While searching around, I found these tuts for 3dsMax that are actually made for beginners, rather than starting out "I'll assume you have a basicknowledge of 3dsMax..." ;)
This one is a very basic one, covers every click you need to make, etc... (in other words, perfect for me)
It was made for warcraft 3, but the same basic principals apply: http://www.fulgrim.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=1619

This one is also basic, but it covers a lot of stuff....you can make a dresser!
http://67.15.36.49/team/Tutorials/colin-barnette/part1.asp

This one's more advanced, but it covers character creation from start to finish. The character is way more detailed than we need (4500 polys), but you can simplify it much more- we don't need no stinkin' thumbs :rolleyes:
http://67.15.36.49/team/Tutorials/benmathis/benmathis_1.asp

None of these cover how to export the models to Civ, obviously, but there are other guides on this forum for that. Also, they don't cover animation either.

I'm working my way through them now. Hope this helps the other noobies. (Anyone else find any good basic guides? Post em)


oops, meant to post in tut section, can someone move it?