So I'm looking at two things. I've thoroughly designed two games I'd possibly want to persue, however, graphics play a large part and I wouldn't do one unless I was sure I could get the effect that I wanted. With that said, each game calls for a different world. 1)Large, believable terrains. 2)Dungeon, Subway, creepy places. Are there any modelling/software art programs I could purchase for either of these? Either way, my maps need to be big, but I want the best quality for them. Oh, and in case this helps, I'm an indie who doesn't have a lot of cash Thanks, Massive-war

well "1)Large, believable terrains." mainly depends on your engine not your modeling software.
and the rest can be modeled in any modeling package (i don't see why not), for a person on a budget there is;
1.) Silo
2.) Milk Shape 3d
3.) Blender (this ones free i believe)
4.) Wings3d

the rest (the ones i know atleast) cost $1,000 or more.

So next question.... if I wanted to make dungeons, caverns, and somewhat darker places (for a creepy ass game), and I wouldn't necessarily need a ton of detail (like doom3 overdid it with the high-tech graphics.... I wouldn't need that), what should I go with?

I mean as far as learning curve, style, etc.... so I don't get bored. What should I realistically go with?

Thanks again,

Massive-war

I'm also a programmer, so I need something that will work and I can make progress in.

I'm more of a visual person when I program, so unless I see something that I'm working towards, my ambition is lost.

Do you understand? I need something that can show me results, and it doesn't have to be 3DS max because I don't need that much detail.

Massive-war

This is a really huge decision to trust entirely to the opinion of a couple people on a forum. I'm not saying you are, just that you should not. (Granted, the people who do respond are most likely quite experienced, don't downplay their words either, just be certain you make an informed decision based on personal research as well as other people's suggestions.)

That said, I'll contribute another thing to look into. A really nice package I've seen lately is Ogre3d I'd suggest taking a look at their site. It's an engine, not content creation, but it's well-featured and well-documented.

Ogre3d

You can also do some relatively quick terrain generation based on heightmaps mixed with water and nice tree methods and a neat sky which would probably be easier than making a dungeon generator to do the same thing (large world creation that is.) I say this mainly because I have seen a lot of terrain tutorials, but not a lot of dungeon tutorials and map-making adds another level of complexity that an open world doesn't usually have.

There are some tutorials located right here on gamedev.net if you poke around the tutorial section, or you can check google.

Good luck.

Thank you.

I think my deal is I've NEVER done any artwork... in my entire life.

So I think at this point I'm just hoping for ideas on what to do. However, I've taken into consideration your thoughs, and I thank you for them.

And, (un)fortunately, I've decided to go with the dungeon approach (design of the actual game should be easier), so now I'm going to have to look for something for that aspect.

Later,

Massive-war

Modeling the insides of buildings was much harder than I imagined. Fun, once I got into it, though. You really have to look after every detail, and it's those small little things that really make the difference... like, molding, pipes, fuse boxes, whatever breaks up the wall.

As far as you're concerned here, most of what made Doom 3 so detailed were the textures. If you haven't done artwork before, then these probably aren't going to be D3 level anyhow. It can take a lot of time for each texture to make them look good. Every single little bit of every level has to be created (or stolen, if you're into that). You *can* use free libraries (and I suggest this to you), but just know that it won't be as 'custom' as you might want.

But M2tM is right. Heightmaps are so much easier to do.