GMAX or Blender? I plan to begin models for Trainz.

I

illinoiscentral

SARM Volunteer
I have decided to start my own stuff for Trainz! I want to know if Gmax is better than Blender or vice versa, Gmax does not run on my computer but I'm willing to wait until I can purchase one that does. Anyway, my first creations will be...
GP20...Kyle Railroad.
GP10...Illinois Central
GP11...Illinois Central
SD38...EJ&E, CNW, UP
SD75I...Canadian National
SD45...Wisconsin Central
SD40-2...Illinois Central, GTW, Canadian National/Illinois Central
SD70ACe...Canadian National, Illinois Central [fictional]
ALCO;
FPA-4 Canadian National
RSD-4 Seaboard, Milwaukee Road
General Electric;
ES44AC...Union Pacific, BNSF, Illinois Central [fictional]
Hope to start on these models soon!
Cheers.
 
If Blender works on your machine go with Blender. Both have roughly the same technical capabilities except that Blender can do normal maps without additional programs.

In general Blender is faster to create in than GMAX.

Cheerio John
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by johnwhelan
In general Blender is faster to create in than GMAX.


mawilson said:
Once you get past the counterintuitive user interface.
Click to expand...

Depends what your background is. It was created for professional 3d CAD development which means productivity was important. I agree it was not developed under Windows following the Microsoft guide lines but the user interface is very consistent. It depends heavily on the web for tutorials, help etc. which I agree GMAX does not but at least you don't need to refer to three different tutorials at once to find out how to do something. UV mapping is a joy compared to GMAX.

Cheerio John
 
Yes, Blender does export to Trainz.
I would vote for Blender if you have no experience with either program. GMAX hasn't been supported by it's developers for 3.5 years now, while Blender is still being actively developed; and supports more features.
 
Thanks everybody, I think I'm sold on Blender.
So what do ya'll think of my locomotive plans? Any requests? Note: I do not plan to do any steam engines until my skills are higher.
I will do diesel Engines for now. I will consider your requests, and please have some patience and bear with me, this may take a year or more, I only want the highest quality.
 
Most people who start with a loco as there first content for Trainz never get it done, start with a car as you have a lot to learn.
 
I have yet to install Blender but I am taking requests.
I also plan to begin rolling stock. I am also pondering putting up my own website...my stuff will NOT be featured on the DLS. I am putting the cart before the horse somewhat but I will make high quality models, with Custom Cabs.
 
illinoiscentral said:
I have yet to install Blender but I am taking requests.
I also plan to begin rolling stock. I am also pondering putting up my own website...my stuff will NOT be featured on the DLS. I am putting the cart before the horse somewhat but I will make high quality models, with Custom Cabs.
Click to expand...

Have you thought about just making content for MSTS? No central repository or DLS, a very stable environment and a bunch of users who apparently like having to go from web site to web site to find models.

Realistically the DLS does mean that people can still download your items even if your web site is no longer there. Have you seen the posts for missing kuids on the DLS?

Anyway I think the best thing you can do now is to attempt to make the most complex loco you can thing of, perhaps even steam? complete with cab, using normal mapping and 19 levels of lod, fully scripted of course. That hopefully will keep you occupied for a day or two and the rest of us can run a sweepstake on how long it will take you to create such a masterpiece and look forward to running it in TRS2009.

We will of course be evaluating it and using the same encouraging words as you have on the forum.

Cheerio John
 
John; there's no need to be facetious, I fear the lad has fallen in with a certain crowd. I'm sure such associations will serve him well in the future...
 
Euphod said:
John; there's no need to be facetious, I fear the lad has fallen in with a certain crowd. I'm sure such associations will serve him well in the future...
Click to expand...

To me he seems to be a very simple soul with limited capabilities to understand complexities and given to instant answers.

I maybe wrong, one way to prove once and for all if I'm totally misreading him would be for him to build a complex scripted steamer in Trainz in two weeks. Then perhaps I can accept his statement that Paintshed is C**P. Paintshed is actually quite flexible, if you up the texture file size and edit the texture in a graphic program you can get some quite reasonable results out of it.

I remember the days when the DLS wasn't quite as useful as it is today, when I walked three miles to school uphill all the way etc. Someone wrote a program with its own database that included all known kuids and their web site address so you could find dependencies. People would write on the forum that after only two months they had finally tracked down all the dependencies for a route.

MSTS is still in that state today no central repository. Mind you it doesn't use dependencies in quite the same way.

Cheerio John
 
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