gmax for Torque

#1 You might try searching for this topic. Basically, gMax costs way too much.

#2 The license cost to create such a thing is way too much.

Phil.

#3 the notion is, though GMAX is a free program, to make an exporter would cost 7,000/game you make soooooooooooooo actulally MAX is cheaper. . . I Personally think it is a load of crap that a company would do that.
Anthony
PS is only the new student Maya program could take plugins

#4 Anthony I agree that for small independant groups, gMax is a bit expensive. But for larger groups the value would be well worth it as your designers and your artists would have solid professional tools to get their jobs done.

Regardless though software always needs to justify its cost to become a viable option.

Logan

#5 Well, this conversation of licensing gmax is part of what I was getting at. What exactly does "$7000 per game" mean? After all, normally developers are then able to distribute special game packs for gmax allowing people to mod their game.

Perhaps GarageGames would be able to swing a special deal with Discreet in which the license for gmax is paid once and Torque export plugins are created for gmax. Then, under a special clause added to the GarageGames license agreement, all of the GarageGames developers would be able to use the free download gmax to create content for Torque. And of course developers would NOT be allowed to distribute the Torque tools as a game pack for gmax unless they too pay Discreet.

I know that sort of a deal has no precedent and is really not likely to happen, but then again "$100/programmer for Torque" had no precedent either.

#6 Hypotheticaly if GG did do this they would only be able to distribute the gMax module to export into Torque. For most groups this would be enough, but there is always going to be groups that want to add or tweak something.

There is also the issue of how GG isn't releasing a game but a "tool" which people can liscense and use to make a game.

I would personally love to see gMax be used to be the free one-stop-does-all editing tool for characters, levels, and other assets, but right now its just not in the cards unfortunately.

Logan

#7 Like James said, a topic search will answer your question. It's way too expensive and Discreet isn't in the business of 'making deals'. ;) Kind of a dead subject.

#8 Oh well, it was just an idea. Can one of this site's administrators delete this thread?

#9 This was already covered. Do a search on gmax. GG asked Discreet if they can wing them a deal and Discreet's deal was $80,000.

#10 How 'bout 80 of us pitch in a g-note....

Scott

#11 If I was going to be tossing 1000$ around it would be as startup capital for a project.

GMax as it stands now is a limited function rip-off. If Di$creet released it to the public at 100$ or 200$ a copy they'd be the heroes of the indie scene.

Let's face it, 80,000$ could probably equip most of the 3d artists here with 3ds MAX licenses and 7,000$ is more than most of the developers here have in their entire budget.

#12 Sometimes you need to spend resources so that you can focus your efforts to achieving your goals. If a tool can justify its purchase then does it really matter what its cost is if it saves you time and allows you to be more productive?

Logan

#13 Sometimes you don't have the resources.

#14 Newtek had a special version of Lightwave called GameTek, I think it was priced around $500.00 and geared toward realtime game dev. this might be a lower cost professional alternative. GG should contact Newtek directly and ask about a special license maybe.

#15 Caligari is offering Truespace 4.3 for only $199 and the free trial version is available for download online. Plug-in SDK and file format specifications are also available online for free.

With the Black Night Productions Puppeteer Tsx Plugin for $79, you end up with Max/Character Studio functionality for only USD $280 + tax.

Scripting is done in tsxPython.

Obviously, we would need a DTS model importer/exporter plug-in, but that should not be too difficult.

#16 Does anyone have any sort of DTS file specs? I seem to recall there being a PDF floating around briefly with some info in it.

#17 Hi guys,

there is a way to get gmax objects in .dts...

just take the free script "gmax2obj" find at "http://www.katsbits.com/tutorials/gmax/exporting-meshes-as-obj-models.php" and then just run the script in gmax and then convert the .obj in .dts ("http://www.conceptjewel.com/torque/obj2dts/") ... and its done ;)

greetz Robert

#18 hi again,

i write a little script now which gets also the materials from gmax in .obj ... i ask you now - should i write it in java or php?

thanks

Robert!