This is an ever-evolving list of resources for anyone interested in making games. Please note, this list is far from comprehensive. It’s a work in progress, which I hope helps you on your journey into the wonderful world of Game Development.
- What Being A Game Developer is Really Like
Game Development (General) :
Game Design : Recommended Reading
Advice for Indie Developers : indieBits
Tutorials & Education:
Sound Librarian : Learn how to use fMod
Stephan Schutz : Sound Design related tutorials & information.
3D Buzz : A comprehensive set of tutorials about everything related to making games from programming, to 3D modeling, to using various game engines.
The Gnomon Workshop : Professional training videos for digital artists. An essential go to site for learning about 3D modeling, digital painting, texturing, lighting, compositing, etc…
Digital Tutors : Tutorials on everything digital including VFX, Game Development & Design. Another essential go to site for learning.
TornadoTwins : Game developer twins who have been making games since the age of 10. They have a popular YouTube Channel aimed at helping people make games.
Sloperama : Advice on almost everything about developing, designing, and producing games.
Cat Like Coding : A tutorial site created by Jasper Flick, a Dutch independent software developer living in Amsterdam, the Netherlands.
Extra Credits : Extra Credits makes video game design approachable.
Playmaker Tutorials : How to use Playmaker, a visual scripting tool for the Unity Engine by Hutong Games. They also have a YouTube Channel.
2D Game Art Tutorials : by Chris Hildenbrand
Level Design Tutorials by The World of Level Design.
Game Engines:
Inform 7 : Inform is a design system for interactive fiction based on natural language.
Twine : Twine is an open-source tool for telling interactive, nonlinear stories.
Useful Tools:
Sound Design:
fMod : Industry leading cross-platform audio middleware solution
The Sound Librarian : A vast library of sounds.
Reaper : digital audio workshop software for multitrack audio and MIDI recording, editing, processing, mixing, and mastering environment.
Audacity : open source audio editing software.
Art Creation Software:
Modo : MODO is a complete solution for design exploration, game content creation, character animation, and the production of high-quality advertising images which was created with artistic workflows in mind.
Blender : An open source 3D model making software package which also has it’s own game engine.
Silo : Affordable 3D model making software.
Maya : An extremely popular & fully extensible 3D modeling, animation and rendering software package. It’s used in VFX, film, television, advertising, simulation, lighting, and game development.
3DS Max : 3D modeling, animation and rendering software often used by game developers and architects.
Z-Brush : 3D modeling & sculpting software used by industry professionals.
Qubicle : An easy to use and professional voxel editor.
VoxelBuilder : An open source tool that lets anyone design & edit 3D voxel models easily in their web browser.
Sketch-up : Customisable 3D Modelling program popular with architects, designers, builders, makers and engineers.
Hexels : Hexels is a fun, affordable, easy-to-use 2D grid-based art program that lets you paint using a variety of shapes.
SpriteLamp : Sprite Lamp is a software tool to help game developers combine 2D art with dynamic lighting effects, through the creation of hand drawn normal maps.
Spriter : 2D Sprite animation software which uses a “modular” method of animating.
Pyxel Edit : A pixel art editor designed for easily making tile-sets, levels and animations.
Gimp : Free image editing and creation software.
Affinity Photo : Professional photo editing software for Mac. It focuses on workflow and offers sophisticated tools for enhancing, editing and retouching your images.
Affinity Designer : Professional vector graphic design software for Mac which received an Apple Design Award in 2015.
ImageAlpha : ImageAlpha greatly reduces file sizes of 24-bit PNG files (including alpha transparency) by applying lossy compression and conversion to a more efficient PNG8+alpha format.
Mari : 3D paint tool which gives you a fluid and flexible way to paint directly onto 3D models.
CrazyBump : Makes creating normal maps easier.
BMGlyph : A bitmap font generator for Mac OSX which allows you to create nice rendered fonts to use in your game or application.
Renderman : 3D Rendering Software created by PIXAR. It’s primarily used in the Animation and VFX Industry.
*** Of course you can’t forget the good old industry standard image creation software products like Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator & InDesign. ***
Video Editing & Compositing:
Nuke
After Effects
Cinema 4D
Sony Vegas
Final Cut Pro
Production Management:
Evernote : My favourite digital note taking tool which syncs easily with all my devices.
Slack : A communication tool which integrates the tools and services that you use every day, putting them into one easy to use space.
Trello : A free, easy to use, visual way to share and organise ideas and information with others.
TeamworkPM : Online project management system useful for scheduling , asset and team management and task tracking.
Shotgun : Project management & pipeline tool to improve communication & workflow. It’s a production tracking, review, and asset management toolset which is used by VFX, animation, and game development teams of all sizes.
*** Of course you can’t forget essential document creating basics like Google Docs, Google Drive, MS Word, Excel, Pages & Keynote. ***
Procedural Software:
Make Human : A free and open source software which can be used to create realistic 3d humans.
City Engine : An engine for creating procedurally generated cityscapes.
