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" Computer games don't affect kids; I mean if Pac-Man affected us as kids, we'd all be running around in darkened rooms, munching magic pills and listening to repetitive electronic music."

-- Kristian Wilson, Nintendo, Inc. 1989.

● What's new? ●

NEW! Loads of updated file format converters for Gmax, all bundled together or grab 'em one by one. Lots of bug fixes and just better performance as you move your models into Gmax from other toolsets. Check out the Essential Tools page for more...

Whoa! A new mod tool? A new gamepack! Wow!

Here's the scoop, straight from the source...

Gmax Tools Released

I’d like to announce that we are releasing the first version of the Gmax plug-ins to be used in conjunction with the Battlefield 2 Editor. These tools provide the same basic functionality as those provided for 3D Max. That being said, please be aware that because of the limitations of Gmax itself, there may be some differences.

For instance: the game requires textures to be in the “.dds” format, but Gmax does not support this. The workaround is to use a supported format, such as “.TGA” while working in Gmax and then swap out the textures at the end.

In order to alleviate any difficulties you may have, we have set up a Gmax section on our modding website. We invite anyone to post questions there once the tools are released. We will be monitoring things there so that we can deal with any potential issues as quickly as possible. You can find the forums at http://bfeditor.gotfrag.com/forums/.

Gmax Tools Download (1.8MB)

Good luck, and happy modding,

-Lawrence Brown
-Battlefield Mod Support Coordinator

How cool is this? Always a treat to have some new mod tools. Do you want it now? click here, download and get goin'! I do suggest dropping by the forums to check for updates, get modding help, and so on.
 

Is GMAX Dead?

Some would think so, based on this release from Autodesk..."As of October 6, 2005, Autodesk will no longer offer Gmax® software as a stand-alone product. If you are interested in other 3D animation, modeling, and rendering applications from Autodesk please check out Autodesk® 3ds Max® software. You can download a free 30-day trial, view product demonstrations, read customer success stories, and get more information about this powerful, versatile product."

Here's my take: Gmax functionality was released to Developers as a buy-in product to help them capitalize on the mod communities surrounding their games by releasing Gamepacks for their releases. For autodesk ( makers of 3D Studio Max ) it was a way to get more developers to use 3DS, make some extra money licensing the GMAXdev software to them, help build a gmax/3DS user community and otherwise help reduce the piracy of the multi-thousand dollar 3DS product by offering a free ( and somewhat crippled ) substitute for the masses to use. Developers who bought in released toolsets via the Gmax gamepacks to foster, support and build the communities around their game releases. This means more exposure, longer shelf life and ultimately more profit for them. Some releases did a great job with this, the Trains series REALLY exploded and they have a huge, strong fanbase that cranks out mods right and left. Other companies did not do so well, and Autodesk themselves dropped the ball by never completing the original proof of concept gamepack called Tempest ( for use with the Quake engine ).

So what you ended up with is Autodesk cancelling the project in it's current form. what this means to me is that they were unable to sell gmaxdev to enough developers to make it a profitable, sustainable entity, and therefore are going to make the right business move and cancel it. Does this mean GMAX is dead? No, not really, as evidenced by the recent release of BF2 mod tools for use with GMAX. The twelve to fifteen thousand hits a month I get on my Essential Gmax tools page  and the umpteen gigs of gmax related downloads I support every month tells me GMAX is very much alive, thank you very much.

So what now? I see a few options: Autodesk could release the Gmax code as open source to the community. this would result in GMAX taking off in a huge, huge way, but it would also eventually create a problem for autodesk for it would take about two minutes for someone to figure out 3DS formatting, add a plugin to gmax for it, and thereby reduce the biggest reason to consider actually buying 3D Studio Max at all for most casual users. Open sourcing it would cost them money. Another option would be to repackage it and/or bundle it with another app and offer it as a retail product to Developers and consumers. The question at hand would be if Autodesk improved the biggest flaw in Gmax ( importing and exporting of file formats) would people pay money for it? And, as a paid product, Autodesk would actually have to support it, something they NEVER did with Gmax, but DID do with the Developer version of the software called GmaxDev. It will be interesting to see what happens as for all it's flaws, Gmax serves an important purpose in that it trains hundreds of budding modders in the Autodesk-way of doing things. 3D modeling and animation is deep, complicated and the toolsets require an investment in time to learn and master. Gmax is the gateway for thousands of potential 3D Studio Max buyers, and Autodesk would be foolish to abandon them to their competitors.

Gmax rendering is now a reality! Grab the tools from the Essential Tools page and live the dream. I can't believe it has really happened, but it has... Gmax rendering! Go NOW and download the goods! You've waited years for this!

 I found a nice design toolset out there called Jet3D. Here's the link to the homepage, and here's the author describing the product...

"Jet3D is a state-of-the-art 3D graphics engine built for high performance real-time rendering. Jet3D offers advanced lighting features, 3D modeling support, seamless soft-skin polyonal characters and many other innovations." Check out the screenshot, and click on it to check out a tutorial that uses the Genesis 3d scripts ( available here, or as a link from the tutorial site).

● What is Gmax? ●

Gmax is a free modeling and animation toolset from Discreet, the company that brings us 3D Studio Max. Made specifically for games, gmax offers most of the same tools as 3DS Max and utilizes "game packs" for supported games to offer a direct way to get your models in to the game. With the addition of a few third party tools, gmax can be used to model for almost every popular game on the market. Now in it's second revision, gmax has been downloaded almost 400,000 times since it's release less than two years ago.

You can read about and download gmax, by pressing here.