Need help selecting 3D software

#1 It depend on how much money you can spend. If 200 or less I would go with gamespace, some people dont like it but i find very easy to use. Yes you can export a player with it, and do maps. If you want to spend 3500 I would go with 3ds max. I am recommend these because this what I use and know. I used gamespace from day one. 3ds max about ten years. I use milkshape for simple things like billboard. I am in the process of learning Hexagon 2.1 but there is no Torque export for it. What I think you should do is download the demo for each software and play around with it and see what best fit you. Some people can use this software with easy and other cant.

#2 XSI-5 wood be the way to go if Dark industries ever finishes the exporter any time soon at 500 bucks with powerfull modeling/mapping tools its a smoking deal.

#3 Download the trial/Learning editions of everything and find which one gels with your work style. Do the free tutorials available for each package and see which works for you. Then make a choice.

I cannot stress that it depends on the artist more than the software enough. For some Max is easier to learn and works with their minds more; with others it is Lightwave. For others, it's Maya. Some love TrueSpace. Many love XSI as a learning and modeling platform. I love the workflow of Modo and Lightwave and ZBrush. Silo rocks as well.

But it all depends on how you work. Download and discover how you work.

#4 Thanks for the info guys. My first game will be a 3d turn based game much like total war and combat command so I am moving toward the the gamespace application (part of the truespace series). My models will need some detail but not at the level of a true RPG. I have tried the demo and like what I have seen. I would like to later move toward XSI or Truespace 6 or 7 as my skills improve and my game designs change. Does anyone know of any red flags I should be aware of with regard to gamespace as an entry application?

#5 @ David Blake - hear hear. Well said.

I personally use Modo and LW but I've used a number of apps over that last 15 odd years and I've settled on these because it fits the way I work.

I would only add this Duane and take it for what it's worth: All of the choices (Max, LW, Maya, XSI) are good but all will take time to get to know. Your learning curve will be at least 3 months before you start feeling like you know the application (you may learn it faster, don't get me wrong). There are no short cuts.

That said, I would simply pick one (one that has the dts exporter for the moment ;) and one that has the features you want for the foreseeable future) and stick with it. Most people I speak to always tend to prefer the app they learned on and only switch when they find an app with better features.

So. There's the deep end. We're here if you need help :) - dive in!

#6 Duane,

The last I heard, trueSpace 7 won't have an export path to Torque anytime soon. Currently trueSpace 6 and gameSpace 1.5+ are the only Caligari->Torque options available at this time.

The XSI exporter isn't finished yet but has been in private beta for a few months. It will probably be out before long.

I personally love using gameSpace for static object creation. It took a while, but I've finally got a good workflow for it. However, getting animated characters from gameSpace to Torque is an exercise in frustration. I wouldn't wish that on my worst enemy.

If the gameSpace demo feels comfortable to you, I say go for it. You might consider getting Milkshape and Fragmotion to do your animated characters though.

#7 After doing some more research, I have learned that the TrueSpace and GameSpace apps do not export very well to Torque. I have read countless reviews by users of those apps complaining about the problems they have. Looks like Aaron was spot on. I am going to try the demo for XSI. It looks very promising but is still waiting for the Torque export beta to be completed. By the time I get the hang of the software, my guess is that it will be ready and for a reasonable price as compared to the other high end platforms.

BTW...is it me or does Torque have some fairly strict requirements in terms of importable file extensions? I do not see the other engines having any difficulty matching up with most model builders. I could be off base but it seems that way anyway.

#8 Well what engines are you talking about? I have used A6 (3D Gamestudio) before and frankly, I have never seen a game engine with as many free and "built-in" exporters as torque! And besides, with the full sourcecode and a "little" C++ exporters can be written by your self! And see it in comparison, for a total of $250 with TSE you get a great engine and shader support on top of that, ok it does not have a physics engine but there are many freeware/open source physics engines out there and if you want to take it to another level, get a Havok license! :)

The XSI Exporter has taken its time and probably wont be finished for a couple of months but it is allways possible to create a workflough ignoring this, Milkshape has tons of Im/Exporters and tghere is also an XSI and Torque .dts Im/Exporter with which .dts models can easilly be implented in the engine, sometimes the UV Coordinates have to be realigned but thats niot much to do and most of the time thats not the case anyway.

I strongly recommend getting XSI, I mean even the Foundation version has unique and awesome features that are quite useful for game developers. XSI has I think the best normal map generation of all applications and since torque now suports shaders, thats the key to high-end games with torque!

Here are some Ebay deals on XSI, some of them are like $300 for the Advanced version, but thats kinda dangerous to get:

http://search.ebay.com/search/search.dll?from=R40&satitle=Softimage+XSI