I am just wondering why all these engines use 3ds max as their import plugin, is it because its easy to work with or what? Personally I find lightwave a lot easier to work with in terms of modelling. so why do they all use 3ds max? Dæmin (Dominik Grabiec) sdgrab@eisa.net.au

Amen brother! LightWave all the way! =) Anyways, for some reason 3DS MAX has managed to make its way to being the most often used software in game development. Don''t ask me why, I much prefer LightWave too. The problem is that until the most recent version--6--LightWave didn''t have everything that was necessary for making game graphics (UV mapping capability for a big one). Hopefull now that Newtek''s gotten their act together we''ll start seeing more support for their product.

it''s kinda like the universial popularity Autocad has (i don''t even know any other big cad programs)
3ds max is widely supported all over the net and has become a standard, thats the only reason i see for it''s use unless it''s easier to program a loader for 3ds max than lightwave???
or the programmers already have a cracked version of 3ds max and can''t find a ''free'' version of lightwave.

anyway those are my opinions

-mike