Vince

I think this is a great thread! I hope eventually we can have a searchable, catagorized list of 3D related software here at TESA with comments from users. I'll listed a few additional programs that may be of interest to others. There are some additional options for modeling software, including Gmax, Softimage Mod Tool, and Modo. Gmax is a trimmed down version of 3ds Max that includes the essential components for creating game content. It's free. Although is has no useful saveable formats, it can use the Niftools 3ds Max Nif exporter. See: gmax at TurboSquid The Softimage Mod Tool is a free version of AutoDesk's Softimage 3D software for non-commercial use to create mods for games. See: SoftImage Mod Tool Modo is a relatively new 3D software package created by ex-LightWave employees. It has grown over the past three years or so into an extremely powerful 3D suite that now rivals 3ds Max or Maya. It's not free, but is about a third of the cost of the AutoDesk programs at $1195 with a very user friendly licensing policy. See: Modo 601 Besides the familiar PhotoShop, GIMP, and Paint.Net 2D graphics programs, I've found the free vector graphics program Inkscape every useful. It's ideal for creating background images for use with your 3D modeling software and its .svg graphics can be directly imported into Blender as Bezier curves. For normal, AO, and other textures, besides xNormal (great), you should check out Shader Map Pro, Filter Forge, and nDO2. Inkscape is great now, continually improving, has good documentation, and an active support community. You can see a coffee cup I created in Inkscape that looks 3D: Doughnut Anyone?. You can find out about Inkscape at: Inkscape I tried CrazyBump and didn't think it was worth the price, so tried (then bought) Shader Map Pro. It's only $20 and provides a flexible way to generate normal, AO, and specular maps with a built-in graphics previewer. It can also combine normal maps. See: Shader Map Filter Forge is an extremely powerful procedural texture generator. It is truly amazing what you can create with it. Although it lists for $399, it's often on sale at a significantly lower price ($199 today). You can use it as a plugin for PhotoShop or standalone. You can see some textures I created with it at: Rusty Metal and Rough Wood. See: Filter Forge 3.0 There used to be a unique and powerful free normal map editor/creator called nDo. AFAIK that's no longer available. However, there is now a commercial version, nDo2, that is even more powerful. It is not a replacement for xNormal, but a companion program. The non-commercial use version is $69 and does things that no other software does. See: nDO2 That's my core dump for the day. I hope others will join in and add further to what Nekronom has started.

I've been thinking about my next mod. At least for me, creating one memorable mod is more important than a dozen popular ones. So, I've been thinking about the CRPGs, with or without mods, where I had the most memorable experiences or encountered the most memorable characters. My most memorable character is Mazzy Fentan, that tiny ball of fury with the heart of a true hero. I'd like to know who your favorite character or experience is (from a CRPG).

Looking at the posts so far, I'm glad I started this thread. As Arthmoor pointed out, the wording of the USER GENERATED DATA portion of the Subscriber Agreement does allow the collection and use of a lot more than just game statistics. I'm aware that most people are reasonably satisfied with Steam's service and I do believe that they only collect game and system statistics. What worries me is, if the evil ones get control, they could invade my privacy far deeper. Also, some may say that I'm a control freak, but I like to have control over what software is installed on my computer. If I sign up to Steam, I loose that control. I've decided to dedicate one computer to Steam games only. Besides Skyrim, I want to play Deus Ex HR and the Portal games. I'll do everything else, including online purchases, etc. on a different computer.

Vouivre, I'm glad I dropped by this thread. Relative to Blender, the latest Blender Nif Scripts still require Blender 2.49b. I'm not sure when a .nif exporter will be available for Blender 2.5x. Since you like 3ds Max, are you aware that there is a scaled down version available free: Gmax? The 3ds Max exporter at Nif Tools works with Gmax, so you can export .nif files directly. Relative to texturing and UV mapping, it can take a long time to master. I'd suggest you start with something simple. It's much easier, for example, to UV map a rectangular wooden board than a human face. I seems like you have the determination, and are willing to do the work, to progress quickly. Good luck! Let me know if you stumble over a bump in the road. I might be able to hammer it down a bit.

