Tools needed or tools that will make creating a RPG game easier

I have the free edition of 3d gamestudio,

I have Gimp for sprites ect.
I have blender for modeling.

I am new at 3d modeling and graphics.. what software would make my life easier in do these

thanks

Gimp is perfect but I think blender is to heavy for a beginner or a casual-modeler.
You could try Wings 3D, which is free.
Silo 3D is a very effient modeling tool imo but it´s not free.
There is a 30 days trial version of course which you can try.

Is there any modelers that have base modeles that are ment for you to change? That is what I think Daz 3d is? will that be a better one than blender for begginers?

ok say I have a budget of $500 for all the software. $200 of that will be for 3d gamestudio comercial verson. that leaves me with $300 would you spend that on Silo 3d which is $160? that would leave me $140 for any other software I need.

Have a look at several beginners tutorials of the various modelling tools on youtube or vimeo.
Try the tutorials of blender as well - maybe, it fits with your way of thinking and isn't difficult to you at all.

I'm a huge fan of Wings 3D, but mostly because its written in Erlang and Erlang is just a totally awesome language (which is totally unsuited to create user interface). But yeah, thats how I as a programmer see it and while I really hate Blender for many things (most of them related to its License and UI), the reality is that you should look into Blender if you are serious about modeling.

I would not invest in Silo. It is basically dead (i.e. has not really been in development for a long, long time). Instead, despite how "heavy" it is to learn, get Blender for free. There are plenty of tutorials out there (that are also free) and so you can learn the program. It is also full-featured, so you will be able to model, UV map, render and animate ... all for free. Modeling is tough, no matter which 3D program you use (free or otherwise). It takes work to get it down and it takes even more work to create models for real-time 3D games.

+1 to what rs3d said. i had silo never really used it, thn gave it away to some one. i use blender now.

Ok what about any other tools or add ons to those that will make it easier?

Try Blender !
it's free, complete, and now a little more easy to use
It has all solid modeling features + all animation tools you would need.

Try this.
http://sketchup.google.com/
But, as already mentioned, there is no easy way, if you are serious on modelling.
Even MED is sort of complicated - simply, because not every single step is obvious. Wings3D has been already mentioned.

My 15-years old son started to learn Blender only from video tutorials and he made his first textured 3d-game-models in a few days. Also he rendered nice background images, made animations, did some lighting and worked through materials.

So you just need a couple of days following the tutorials, be patient and let the fun be the drive to get you through it.

any others tools that would help? for landscape trees, ect...

so far I got gamestudio free edition, gimp, and blender

tree[d]: 3D Tree generator(free) http://www.frecle.net/index.php?show=treed.about
Sculptris : 3D Sculpting
Audacity, if you need sounds editor
Anvil Studio if you feel like to create your own music...

For a complete list:
http://www.opserver.de/ubb7/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=371873&page=1

If you mainly want to focus on the programming part I'd suggest to spent a part of the money on some dummy model pack, and if the game works out create the final assets.

For modelling I'd go for a program that will do everything you need in one package. Silo is fine but doesn't do animation for example. Modtool is good for beginners.

Softimage Modtool, Truespace or Blender.

Magix Music Maker is the best for music I've found.

Makehuman might be useful to you, if you want a Daz 3D style character creator. It's free.

The Game Creators is a useful site, they have some useful tools and content packs.