3DS Max and TGE?
by Justin Mayhew · in Torque Game Engine · 09/18/2008 (8:38 pm) · 10 replies
Hey Everyone,
My name is Justin Mayhew I am a new member to the forums. I am about to buy Torque Game Builder to build my first game, and begin learning the scripting to put it all together.
I am a Game Artist studying to learn all the many mysteries of 3D art creation etc, Many hours have been spent learning 3DS Max and I love it.
If and when I make my move to Torque Game Engine I just wanted to know--> DOES TGE RECOGNIZE 3DS MAX FILES, MODELS, ANIMATIONS ETC?
Just wanted to know for compatibility issues in the future...
Thanks
My name is Justin Mayhew I am a new member to the forums. I am about to buy Torque Game Builder to build my first game, and begin learning the scripting to put it all together.
I am a Game Artist studying to learn all the many mysteries of 3D art creation etc, Many hours have been spent learning 3DS Max and I love it.
If and when I make my move to Torque Game Engine I just wanted to know--> DOES TGE RECOGNIZE 3DS MAX FILES, MODELS, ANIMATIONS ETC?
Just wanted to know for compatibility issues in the future...
Thanks
#2
09/19/2008 (7:15 am)
But remember... The DTS exporters are out of date and garagegames doesn't make their own exporters any more... So have fun trying to do anything with the latest version of Max... If I had ever found anything, it didn't work. OH, and you cant create .dif files which is a real put back... Actually, it REALLY stabs the art pipeline in the back. 
#3
And the best advice... don't give up! -it may seem hard at first but anyone can do it ;-)
09/19/2008 (7:30 am)
Justin, take a look at documentation/artists (in the GG menu) there you'll find a good introduction to the pipes...And the best advice... don't give up! -it may seem hard at first but anyone can do it ;-)
#4
.DTS objects/characters can have animations embedded within, or exported separately as .DSQ files. I'm not sure what the benefits are to either approach. I've only created a few simple "ambient" animations, like flags and radar turrets, so I can't help with that.
DIF's are buildings (called Interiors in TGE) and should be built with Constructor or QuArK since that's what they were made for. I personally use QuArK, but have started using Constructor recently.
You can use Max to create .DTS buildings, but from what I understand, it burns a lot of processor resources.
Every new program has a learning curve, and if I can learn to do it, so can you.
Good luck!
Tony
09/19/2008 (8:04 am)
Yeah, I should have added I use Max 8.0 with the exporter..DTS objects/characters can have animations embedded within, or exported separately as .DSQ files. I'm not sure what the benefits are to either approach. I've only created a few simple "ambient" animations, like flags and radar turrets, so I can't help with that.
DIF's are buildings (called Interiors in TGE) and should be built with Constructor or QuArK since that's what they were made for. I personally use QuArK, but have started using Constructor recently.
You can use Max to create .DTS buildings, but from what I understand, it burns a lot of processor resources.
Every new program has a learning curve, and if I can learn to do it, so can you.
Good luck!
Tony
#5
tdn.garagegames.com/wiki/DTS/FeatureChart
There's exporters available for anything from max 4 up to the very latest, 2009.
09/19/2008 (8:17 am)
Quote:So have fun trying to do anything with the latest version of Max...
tdn.garagegames.com/wiki/DTS/FeatureChart
There's exporters available for anything from max 4 up to the very latest, 2009.
#6
09/19/2008 (9:24 am)
There's no engine out there that supports 3dsmax files. Check the exporters Magnus gave link for.
#8
09/19/2008 (10:38 am)
The versions for max9-2008 have been around for years, and the 2009 one since pretty much when it was released. (I should know considering I'm the one that compiled them =) 
#9
There is no direct export from Max to .dif format, but there is a pipeline.
09/19/2008 (11:09 am)
The major exporters are up to date and do work: Maya, Max, and Blender. Make sure you check the Artist Page and TDN.There is no direct export from Max to .dif format, but there is a pipeline.
#10
09/23/2008 (1:26 pm)
Excellent information, it was exactly what I needed. Thank you everyone for your input. 
Torque Owner Infinitum3D
The exporter itself is not hard to use, but setting up your Max object with collision meshes, dummy objects, and bounding box is a little tricky at first. After a few tries it gets to be easier. There are many tutorials and help files, as well as the forums to hwlp you figure it out.
Let me know if you need help and I'll do what I can.
Tony