Back in March 2006, Google bought up a small company in Colorado that made 3D software. I already had a copy of this software for other reasons. As soon as I heard the news about google, I had a pretty good idea as to what was coming next.
A few months later they made it free! (normally $500)
This was an ideal opportunity to do something to replace the potential loss of gMax with a very simple tool. I was already learning the Ruby scripting language that was required for plugins.
About 2 months ago (May 2006) I started on the MSTS exporter, it was beta tested over a few weeks and I released it 1st July
Sketchup is a 3D tool with a very different user interface and toolset. It was designed for architectural modelling and not for 3D game models, consequently it has a few limitations.
However, for simple models it is very easy for novices to learn and produce models quickly - ideal for scenery in train simulators.
The main limitations are the lack of support for animations and very little control over polygon counts.
These are outweighed by ease of use. 3D modelling is fun with this tool - enjoy the plugin.
Download the free version of Sketchup from here : Sketchup Download
Download the plugin V1.0, 1st July 2006 here: SU2TS10.ZIP (18Kb)
Download the plugin V1.1, 4th August 2006 here: SU2TS11.ZIP (19Kb)
Download the plugin V1.2.1, 21st Feb 2008 here: SU2TS12.ZIP (19Kb) - Fixed missing first letter from texture
Download the plugin V2.0 Updated 28th Nov 2008 here: SU2TS20.ZIP (24Kb) - Mip bias, large primitives and LOD's plus other small fixes. Fixed glossmap export