Hey Guys,

Just a little research as to ascertain what 3D modelling package was used to create all the Objects within Fallout 3. For instance if I wanted to model a whole new 'KIT' for a vault of my own design ! I've seen posts mentioning Maya and Blender and I have some previous experience with Blender so if I can edit and create models for use within fallout that would be great. Also where are all the models stored. For instance I'm looking at the Windmill01 Model which I would like to 'Fix Up'.Where could I load it from ! Maybe replace the fins and have it animated ? Is this possible. Id expect the wasteland to be a windy place due to the climate change!!! And then maybe have it connected to a generator model, as I suspect petrol/diesel to be in VERY short supply so I could have my own renewable energy power source ! Basically I'm wanting to build my own little Impregnable, Self Reliant, Self Sustaining, Fort in the wasteland like everyone else! Eg Big town, Megaton etc but on a smaller scale. I'm like a hermit living on the fringes of society in real life anyway However I'm just starting with the basics and working on my Megaton Home. Here I want to 'Fix' my locker doors. Theres plenty in the wasteland so I think people would have scavenged extra doors to fix their lockers !!!! This is the sort of thing I want to be capable of doing !

So what 3D software should I Start with ? Blender Maya or another ?

What did the developers use ?

Your help is of course much appreciated and gratefully received.

Devs used 3dsMax 8 or higher for fallout, I believe so anyway, as the biped has twist bones and they weren't added to the suite untill R8 iirc. However the only official Gamebryo exporter is for max- the civ4 plugin(at least the export menus and tools look exactly the same as the ones that comes in the Gamebryo SDK), but there are not any scripts for it that will export fallout3 version nifs. so it is fairly useless except for the animation manager.
There are 3rd party developers- niftools- that have exporters for Max and Blender that are capable of exporting F3 version nifs. Also produce a nif block editor Nifskope, which is essential kit.

Blender is suitable for meshes, rigged, skeletons, and many animation types.

the meshes are stored in the Meshes.bsa in the data folder. search for a bsa extractor, or use fomm.

Blender is a popular one that is freely available to all. The Modeling and Texture tutorial in my sig will get you started with all of the links and a guide.

Luck,

Miax