The software used in game development

If you’re getting into game development like I am, you may quickly find yourself overwhelmed by all the software required to get the job done. I’ve been creating things on computers for a long time and it’s even got me like, “Man, another program? And it’s how much?” Anyways, I figured I’d detail the software tools you’d probably carry in your quiver as you go to battle. My hope is that if you’ve got it all laid out in one spot you’ll be able to eliminate what you don’t need for your journey.

Quick disclaimer: There are probably thousands of different pipelines that teams are using out there. There’s no right way to build your game. There are many game engines, 3D applications, and coding IDEs. I’m attempting to outline a generic one so you can wrap your head around it all.

3D APPLICATIONS

General Purpose
Your general purpose modeling application. Use this application to construct your base geometry, UV and incorporate the output from the other 3D applications in your pipeline.
Sculpting
Zbrush, especially, seems to have become the standard for modeling organic things. Your game will likely have characters and you'd do well to use these specific tools to create them.
Texturing
Applying and painting textures is often the final step in the process. You went from low poly, to high poly and now you need to make it all sing by adding your colors, textures, materials, etc.

Game Engine

Paid
Big studios might roll their own engine, but you and I are probably going to need a little hand-holding when it comes to assembling everything. This is your workhorse.
Open-source
As we'll see later, all this software is going to add up quickly. Depending on your needs you might be able to get away without the paid engines.

IDEs

Where you write your code
At some point you need to start writing code to make all the magic happen. These are the two heavy players and you can decide based on your chosen engine and programming language.

ADOBE’S CREATIVE CLOUD

It would be hard for me to imagine not having many of the tools offered by the Adobe Creative Cloud. At some point you’ll be creating marketing graphics, emails, websites, audio, etc. and the Creative Cloud package can help you get a lot of that done. If you’re coming to game development from other disciplines (like me), you’ll probably be familiar with a few of this applications.

HOW BAD IS THIS ON THE WALLET?

It’s not pretty. Want to see? Below is a fairly typical loadout with monthly prices as of this blog post.

Application Monthly cost
Adobe Creative Cloud $52.99
Maya $205.00
Zbrush $39.95
Substance $19.90
Unity $40.00
Rider $13.90
Total $371.74

Ooof. That’s a car payment for a lot of people. Now, you can trim the fat from this list and use some of the free software, so it’s not all bad. However, the above list seems to be somewhat common. I would suggest taking advantage of the educational discounts if you’re still in school.

MASTERING ALL THIS WOULD BE BONKERS, RIGHT?

Yup! I’m writing all this down and asking myself why I’m even considering it. I think it’s safe to say I’m not going to master all of it. Not even close. A couple years ago I sort of reached a point where the library in my brain filled itself up. If I wasn’t using something daily, there was probably a good chance it was going to slip my mind.

This caused me to start widening my perspective and paying attention to the fundamentals. There is an incredible amount of overlap across all the creative applications. The same goes for programming languages. Building an indie game pretty much dictates that I can’t specialize in anything. I have to know just enough to get by in each discipline and I’m at peace with that.

Anywhoo, this post is kind of a bummer so I apologize. There is a ton to learn and getting up and running is expensive. I wish you luck… I’m going to need it too.

Written by Matt Haliski

The First of His Name, Consumer of Tacos, Operator of Computers, Mower of Grass, Father of the Unsleeper, King of Bad Function Names, Feeder of AI Overlords.