DIY Digital Games Resource List (Arisia 2015)

This past weekend, I participated in the DIY Digital Panel at Arisia. We cited a great many gamemaking engines, resources, and tools, assembled here for easy reference. (Also, I snuck a couple things in that I failed to mention, but should have.)

Panelists

(left to right, from the audience’s perspective)

Caelyn Sandel (moderator) (@inurashii)inurashii.xyz
Amanda Warner (@AnimatorMommy)Giant Spacekat
Brianna Wu (@Spacekatgal)Giant Spacekat
Adri (@genericgeekgirl) – Imagine A World
Carolyn VanEseltine (@mossdogmusic) – Sibyl Moon Games

Game engines (graphical)

Adventure Game Studio  (AGS)
Construct 2
GameMaker
GameSalad
Ren’Py
RPGMaker
Stencyl
Unity (optionally with Playmaker)
Unreal Engine 4 (with Blueprints)

Game resources (text-based)

ChoiceScript
Hugo
Inform 7
TADS 2
Twine
Undum

Art resources

Adobe Creative Cloud (Photoshop, Illustrator)
Blender
freepik
GIMP
Google fonts
Hexel
Inkscape
Maya
OpenGameArt
Paint.NET

Sound resources

Ableton Live Lite
Adobe Creative Cloud (Audition)
Audacity
freesound
incompetech
Logic
Soundsnap
Soundrangers
Shockwave-Sound

Programming resources

Code Complete 2 (Amazon)
Stack Overflow

Time management resources

Anti-social
Pomodoro technique
Self Control
Toggl

Other recommended resources

Disney Infinity (as a way to introduce kids to game dev concepts)
Lynda.com
Skillshare.com
Tabletop Simulator

Where to find game jams

CompoHub
Global Game Jam
itch.io
Ludum Dare

How to make connections online with other developers

Twitter#gamedev, #indiedev
Gamasutra
Google (search for communities focused around your specific game engine or needs)

Boston-local game dev communities

Boston Indies
Boston Post Mortem (local chapter of the IGDA)
People’s Republic of Interactive Fiction
Boston Women in Games

Games mentioned during the panel

Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker
Choice of Games
Crypt of the Necrodancer
Dreamfall
Hadean Lands
Monument Valley
Octodad: Dadliest Catch
Revolution 60
Ridiculous Fishing
Starbound
Tower of Guns

Searching farther afield

Pixel Prospector keeps a massive, up-to-date list of resources that is an excellent starting point for future investigation.

Happy game dev!

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3 Comments

  1. Great list! For local meetups, I’d add Boston Unity Group and Playcrafting Boston. (Also Game Makers Guild, except they’re more about board and card games.) There’s a longer list here: http://www.madwomb.com/tutorials/GamesBoston.html

  2. Another helpful resource: the Smart Scholar Computer Science Guide, http://www.smartscholar.com/computer-science-guide/. Thanks Tessie for recommending!

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