is there a way to change the default settings for primitives in 3ds max? for example, change the number of segments in a plane from 4x4 to 1x4...just curious
Depends on industry I guess. In my experience maya is mostly used for character animation in gamedev, but for environment/props it is max by default or anything you want really. If studio doesn't have exporters for other packages you can always do stuff elsewhere, then FBX it to max and export from there.