Moving Right Along

Well, there you have two pretty comprehensive, low-cost modeling tools: MilkShape 3D by Mete Ciragan and UVMapper by Steve Cox. These guys have done an admirable job creating these programs in the shareware or freeware spirit. They deserve not only a round of applause and big thank you, but you could also perhaps send a few dollars their way by registering their shareware programs. The cost is minuscule, and the benefits are great.

By using the common Wavefront file format, we can use each tool in complementary ways to create models for our games. This is a pretty common theme; notice also that we've used Paint Shop Pro—another low-cost tool—in the same way in conjunction with MilkShape. In the next few chapters we will tackle the Big Jobs: animated characters, vehicles, and weapons. It would not be wasted effort if you wanted to take some time out at this point to practice by designing and building some models to your own specifications.

The more you use a tool, make mistakes, and figure out what you did wrong and then make any necessary corrections on your own, the more proficient you will become.