Summary of "Awesome FREE Game Development Tools"

The video titled "Awesome FREE Game Development Tools" by Gamer From Scratch (Mark G) provides an overview of various free and open-source tools useful for game developers. The video is divided into two parts: well-known common tools and some lesser-known but powerful tools that can enhance your game development workflow.

Common Free Game Development Tools

Blender: A comprehensive open-source 3D creation suite for modeling, rendering, video editing, and compositing.
Game Engines:
- Godot Engine: Popular open-source game engine.
- Unity & Unreal Engine: Free to start, widely used engines with potential future costs.
- Amazon’s O3DE (formerly Lumberyard, CryEngine): Open-source AAA-level engine.
Krita: Advanced natural media painting and drawing application with animation features.
GIMP: Free, open-source image manipulation software, alternative to Photoshop.
Audacity: Popular free audio editor for waveform editing and sound manipulation.
Tiled: Free, open-source 2D map editor, useful if your engine lacks map creation tools.
Inkscape: Vector graphics editor, open-source alternative to Adobe Illustrator.

Lesser-Known or Specialized Free Tools

Ovani Sound (Sponsor): Offers affordable game-ready audio packs and plugins with dynamic intensity control for Unity, Unreal, and Godot.
- Bundles like Infinite Echo and Spring into Development provide music and sound effects at discounted prices.
Pixelorama: A free pixel art editor built with Godot, supporting:
- 3D layers integration.
- Animation tools.
- Runs both locally and in-browser.
- Extensions for converting 2D pixel art into 3D voxel models.
Dpaint JS: Browser-based pixel art tool inspired by Deluxe Paint (classic Amiga software), supporting fixed color palettes and layering.
GraphicsGale: Long-standing pixel art tool (formerly commercial, now freeware) with frame-by-frame animation and GIF export.
Material Maker: Procedural material creation tool similar to Substance Designer, using node graphs.
- Supports Windows, Mac, Linux.
- Upcoming 1.4 release with painting tools.
USU Paint: Blender-specific layer-based painting program for painting directly on 3D objects using Eevee and Cycles renderers.
- Comparable to Substance Painter.
Magicavoxel: Free voxel art editor for creating 3D pixel art ("voxels"), Windows only.
SculptGL: Browser-based 3D sculpting tool by the creator of Nomad Sculpt.
- Exports to STL, OBJ, and other formats.
- Minimalistic but powerful for sculpting without heavy software.
LDK (Level Designer Kit): 2D level editor created by the developer of Dead Cells.
- Supports multiple platforms.
- Streamlined UI with plugin support for engines like Unity and Godot.
- Auto tile map handling, multi-world support, and exports to Tiled format.

Key Tips and Recommendations

Many tools run directly in browsers, reducing setup barriers.
Combining tools can enhance workflows, e.g., Material Maker for materials + USU Paint for texturing 3D models.
Use Ovani Sound bundles for affordable, dynamic game audio.
Explore lesser-known tools to find niche solutions that fit your project needs.
The channel offers extensive game engine reviews for deeper exploration.
Support the channel by using affiliate links provided.

Featured Gamer/Source

Mark G (Gamer From Scratch) – The presenter and creator of the video.

This video is a great resource for game developers looking to expand their free toolset beyond the usual suspects, offering both practical tools and inspiration for integrating new workflows into game development projects.