After doing more research, I've determined that Steam's use and distribution of user information is defined in their Subscriber Aggreement, especially Section 7. USER GENERATED DATA, and their Privacy Policy. There is no reference to "Offline Mode" in these documents, so apparently that doesn't lessen the pain. You would need to be a lawyer to determine exactly what "usage data" is, which you must agree to allow them to "use, reproduce, ... distribute, transmit, broadcast, and otherwise communicate, and publicly display" without your knowledge or consent. Would someone please explain to me what this has to do with DRM?

Lady_Nerevar, no I'm not confusing Steam with EA's new service. I have a friend who is a support technician at a gaming computer company. He has been playing Battlefield 2 with Steam. Although it's more intrusive that he likes, he's continued with it, partly because it allows him to play with other remote friends. However, as you may know, Battlefield 3 is using EA's new Steam-like service. After reading through their long EULA, he decided to not get Battlefield 3. As far as privacy goes, as The Vyper pointed out, their (Steam's) EULA does allow them to collect data and under certain, not defined, circumstances they can share/give that data to "affiliates" and they don't define exactly who or what an affiliate is. And I need to agree to that to play a legitimately purchased single player game? I don't think so. As I said before, if the offline mode is the same, I'll pass. Anyone who has any definitive information about Steam in offline mode, please post.

Apparently Skyrim will use Steam for DRM. The following was on the net today:" Bethesda revealed that the PC version of its upcoming Elder Scrolls title will use Valve's Steamworks platform for DRM. As with Fallout: New Vegas, that goes for copies purchased through retailers and Steam itself. Once you activate the game, you can play the title in Steam's offline mode without an Internet connection. We assume Steam will also be used to serve achievements, patches and downloadable content". I've learned from others that there is more than one way a program can be made available through Steam. For some games, unfortunately including Deus Ex: Human Revolution, the game is loaded by Steam on your computer and it monitors your use and sends that information back to the vendor. Apparently, that use is not limited to the game, but anything you do! I think (but do not know for sure) that that monitoring does not happen if you use Steam in the offline mode. If this is the way Fallout New Vegas was distributed, I would like to hear from anyone who knows more. If that monitoring is still done in offline mode (and uploaded next time you connect), I'll either have to stick to Oblivion and Morrowind or find another hobby.

If I understand what you want to do correctly, there is a relatively easy way to do what you want. Although you can do this in about a minute, since you say you are new to this, I've laid it out step by step below. Referring to your 3rd screeny, with that object loaded into Blender: (Actually, this will work with any spherical surface with a hole it). 1) In Object mode, press <Shift> 'D' to make a duplicate. Immediately press <Enter> without moving the mouse (you now have the original and its duplicate in the same place). 2) Press 'M' then <Enter> to move it to another layer. Move to that layer and verify that the duplicate is still selected (If not, select it again). 3) Press 'S' then .95 <Enter>, to scale it to 95% of its original size. 4) Press <Tab> to switch to Edit mode, then press 'A' so all of the sphere is selected. 5) From the Mesh panel in the edit button window (Press F-9 if you don't see it), unhighlight 'Double Sided'. 6) From the Mesh menu (in the header of the 3D window), select Normal > Flip. (You should see the outer surface of the sphere become darker and the interior surface become lighter). 7) Press <Tab> to switch back to Object mode, then make sure the sphere is selected (press 'A' if not). 8) Press 'M' and move the scaled and flipped copy back to the layer containing the original. Switch back to that layer. 9) You should now have two spheres, one inside the other. Still in Object mode, press 'A' so that both spheres are selected (up at the top you should see 'Ob:2-2'). 10) From the Object menu, select Join Objects <Enter> (now, up at the top you should see 'Ob:1-1'). 11) Press <Tab> to switch to Edit mode and set selection to edges. 12) Select all the segments that make up the edge of the hole in the inside sphere, then add to that selection all the segments that make up the hole in the outside sphere. 13) Press 'F' and select 'Skin Faces/Edge-Loops' and press <Enter>. You now have one sphere with inside and outside surfaces connected by the surfaces forming the edges of the hole connecting them. Once you've successfully done this, you may want to do it again, stopping after step 3) to texture the duplicate that will become the interior surface. Once you have, continue with the remaining steps. Good luck!

