{"author_link":"\/users\/cosine","author_name":"cosine","author_uid":"cosine","comments":[],"epoch":1508211729,"event":"LD39","format":"md","ldjam_node_id":49748,"likes":28,"metadata":{"p_key":"101109","p_author":"cosine","p_authorkey":"1001249","p_urlkey":"316819","p_title":"Free as in freedom development software","p_cat":"LDJam ","p_event":"LD39","p_time":"1508211729","p_likes":"28","p_comments":"0","p_status":"WAYBACK","us_key":"1001249","us_name":"cosine","us_username":"cosine","event_start":"1501200000","event_key":"74","event_name":"LD 39"},"node":{"_collation":{"body_sanitizer":"TextUtils::SanitizeHTML via existing importer","event":"LD39","removed_author":false},"_superparent":32802,"_trust":1,"author":1249,"body":"Hi all, I made a comment on [a popular post here](http:\/\/ldjam.com\/events\/ludum-dare\/39\/$36543\/free-tools-for-game-development) by @eager-fox. And I'm not sure who reads the comments here so because I spent a long time on it (yes, I'm that vain), I thought I'd repost it here.\n\nFor a game jam that's all about free software and requires compo participants to submit source code, I see a lot of posts here providing lists of \"free\" development tools that are not actually free.\n\nI'd like to point out many of these are not [free](https:\/\/www.gnu.org\/philosophy\/free-sw.html), that is, they don't respect your freedom. Most of them actually have free alternatives! I split [the post's list] up into two lists and put my recommended alternatives for the proprietary ones.\n\nFree (great!) software:\n\n- [Blender](https:\/\/www.blender.org\/) - (This program is incredible!)\n- [Godot](https:\/\/godotengine.org\/) - (I'm really excited to use this more, it has a ton of features)\n- [Krita](https:\/\/krita.org\/en\/) - (Better than photoshop for painting. Incredible brush engine.)\n- [Audacity](http:\/\/www.audacityteam.org\/) - (Really easy to use!)\n- [Bosca Coil](http:\/\/boscaceoil.net\/) - (Never used it myself, looks neat though)\n- [Tiled](http:\/\/www.mapeditor.org\/) - (Makes me want to use tilemaps for all my games)\n- [Monogame](http:\/\/www.monogame.net\/) - (Never used it myself, but FEZ was made with it)\n- [PyGame](https:\/\/www.pygame.org\/news) - (I made my first real game with this! Weak; see @cmlsc's comment)\n\n[I'd like to add these to the list, all of which I can attest to]\n\n- [Phaser](http:\/\/phaser.io\/) - (HTML5, supports mobile - so simple I learned it [during LD](http:\/\/ludumdare.com\/compo\/ludum-dare-37\/?action=preview&uid=20686) once)\n- [Flashpunk](http:\/\/useflashpunk.net\/) \/ [Flixel](http:\/\/flixel.org\/) - (Flash is dead, long live flash)\n   - [Haxepunk](http:\/\/haxepunk.com\/) \/ [Haxeflixel](http:\/\/haxeflixel.com\/) - (Thanks @jacic!)\n- [OGRE](http:\/\/www.ogre3d.org\/) - (C++ 3d game engine, choosing which version is tough)\n- [Vim](http:\/\/www.vim.org\/) - (A text editor - I can't use anything else anymore :wq)\n- [GNU\/Linux](https:\/\/www.gnu.org\/) - (If you can, don't forget to choose a free OS, and build for Linux too!)\n- [GIMP](https:\/\/www.gimp.org\/) \/ [Inkscape](https:\/\/inkscape.org\/en\/) - (GIMP for bitmaps, Inkscape for vector graphics)\n- [cocos2d](http:\/\/cocos2d.org\/) - (Thanks @naca! A 2d game engine)\n- [piskel](https:\/\/www.piskelapp.com\/) - (Thanks @naca! For pixel art)\n- [git](https:\/\/git-scm.com\/) - (If you're not using version control, you're gonna have a bad time - thanks @naca)\n- [LMMS](https:\/\/lmms.io\/) - (A quite complete DAW, thanks @huvaakoodia)\n\nProprietary (non-free) software alternatives:\n\n- Visual Studio\n  - I recommend: [Code::Blocks](http:\/\/www.codeblocks.org\/) if you want an IDE, I prefer [Unix-like as an IDE](https:\/\/sanctum.geek.nz\/arabesque\/series\/unix-as-ide\/)\n- Adobe Fuse\n  - I recommend: [MakeHuman](http:\/\/www.makehuman.org\/) (I <3 this tool!)\n- Daz3d\n- Sketchup\n  - I recommend: [Blender](https:\/\/www.blender.org\/)\n- Paint.net (although its license is quite permissive)\n  - I recommend: [Krita](https:\/\/krita.org\/en\/) \/ [Gimp](https:\/\/www.gimp.org\/)\n- Tilemancer - They don't make their license clear \/ source accessible AFAIK, so proprietary\n  - I recommend: [Tiled](http:\/\/www.mapeditor.org\/) (Also a great tool!)\n- LabChirp - They don't make their license clear \/ source accessible AFAIK, so proprietary\n  - I recommend: [bfxr](http:\/\/www.bfxr.net\/). If that's tired, record your own with Audacity!