Tools for gamedev

Tools for gamedev

2D graphics: Hi-res art

2D graphics: Pixel art

  • Aseprite
    • Versatile pixel editor with animation and tilemapping tools
    • $20 (or free if you build it from source, see instructions)
    • the go-to tool for pixel artists atm, constantly updated
  • Free option: LibreSprite
    • A fork of Aseprite from ~2016
    • Quite old but has enough features to get started
  • Another free option (old): GraphicsGale
  • Hi-res art software can also be used for pixelart

Sound effects

  • bfxr
    • An easy-to-get-into tool for creating new sound effects
  • Audacity
    • a versatile tool for audio editing
  • ChipTone
    • a free tool for generating sound effects
  • Extra: Ableton Tone Generator
    • ($1 Patreon tier + Ableton Live)

Music

  • There isn’t an easy free recommendation really (LMMS exists but hnngh)
  • Bosca Ceoil: the simple free option
    • very limited
  • SunVox
  • Trackers
  • Otherwise, it’s a DAW of your choice
    • Unfortunately they’re all pretty heavy to get into
    • i’ve used FL Studio previously, nowadays Ableton
    • for tracker people: ReNoise

Levels, 2D

  • Unity’s own tilemap editor
  • Tiled
    • a free application for creating tile-based 2d levels & worlds
    • importing Tiled maps to Unity

Levels, 3D

Story

  • There are two good options for making branching stories with Unity

Screen recording

  • you need to showcase your game to people!
  • for recording gifs
    • ScreenToGif
  • for recording video with sound:

Video editing

  • for creating teasers, trailers, etc, you need a video editor
  • Best free option: DaVinci Resolve
  • Blender3D works for this as well

Other creative stuff…

  • Doodle Studio ($45)
    • A FUN 2D drawing and animation tool for Unity.
  • Playscii
    • an open source ASCII art and animation program

Other tools…

Game engines

  • sometimes Unity isn’t the best option!
  • there are roughly three types of game development depending on your technology
    • these aren’t undisputable facts, I made up all these types lol

Type 1: All-purpose Engine

  • Unity, Unreal, Godot, GameMaker Studio
  • 3D or 2D
  • drag-and-drop GUI
  • programming not necessarily involved
    • you won’t be programming the main loop, but attaching your scripts on top of existing structures
  • suited for games big and small
  • jack of all trades, master of none

Type 2: Framework

  • Love2D, Monogame, Pygame
  • Especially suited for 2D
  • no engine application window: almost everything happens in a text editor
  • basically an API full of helper functions
    • “draw sprite on coordinates x,y”
  • suited for people who…
    • want to have a tighter control on what’s happening under the hood
    • want to build their own structures
    • think all-purpose engines tend to get in their way

Type 3: Specialized Engine

  • Renpy, RPGMaker, Adventure Game Studio, Twine…
  • A tool for making a specific kind of game
  • can involve code or its own scripting/description language
  • very fast for the exact thing it does
  • easier to comprehend fully due to limited scope