What 3D modeling software is best use for independent game developer?

[Lauren Revolt]

There are plenty of 3D modeling tools out there. Most of them are sharewares and the rest are freewares. Some of the sharewares out there are overpriced because of the popularity. And some have a pretty fair price. But which of them you think performs almost the best that cost a reasonable price?

Some people suggested 3D Studio Max and Maya. Also, they warn me that those two cost a fortune. I tried to see for myself and what the heck!! Although Maya is currently on promo-sale that time but still, it cost 4,995 USD. What the hell is that, a treasure!?
http://i304.photobucket.com/albums/nn16 ... _promo.gif[/img]
(the promo is still ongoing.)

Later on, I asked my mates and they recommend me the Lightwave 3D. They also give me a registered copy to try it myself but I never had it installed yet.


I want to ask for your suggestions on this.
What do you think is the best for use by an independent game developer?
Please recommend at least one.  :lol:
â–º Something that can model, animate, render, and something that doesn't need a dongle (if possible) â—„


I don't want to use that Lightwave my mates gave me.
I want to use something I paid for....  :wink:
(such a pitiful pride of mine.)

 

[candle]

Blender, it's free, it's professional, its to Maya and 3DSM what the Gimp is to Photoshop...


Even down to the less-user-friendly bit...

 

[Grathea]

Yeah, I'd recommend Blender as well. However, the program can be a bit overwhelming at first, so I'd recommend finding a few good tutorials and working from those to get used to the program for a couple days.

 

[arcthemonkey]

Umm, there is a free version of Maya...

I use Cinema 4D, and I got the studio bundle for $150 or some such from my school... but you won't find it that cheap.

 

[candle]

But that "free" version puts a watermark on everything. Not very good unless you are only trying to "learn" the program.  (Why else would they call it the "Free Learning Edition"?)

 

[Lauren Revolt]

Blender... Was it nearly integrated as Maya?
Or it can be a total alternative to is?

I'll give it a try.

Thanks! :lol:



I will also contact Autodeskâ„¢ if they accept credit card and/or paypal.
If they do, I'm going to buy that overpriced Maya by June next year.
And I'm going to spread it here together with the license.

So that Autodesk would be run out of business!
Nyahahahahaha!!!!!!!!!!!!!  :grin: :grin: :grin:

 

[rexxzecutioner]

I suggest downloading one of the free/demo editions of any of your prospective programs to learn it first, before you purchase it.

 

[CERU]

It'd be interesting to see if you could make a tileset with a 3D program.

Would blender be good for that?

 

[candle]

What?  Tilesets are pictures, 3D models are like statues.  Why would you use a chisel to make a painting?

 

[rexxzecutioner]

What?  Tilesets are pictures, 3D models are like statues.  Why would you use a chisel to make a painting?

You'd use a chisel to make a sculpture of a surface or object, and then take a picture(or painting, to follow your analogy) of it. Pretty simple concept to grasp.

 

[candle]

That kind of defeats the purpose of the sculpture, though.  Sure, you can see the David in a picture and appreciate it, but you will never get the full impact unless you see it in person.

 

[rexxzecutioner]

No, it does not. Many games are made in this fashion. Diablo/2 is one that immediately springs to mind. Starcraft as well.

Super Mario RPG is another.

 

[blazingamer]

I'm warning you before you get Maya, Maya is solely for modeling, if you want to make a game with it, you're out of luck, if you want to make a 3d game with modeling, you should use either 3ds Max or Blender.  Maya is more for movies.  However, if you're just looking to make 3d models then animate it and put it in RMXP, you should get Pixar's Renderman plugin and Maya.

 

[candle]

No, it does not. Many games are made in this fashion. Diablo/2 is one that immediately springs to mind. Starcraft as well.

Super Mario RPG is another.

That's not 3D.  That is pixel art in an isometric view.  In some cases, it is more than just pixels, but never 3D.  True 3D graphics for real-time strategy games weren't used until Age of Mythology and Warcraft III.  Next you'll be saying the original Mario Kart was in 3D, as well.

 

[rexxzecutioner]

You completely misunderstood my original point, which I guess my "analogy", which was really meant to compliment your own.

"You'd use a chisel to make a sculpture of a surface or object, and then take a picture(or painting, to follow your analogy) of it. Pretty simple concept to grasp."

If you're an intelligent person, you could infer from this that I was talking about exactly that, a simple rendering of a 3d object. Which was really why I was arguing the usage of 3d to create TILESETS.

 

[candle]

And, again, I say it doesn't make sense.  The whole point of 3D is to represent three dimensions at once, (length, width, depth).  A picture (length, and width) will never be able to fully do that.

 

[Spoo]

If you're just starting out on modeling, Anim8or is good to play around with until you get the feel of it. 

 

[rexxzecutioner]

And, again, I say it doesn't make sense.  The whole point of 3D is to represent three dimensions at once, (length, width, depth).  A picture (length, and width) will never be able to fully do that.

There are numerous reasons to have rendered 3d objects as 2d images. One is the ease of utility. It is far more cost effective and takes less time to create an object that can be animated (and then creating 2d animated gifs from said animation) than it is to animate each frame, especially when dealing with complex objects.

Another reason is for realism. It is far easier to create a 3d object with realistic proportions, textures and dimension and depth than it is to paint it, and as I said earlier more cost effective.

There is a reason for it, and many games have used this technique. To choose not to understand it is absurd, and to simply fail at understanding it is even more absurd.

 

[Lauren Revolt]

I'm warning you before you get Maya, Maya is solely for modeling, if you want to make a game with it, you're out of luck, if you want to make a 3d game with modeling, you should use either 3ds Max or Blender.  Maya is more for movies.  However, if you're just looking to make 3d models then animate it and put it in RMXP, you should get Pixar's Renderman plugin and Maya.

So Maya can never be a solution for a game?
Oh my.. Good thing I haven't yet attempted to buy it.
Both 3DS Max and Maya are products of Autodesk, why don't they just mixed it up in one package?
Anyway, how much 3DS Max cost?

If you're just starting out on modeling, Anim8or is good to play around with until you get the feel of it.

I'll give it a try.


+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Hey you two there, please halt the arguing.  :lol:

True that a 3D rendered tileset can be made.
But with animation, a real 3D animates far smoother than 2d.
It's very obvious... (if you're a good observer)
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

EDIT:

By the way,
Darkfire, thanks again!  :smile:
I'm not aware of GIMP.
It works really great!! :lol:

 

[rexxzecutioner]

The whole point of the argument was over the concept of utility. He said there was "no reason" to use that method, when clearly there is.

Anyway, Maya can definitely be used for games.