Hi Everyone,
I've added export support for the '3ds' mesh file to the latest build of L3DT, which is v2.7 build 18, and is now available from the downloads page. To export the heightmap and texture to a 3DS file, use the 'File->Export->Export to 3DS with texture' menu option.
Please note that the 3DS file format is limited to 32k vertices and triangles. Since the raw terrain would normally consist of millions of triangles, the the 3DS plugin will always call the mesh decimator plugin to help you reduce the terrain triangle count. When using the mesh decimator, be sure to increase the max error value until the triangle count is less than 32k.
Please let me know if you find any problems.
Cheerio,
Aaron.
PS: Kudos and thanks to Jan Eric Kyprianidis for writing and making available the marvellous open-source lib3ds, which is used by the new L3DTio_3DS plugin.