Below is a robust list of tools and tutorials, ranging from game en...

3 years ago

Below is a robust list of tools and tutorials, ranging from game engines to graphics programs, and even productivity software, and much of it is free!

"But wait, I'm completely new to game development and I don't even know what engine might be best for my game idea! Send help!"

Fear not! There are websites designed to steer you in the right direction no matter how little experience you have! We would suggest taking a look at sortingh.at and see if you can find something there! If you're still lost, we're sure that there will be plenty of adventurers happy to assist you in the Discord group chat!

HOW TO SURVIVE ADVENTURE JAM

First of all, remember to plan and pace yourself. Check out this guide to surviving the fortnight from our own community moderator, Cheeseness, who above all advises to think small, work smart, and don't smash yourself!

GAME ENGINES

USING UNITY FOR ADVENTURE GAMES

Unity (Free) | For Windows, Mac, and Linux. | Learn Unity (1) (2) (3) (Udemy)

Adventure Creator for Unity ($70) | Develop a complete 2D or 3D adventure game in Unity without writing a single line of code. | Manual | Tutorials (1) (2) (Udemy)

Fungus for Unity (Free) | A no-code tool to create adventure games, interactive fiction, and visual novels. | Tutorials

Game Creator for Unity ($65) | Complete tools suite that will help you kickstart your game in a matter of minutes. | Quickstart

PowerQuest for Unity (Free/Donation) | A tool for creating 2D point-and-click adventure games. Developed by Powerhoof, and featured in multiple AdvJam entries! | Tutorials (1) (2)

SPECIALIZED ADVENTURE GAME ENGINES:

Adventure Game Studio (Free) | For Windows. | PDF Guide Book | Tutorials

Bladecoder (Free - In Development) | For Windows, Mac, and Linux. | Tutorials

Escoria framework for Godot (Free) | Learn Escoria (1) (2) | Learn Godot (1) (2) (3)

Point & Click DK (Free) | A point-and-click engine for Windows. | Message Boards | Tutorials

Ren'Py Visual Novel Engine (Free) | For Windows, Mac, and Linux. | Quickstart Guide | Manual

SCUMM-8 (Free/Donation) | An easy-to-use engine for Pico-8 Fantasy Console for Windows, Mac, and Linux. | Wiki

Visionaire Studio (€49+) | For Windows, Mac, and Linux. | Manual | Tutorials | Tutorials (1) (2)

Wintermute (Free - No Longer Supported) | For Windows. | Wiki | Tutorials (Italian)

GENERIC 2D GAME ENGINES:

Construct 3 (Subscription Based with Free Trial) | A HTML5 no-code engine for Chrome, Firefox, Safari, and Microsoft Edge. | Guide

GameMaker Studio 2 ($39+ with Free Trial) | An easy-to-use game engine using either code or drag-and-drop programming for Windows, and Mac. | Manual | Video Tutorials (1) (2) (3) (4)

Pixel Vision 8 (Open Source) | A full dev environment packaged inside an 8-bit fantasy game console for Windows, Mac, and Linux. | Documentation

HaxeFlixel (Free) | Cross-platform game engine for Windows, Mac, and Linux. | Documentation

LÖVE (Free) | Multiplatform framework to create games in Lua for Windows, Mac, and Linux. | Video | Manual

Scratch (Free) | An in-browser drag-and-drop tool built for absolute beginners, with an offline version for Windows, Mac, Chrome OS, and Android tablets. | Wiki

Stencyl (Free with Subscription Options) | Drag-and-drop gamedev with built-in assets for Windows, Mac, and Linux. | Tutorials

GENERIC 2D/3D GAME ENGINES:

Amazon Lumberyard (Free) | A high-performance real-time 3D engine for Windows 10. | Tutorials (1) (2) (3)

Godot (Free) | A 2D and 3D cross-platform engine released under the MIT license for Windows, Mac, and Linux. | Learn Godot (1) (2) (3)

Unreal Engine 4 (Free) | A real-time 3D engine for Windows, and Mac. | Wiki | Free Online Courses

TRADITIONAL TEXT ADVENTURE ENGINES:

Adventuron (Free) | An in-browser engine that supports multimedia features and theming options. | Tutorial

Quest (Free) | An in-browser engine with an offline version available for Windows. | Documentation | Creator's Intro Video

INTERACTIVE TEXT ADVENTURE ENGINES:

Adrift (Free/Donation) | Toolkit for Windows | Manual

Squiffy (Free) Open source tool for Windows, Mac, and Linux. | Documentation

gist-txt (Free) | Minimal text adventure engine that reads public gists from GitHub. | Info

Inform 6 (Free) | For Windows, Mac, and Linux. | Designer Manual & Technical Manual

Inform 7 (Free) | For Windows, Mac, and Linux. | Writing with Inform & Recipe Book

Twine (Free) | Open source tool for Windows, Mac, and Linux. | Wiki

ink (Free/Donation) | For Windows, Mac, and Linux. | Tutorial | Full Guide

inklewriter (Free) | Web-based with in-app tutorial.

Need to expand your engine search? Try this list from Game Career Guide!

DIGITAL ART

FREE ART ASSETS

Itch.io Top Free Game Assets | Downloadable sprites, tiles, etc.

