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> you forgot to mention how much 3ds max costs. lol. go milkshape.
As someone mentioned, student versions are available. Obviously not cheap still, but worth the price if you're willing to learn it - it's not a program that you *need* to update every time a new version comes out which is nice, takes a long time for a version which makes an old one obsolete to come out, if ever. But yes, it can be pricey you're right.
Depends on what you're into really, as I mentioned I do graphics design so my work is 100% based in Photoshop, which is good for me as I had a copy already from my older brother. However, there is always things such as mapping which require no software being bought at all due to the editor coming with the game. I mean, my example is for Ut2k4, but (don't quote me :)) I assume Half Life 2 has an editor of a similar variety, obviously not the same as no editor is, but modding can be applied in many games.
If I've actually caught anyones attention (instead of boring them), check out www.makesomethingunreal.com and have a look at some of the mods if you've got Unreal Tournament 2004. Ones I'd pay attention to are:
Alien Swarm
Air Buccaneers
Red Orchestra (evil) :)
Deathball (I'm sure people know this one)
And, trying not to blow my own trumpet, Frag-ops
The thing I find great about the whole thing is despite it being an FPS engine, many more things can be done to it. For example Alien Swarm is a top down shooter in the vein of Alien Breed from the Amiga, Air Buccaneers is an aerial combat game (best I can describe it lol), and Deathball is a "sports" game.
Anyway, I suppose Dark Basic and other programs are a good idea, but from what I've experienced with them they're so restricting. Obviously a mod team isn't something you get asked to join every day, but practise makes perfect, and asking helps :)
One of the things I haven't mentioned yet is the fact that a contest sch as the MSU is a great link to getting a shift towards the gaming industry. For example a mapper from a mod called Domain was asked to map for Epic due to the work of his they had seen, another good example is (although not about the MSU) Shag. He was the lead coder of a Mod called Tactical Ops, which happened to be bought up by Atari and went Retail, Shag was coding for the Assault part of UT2004, and all of this due to starting a mod :)
> sock puppets rule.
I like the way you think.
Want to make a game with me?
I've got one planned that's based on Halo and Halo 2.
Emotions there.
The time it take to go to certain websites and download it. Or just get a student version but thats still £75 for the year.
or if your lucky like me your uni is full of computers with it.
I suggest max just cause it's such a great program and easy to use. Plus alot of game editors support the importing of max files and often have support to help do it. Useful ashould someone go in to modding.
All the unreal engines are great for first time mappers as the editor is very simple and maps can be wipped out in no time at all.
The spreading out of jobs is a good idea becuase it means that jobs are done properly rather than one person having to much to juggle.
3d max is a very easy program to get to grips with, just follow a few tutorials and you'll be well on your way.
I'm doing graphics design for a mod of Unreal Tournament 2004 at the mo', called Frag Ops ( [URL]http://frag-ops.com[/URL] ) and its given me a good insight into whats what etc. Much fun, and rewarding due to the make something unreal contest :] ( [URL]http://www.makesomethingunreal.com[/URL] )
People needed to mod UT2k4 (total conversion):
Coder (Uscript is the language used in Unreal engine games, anyone with a good knowledge of C++ shouldn't find the switch too demanding, although obviously it takes a while to learn)
Modeller (3dsmax being a good program for you to know)
Character/weapon Skinner (Photoshop + 3dsmax)
Mapper (Obviously knowing Unreal Editor is a big bonus here :] )
Animator (again, knowledge of a 3d program is important)
Texture artists (Photoshop)
Thats pretty much it, bear in mind thats the kind of minimum jobs you would need to make a total conversion on the UT2k4 engine. The main problem is not having access to the full source is always going to limit what can and can't be done.
However, as I said, modding is a good scene to be part of and definately a valuable means of gaining experience in making games, even if you do only end up making a small mutator which adds a new gametype for example. Far more valuable than using one of these packages like Dark Basic anyway.