Let's start a little bit community life in here.
I'm new to Red Faction, but i'd like to begin the creation of my first mod.
Unfortunately the net does not provide much information or at least it's hard to get about editing RF.

So guys. What about a list for recommended tools?

.VPP
VPPBLD32 - Extract and build .vpp files
VPVIEW32_20 (includes TBLVIEW32) - Preview .wav, .pcx, .tga, .ani and .vbm files from any .vpp

.TBL
ConTEXT - For .tbl files

Audio
Audacity - Free, open source software for recording and editing sounds

GFX & Modeling
3D Studio Max 4.2 or 5.0
Adobe Photoshop

Map Editor
You can use RED which comes with the game or you apply the Pure Faction 3.0 patch and use the Pure Faction RED

I'd recommend ConTEXT for tbl editing & Photoshop for graphics editing.

If you want to do any modeling work for RF, you need a copy of 3D Studio Max v 4.2 or 5.0 (newer versions are incompatible with the RF plugins).

The RFToolKit has plenty of very useful tools as well.

Depending on how in-depth you want to go with modding sounds, the free Audacity is good for a start.

does anyone know where to get 3D Studio Max 4.2 or 5.0 ???

Really, the only way to get a copy of 4.2 or 5.0 now would be to find it on amazon or something from a warehouse, or get a copy from someone who has it.