[madborg]

I spent a little more time with gmax and here is what I came up with so far:

-it's a lot like 3DS Max 3 (don't know about 4), so its a good tool for those that want to get some experience using 3DS Max experience.

-found some import filters for 3ds, obj, and md2 (quake 2). Uses Maxscript to do the importing which means that you can actually read the script. It's only a matter of time before someone does the corresponding export filters -- assuming that the functionality is there through scripting.

-chances are good that max import/export is not supported.

** added **
Nevermind about my max statement. Just found the Maxscript tutorial on 3ds max file loading and saving. This is great if I can get it to work cause I have some nice max models that would be fun to work on with gmax.

**added some more**
The documentation for Maxscript doesn't match what happens -- I guess its the same doc for Max and gMax. Anyway, the commands for loadMax and saveMax results in gmax files, not max.

A possible workaround, build a Maxscript to export to a text file that is the ascii form of the various formats that is needed for EQ. The asciiwld would need a convertor to wld, but the files for chequip.s3d would not need a convertor.

It's a start.

Unforunately Lightwave actually make the best tool because their format is well documented and the file is in ascii already. The cheapest Lightwave is around $800 for 6.5.

Whatever format you use, you have to have one that is complete:
-geometry
-texture and uv mapping perserved
-bone and animation perserved

I tried an OBJ import into gmax a and the file did not show. So I don't know how well the OBJ importer works.

I am going to get some md2 files and see if how well the animation and texture is perserved into gmax.