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Comprehensive list of game development tools

Discussion in 'Formats & External Tools' started by Vanamerax, Oct 25, 2014.

  1. Vanamerax

    Vanamerax

    Joined:
    Jan 12, 2012
    Posts:
    938
    For the sake of everyone's interest, here is a list of useful tools and applications that help you developing your game:

    Project Management & Collaboration:
    - Trello: Team management and project planning
    - JIRA Agile: Project management
    - Pivotal Tracker: Per Project management, has a task point system and completion velocity tracking. Free for one user
    - Wigio: A free online group collaboration program
    - Base Camp: Project management and file sharing tool
    - Google Hangout: To discuss designs with a distributed team
    - IceScrum: Free and open source agile development tool for teams
    - Target Process: Web based Scrum/Kanban tool, free up to 5 users
    - Evernote: is great to easily write your game idea, code idea .. everything!
    - Pointing Poker: Free tool for agile team development

    Diagram / Graph drawing:
    - Lucidchart: Online program to draw graphs (technology trees or diagalogues)
    - yEd Graph Editor: Free cross platform graph editor
    - Dia: A free program to easily draw graphs (technology trees or diagalogues)
    - FreeMind: Free Mind Mapping Software. If you don't know what mind mapping is I highly recommend you learn!

    Writing:
    - CelTX: Free web-based scriptwriting tool
    - Scrivener: Writing tool

    Image Editing:
    - Photoshop: Probably the most wide-spread option in the game industry
    - GIMP: Free alternative to photoshop, with plenty of features!
    - Inkscape: To draw mock-ups of UI's in real-time using Google Hangout
    - Paint.Net: Intended as a free replacement to the basic Paint program in Windows
    - XnView: Free program batch process images for file conversion
    - Krita Free painting program
    - Paint tool saï Painting program (windows only, easy to use, great for color blending)

    Texturing :
    - Substance designer/painter procedural/particles/paint texturing tools
    - Quixel suite (ndo/ddo) photoshop plugins for textures.

    3D Modelling & Animation:
    - Anim8or: Free Very easy-to-use 3D modeling program.
    - Blender: Free 3D modeling with lots of great features
    - 3ds Max: 3D software for modelling, rigging, animating and rendering
    - Maya: 3D software for modelling, rigging, animating and rendering
    - Akeytsu: Character animation & Rigging software
    - Adobe Fuse: Easy character creation and animation software, part of the creative cloud suite
    - Mixamo: Huge animation store with thousands of humanoid animations to be used in Unity

    3D sculpting :
    - Zbrush Probably the most wide spread sculpting program.
    - Mudbox Sculpting/3Dpainting Autodesk program.
    - 3D coat Sculpting/3Dpainting, great for retopo.

    Audio:
    - Audacity: Free Audio Editing & Recording Software
    - MixCraft: DAW for creating music

    Screen Capturing:
    - ScreenPresso: For capturing screen shots, design ideas, gameplay, mockups, errors, ...
    - Puush: Capture screenshots of active window or a selectable area, automatically copies link
    - CloudShot: Screen capturing addon for dropbox

    File Sharing:
    - Dropbox: get up to 50GB for free when also installing the app on your smartphone! Also automatically syncs local files between multiple devices
    - OneDrive: get 15GB for free with your Microsoft account
    - Google Drive: get 15GB for free with your Google account (but online created documents dont use this free space)

    Misc:
    - NormalMap Online: Online free normal mapping tool
    - TeamCity: continuous integration solution
    - Articy: Draft: All-in-one game design tool
    - TortoiseSVN: Free Source Control for Windows
    - xnormal free, bakes normals maps/AO/curvatures/ etc ... from high poly
    - lazynezumi plugin for lots of apps, smooth lines, perspective drawing tool.

    Oh, and don't forget that the old pen & paper also are extremely useful game design tools!

