Almost a year since my last post on this blog, it’s becoming a habit…
I’ve now updated all my 3DS Max plug-ins to support 3D Studio Max 2020. The version numbers haven’t changed but I’ve updated the download files to include the 2020 files. Head over to the 3D Modelling tools page to find the links.
I admit I actually had this ported over a while ago but I’ve just started a new job and have been so busy I’ve only just been able to get things uploaded. Sorry for the wait.
I’ve also started a GitHub account for my projects – feel free to check it out. I’ve decided to upload the source code for some of my older projects as they aren’t really that useful any more and someone might want to update them or just learn from it.
I have no idea if anyone still uses my Half-Life Model Viewer but I’ve wanted to update and fix it for a while now. When I first wrote it it was for Windows 2000! I think the original codebase that it was based on is so busted now it barely runs on Windows 10. I might just port it over to QT5 to make it cross platform compatible as a learning exercise if nothing else. Be interested to know if anyone would be interested in it still.
Should also note – it seems like Nem, who I wrote VTFLib with has moved on and isn’t really updating the code any more. It’s got issues and doesn’t compile with newer editions of Visual Studio. I’ve nailed down two off the issues but I think an update of the nVidia library that it uses is desperately needed. I think VTFLib is one of the few tools of mine people are still using so I will endeavour to get it sorted over the summer. It’s Open Source and on GitHub now so if you feel you’d like to contribute, feel free make a fork or submit a push request.
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Wow, is it really four years since my last post? A lot’s happened since then, far too much to go into detail, but anyway some updates.
I get a lot of email about updating my tools, especially 3DS Max plug-ins and Jed’s Half Life Model viewer. As I don’t do modding any more I haven’t had much motivation but I got the itch to do some coding again so have slowly started updating things for my own amusement.
I’ve tested the VTF Shell Extensions on Windows 8.1 and 10 and they work fine. I’ve updated the installer to work properly with these operating systems so you shouldn’t have any problems. As always, make sure you have the correct Micrsoft Runtimes installed (VC++ 2008 SP1) as well. I could have baked them into the installer but that would have made it a 10MB download.
As for the 3DS Max plug-ins, so far the I’ve got the SMD import and exporter to work on 3DS Max 2015 (and should work on 2016 too as their compatible) and I’ve in the process of porting the VTA export and VTF plug-ins. As soon as I’ve done that I’ll look at getting them to work in 3DS Max 2017.
I’m going to be following a general policy that I’ll probably only support the two most recently versions of 3DS Max as long as it doesn’t require me to maintain and entire new build chain. It seems that every other version of Max requires a newer version of Visual Studio and a code re-build. I don’t have the time and effort to maintain that sort of set-up as I did before so as newer versions come out, I’ll retire support for later ones. I’ll still leave the plug-ins for older versions of Max available – I just won’t back port any new features or bug fixes.
As for JHLMV and anything else, most of those need to be re-written from scratch as the original code was written way back in the days of Windows 98 and it’s just broken. Who knows when that will get an update.
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Finally…
I’ve updated all of my plug-ins to include support from 3DS Max 2012 now. The VTF importer now also supports version 7.5 VTF files. I know a lot of people wanted them and I apologise for the delay. Real life gets in the way sometimes and takes priority.
I’ve tested them as thoroughly as I can but if you do find any bugs let me know. Remember to tell me how to recreate the issue you’re having and if possible send me the file that is causing the problem. No, I’m not going to steal your models – yes some people are that paranoid.
One final note – I’ve now officially dropped support for Max versions less then 9. Keeping a separate build environment going for that was pointless as it’s so old so I’m afraid no VTF importer for older versions of Max.
I haven’t added any new features this time around, but I have a few in the pipeline so keep watching this space. For now, just re-download the ZIP file which will have the 2012 included in it.
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