DANCINGENGIE'S LIST OF FREE-TO-USE GAME ASSETS AND TOOLS (that's a long title)
Last update: October 2023
This is a simple list of game design and development tools I personally use on a regular or semi-regular basis when working on games. It serves as a centralized (but in no way definitive!) resource for anyone who needs it.
Unless otherwise stated, all of the following are free, engine-agnostic, and suitable for any use:
Art
Color Palettes
Audio
Software/Webapps
- Audacity - open-source audio editing software
- DaVinci Resolve - free, professional video editing software, no watermarks (~$300 to gain access to some advanced features)
- Sound Particles' Explorer - comb through your sound archives with smart search tools
- Shoebox - a tiny, if old, application that does a lot of small operations for you, inc. ripping textures off photographs
- Google Keep - simple, no BS notetaking webapp. Great as an "ideas notebook"
- HacknPlan - sprint management made with game development in mind
- Kenney Shape ($4) - makes simple 3D voxel models out of 2D pixel art
Game Design Articles
UI/UX Design Articles
- Good Design, Bad Design - YouTube series examining positive and less positive examples of UI and game design
- Game UI Database - large database of game UI references by catagory
- The Best Icon is a Text Label - great blog post about icon consistancy and why the phrase "they use our app so they know what everything does" isn't necessarily correct
Marketing
Misc
- Pinspiry - graphic design resources, great for cool fonts and assets to use in cover art
- Game Art Cheatsheet - a short list of common 3D engine bugs and how to fix them
- Tinytools Directory - a huge list of small tools, engines, and codebases for gamedevs
- Polyglot - list of common game and UI terms translated to over a dozen languages by humans. Good starting point for localization
- Derek Yu's "Finishing a Game" - advice on how to actually complete a game, especially if you plan to create a big commerical effort
- Seyed's Publisher Database - long, exhaustive list of indie game publishers, sorted by budget and prefered genres
- Raw Fury's Developer Resources - a sample pitch deck, boilerplate NDA and freelance contracts, and useful spreadsheets put forth by an actual publisher. A great starting point for gamedev bureaucracy, but remember to consult a lawyer before sending these off