Khett, thanks for clarifying. That would mean all the objects and tools would be in the inventory. At present, if you put any correct item in the object to be fixed, you get a message telling you how many of each item or tool is required. To me, that seems way too easy, but the consensus over the past year or two is most users like and want it. I couldn't do that with the activator approach. However, I do use the activator approach, just as you describe, for some things. As a beta tester, you may remember the big log at the end of the porch. I use the activator approach for that (so, if you have the wood axe in your inventory and click on the log, it gets chopped up).

Thank you all for your input. I agree with elParedon and donnato that the best approach for tools in the inventory is to have the player activate the object to be fixed again when he has the appropriate tool(s). I was hoping there was an even better solution that I hadn't thought of. I'm thinking that the best overall solution may be to leave it as it is now, where you put the tools in with the other objects. It's simple, straightforward, and no one has complained about it. I'm a little confused by the suggestion about using activators. The current scripts work well and are quite straightforward. Khett, you mention using activators to "save the player an extra arbitrary step". I don't think there are any extra steps, but maybe I'm missing something. Maybe you could explain a bit more. Again, thanks for your thoughts on this.

As some of you know, I have a house mod, the Abandoned Mountain Shack, that's all about fixing things. It's in bad shape when you first see it. There are old bones, logs, and other debris everywhere, things are becoming overgrown with vines, inside there are spider webs everywhere and a big hole in the floor, etc. The good news is everything can be fixed by the user. Fixing things, cleaning things, and throwing away the debris, etc. gives the user a real sense of ownership. Now, I'm working on what I expect may be the last revision to the shack. I had planned to revise the way things are fixed, but have run into a logical problem. I would like your input. At present, things to be fixed are initially containers. You fix them by putting the necessary items in them. For example, you "fix" the hanging oil lamp by putting lamp oil in it. Some things require items to fix them plus one or more tools. For example, to fix the hole in the floor, you put floor boards, nails, and a carpenter's hammer in it. I want to change that. so that you put the items in the object to be fixed, but only need to have the tools in your inventory. So, to fix the hole in the floor, you would need to put floor boards and nails in it, while having the carpenter's hammer in your inventory. Although this revised scheme seems logical, there's a catch! Let's say the user finds the nails and floor boards, but hasn't found the carpenter's hammer yet. So, he puts the nails and floor boards in the hole, but the hole isn't fixed because the user didn't have the carpenter's hammer in his inventory. Later, somewhere else near the shack, the user finds the carpenter's hammer and puts it in his inventory. Now, all the requirements to fix the hole have been met. Should be hole be fixed, even though the user may now be near it at the time? If not, should it be fixed as soon as the user is near the hole? If not, when should it be fixed?

First, the glow comes from the emissive color of the meshes material. So, in the Block Details of the NiMaterialProperty block, set the Emissive Color to black. Second, based on your current "mirror", you will see a dramatic difference depending on the Window Reflections option. To see this, examine your "mirror", then click 'Esc' > Options > Video > Window Reflections. Click "off" or "on" to toggle it. You do not need to restart the game to see the change. You probably want the texture Apply Mode to be APPLY_HIGHLIGHT, which appears to be what you have now. For maximum reflection you want an opaque normal map (alpha channel white, not black), saved in DXT3 or DXT5 format--not DXT1 format. (Although you will have an opaque normal map that could be saved in DXT1 format, the Oblivion engine detects normal maps in the DXT1 format and reduces the specular refection to compensate). This should get you close.

Using Blender version 2.49b or similar, the normals are always inverted when mirroring. Since it's consistent and you know that now, it's easy to work around. For example, assume your view is set to Top Ortho, try the following. 1> Make sure the cursor is at the origin and set the Pivot to the 3D Cursor. 2> In Edit mode, select the vertices you wish to mirror and press 'M' > X. 3> With the mirrored vertices still selected, press 'W' > Flip Normals and you're good to go.

As Hanaissi suggested, updating is a good idea. However, you do not want to update to the latest Blender version (2.57b) as there is no Nif exporter for it yet. Your best bet is to follow the guidelines at LHammonds Blender site at TES Nexus..