Win10 3ds max for Fo4 - suggestions

[EdgeUK90]

Hi hi peeps,

 

To keep this short & on point - I am not new to 3ds max, although the last version I used was 2010 on my old pc.

 

I now have a new pc, with windows 10. I am unable to directly clarify which version I need to source in order to model for Fallout 4 - Importing / exporting .Nif files etc etc

 

(As far as I can tell I want 2013 - but this will not run on win 10)

 

I have already tried various google searches plus looking through various posts but unable to clarify this concern.

 

Edit:

 

Typically as I continued to research this issue AFTER making this post I found a result - Supported Nif plugin for max 2015 & 2016. So one of these two is most likely the favorable choice?

 

So the real question - which is better for Fo4 Modelling & Modding?

 

 

Many thanks in advance,

 

Edge.

Edited November 7, 2019 by EdgeUK90

[thousande]

Hi.

 

TL;DR: 3ds max 2013, 3ds max 2013 Design and Max 2014 should be able to run the official plugin.

Version 2013 Design and version 2014 requires some extra tweaks.

 

 

As far as I understand Max 2013 (2014 and the 2013 Design version) is required in order to use Bethesda's official Nif Plugin (bundled with Fallout 4/game) and the official nif plugin is the only publicly available software/plugin that can create collision / physics data for nif / Havoc physics system.

A solution is to copy physics from another nif, but the quality of the result varies and is a bit cumberstone in the long run in my opinion.

 

Further (again based on personal experience) Max 2014 and Max Design 2013 can run the plugin with some extra tweaking.

Later Max versions probably have a revamped / different plugin infrastructure that does not 'understand' earlier plugin / code.

 

Many will say the plugin only runs on 2013, which is partly true. The main problem is that the official plugin's installation scheme is hard coded with fixed directory paths and expects max and data to be found at the default installation directories. Eg. something like this "C:\\ProgramFiles\Autodesk\3ds Max 2013" etc.

 

The solution is to install the plugin even if it says "3ds max can not be found" / just click yes and move the files to whatever location max and the data is really installed and tweak the path environment variable in Windows.

 

Not sure where you got that 2013 does not run on Windows 10?

It could be that your installation / version of Windows 10 has removed dependencies required by Max

Do you get any error messages?

 

Video that discusses the setup / installation,

 

and this post for the path solution (if max is installed at another location than the default).

 

https://forums.nexusmods.com/index.php?/topic/5627657-3ds-design-2013-collision-group-missing-options/&do=findComment&comment=72780063

 

Hope this helps some and English is not my native language :wink:

[EdgeUK90]

Hi.

 

TL;DR: 3ds max 2013, 3ds max 2013 Design and Max 2014 should be able to run the official plugin.

Version 2013 Design and version 2014 requires some extra tweaks.

 

 

As far as I understand Max 2013 (2014 and the 2013 Design version) is required in order to use Bethesda's official Nif Plugin (bundled with Fallout 4/game) and the official nif plugin is the only publicly available software/plugin that can create collision / physics data for nif / Havoc physics system.

A solution is to copy physics from another nif, but the quality of the result varies and is a bit cumberstone in the long run in my opinion.

 

Further (again based on personal experience) Max 2014 and Max Design 2013 can run the plugin with some extra tweaking.

Later Max versions probably have a revamped / different plugin infrastructure that does not 'understand' earlier plugin / code.

 

Many will say the plugin only runs on 2013, which is partly true. The main problem is that the official plugin's installation scheme is hard coded with fixed directory paths and expects max and data to be found at the default installation directories. Eg. something like this "C:\\ProgramFiles\Autodesk\3ds Max 2013" etc.

 

The solution is to install the plugin even if it says "3ds max can not be found" / just click yes and move the files to whatever location max and the data is really installed and tweak the path environment variable in Windows.

 

Not sure where you got that 2013 does not run on Windows 10?

It could be that your installation / version of Windows 10 has removed dependencies required by Max

Do you get any error messages?

 

Video that discusses the setup / installation,

 

and this post for the path solution (if max is installed at another location than the default).

 

https://forums.nexusmods.com/index.php?/topic/5627657-3ds-design-2013-collision-group-missing-options/&do=findComment&comment=72780063

 

Hope this helps some and English is not my native language :wink:

Hi Thousande,

 

I am only going off the web pages that say there is no support for max 2013 on windows 10 - saw this on multiple pages.

 

As I say the only hard copy I have is max 2010 (Although not installed on this pc), So if your telling me that I can get 2013 D to work (with adjustments) then this will be my preferred route so that I may be most strictly inline with Bethesda's own Nif plugins.

 

I am going to have to look extra hard to source this copy im sure - I have seen many modders on here constantly saying that it is "hard to get" now :dry:

 

So what is the main differences between 2013 D & 2014 for Fo4 Modding? Is 2014 better?

 

- Edge.

Edited November 7, 2019 by EdgeUK90

[thousande]

> So what is the main differences between 2013 D & 2014 for Fo4 Modding? Is 2014 better?

 

Sorry, I do not know. I am not much of 3d modeller tbh, but I would have guessed 2014 is more stable.

 

I have seen 3d/modders using eg. 2018 for modelling etc. and saves or exports the result to a file format that can be opened in 2013/2014 in order to do the final physics/collision and nif export. As you probably know, you can use anything (eg. Blender) for modelling.

 

Also, see Rizzler's Fo4 Weapon Modelling Tutorial

 

(playlist)

[EdgeUK90]

Thank you very much for your assistance,

I now have a plan of action!

 

- Edge

Edited November 8, 2019 by EdgeUK90

[Ethreon]

Get 2013 if you can. Just because there's a warning it might not work on win10 doesn't mean it will not work. A lot of software comes with that sort disclaimer due to the year it was made.

[YouDoNotKnowMyName]

3DS Max 2013 works fine for me (Window$ 10 64-bit), I have played around with it a bit, created static meshes for Fallout4 with it, and it works great!

The only problem I had with it is getting addicted to creating new stuff for Fallout 4 :smile:

[EdgeUK90]

Thanks for the suggestions,

I ended up settling with max 2014 64-bit. Has been doing model imports & exports absolutely fine!

 

[EDIT]

 

Although, I am now on the hunt for 2013 as I have discovered Bethesda's .Nif tools pack does not fully work with 2014.

 

(I am not able to create my own collision files because of this issue)

- Edge

Edited January 7, 2020 by EdgeUK90