Hmm, I think maybe mine was loading a bitmap of the same name too, I made a new file in a seperate directory specifically to test this and it imported to db untextured, like you say.
Here's the solution anyhow, it's only two extra lines of code:
load object "test.3ds",1
load image "test.jpg",1
texture object 1,1
Why not just use a bitmap anyway? jpg compression will seriously mess with any transparencies you might want, as it introduces artifacts at the transitions between 2 colors. VanB's suggestion is a good one also, would load faster as an .x file
Basically though, a bitmap is the most "honest" way to store an image, there is no compression, and the file is organised just like a chunk of memory, it will compress in a rar/zip file, down to about the size of a .jpg if you're worried about distribution
ZX Spectrum 48k Issue 3, Radio shack Tape drive, Rank arena 12" T.V. set.