penny of the $25 it costs to buy.

Deep Exploration :  This link will take you to their demo download page. Deep Exploration is similar to Milkshape in that for gmax users, it is essentially a big 'ol file converter. It supports many formats, and will come in very handy if you want to use gmax to model for games that don't have a dedicated game pack. Also available is the older version of this program, called 3D Explorer. It's handles fewer formats, but this demo version does handle md3's and has no time limit, so it will more than do what we need it to. Download it here.

Npherno: This tool allows you to easily correct the shortcomings in the Tempest md3 exporter by realigning mesh normals for you.

Quick3D Pro : Here's a new file format program that fits the bill for those gmax conversions. It handles dozens of formats for import and export, including many Milkshape and 3D Exploration don't. It will also realign normals, so it's a viable option for those sick of the Gmax-Npherno-Milkshape routine. Recommended for trial and purchase; it's really something. Download it here.

*NEW*  wcvt2pov27: This is a nice converter that runs well and is a quick, easy download. It will convert .geo, .3ds, .nff, .raw, .tpo, .ttf, and .obj files back and forth. Very handy stuff for moving your converted gmax models in to game engines and design tools. (Win9X/NT/2000/2003/ XP.) You'll need Winzip to open this file.downloaditems\PC_DOWNLOADS\winzip80.exe

● Additional Tools ●

Unreal Engine 2 runtimes: This is a free, legal release from the folks from Epic. It includes the Unreal Engine runtimes, UnrealEd2 and a sample map to explore. It has good documentation too. As always , check the developers site for updates.... Download it here for Win98, Win2K, Winxp. It's a .rar file, so go grab Winrar before you download... Linux fans need to petition Epic for a native release via a link on developer's site.

Camstudio : If you'd like to screen capture your work and share it, make tutorials, or show off your animations, this nag-free freeware utility is a winner. It's easy to use, flexible and outputs a nice .avi file. ( press here for an example) You can also configure it to record sound. Runs on all Windows OS's, and is a small download.

XnView : This is an image file viewer and converter that supports dozens and dozens of formats. If you're a texture artist looking for an outstanding tool to add to your arsenal, this is it. Download it here. ( less than 2MB, all Window OS)

Yafray and GmaxSLgrab: This is the one-two punch of code that will allow you to export and render your gmax scenes. This download combines both files along with tutorials and links to the authors website.