I know that once this comes out I will be modding it like crazy, and to be honest I want to get a head start on learning how to. I am very used to 3ds/gmax, so I would enjoy learning over this summer the modelling program that 0ad supports. Basically, what modelling program do most of the people working on this use? Thanks. By the way I love the screenshots that are coming out. They look great.

Oh and before I forget, will the models use animated skeletons that attach to the models? Thanks for the response!

Try Blender. It is cool and is free.

We're using 3dsmax with a custom made script so we can export models in our own format (.pmd, for pyrogenisis model) that supports the propping/actor system of the game. Prop points are used to designate points and the orientation of these points on a model so that other objects (called actors in the game) can be attatched to them. This all is fairly straightforward and will likely be put out with tutorials when the game is released. Otherwise the modelling itself is mostly done in 3dsmax. Gmax would work too.

If you're going to learn modelling I highly recommend mastering texturing and becomming profficient in photoshop too, as these skills go hand in hand and if they both are exceptional they seperate the excellent artist from the decent artist.

Thanks for the info. I need to learn gimp because I dont have the money for photoshop.

I hate blender. The interface is so complicated it wasnted worth it. I tried it a year ago. Thanks for the suggestion though!

It doesn't let you do everything its big brother can do but you may want to look at Photoshop Elements (im pretty sure there's a trial version on adobes site).

(The photoshop hotkeys are usually the best way in it, rather than trawl your way through all the menus).

That's the old (current) method - the new (future, once we've sorted out all the remaining issues, I hope) method is that we export standard COLLADA files instead. There are widely-used COLLADA exporters for 3ds Max, XSI, Blender, Google SketchUp, and most other modelling programs. Then the game will just load those files (and automatically convert them into the more efficient internal PMD format, but you should never need to know about that).

I've tested this with animated skeletal models from 3ds Max and XSI, and with static meshes from Blender, and it seems to work in all of them, so you should be fairly free to choose whichever program you prefer

So Blender will work fine? That is really good to hear.