23 replies to this topic

[Mathijs]

Hello fellow BFME artists,

 

As you probably know, Windows 10 was recently released. As you also know, BFME artists are confined to creating their models in 3ds Max 8, a 3ds Max version from 2008. It so happens that Windows 10 has finally been bringing the inevitable; it's breaking 3ds Max 8 in different ways. So far we've had people completely unable to run the installer, people getting start-up issues after start-up issue, constant program freezes when opening or importing files, and other, smaller issues. 

 

If you want to keep creating art for BFME and want to get Windows 10, I strongly recommend making a drive partition and install Windows 10 on there (I can explain this method to you if Google fails you entirely). The way things are at this moment, this is the way to keep using 3ds Max 8 properly. If you have already installed Windows 10, you can go back to your previous OS (7, 8, 8,1) this way. Obviously, this isn't a great solution at all. Which brings me to my next point:

 

We are doomed.

 

Well, a little bit. We can probably manage to band-aid 3ds Max 8 to a degree that most people can install it. We'd have to further lower our expectations of a properly functioning program, though, because the freezes and other issues aren't going to go away. And if they did, we'd have the same problem on Windows 11, or whatever is next. Our tools (the W3D importers, the Mod SDK's W3D tools) are simply too old. They have to be ported to newer versions of 3ds Max. I have no idea what sort of programming this involves, so I'm hoping I can get some people in here to give me an idea, or to come up with other solutions.

 

Thoughts?

[Plokite_Wolf]

You can try installing 3DS Max in a virtual machine. Get a Windows XP ISO or CD, install a virtual machine, assign enough resources, set the graphics internally a bit and fire it up. It might work, especially if you enable drag'n'drop and/or shared clipboards for host and guest.

[Kwen]

I'm just going to reserve either a partition or a second hard drive as a designated BFME/Modding OS with Windows 7 (heck I might even use XP just for better compatibility still), Windows 10 will be my daily driver though.

[Elric]

Good idea Kwen, I actually might do the same. That said, I still want to try and fix the issues Windows 10 brought to the community.

[Kwen]

To be fair, I basically just restated what Mathijs said, just with a bit more emphasis on the purpose.

[Ridder Geel]

Hooray for windows 10...

[MattTheLegoman]

Do not forget that 逊Arathorn妻/feliwir are working on a Blender addon for the W3D format. =D

 

I've had the import-W3D function work fantastic (remember that CaH Troll Mathijs? (if I recall correctly it imported into Blender but not 3ds Max 8)).

 

https://github.com/feliwir/W3D-Tools

[Mathijs]

Do not forget that 逊Arathorn妻/feliwir are working on a Blender addon for the W3D format. =D

 

I've had the import-W3D function work fantastic (remember that CaH Troll Mathijs? (if I recall correctly it imported into Blender but not 3ds Max 8)).

 

https://github.com/feliwir/W3D-Tools

Do you know if they plan to include W3D Materials (the things we need to apply textures and things like arrow settings) and W3D Settings (export transform etc)?

[MattTheLegoman]

Better ask them. Currently I have been unsuccessful at using the export-W3D function (it is a work in progress and I haven't seen any documentation on how to properly use the export function). =/

[Maximan]

surely they will release some kind of compatibility mode that makes these things work?

[Mathijs]

When has that ever happened before?

[NewErr]

I will go with what Plokite_wolf said, which works almost the same as having another OS on another partition. This is what I first thought when talking about Win10 compatibility issues. A virtual machine just for modding tools. Heck, on XP you have even less compatibility issues and the OS should run even smoother.

[Irenë Hawnetyne]

So, um, I exported a cylinder to test it... well, it worked, I suppose. It shows up in W3DView, so I don't see a problem there yet?

 

However, I intend to ask a friend who knows stuff about programming things if it's possible to build an import-export thing for Max 12 or later, which is perhaps more usable for the future.

[MattTheLegoman]

I would prefer to use Blender - it is free and open source. I'm just waiting until Arathorn releases some news about how to use it properly (I guess he will do so once it is finished).

[Mathijs]

So, um, I exported a cylinder to test it... well, it worked, I suppose. It shows up in W3DView, so I don't see a problem there yet?

 

If BFME modeling for you is limited to exporting cylinders, I guess you're good to go!

[Ridder Geel]

Yes it's possible, I made a custom exporter for my own file format a bit ago, and that works...

So yea it's possible, but you'd need some knowledge (well actually a lot) of the W3D format to make it work...

Edited by Ridder Geel, 05 August 2015 - 09:08 AM.

[Mathijs]

5 euro als je eens wat onderzoek doet, Ridder.

[Ridder Geel]

I guess I'll see what I can do

[Mathijs]

[Ridder Geel]

Awesome -_-