Model Formats/Filetypes (Was: Models)

is there a SPECIFIC program for making .MDX Modles. i know about g-max, 3ds max and all that. but i was wondering if there is a WC3 cooperative modleing program

Wrong forum in this, shoulda tried Wc3 Editing Tools.

The answer is simply... no. Nobody in the Wc3 community has ever successfully made a complete modeling program just for Wc3 models. For many reason, but basically its because, there was never any need. There are .mdx export tools for most modeling programs out there, so you can create a model in say, 3dsmax and save it as .mdx, import into wc3 and play! There are also Wc3 model export plugins for G-max, milkshape, and maybe a couple others. Nobody would ever want to create a modeling program with all of the capabilities of 3dsmax, just to use for Wc3 models, when 3dsmax itself can be used for Wc3 models, simple as that.

ok thanks!

and sorry about wrong forum section thingy :(

and one more thing, is there a difference between .mdl and .mdx?

as you can see.....im new and confused :\

and can u point me out some free modleing programs that can export Wc3 models

mdl and mdx are both Wc3 formats. the mdl files can be edited in notepad, to make a few last adjustments before being converted back into mdx. models imported into the world editor must be in .mdx format.

I think mdl is used for special effects mostly. I've had difficulty importing mdl files. i assume they would need to be animated in the mdl. mdx is also a common geometry file type like mdl. I've seen it used in a few games like serious sam... and i think quake 3 engine based games. there is also a difference in the file size. mdl takes up a bit more memory i think.

i'm not an expert on model file types though. i just used to model things as a hobby.

Imported .mdl files might not work correctly in wc3, and the file size is roughly 300% larger than .mdx. Changes to the .mdl can be made in notepad and include setting which frames are used for which animations, which skin files will be used on the model, and things such as collision size can also be altered by editing the .mdl in notepad. About filetypes, .mdx, .mdl, it really doesn't matter if they are used in other games or not. They could be under the file extension .xxx if thats what the game used, it's just that the creators decided to put their model file type in a commonly used file extension so not to create confusion about which files are the models and which aren't.

thanks for the info guys, i sucked it in like a sponge

actually most competent game developers will choose to use files types that take up less disk space to decrease game size. so file type does matter.

If you can't get anything better, you could use my model editing program. It's far from 3ds max, but you can at least do something.

Most competent game developers will make up their own file types, not use an existing one. What HexenLordX is saying (I think) is that the actual three-letter extension doesn't matter.

They're all MDX files, as far as I know. The editor does change the string to end with .mdl, but it's still pointing to an MDX.

Geometry and animations (along with everything else) are represented in both file formats.

If you can't get anything better, you could use my model editing program. It's far from 3ds max, but you can at least do something.