    If you have any suggestions, please comment and I'll add them to the list! :D

    Note: this list was originally created
     
    Last edited: Oct 22, 2016
    SnowInChina, Skorn, hubert322 and 2 others like this.
  2. AndrewGrayGames

    AndrewGrayGames

    Joined:
    Nov 19, 2009
    Posts:
    3,821
    Version control is not on this list! It makes me sad, so I'm going to fix that for you.

    http://tortoisesvn.net/ - SVN client that integrates directly into your Windows desktop.
    https://code.google.com/p/tortoisegit/ - GIT versioning system that integrates directly into your Windows desktop.
    http://www.visualsvn.com/server/ - A SVN servier that runs on apache, under windows. Easy to use!
    http://www.plasticscm.com/home.html - Plastic SCM, a distributed versioning system most suitable for large projects.
     
  3. Dustin-Horne

    Dustin-Horne

    Joined:
    Apr 4, 2013
    Posts:
    4,568
    Also, if you're serious about running an agile team, especially if you work with any remote team members, pointing poker is a must.:
    https://www.pointingpoker.com/

    It's free (donation supported). There are similar options but this one is really slick and its the only one in aware of that also does retro.
     
  4. pixoloco

    pixoloco

    Joined:
    Dec 22, 2011
    Posts:
    47
    Image Editing :
    - Krita Free painting program
    - Paint tool saï Painting program (windows only, easy to use, great for color blending)

    3D sculpting :
    - Zbrush Probably the most wide spread sculpting program.
    - Mudbox Sculpting/3Dpainting Autodesk program.
    - 3D coat Sculpting/3Dpainting, great for retopo.

    Texturing :
    - Substance designer/painter procedural/particles/paint texturing tools
    - Quixel suite (ndo/ddo) photoshop plugins for textures.

    Misc :
    - xnormal free, bakes normals maps/AO/curvatures/ etc ... from high poly
    - lazynezumi plugin for lots of apps, smooth lines, perspective drawing tool.
     
    AndrewGrayGames likes this.
  5. GarBenjamin

    GarBenjamin

    Joined:
    Dec 26, 2013
    Posts:
    7,441
    I just spent tonight's dev session, 2 and 1/2 hours, creating two "old school" style bitmapped pixel-art fonts with 82 characters each.

    If anyone happens to know of any bitmapped font utility that might be a cool thing to add to this list. I actually got two Windows fonts but had to clean up every one of the characters because at the font sizes of 12 and 8 with no anti-aliasing they were fairly distorted.

    It is crazy how much time the graphics side of game development takes. ;)
     
    Razeen_AG likes this.
  6. ryschawy

    ryschawy

    Joined:
    Jul 28, 2012
    Posts:
    65
    If it wasn't for the music I wouldn't have started game development. Please add Reaper. Best DAW.
     
    AndrewGrayGames likes this.
  7. ACharrier

    ACharrier

    Joined:
    Jul 7, 2015
    Posts:
    39
    Hi and thanks for this list!
    You can add akeytsu concerning 3D character animation and rigging ;-)
    Cheers,
     
  8. animaguy

    animaguy

    Joined:
    Dec 10, 2015
    Posts:
    32
    This an great list. Thanks for posting it.
     
  9. mhweiner234

    mhweiner234

    Joined:
    Aug 3, 2016
    Posts:
    1
    You can also check out Ciro (https://ciroapp.com). It's a lightweight Agile alternative to JIRA/Asana. It's task and tag based, which makes it really easy to keep track of individual tasks, sort them by priority/effort, and search for them later. For example, a tag can be a theme (ie. bug, feature, backend) or a part of your app (like Feature: Checkout), a status, or anything. Keyboard shortcuts are awesome, because you can create and search for tags really quick without using the mouse at all.
     
  10. the_Bad_Brad

    the_Bad_Brad

    Joined:
    Nov 2, 2014
    Posts:
    278
    I use MixCraft to make some music for my game, from orchestral, electronic, drum and bass to suspense, horror and ambient music.
     
