Modding for Youngsters

[indyjones2131]

I know a fella whose 9 year old kid wants to get into 3d modeling and game editing.

1) Is he too young?

2) What programs would he need or would be best for his age?

3) Would FarCry be easier to play with than HL2?

Thanks guys.

 

[The Dark Elf]

Never too young to start, though his attention span might not be good enough for the amount of work involved in those things. Best bet is get the guy to download a free version of some software and see how his kid goes with those, no point spending thousands on a 9 year old, it'll probably get bored a week later and want a bike or rollerblades instead.

 

[indyjones2131]

I'm pretty sure you're right about the attention span thing. I'd venture to say that he really just wants to make simple 3d models - the whole game modding thing would be years later. What is the best/cheapest 3d model program outhere for the new comer?

 

[Jackathan]

You can find tons of freeware programs online, just look for some, and see if any are what you want.

 

[babywax]

Try softimage, not only is the free version well suited for HL2, but if he ever wants to buy it it's the cheapest.

 

[Ames]

Never too young. I have a 8 year old brother who's getting started.

Cheap slave labor.

 

[thereisaspoon]

modeling is the hardest thing to do art wise. You have to memorize the program, know a lot of theory and have good artistic talent. I'd give him hammer and tell him how to make a brush.

but if u really want to model, try milkshape. the interface can be read by a retard. a 9 year old shouldnt have too many problems

 

[Xonze]

A good free program to start with modeling would be Wings3D. I learned how to model using this program, and imho its one of the best modelers out there. It doesn't have animation, and its texturing setup is a bit hard to understand, but if he wants to use modeling it will do very well.

www.wings3d.com

 

[Ebenol]

Being 9 years old shouldn't be a problem. I taught my brother Milkshape and Qoole when he was nine and I wrote tons of QBasic programs when I was nine.

 

[natez0r]

im not sure what language hl2 is in but Far cry scripting is done in LUA, so you might want to stick with HL2 might be easier

 

[nbk]

It is very possible for him to do that at a young age. If he saves his money, he should get himself some books.

Also, take a look at Ebenol's post. Learning BASIC is very, very fun for kids.

 

[corebreach]

Give him gmax. It's free and based off of the widely used 3ds max which I can personally recommend. 3ds max skills are marketable and not too hard to learn!

 

[Automatic Kafka]

Give him UT2004 and let him play with UEd