XSI for HL2 released

I'm sure some of you have seen this, but I wanted to point it out to those who may not browse around much. Softimage XSI HL2 version has been released to the public....so go to fileplanet, get a ticket, and wait it out. With the way this industry is going, learning multiple high-end 3d packages is a must...may as well get a head start.

http://www.softimage.com/products/exp/hl2/download/exp_hl2/default2.asp

Downloading, suddenly my interest in learning to model has spiked again.

You may prefer to download from fileshack [ http://www.fileshack.com/file.x?fid=4649 ] - it was going to be a 40 minute wait for me on fileplanet, but only a 1 minute wait over on fileshack.

I think, as the first of the offical HL2 tools available, this should be put on the main page as site news (by lep as proper news as opposed to members news).

meh. It's not like you guys couldn't have been learning XSI all this time. I doubt the "HL2 version" is much more than XSI + a few exporter functions and info on making models HL2 compatible. this is a 'HL2 mod tool' that's basically been out for years...?

This one is free. :razz:

Jinx said:
meh. It's not like you guys couldn't have been learning XSI all this time. I doubt the "HL2 version" is much more than XSI + a few exporter functions and info on making models HL2 compatible. this is a 'HL2 mod tool' that's basically been out for years...?

Only problem is that there's no free/learning edition and that the standard version is over $7,000 right now because it's on sale, normally it goes for $11,000. Due to the few people that actually have it for their own personal use, even getting it through less than legitimate means is a pain.

I just realized something, now my only reason to get HL2 has been removed!!! I just wanted to experiment with XSI! When AUT comes out, I'll be washing my hands of Valve completely :biggrin:

I wonder how much it cost valve to make this program free to HL2 mod developers. Or perhaps they pursuaded softimage that if people learn XSI for free now, they will all use the paid for version when they get a job in the industry. I wonder if the stuff produced with this free version has some kind of code put in it, so that softimage would be able to tell by looking at a model file (or whatever) if the free version of XSI was being used for a retail game...

it probably wont allow plugins other than the hl2 ones, so if people use it for hl2 it doesnt matter because I presume valve have paid for that to be used.

well, you can only save as one format, and the export only goes to a file format that HL2 can read.

..................

Well I take it back, this thing's a buggy ass piece of s**t that can't even remember its own f**king default layout, and won't even allow you to save your own layout. Guess I'm going back to Maya and 3DSMax. On top of that it requires that you run at at least 1280x1024, and my comp won't go that high!!! It worked once when I first started it up, but now it doesn't work at all. Well, this was certainly a waste of time and HD space. They had better clean it up soon.

heh guess I'll be sticking with learning Maya PLE

Nice to see Valve don't wait around in plying mod developers to carry them through for another 5 years.

OR AT LEAST THEY HOPE SO!

Edge Damodred said:
well, you can only save as one format, and the export only goes to a file format that HL2 can read.

..................

Well I take it back, this thing's a buggy ass piece of s**t that can't even remember its own f**king default layout, and won't even allow you to save your own layout. Guess I'm going back to Maya and 3DSMax. On top of that it requires that you run at at least 1280x1024, and my comp won't go that high!!! It worked once when I first started it up, but now it doesn't work at all. Well, this was certainly a waste of time and HD space. They had better clean it up soon.

Don't blame XSI when you're using a computer that doesn't even go to that resolution.

As for learning how to use the thing, well, I'm getting there.

Gmax for me :smile:

yeah, I would have expected Edge to have at least a decent 19" monitor considering the amount of time he spends doing game stuff. it really helps having the extra space, when I went from 17" to 19" while using WorldCraft it was like heaven.

though that IS a pretty demanding resolution. a lot of people still have 17" monitors and I'm not sure all of them go that high, at least not with a decent refresh rate & clarity.

I'd be willing to bet that Softimage jumped at the chance to link their product with the #1 first person shooter in the Genre (yes..debatable). If anything, I would think Softimage paid Valve. Seeding the amateur community with your software, is the strategy that made Max so successful. If HL2 is as successful as HL1, this merger will be gold for Softimage.

my hopes for HL2, someone takes the time to make the stuff, largely to have gone un-noticed up to now..

many cities have been made, but no fire hydrants, no post boxes, no news paper vending machines... nothing one would overlook in a real city has been made for maps.

i wanna see a piece of paper, blowing in the wind, down a city street..

Jinx said:
lot of people still have 17" monitors and I'm not sure all of them go that high, at least not with a decent refresh rate & clarity.

:0 I dunno who these people are, but ive only ever had a 15"

you gotta be f**king kidding me :eek:

why on earth do you have such a tiny one

Same here too :sad: Stuck with this crappy 15in. And I just don't have the moolah to upgrade. What a waste of a GF4 eh?

i dunno what kind of 17" monitors you have, or have seen jinxy, but all 4 of mine can easily handle the 1280x1024, even my most cheap brand..

i have a 19, or even a 21 on my "to get" list, but a 17" screen is not substandard equipment in the least.

i bought a 17" compaq from the salvation army 3 weeks ago for $10.00 .. you can get a good refurbished 19" for about 100 bucks

Same here too :sad: Stuck with this crappy 15in. And I just don't have the moolah to upgrade. What a waste of a GF4 eh?

