Starfield Mod:Setting up 3ds Max 2021 for Starfield

This guide will bring you through setting up 3ds Max for making meshes for Starfield.

Prerequisites

• 3ds Max 2021 installed
  • This can be tricky to get ahold of, however license holders can reach out to Autodesk support for the link
• Starfield\Tools\ArtTools\BGS_Starfield_ArtTools_a.b.c.d.exe installed

Ini Setup

NOTE: Skipping this step will result in the Collision Materials not loading in 3ds Max

1. Go to %LOCALAPPDATA%\Autodesk/3dsMax\2021 - 64bit\ENU\en-US\plugcfg
2. Create a new text file and name it BSToolSettings.ini
3. Add the following content to the file, below is a template, along with an example
Template

[Config]
ConfigFilesDir=C:\Users\<YOUR USERNAME>\AppData\Local\Autodesk\3dsMax\2021 - 64bit\ENU\en-US\plugcfg\BGS\Configs

[Materials]
LocalSourcePath=<PATH TO STARFIELD>\Source
LocalDataPath=<PATH TO STARFIELD>\Data

Example

[Config]
ConfigFilesDir=C:\Users\ARealUsername\AppData\Local\Autodesk\3dsMax\2021 - 64bit\ENU\en-US\plugcfg\BGS\Configs

[Materials]
LocalSourcePath=C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\Starfield\Source
LocalDataPath=C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\Starfield\Data

4. Save the file

Toolbar Setup

Now we'll add the the exporter to the 3ds Max toolbar for ease of access.

1. Open 3ds Max 2021
2. In the Max menubar navigate to Customize → Customize User Interface
3. Click the Toolbars tab
4. Set Group to Main UI and Category to Bethesda
5. Drag and Drop Open Bethesda FBX Export Tool to the toolbar
6. The toolbar should now have these two options:

Setting up Utilities

1. First we'll want to setup the CollisionGroup utility, start by clicking Utilities on the right side of 3ds Max
2. Click Configure Button Sets
3. Set Total Buttons to 9 and drag CollisionGroup under BGS Utility in Utilities

Adding the collision group