yeah when i work on something i usually use the date+alpha revisions.. so.... ModelName_12.19.2011.a
i think for my CVN there's 940+ MAX Files. and thats just counting the last 3 years of work, prior to that is all in a RAR on a backup drive.
i also hate now sometimes your edit or move vertices on one mesh, and another mesh effs up in 2009, sometimes i get random "Black Meshes" when i move stuff around, a random mesh will go black in max and in game, no matter how many times i apply a material.
i think i started abusing Boolean for rounded cuts, but over 50% of the time the smoothing gets botched, still trying to figure what causes it, as I can CTRL-Zed, and pick Operand B again and the 2nd time through will be fine with no changes.
if the object i need to cut has flat edges (ie speedbrake/gear doors.), i position the vertices in the corners, and detach/clone the faces for the object and its bay.