Quote: "Oh come on now. It's not against the law to rip media from a game to see how it looks in another engine."
I don't recall mentioning the legalities of doing that; I was merely commenting on BigSnake's YT video (which I also commented on there, and he replied appropriately). As far as whether it's legal to rip media from a game or not...I'll leave that up to the game company itself, as they have the
final and
only word on the matter.
About Max and it's cost....as it's been alluded to; it's not just for games, and it's definitely not made to be a hobbyist's tool...or something that a non-studio entity (ie. a single developer) is supposed to be able to afford. Throwing out erroneous, and highly opinionated comments about the cost not being "worth it", shows how ignorant said person is when it comes to the program in question. Sure; use it in your University setting...learn it, become accustomed to it. Then, when you graduate (or quit), and no longer have access to the University's copies; are you going to spend the
thousands of dollars for your own copy, or will you try to make due with learning a newer (less expensive) application?
As far as the feature set goes; you are correct, and many learned Max users will tell you....you'll end up only using a
small part of the tool-set, because it's a tool that covers such a broad spectrum of CG industries. The same could be said about Lightwave, Softimage, Houdini (way more pricey), Cinema 4D, and even Blender (which is starting to make the afore-mentioned program's companies a bit nervous).
I see the same comment following many of the game art threads here.
Artist "A" presents his/her finished work;
Artist "B" then asks "looks cool; what program did you use?". My response would be
"why does it matter?". Almost
all of the media created on these boards could be done in free or inexpensive programs.
I hear similar arguments about FPSC itself, when it comes to it's capabilities. It's often compared with other Engines (of which some have free versions, but those versions are also limited in many ways). Many of the "developers" (I use that term loosely) who bash FPSC, when comparing it to other engines; do so without really knowing what they're talking about. Most of these "developers" will either never make a game, or will screw around with it's tool-set...but never take the time to truly delve into it. Other engines do actually
REQUIRE coding of some sort. FPSC does not; unless you want a more unique game, and even then...you can
script it, rather than have to
code it. FPSC is a $50 engine, that is made for first-person perspective games. The Torque 3D engine can do MUCH more than FPSC ever could, currently (IMO); but it also cost
20 times more than FPSC does.
I guess what I'm getting at with all this, is let's keep things in perspective. Set goals for yourself; don't try to start out with the "best" engine, using the "best" modeling and texturing software...that you "bought". Start out small. FPSC, if anything (and it's been said
numerous times before); is a great tool to use to start learning the game-creation process...from start to finish. Can you make a commercially viable game with it? Yes you can. Anyone who says otherwise, is most likely one of the "developers" I spoke of above; they'll bounce around from engine to engine, and modeler to modeler...but in the end, they'll accomplish nothing.
Just like it not being about the modeler, but rather the artist; it's not about the engine...but rather the developer, and what they can accomplish with the tools given (or bought).
-Keith
