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[theSamo]

I don't understand calling both GIMP's and Blender's GUIs clumsy just because they take diffrent approach and not copy Photoshop/3DMAX's menus verbatim. I use GIMP alot and quite used to it's interface. I guess people coming from a PS background find it clumsy.

Anyways, some additions to the pixelart list (I found those while looking for alternatives to pixen on linux):

MtPaint
http://mtpaint.sourceforge.net/
License: GPL
Platform: Anything that runs GTK (Win, Linux, OSX, etc.)

the least i could say about this one is that it's a hidden gem, seriously. Any pixel artist should try it.

Tile Driller
http://users.tkk.fi/~vhelin/tiledriller.html
License: GPL
Platform: Anything that runs GTK (Win, Linux, OSX, etc.)

A small tool for working with tilesets. Pretty useful.

Another pixelart tool worth mentioning is:

Grafx2
http://www.pouet.net/prod.php?which=13380
License: Freeware
Platform: Windows

It's a port of some old dos app. I find it awesome to work with. Although it seems some features aren't implemented yet (mainly gradients).

On Audio, I see that Milky Tracker is already mentioned, it's the best tracker out there IMHO.

[Hamish Mcleod]

Ultimate Unwrap 3D is an affordable program which mainly does UV mapping for 3D models, although my favourite thing about it is it can convert nearly any model format to any other format pretty much perfectly.

3D World Studio is the Worldcraft / Hammer clone that I use to mode buildings and other non-organic stuff. I'll have to check out DelEd though, never heard of it and it looks awesome...

[gnat]

Blender
Website : http://www.blender.org/
License : GNU GPL
Platforms : Cross-platform

The only free alternative for a commercial 3D application. While it has a clumsy interface and is years behind such programs as 3DS Max, it is the only reasonable way to do any 3D art for free.

Wings 3D
Website : http://www.wings3d.com/
License : BSD license
Platforms : Cross-platform

A low to medium mesh modeller. The interface may seem quite clumsy, especialy to windows users.

It would be nice if these two weren't so damn biased. Blender's interface is fine and is exceptionally efficient when you actually take the time to learn it. Same with Wings. They both take two completely different approaches to creating 3d art.

Also, blender has a pile of features that many of the high-end commercial modellers (Maya, 3ds max, lightwave) either do not have or are just starting to implement (Fully built in scripting language (Max has this, but the others do not), LSCM unwrapping and the built in game engine are a few biggies that immediately come to mind.), so saying it is "years behind" is just straight up false. True, the mesh tools could use some work, and a few other things here and there, but aside from that, it's a fairly serious modern 3d package.

Blender has changed a LOT since even a year ago. Development has been going at a blitzkrieg-like pace, with major releases every 4 months or so. If you haven't checked it out in awhile, i'd recommend doing so.

[portabello]

Another really amazing music tool that has just came to my attention is the oh-so-cool ChibiTracker.

http://www.chibitracker.com/


"ChibiTracker is a portable IT (Impulse Tracker) clone. It is not a 100% clone though, as it adds more features, such as chorus and reverb, stereo samples, an advanced sample editor and more. The user interface also presents some changes, as it can be custom themed and resized.
ChibiTracker is Open Source Software under the GNU Public License, and it can be run under Windows, Mac-OS, Linux, FreeBSD, BeOS, and more to come."

Another great alternative to modplug for those that prefer the IT interface.

[Madgarden]

Does anyone know of any MOD/IT/XM etc. trackers that have a piano-roll interface instead of the standard tracker vertical numeric view?

[axel]

Does anyone know of any MOD/IT/XM etc. trackers that have a piano-roll interface instead of the standard tracker vertical numeric view?

I think Skale Tracker has something similar, not sure though. I've never used Skale myself, heh

[ravuya]

I think MacMod Pro had a piano roll interface, but this was years ago (it no longer runs on the modern machines, even).

If you're really interested in running it you could conceivably try something like SheepShaver or find an old PowerPC Mac at a thrift store.

[xix]

How is XNA?

I'm coming from a Klik & Play / Multimedia Fusion background. I know the programs in and out, and I know and understand why certain bugs exist on a very basic programming level. The only scripting programming I've ever done is HTML, which doesn't count, and CSS, which is pretty much the same thing.

[Chris Whitman]

As far as music recording goes, I have yet to hear electronic versions of real instruments which sound remotely like the real thing, and I have yet to hear software replacements of some hardware effects, such as compressors or pre-amps, which have the same response as their hardware counterparts.

Some software reverb effects which are impulse response based sound pretty great, and I enjoy certain synthesizers a lot, but in my experience, you're not going to get a particularly good sound for anything besides strictly electronic music with only a computer and software, and even then genuinely useful music software is going to set you back at least a few hundred dollars -- that includes multitrackers with a decent feature set.

Also, I'm surprised no one has brought up ZBrush for 3D work. I've found it to be one of the more intuitive modelling programs available. Particularly, it's capacity for generating normal and displacement maps is extremely useful, as they're very difficult to get right by hand.


I've never used XNA, but it looks to me a bit like Microsoft's apology for slowly shifting DirectX into it's current state of COM-oriented hell. I would be extremely reticent to recommend anyone use an API which is so strongly tied to Microsoft's platforms, especially when free alternatives such as SDL and OpenGL are still easier to use, are just as powerful and are largely platform independant.

