The live stream I did last Monday generated a lot of questions, so here is some specific information about the tools that I use and how they fit into modding.
Qubicle Constructor
I use the Master Edition of this program, because I need to export data both to get the model into Stonehearth and to animate using 3DS Max. The Master Edition is $79. Apparently at some point I said that you could use the free version of the program to make mods for Stonehearth, but if I did that is NOT correct. You can use the free version to play around with voxels, but the free version does not support exporting data.
We are in the very early stages of defining tools, and will let you know more when we’ve nailed down some plans. We would like to find a way for you to use Qubicle Constructor, maybe with a special Stonehearth edition. Such a program would probably not be free, since the people ad minddesk need to eat too!
3DS Max
I use 3DS Max to animate. That is a very expensive program. I can tell you 100% that we will not require 3DS Max for animation! Our animations are stored in simple text files in a very straight-forward file format. It should be very easy for someone familiar with an open-source tool like Blender to write a script that exports Stonehearth animations