  11. DroidifyDevs

    DroidifyDevs

    Joined:
    Jun 24, 2015
    Posts:
    1,724
    By the way how did Mixamo's animations and Adobe Fuse charachter maker not get in this list?

    MY art skills are absolute trash, but with Mixamo and Adobe Fuse I was able to create an athletic character that I needed in under 10 minutes, with no need to read docs or do tutorials. From all the art tools I've tried, Mixamo and Fuse impressed me the most with their simplicity but incredible power, all for free. Browsing the Mixamo Store, you can gets lots of animations and characters for free.

    @wasstraat65 PLEASE add Mixamo and Adobe Fuse to the list!
     
  12. nukeD

    nukeD

    Joined:
    Feb 12, 2009
    Posts:
    411
    For sculpting Sculptris is great, Pixologic bought it but they keep it free, it supports automatic UV mapping, texture painting and poly reduction... i dont think that it would replace an entire pipeline, but the painted sculpts can be imported in Silo, Blender or 3D Coat for retopo, baking and rigging!
    (I know 3D Coat is much better, but its also much more complicated)
    I did this with it, and i'm not talented at all (never sculpted before)
     
    BrandyStarbrite likes this.
  13. AlanMattano

    AlanMattano

    Joined:
    Aug 22, 2013
    Posts:
    1,501
    3D I use Rhino3D since is powerful for making complex Ship, Cars boats and aeroplanes with much control of the surface. Also "Alias" that is different from Maya. Also Add "Zbrush Core" and "MayaLT".

    Add a section for version controll and add Unity services
    Also a section for multiplayer and servers.?
     
  14. nukeD

    nukeD

    Joined:
    Feb 12, 2009
    Posts:
    411
    Check this out people, its the spiritual successor to VoidWorld (Nvil), looks great and its cheapo.
    https://rocket3f.com





    Note: this is a pure modeler, no animation or uv mapping, but has app bridges to 3D Coat, MOI and KeyShot.

    Check out this tut... i'm loving the Fillet thing (and no i dont work for them, or even know them)

     
  15. Pengocat

    Pengocat

    Joined:
    Dec 7, 2016
    Posts:
    140
    Cinema 4D, Cheetah3D and Modo for Modelling and Animation.
     
  16. Patico

    Patico

    Joined:
    May 21, 2013
    Posts:
    886
    What about testing and prototyping?
    Have anyone ideas?
     
  17. TonyLi

    TonyLi

    Joined:
    Apr 10, 2012
    Posts:
    12,670
    These tools are pretty good:


    Paper prototypes!

    (Grabbed at random from this page.)

    Joris Dormans' Machinations Framework is an interesting and more formally theoretical way to model and analyze game mechanics. I recently learned about it from Ernest Adams' and Joris Dormans' very good Game Mechanics book.

    There are also good resources for specific game genres, such as this list of blank card templates for card game design. BTW, you can use cards to prototype a lot more than just traditional card games. You can model most designs that include a mixture of data, randomness, and decision-making.
     
    d1favero, Deleted User and Patico like this.
  18. Patico

    Patico

    Joined:
    May 21, 2013
    Posts:
    886
    That's great, I tried to use Loopy for prototyping game logic, but Machinations Framework looks more suitable for it. Thanx!
    Have any ideas about testing?
     
  19. TonyLi

    TonyLi

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    Apr 10, 2012
    Posts:
    12,670
    I suppose it depends on what kind of testing. Although I haven't used Dormans' Machinations Framework yet, it looks like it could be good for numerical and systems balance testing. For idea testing, I think paper prototypes work great because you can see the testers' expressions in person, and you can quickly change things in response to their feedback. For functionality testing, Unity Test Tools is actually pretty good.

    Maybe others can suggest other testing tools for facilitating and tracking alpha and beta tests?
     
  20. Deleted User

    Deleted User

    Guest

    What about issue tracking? Any (free) software out there?
     
  21. TonyLi

    TonyLi

    Joined:
    Apr 10, 2012
    Posts:
    12,670
    I use Mantis. There may be other good options out there, too, but I've used Mantis for years and I have better things to do than test out new issue tracking packages. Mantis does what I need it to do.
     
