When considering what software you need to make an indie game, there is a wealth of options out there. This post offers useful tips on where to begin when considering what software you can use for your indie computer game.
Let’s look at what software you can use for your indie game.
What software do I need to make an indie game?
It is common practice for indie game developers to use either Unity or Unreal Engine for their indie games. Both of these engines are capable pieces of software for making computer games.
Unity allows you to create 2D and 3D games. Unreal Engine can render spectacular environments and create what some would regard as ‘AAA’ standard games out of the box.
In addition to the engines to create your indie game, you will also need additional software. You will need software such as Photoshop to make 2D assets, or a 3D program such as Blender to make your game models.
Below is a list of software and ideas you can use if you’re just getting started in creating indie games.
What software do I need to make an indie game – Software List
A checklist of helpful types of software you need to make an indie game.
Game Engine Software | Unity Or Unreal
Unity software is a great starting point for an indie game designer. Unity is commonly used in the indie gaming community as it is a powerful and free piece of software. It comes with a helpful community and an assortment of game templates and assets. With Unity, you can make both 2D and 3D indie games.
Unreal Engine is more apt to create stunning visuals in 3D, but the learning curve is allegedly steeper to learn and powerful hardware is required to run Unreal at its best. Many beginner indie creators start with Unity or non-programming-based engines ( Scratch for example ) to find their feet as an indie developers.
Other game creation platforms include: Adobe Animate, Godot, Scratch, and Stencyl are some additional suggestions.
3D Modelling Software | Blender
In order to make a 3D indie game, you need to use 3D software to create your 3D models. One of the most common and popular pieces of 3D software for making 3D artwork is Blender.
Blender is free to download and use. It is compatible with various game engines – such as Unity.
Indie game developers also use 3DS Max, Maya, and Zbrush for high poly models.
2D Software for Indie Games | Photoshop, Adobe Illustrator
If you’re making a 2D indie game, you will need to create the artwork too. Here is some game software you can use for creating 2D game artwork: Adobe Photoshop, GIMP, and Adobe Illustrator.
Planning Software | Excel, Trello
In order to start planning your game project. You can use pieces of software such as Trello or even Excel. You can also use Openoffice as a free option. These programs are used as project management tools.
2D Animation Software
If you are making a 2D indie game. You are likely to need to use some form of 2D animation software. These are just some of the 2D animation software packages you use to create 2D animation for your indie game. Photoshop, Adobe Animate, and Adobe Effects.
Textures & Material Software For 3D Games
If you are creating surfaces in your 3D or 2D game, then you will either need to create them or source them. S website called ‘Textures’, or formally ‘CGtextures’ has a wide range of 3d textures you can use and download for your indie game project.
Failing this, you can use programs such as Photoshop or Gimp to create your preliminary textures.
Software To Create Normal Maps
You don’t need to spend a lot of money in order to give your texture more depth and make 2D surface materials and textures look more 3D. Normal maps can add an entire extra dimension to your games.
Software such as Crazybump or Shadermap to can create Normal maps for your indie game.
Sound Editing Software
For your indie game, you can use sound editing and mixing software such as Audacity or Adobe Audition to create music and sound FX for your indie game.
Code editors (IDE)
Many code editors for game engines are included when you download an engine package. For example, Unity uses Csharp. The code in the games adds game mechanics and logic to your indie games. For example, loading, saving, moving around, and other player interactions etc.
On the subject of what software you need to create indie games
There is so much software to choose from when making indie games that it can be hard to know where to start. This list above is a starting block for your research and game creation journey.