Of course, Microsoft's support for OpenGL is famously poor (funny how that is), but extensions are commonly available which support even fancy-pants recent 3D effects like geometry shaders.

[lowpoly]

Also, I'm surprised no one has brought up ZBrush for 3D work. I've found it to be one of the more intuitive modelling programs available. Particularly, it's capacity for generating normal and displacement maps is extremely useful, as they're very difficult to get right by hand.

I think the spirit of this thread was geared more towards free to very cheap dev tools. I get the feeling $500 is probably out of the range for a lot of the people here. If you already have a 3D package and an extra $500 to spend, then absolutely,  Zbrush would be an invaluable complimentary app.

[moi]

Lol I was chastised for suggesting a $40 tool on the first page of this thread

[Alevice]

Because I have not seen it mentioned on the thread already, there is Tile Studio, a tile and map editor, geared towards gaming (you can handle the map generation routines and such). The best grid I have seen for a tile editor (I have not used many, though ), and its free.

[ChrisFranklin]

AdsynDX is an additive synthesis program for Windows that lets you create your own sounds and export them as .WAVs.  The license appears to be some sort of honor system shareware - the site says you're supposed to pay after 15 days of use, but the software doesn't stop working and there doesn't seem to be any disabled features.  Since you're working with sinusoidal wavs and various varieties of noise, anything you make will be very... synth-y.  So, uh, yeah.  It's of limited use, but if you're really into bleeps and bloops (especially if your aesthetic aim screws retro/arcadey) it's really handy.

[eka]

Graphics2D:
what about artRage2 http://www.ambientdesign.com/

Programming IDE:
Eclipse www.eclipse.org
You can use it with any language (Actionscript, Java, c/c++, Python, etc...)

[idiotmeat]

Programming IDE:
Eclipse www.eclipse.org
You can use it with any language (Actionscript, Java, c/c++, Python, etc...)

(I know this thread's a bit old, but...)
I happen to use Eclipse a lot, and find it to be pretty darn good.  When I have to do work in Java, hands down I use this IDE.  The C/C++ interface I find a bit unwieldy in Windows (the plugin assumes a GNU-ish toolchain by default), but it still does the job.  In addition, there's the benefit of it being extensible via a plugin interface.
The biggest downside I see so far is that the framework is definitely geared towards Java, so there are a few features that are lacking or needs improvement with the other languages. *shakes fist at the C/C++ indexer*

[LuisAnton]

Whenever I start an SDL project, I use the GP2X Development Kit (DEVCPP + SDL). You just download it, start a new SDL project and you already have a barebone for your game (SDL initialization, event loop and those things). It's for Windows and Linux, and of course the GP2X, and free...

GP2X SDK (DevCpp + SDL)
Website: http://dev.gp2x.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=479
Licence: GPL (DevCpp) LGPL (SDL)
Platform: Cross-platform

[ConayR]

Pixia
Website: http://park18.wakwak.com/~pixia/
License: Freeware (proprietary license, not OSS)
Platforms: Windows

Pixia is a graphics editor aimed primarly for painting manga. Comes with various translations.


GIMPshop
Website: http://www.gimpshop.com/
License: GPL
Platforms: Cross-platform

GIMP with UI redesigned for Photoshop junkies.


Some image cataloging and viewing software would be cool as well.


IrfanView
Website: http://www.irfanview.com/
License: Freeware (proprietary license, not OSS)
Platforms: Windows

Viewer supporting almost 100 formats. Starts fast, works fast.

XnView
Website: http://www.xnview.com/
License: Freeware (proprietary license, not OSS)
Platforms: Windows, Linux, PocetPC, Smartphone

Viewer supporting over 100 formats. Clean UI, works fast.


There are also very useful tools like image size optimizers or GIF animators. Do you care about them, Kornel?

And one more thing - i love the way things are biased on the intertubes. Paint.NET is "unfortunately requiring .NET", but GIMP doesn't unfortunately require GTK.

[Headmade]

Project Dogwaffle:http://www.thebest3d.com/dogwaffle/free/index.html
Free Painting and Animation Software

Edit:
Open Canvas: http://www.portalgraphics.net/en/products/oc4/
Shareware (52$ to 69$) Painting Software. Initialy it was freeware though.

[Flink]

Visual Assist X

[Oracle]

Open Canvas: http://www.portalgraphics.net/en/products/oc4/
Shareware (52$ to 69$) Painting Software. Initialy it was freeware though.

The first version (1.1) is still freeware, and its the best version in my opinion, as it contains the collab feature; like a shared canvas you can use to draw with a friend.
Top notch, i totally recommend people looking for version 1 instead (free). It also has the "event" play, wich basically records all of your progress while you are drawing, and lets you replay it on the program, that way you can see how other people work, its fantastic!

In fact, i propose we create a "event" and a collab thread here in tigs, those would be awsome...did i mention v 1.1 is free :D ?

EDIT: Oh, and heres a link to a safe version, and theres also a nifty little web app in that page, so you can host canvas sessions with more ease http://www.warpaint.se/?s=download anyone want to OC for a while ? :D