Sell me your bike. :biggrin:

Alien_Sniper said:

Same here too :sad: Stuck with this crappy 15in. And I just don't have the moolah to upgrade. What a waste of a GF4 eh?

Sell me your bike. :biggrin:

you couldn't afford the air in the tires dave

It's hosted at wavelength too http://articles.thewavelength.net/506/] No queues and I'm getting it at 50k too

Alien_Sniper said:
It's hosted at wavelength too http://articles.thewavelength.net/506/] No queues and I'm getting it at 50k too

don't suppose i should tell you i have kazaa running, and torrent on one comp and downloading this file link you posted at 145k should i dave?

/runs

dunno if this has been mentioned yet, but aliens link, has another link to change the res from 1280x1024 as the minimum, to 1024x768 for more normalcy

I hope that this modeler is easer than milkscape, I never got how it worked very well. Maybe now this will rekindle the HL2 fire.

omegaslayer4777 said:
I hope that this modeler is easer than milkscape, I never got how it worked very well. Maybe now this will rekindle the HL2 fire.

if being easier to use than milkshape would rekindle your fire, you'd better get a coat, 'cuz it's gonna be cold.

fishy said:

omegaslayer4777 said:
I hope that this modeler is easer than milkscape, I never got how it worked very well. Maybe now this will rekindle the HL2 fire.

if being easier to use than milkshape would rekindle your fire, you'd better get a coat, 'cuz it's gonna be cold.

at this moment, he is confused as to how to run adaware, his outlook on a modeling future is quite dismal

(Scripts are not allowed!)
(Scripts are not allowed!)
Lep its doint it again, what gives???

Orpheus said:

fishy said:

omegaslayer4777 said:
I hope that this modeler is easer than milkscape, I never got how it worked very well. Maybe now this will rekindle the HL2 fire.

if being easier to use than milkshape would rekindle your fire, you'd better get a coat, 'cuz it's gonna be cold.

at this moment, he is confused as to how to run adaware, his outlook on a modeling future is quite dismal

(Scripts are not allowed!) (Scripts are not allowed!) Lep its doint it again, what gives???

Whatever

fishy said:

omegaslayer4777 said:
I hope that this modeler is easer than milkscape, I never got how it worked very well. Maybe now this will rekindle the HL2 fire.

if being easier to use than milkshape would rekindle your fire, you'd better get a coat, 'cuz it's gonna be cold.

Yup it is cold in here, in fact its colder, i took one look at that thing and I slammed my head on the keyboard.

I got this program, but I don't quite know why...

Hehe, ditto :smile:

You want it so you can build better HL1 maps, and HL2 when it comes out. :biggrin:

Alien_Sniper said:

Same here too :sad: Stuck with this crappy 15in. And I just don't have the moolah to upgrade. What a waste of a GF4 eh?

Sell me your bike. :biggrin:

Eh, no. I still have a bit of a real life left.

fraggard said:
Eh, no. I still have a bit of a real life left.

Real eh? So give me your 'puter :biggrin:

Hmm, comes across to me as a bit difficult to use. At least the user interface isn't as bad as Blender, though. Perhaps I'm just too used to 3DS Max/Milkshape style interfaces. But anyway... Seems fairly powerful, assuming XSI will support it with a community and updates.

For the record, I have a 15" monitor because I have a laptop. And the program does run at 1024x768, it just bitches that it should be higher. That still doesn't solve the f**k up with loosing its default layout. And it's not the monitor which is locking the res, it's the vid card because someone else has almost the same laptop, except a bit higher vid card, but still has a 15" monitor.

As for all that space needed for game stuff, I'm coding most of the time, if I have too much on screen at once, it all just looses it's meaning. Code's not something you step back and look at a distance, otherwise it all becomes one big blur of things that don't make sense. You have to zoom in a look at it component by component. It'd be nice to have a bigger screen for modeling/mapping, but I get by with what I got.

Fortunately someone has already solved the problem... or at least attempted to. Batch file download to start the program up I'm afraid, but hey, its better than nothing.
http://forum.softimage.com/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=1262

btw, I'm on 1024 x 768 as well!

This program is going to be buggy. This may take some time...

For those of you with no experience in high-end 3d packages, this may seem a little overwhelming at first. I know that 3dsMax was for me. Luckily, I was forced to learn it at the Art Institute in a structured format, so I got past the steep beginners curve. Now, I am using 3dsMax at work to for my level design, and I must say, once I got as effecient in using it, as I was with Worldcraft, I wouldn't want to go back. Having the depth of tools that these packages offer is a necessity for creating the amazing levels that games are pushing nowdays.

Just start with some simple tutorials, and learn the basic transformation tools. Use snaps and stick to the grid. Before you know it, you will feel like you are right at home, in some jacked up version of Worldcraft.