3ds Max 201 is notorious for gamma mismatches. Load a normal map without turning off "Auto Gamma"? Your render is ruined. v1810 automatically assigns the correct gamma:

It was the last version developed without breaking changes for the Max 201 API. Newer loaders (v2000+) drop support for Max 201 entirely. Thus, for anyone forced to stay on Max 201, v1810 is the definitive end-game texture loader.