    Deleted User likes this.
  22. BrandyStarbrite

    BrandyStarbrite

    Joined:
    Aug 4, 2013
    Posts:
    2,074
    Okay guys.
    For making game music tracks, or OST's, you can also use a free software
    called Lmms. Also known as Linux multimedia studio.
    It's a free daw, similar to the paid ones, such as Reaper, Cubase and FL Studio etc.

    And if you want to learn, how to make game sound effects and synth sounds etc.
    feel free to check out, the synth sound and Game FX tuts.
    Which teach you, how to make certain synth sounds, and sounds for games.

    Tutorials section: https://lmms.io/forum/viewforum.php?f=3&sid=89c62557577422e32c4932a59c0adaa1

    Synth sound/game FX tuts: https://lmms.io/forum/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=5071
    This link, takes you to the table of contents, on page 1.

    PS: If you're trying to make, 8 bit or 16 bit type nes or snes sounds
    the lmms plugins called Freeboy, nescaline and sfxr are good
    for making those type of sounds.

    Enjoy.:)
     
    Last edited: May 23, 2017
    AndrewGrayGames likes this.
  23. Softae

    Softae

    Joined:
    Jan 9, 2018
    Posts:
    1
    Woow! It's a huge list of essential tools for every developer. Thank you :)
     
    Last edited: Jul 10, 2018
  24. SnowInChina

    SnowInChina

    Joined:
    Oct 9, 2012
    Posts:
    204
    Sculpting
    Sculptris - free basic Sculpting program with dynamic remesh
    http://pixologic.com/sculptris/

    blender also does sculpting & 3d painting

    could we make this sticky, great resource thread
     
  25. anitsingh

    anitsingh

    Joined:
    Mar 10, 2018
    Posts:
    1
    this list best for me but now totaly canfused about software selection after see all website. :(
     
    BrandyStarbrite likes this.
  26. steveeleven

    steveeleven

    Joined:
    Aug 26, 2018
    Posts:
    1
    Actually, WidsMob Viewer is an excellent photo viewer and editor too. You can browse thousands of photos by opening one picture only.
     
  27. dovilemi

    dovilemi

    Joined:
    May 12, 2023
    Posts:
    1
    If you like Kanban-style project management, Teamhood can be a good addition. The free plan offers unlimited seats, so you can try it out fully.
     
  28. mbeytekin

    mbeytekin

    Joined:
    Jun 18, 2023
    Posts:
    1
    You should also have a look at my apps.

    FBX2SPINE - 3D Mocap to 2D Animation Transfer Tool
    https://mbeytekinn.itch.io/fbx2spine
    https://store.steampowered.com/app/2467960


    Use FBX2Spine to easily add mocap animations to your 'Esoteric software - Spine 2d' projects.

    For example, you found a nice animation from mixamo.com and you want to transfer it to your character created in Spine, or you want to transfer your 3D FBX animation that you created with Microsoft Kinect and Brekel to your 2d character in your game.

    All you have to do is import your Spine project and FBX mocap skeleton animation into FBX2SPINE. Link the skeletal system and export the animation to Spine.

    It works with all FBX (animals, monsters, human etc.) Because it can link any bones and get any data from FBX Bones and transfers data to Spine Bones.

    You can open and edit the animations you created with FBX2Spine in the Spine application later.

    PixageFX Studio - Parametric Pixel Art Converter and Image/Video Edit Tool
    https://store.steampowered.com/app/1516050
    PixageFX Studio is the flagship of the PixageFX family. With PixageFX Studio you can turn photos, videos and animated GIFs into pixel art, oil paints, abstract paintings, cartoons, comics, sketches and more. In addition, thanks to its parametric structure, you can perform transform operations and much more that you may need every day.


    PixageFX Studio has hundreds of modules. Each module is completely parametric. Just add a module to your project for the action you want to do.