Thanks guys. @DottyPixel - I'm just using 3dsmax. For a lot of the complex shapes I fuse primitives with boolean intersection/boolean cut, and then just pull verts around and the usual :) Other then that I use plane modeling (like the fin/wing thing).
I recorded a video tutorial for bodypaint in conjunction with Photoshop and 3dsmax as part of my Delilah series. I'm almost there in terms of editing, documenting and uploading. I've made it to the UV stage, and next will be texturing. Not sure how soon, but hopefully in the next month or so.
I want dibs for the non-high profile company guys :p . I'd love to experiment with this on various level editors i'm working with at the moment, torque, unreal, unity etc... and of course make mad useful 3dsmax setups for weird modelling workflows :) !!
If you want the real deal do most of it in 3dsmax. Make a few bricks and clone them. If you want to take it into mudbox make sure to set up the bricks so they sub divide well. http://www.doom3world.org/phpbb2/viewtopic.php?t=17688
Autodesk Maya (can sign up for a free learning edition), Autodesk 3dsmax, Softimage XSI, Lightwave, theres acouple of more free and cheap programs I'm sure someone else knows about but can't recall off the top of my head.
I´ll grab the max2009demo and see whats going on additional.. if you have shaderFX you can get the project file, open it -> save 3dsmax shader you should get a shader that works with your version of max shaderFX Project File
My Ati 3850 has only now just started displaying meshes correctly in 3DSmax with the newest drivers. The card was bought in oct last year...won't be buying ati for 3D software again (although it did run games just fine)
Alright I fixed it! I was always told to turn nitrous off right away. Well if you aren't using a directX shader, I suggest leaving it on! It makes the normal maps appear correct when displaying them normally in 3dsMax. Max 2013 with nitrous.
@radiancef0rge: I use 3dsmax viewport, sry. Notepad++ for editing @Ashaman73: take a look at this: (the raw lightmap wasn't used in any test and it's here so you can compare the log10RGB encoded lightmaps with it) Decode the lightmap in shader and you get true HDR images:
Okay, so, one of the tutorials I accessed via the wiki links mentions tree trunks via extruding along a spline. This is a good idea, it seems to me, but I'm having a rather embarrassing problem, namely that I can't find the button to do that. (3Dsmax 2012.)