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I found a script that enables you to model levels the same way you do in Hammer. Best of all the script is free, and pretty good. Though I advice you to read the instructions.

You need another program called 3ds2map, and the location of it is described in the instructions. What this pair does is to allow you to model rooms and indoor scenery in much the same way as in Hammer -- except with Max's other tools as well.

Then you can take the .map file you create with 3ds2map and run it through qbsp.

When you get to the site, choose gaming from the left hand menu, and then select "Gane level builder 2.1".

[href]
http://www.scriptspot.com/start.htm
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i personally just stole the CSG & Map export functions from Gmax and adapted them to my own max ... was far simpler, especially considering Max5 is capable of using Flash UI's - so you can even use thier altered map development interface.

though to be honest i'm not sure why you'd want to limit yourself in such a way in Max4/5 - should just download Gmax and use that, after all it has the builtin functions and such for it plus that simpler material browser.
and for maps you can't actually beat GTKRadiant 2.0 is just quality

Well, for one that actually feels he has to buy the program he uses, I can't afford to go out and splurge out a couple of hundred dollars on a new package.

I'm lucky enough to have Max 5 through my job, so I'll just have to use that.

And then it depends on what you want to do. I get the sense, reading here, that you really have to dumb animations down to get anywhere with DBP.

And then it's a question of why one uses DBP. To make the next Halo? To make the next great title that's going to tumble storeshelves across the western world? I don't think that'll ever happen. So, it's a hobby then. At best, perhaps I can make that prototype to show people and content myself with being the designer.

And if a prototype is all I'll get, then I don't need to employ the latest technology with the finest pixel-shaders availible. A BSP map will be sufficient. Besides, on a good note, you can do some pretty spline based solid geometry with that script I mentioned.

gmax is free
GTKRadiant 2.0 is free and even opensource

both simply require download time ... plus i'm not sure your suppose to be using a copy of Max from work for personal use.
if i ever caught someone doing that on my watch i'd of deleted all of the useful exporting types from thier machine so it'd only export .max

-- -- --

that aside, people use DBPro for all sorts of reasons ... most are just dreamers - however when someone comes up and says "yeah, your never gonna do that!" it kills the dream for them, especially as most are younger members.

and to be quite honest it is more than possible to make the next Halo, Tomb Raider or Final Fantasy in DarkBASIC Pro - as Pro has just about the same speed as most DirectX engines on the market.
It is expandable enough to incorportate anything you put your mind to and the language set is actually deep and descriptive enough to develop on a pretty low level with ease.

what Pro give developers is a stable engine with a great deal of speed and features, but more importantly is SPEED of development.
It would take close to 2weeks alone to code a working Shader system into a moderate game within C++ ... in DarkBASIC Pro it takes a matter of an hr or two to get the exact same results.

level collision and culling is also a terrible pitfall of many game engines, however DarkBASIC Pro has alot of this built-in and isn't as static as other engines even those native C++ engines ... it is setup in such a way that you can create whatever steps nescessary.

The only think that limits a developer isn't simply the language set, its thier attitude... if you believe you can make the next Splinter Cell and have the determination to do so - then it is very likely you can.
Remember a game isn't just about the graphics, what makes Halo stand out isn't the graphics of the title - although they are amazing and to be honest DBP could quite easily handle something similar to that on a half decent machine, but it was the fact of how the game flowed, the dynamics of the vehicles, weaponry, etc...

When people look at Half-Life2 all they see is the graphics, and think noone could make a HL2 beater as it wouldn't look the same.
But Half-Life was actually more about the gameplay than graphics, something that even Valve have forgotten.
You could quite easily make a game that feels and plays just like Half-Life in DBP no problem ... and to be honest there is no reason why you couldn't have a similar graphcial level.

Memoryblock give you ALOT of lowlevel object access, combine this with some good routine programming and it is very simple to get your own version of BSP working.
PreCalculate Lightmaps, Collisionmaps, Rendering Portals ... and poof you can have it working just the same.

All that will hold a developer back from being a awesome developer with an equally awesome title are people who get to them with thier pecimisitic attitudes.
All games programmers are optimists, a pecimisitic programmer becomes a database programmer ... your happy making applications and such then have a boring attitude towards games development.

but the people who'll push this industry forward are the ones that look at it and say, "hey up, i think i can do that!"
perhaps in a few years when developers are finally understanding what Graphics Shaders REALLY are, then maybe you'll see them being used better.

most modern games machines have 2 processors ... used right you can attain far more power using them combined than you can using them as if they're single operation tools!

"most modern games machines have 2 processors"

Your joking, right? Unless your talking about HyperThreading this is rare. Especially rare for consumer gaming computers. Maybe I didn't understand.

hehe

Gmax and Tempest is about the best choice for hobbyists

not joking at all...
you have a CPU with 8 Standard Registers MISC processing abilities (32x4 instructions per loop) ontop of which Pentium4 & Athlon Processors have 260 opcodes

the nVidia FX processor has 16 standard registers, 4 float registers, RISC processing abilities as well as 148 opcodes.

your main processor will be running no doubt upward of 1ghz ... whereas FX processor start at 250mhz and upwards ...

with a Shader you can access the GPU like ASM accesses the CPU - and do whatever the hell you like with it.
so as i said you know have 2 processors at your disposal.

you want proof of this then goto nVidia.com there is a program called CgPhysics - 100% done on the GPU and just as fast as if it were performed on the CPU.