Max 2012 has Gamma and Lut correction enabled by default. You can disable it by going to "Preferences > Gamma and LUT" and uncheck the box to deactivate it.
Go to the channels palete. Create a new channel - this is an alpha by default. Paste the black and white image into this channel Save the image as a 32 bit TGA
Basically the minigame is off by default but the mod turns it on. Its a difficult case to judge as it comes with the game yet you cant turn it on without a mod...