Aye I am new to this. Initially this just started out as a test to see if I could load World of Warcraft models in 3DS Max, then it progressed to taking some of the game's resources and creating (completely amateur) HD-looking scenes, with the first one in mind being our characters looking over a wide vista. I also don't…
Shader FX is node based, so it's not as hard as you might imagine now. Sorry if I gave the wrong impression. Perhaps just take a quick look at it and decide for yourself.
I'd recommend against trying to do this in Max. It's really not made for this. But if you absolutely must, then use the DirectX viewport mode, and create a shader in Shader FX. It's the only way you're going to get anything decent.
If max isn't suitable for this, I suppose I'll just have to suck it up and get the software that can handle this. What program ought I use? The models and animations use FBX, which should be fairly standard, and the heightmaps can come in various formats so that's no trouble either.