OpenGameArt.org | High quality, freely licensed art for free/open source games.

16 Sites Featuring Free Game Graphics

PAINTING / IMAGE EDITING SOFTWARE

Adobe Photoshop (Subscription Based with Free Trial) | For Windows, and Mac. | Tutorials (1) (2) (3)

Clip Studio Paint (Free for iPhone, with Free Trials Available) | Drawing and painting with natural brushes for Windows, Galaxy, Android, Chromebook, Mac, iPad, and iPhone. | Tutorials

FireAlpaca (Free) | Digital painting software for Windows, and Mac. | Brushes | Tutorials

Gimp (Free) | Cross-platform image editor for Windows, Mac, and Linux. | Manual | Tutorials

Krita (Free/Donation) | Open source painting program for Windows, Mac, and Linux | Manual

Paint.NET (Free/Donation) | General image editor for Windows. | Tutorials

SumoPaint (Subscription Based with Free Version) | Cloud-based image editing for Windows, Mac, and Linux. | Tutorials

SPRITE CREATION / EDITING SOFTWARE

aseprite ($20 or Free 2012 Version) | For Windows, Mac, and Ubuntu. Purchase includes a Steam Key. | Documentation

GraphicsGale (Free) | For Windows. | Tutorials

Piskel (Free) | Browser based. Offline version available for Windows, Mac, and Linux. | Tutorial

Pyxel Edit ($9 or Free Version - In Development) | For Windows, and Mac. | Learn

ANIMATION SOFTWARE

Adobe Animate CC (Subscription Based with Free Trial) | Newest iteration of Flash for Windows, and Mac. | Video Tutorials

Spine ($69 with Free Trial) | 2D Animation for Windows, Mac, and Linux. | Quickstart | Spine Academy

Toon Boom Harmony (Subscription Based with Free Trial) | For Windows, and Mac. | Video Tutorials

MAP EDITORS

Tiled (Free/Donation) | A 2D level editor for Windows, Mac, and Linux. | Getting Started | User Manual

MODELLING SOFTWARE

Blender (Free) | Open-source 3D creation program. For Windows, Mac, and Linux. | User Manual | Tutorials

MagicaVoxel (Free) | 8-bit voxel editor and interactive path tracing renderer. For Windows, and Mac. | Tutorials and Resources

Still looking for more? Try this: Top 20 Most Essential Software for Artists and Designers

AUDIO & MUSIC

FREE SOUND TOOLS

Audacity | A cross-platform sound editor, for Windows, Mac, and Linux. | Documentation

Bfxr | An in-browser tool for music creation, with offline versions for Windows, and Mac.

Bosca Ceoil | An easy-to-use, in-browser music creation tool, with offline versions for Windows, Mac, and Linux. Built-in tutorial available.

FamiTracker | A sound tracker for producing NES/Famicom music for Windows. | Wiki

LMMS | An open-source, cross-platform music creation tool for Windows, Mac, and Linux. | User Manual

Plugin Boutique | A collection of effects, instruments, and studio tools, with paid resources also available.

Plugins 4 Free | A collection of audio plugins.

Still looking for more? Check out TechRadar's roundup of the best audio editors!

FREE SOUND EFFECTS & MUSIC COLLECTIONS

Adventure Dev Discord | Check out our music reels channel under Sound and Music for artists looking to create new music for your Adventure Jam entry!

BBC Sound Effects | Free for Non-Commercial Use (License Info)

Freesound.org | Free Sound Effects (License Info)

Incompetech | Royalty-Free Music (License Info)

OurMusicBox | Royalty-Free Music (License Info)

Sound Image | Royalty-Free Sound Effects & Music (Attribution Info)

Sonniss Annual Preview Packs | Royalty-Free Sound Effects

55 Great Websites To Download Free Sound Effects

VOICE ACTING

Adventure Dev Discord | Check out our voice acting channels under Sound and Music to find voice actors who are offering their talents for your Adventure Jam entry!

GameVoices | A Discord community where game developers and voice actors can meet and discuss projects.

PRODUCTIVITY SOFTWARE

WORD PROCESSORS

Google Docs (Free) | A cloud-based MS Office alternative.

OpenOffice (Free) | An open source MS Office alternative for Windows, Mac, and Linux.

Scrivener ($19+ with Free Trial) | A program for organizing notes, writing and more, for Windows, Mac, and iOS. | Learn

yWriter (Free) | A program that breaks your novel into chapters and scenes for Windows. | Video Tutorials (English) (German)

CHART / DIAGRAM SOFTWARE

draw.io (Free) | Cloud-based diagram software for making flowcharts, process diagrams and more. | Tutorials

HacknPlan (Free with Subscription Options) | A production tool inspired by Jira/Trello, with game development in mind. | Documentation

LucidChart (Free with Subscription Options) | A web-based platform for drawing, revising and sharing charts and diagrams. | Tutorials

Vizon (Free) | A browser-based dependency chart app using code, based upon Ron Gilbert's puzzle dependency charts.

TUTORIALS, eBOOKS, AND OTHER RESOURCES

Please read this if you can't get your game to appear under the entries list at www.advjam.com! Note: if you tagged us on Discord, you don't need to tag us here, and vise versa! :) #AdvJam2021