hi all. i''ve spend most of my time programming but have now approached the design stage. wondering what 3d software for game dev you guy recommend. these apps i find have a long learning curve + i dont want to waiste my time finding out afterwards that the one i chose is sh!t. the type of graphics i wish to build is similar to baldur''s gate. i''ve had a play w/ 3d studio but have found it difficult to find the techniques i wish to use. esp with all the plugins everyone is promoting. is 3d studio worth persuing, or is there an easier solution? thanks dudes.

I personally like anim8or for how easy it is, but I dunno how good it is for using in games.. www.anim8or.com is the website..

Max is pretty much a great program for games. Most plugins aren''t needed but they do save a lot of time.

I have used Blender (www.blender.org), but it does have a high learning curve. Great program, but it does take getting used to. It uses Python for scripting.

Wings is also a good program (www.wings3d.com). But it only a modeler. Scripting is availbe in Erlang.

I too am currently evaluating 3D software to see which one I''ll use for my game development needs.

I''m looking at inexpensive modelers, and narrowed the list down to Blender (freeware/open source) and MilkShape 3D ($29US, pretty cheap). I also like ZModeler (freeware).

I agree with yspotua, that Blender is a great program, very powerful thanks to Python scripting. Huge community, and is constantly being improved. The only major problem with Blender is that it does not export to DirectX. There is a plug-in put it''s not an easy task IMHO.

MilkShape 3D is also another great program. I kind of prefer Blender because IMHO it appears to be the more powerful of the two. Having said that, I''m leaning toward MilkShape because it has an excellent DirectX importer/exporter that''s a joke to use, which is great for game developers (at least for DirectX game developers).