Speedtree : A powerful toolkit used to create 3D animated plants and trees for games, animations, visual effects and more.
Poser : Poser delivers powerful 3D character animation tools and ready to use content for graphics professionals, illustrators, animators and designers.
Programming:
Processing : An electronic sketchbook for developing ideas. It’s a programming language, development environment & online community.
gedit : A free full text editor which has programming functions compatible with most languages including C, C++, Java, Python, HTML, XML, and Perl.
TextWrangler : A free multi-purpose text editor and UNIX server administration tool.
Eclipse : An open source community of tools, projects and collaborative working groups. Eclipse is famous for it’s Java IDE but also has useful C/C++ IDE and PHP IDE tools.
Python : A powerful and fast open source programming language which is often used to make plug ins for various software programs and integrate systems quickly.
Playmaker : Playmaker is a visual scripting tool for the Unity Engine by Hutong Games.
Screen capture:
Fraps : Real time screen & video capture & benchmarking software.
X-Mirage : Mirror & record everything from your iOS device to your Mac. I highly recommend X-Mirage for easily capturing gameplay from iOS devices.
Reflector : Reflector is a wireless mirroring and streaming receiver which can be used to mirror your content to the big screen without wires or complicated setups.
Camtasia : Screen recording & video editing software
Fundraising:
Kickstarter : Popular crowd funding platform & community site.
IndieGoGo : Crowd funding platform and community site.
Pozible : Pozible is a crowd funding platform and community for creative projects and ideas.
Film Victoria : A provider of strategic leadership and assistance to the film, television, and digital media sectors of Victoria, Australia.
Patreon : Support & engage with the creators you love.
Legal:
Creative Commons : Creative Commons develops, supports, and stewards legal and technical infrastructure that maximises digital creativity, sharing, and innovation.
Miscellaneous:
Celtx : Create scripts, storyboards, breakdowns, schedules, budgets, and cast and crew reports for your production.
Game Community Networks:
IDGA : The International Game Developers Association (IGDA) is the largest non-profit membership organization in the world which aims to serve all individuals who create games.
GDAA : The GDAA advocates on behalf of member interactive entertainment development companies, associated industry companies, and interactive entertainment training providers to industry stakeholders including governments, publishers, and industry advisors to promote, grow and attract investment in the Australian games development industry.
Siggraph : ACM SIGGRAPH’s mission is to foster and celebrate innovation in Computer Graphics and Interactive Techniques. The organisation promotes its vision by bringing people together in physical, on-line, and asynchronous communities to invent, inspire, and redefine the many creative and technical artifacts, disciplines, and industries that are touched by computer graphics and interactive techniques.
TIGSource : TIGSource is a community of independent game players and creators.
GAME REVIEWS & Let’s Plays:
Matt Chat : Matt Chat is an in-depth resource on YouTube for interviews with professional game designers and developers.
Game & Tech News:
GameS & TECH RELATED Conferences & Events:
GCAP : Games Connect Asia Pacific is a community-driven event focusing on the needs of the Australian game development industry.
GDC : The Game Developers Conference is the world’s largest and longest-running professionals-only game industry event.
Freeplay : Indie Game Festival held in Melbourne, Australia.
PauseFest : Pause Fest is a festival and creative tech conference for Asia Pacific. It is a catalyst for innovation, and a uniter of industries which provides a showcase for the leaders of the world’s future economy.
Siggraph Conference : These events are the world’s largest, most influential annual conferences on the theory and practice of computer graphics and interactive techniques, inspiring progress through education, excellence, and interaction.
AvCon : Anime & Video Game Festival held in Adelaide, Australia.
Serious Games Showcase & Challenge :
Game Jams:
7 Day RogueLike Challenge : Established in 2005 by the roguelike community. It is a yearly event, the 7DRL Challenge, in which all the world is challenged to create a roguelike in a one-week span.
TIGJam : TIGJam is an environment of intense game creation! It has no theme or any sort of competition. Many TIGJam participants choose to focus on a new project or prototype. It aims to celebrate the TigSource Community.
JOBS IN GAMES:
Tsumea : Australian Game Developer Network & Job Billboard.
GAMES & DIGITAL MARKETING & CONSULTATION SERVICES:
Surprise Attack : Surprise Attack Consulting is a games and technology specialist PR and marketing agency.
Lumi Consulting : A Melbourne-based specialist marketing and PR Consultancy for the video games and technology industry.
Portfolio Sites:
GAME DEVELOPER BLOGS:
Matt Chat : A blog which looks at and critiques video game history.
Pranee McKinlay : That’s me! You found this blog! How do I know this? It’s because you’re reading it now!
Muzboz : Melbourne Indie Game Developer & Game Design Lecturer at AIE.
RETRO GAMING:
Play It Again : This site aims to exhibit some of the significant local Australian & New Zealand games of the 1980s era, and collect documentation in order to remember early games through popular memory.
INTERESTING ARTICLES & ADVICE:
Make games for yourself, and nobody else.
Game Dev considerations before launch : Just put it on Steam is not a strategy.
Game Developer Blog 
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