Battlefield 1942 Mods, Modding Tutorials & Forums

Hello all, I am new to the forums. I used to make little fun mods for bf1942 about 6 or 7 years ago and it's been a while. I've searched high and low on the net for a place like this forum just for help and thank you!! THANKS!!!
First off, I am using autodesk 3ds max 2010 for modeling and photoshop for my texturing, as i've said before, its been about 6 years and i am just getting back into the modding biz. I checked fo0k's post for the modelling tools for 3ds max and I cant seem to get them to work...
I've modelled a M4 carbine to replace the BAR1918..
Sadly I have almost "forgotten" how to do everything and anything according to bf1942...
my questions are as follows?

is there an model/animation importer/exporter for 3ds max 2010?? The files in fo0k's post would IMPORT the models, but it says there was a runtime error when trying to EXPORT them...
Also, I'd need help in terms of naming the actual gun "m4" as apposed to just replacing the BAR1918
Any tips on texturing/animating/ .con-ing the m4 rifle??

Heres a little picture for you guys =D

Again thank you for any help!!

Well AFAIK you can't export models for any battlefield game with anything below Max9 but I definitely could be wrong. But make sure (assuming you don't want to re-animate the entire thing) that you place and scale the m4 model to perfectly fit the BAR's clip and handle/trigger area to keep proper animations. Weapons in BF is always a fun time..

But before you make a whole new weapon (bf wise), just (and only in your mod obviously) replace the BAR's geometry with your new one, and once you've got that fine tuned then start replacing the weapon name and all that! Hope some of this helps!

welcome..!

You should absolutely use 3dmax 7.
This was the last version that the tools were designed to work with. I'll use 2010 for rendering but all bf things happen in 7 for sure

Yes definitely get Max 8 or older to run the old Battlefield scripts. BF2 stuff can be done with Max 9 (never used Max 10, so I don't know about BF2 compatibility with Max 10). Max 9 is best at rendering lightmaps, but the MDT tools won't work with it.

Ooh so I need 7. So much for paying for the latest technology ...
Its almost impossible to find plugins for this program and I'm extremely frustrated to say the least..
So am I hopeless?

no idea how you would buy max 7 these days (maybe its very easy..?).. There are copies around..
2010 is fast for rendering.. with multicore support n all that.. but to mod 42.. get 7 (or 8.. I was thinking 7 was the most recent compatible one but then did doubt myself whilst sat on the pot this morning.)

you will also find millions of plugins with it being older..

2010 was not wasted money..! it is an awesome piece of software.

thanks fo0k i appreciate the help
Im gonna look into getting 7
..If I have anymore questions I'll be comin to you fellas!

Okay guys! just another update:
I am going to use Gmax for all my modeling needs as the MDT plugins work great with that.

Now can someone point me to a direction of good weapons skinning, animating and importing to bf tutorials?
Thank you!