\n- Unreal Engine - Also note this engine costs royalties\n  - I recommend: [Godot](https:\/\/godotengine.org\/) or [OGRE](http:\/\/www.ogre3d.org\/) if you don't need GUI.\n- Cryengine\n  - I recommend: [Godot](https:\/\/godotengine.org\/) or [OGRE](http:\/\/www.ogre3d.org\/) if you don't need GUI.\n- Unity Free Edition\n  - I recommend: [Godot](https:\/\/godotengine.org\/). Godot seeks to mirror Unity in most ways.\n- Gamemaker\n  - I recommend: Just using a 2d engine like [SFML](https:\/\/github.com\/SFML\/SFML) or [cocos2d](http:\/\/cocos2d.org\/). TBH I never liked GM\n\nSptyTile - I couldn't actually find this one so IDK. Never used it myself either","comments":13,"comments-timestamp":"2023-02-03T19:32:44Z","created":"2017-10-17T03:29:35Z","files":[],"files-timestamp":0,"id":49748,"love":28,"love-timestamp":"2017-12-01T06:41:14Z","meta":[],"modified":"2023-02-03T19:32:44Z","name":"Free as in freedom development software","node-timestamp":"2017-10-25T01:31:32Z","parent":38211,"parents":[1,5,9,32802,38211],"path":"\/events\/ludum-dare\/39\/$38211\/free-as-in-freedom-development-software","published":"2017-10-17T03:42:09Z","scope":"public","slug":"free-as-in-freedom-development-software","subsubtype":"","subtype":"","type":"post","version":142744},"node_metadata":{"n_key":"49748","n_urlkey":"316819","n_parent":"38211","n_path":"\/events\/ludum-dare\/39\/$38211\/free-as-in-freedom-development-software","n_slug":"free-as-in-freedom-development-s","n_type":"post","n_subtype":"","n_subsubtype":"","n_author":"1249","n_created":"1508210975","n_modified":"1675452764","n_version":"142744","n_status":"WAYBACK"},"source_url":"https:\/\/ldjam.com\/events\/ludum-dare\/39\/$38211\/free-as-in-freedom-development-software","text":"Hi all, I made a comment on [a popular post here](http:\/\/ldjam.com\/events\/ludum-dare\/39\/$36543\/free-tools-for-game-development) by @eager-fox. And I'm not sure who reads the comments here so because I spent a long time on it (yes, I'm that vain), I thought I'd repost it here.\n\nFor a game jam that's all about free software and requires compo participants to submit source code, I see a lot of posts here providing lists of \"free\" development tools that are not actually free.\n\nI'd like to point out many of these are not [free](https:\/\/www.gnu.org\/philosophy\/free-sw.html), that is, they don't respect your freedom. Most of them actually have free alternatives! I split [the post's list] up into two lists and put my recommended alternatives for the proprietary ones.\n\nFree (great!) software:\n\n- [Blender](https:\/\/www.blender.org\/) - (This program is incredible!)\n- [Godot](https:\/\/godotengine.org\/) - (I'm really excited to use this more, it has a ton of features)\n- [Krita](https:\/\/krita.org\/en\/) - (Better than photoshop for painting. Incredible brush engine.)\n- [Audacity](http:\/\/www.audacityteam.org\/) - (Really easy to use!)\n- [Bosca Coil](http:\/\/boscaceoil.net\/) - (Never used it myself, looks neat though)\n- [Tiled](http:\/\/www.mapeditor.org\/) - (Makes me want to use tilemaps for all my games)\n- [Monogame](http:\/\/www.monogame.net\/) - (Never used it myself, but FEZ was made with it)\n- [PyGame](https:\/\/www.pygame.org\/news) - (I made my first real game with this! Weak; see @cmlsc's comment)\n\n[I'd like to add these to the list, all of which I can attest to]\n\n- [Phaser](http:\/\/phaser.io\/) - (HTML5, supports mobile - so simple I learned it [during LD](http:\/\/ludumdare.com\/compo\/ludum-dare-37\/?action=preview&uid=20686) once)\n- [Flashpunk](http:\/\/useflashpunk.net\/) \/ [Flixel](http:\/\/flixel.org\/) - (Flash is dead, long live flash)\n   - [Haxepunk](http:\/\/haxepunk.com\/) \/ [Haxeflixel](http:\/\/haxeflixel.com\/) - (Thanks @jacic!)\n- [OGRE](http:\/\/www.ogre3d.org\/) - (C++ 3d game engine, choosing which version is tough)\n- [Vim](http:\/\/www.vim.org\/) - (A text editor - I can't use anything else anymore :wq)\n- [GNU\/Linux](https:\/\/www.gnu.org\/) - (If you can, don't forget to choose a free OS, and build for Linux too!)\n- [GIMP](https:\/\/www.gimp.org\/) \/ [Inkscape](https:\/\/inkscape.org\/en\/) - (GIMP for bitmaps, Inkscape for vector graphics)\n- [cocos2d](http:\/\/cocos2d.org\/) - (Thanks @naca! A 2d game engine)\n- [piskel](https:\/\/www.piskelapp.com\/) - (Thanks @naca! For pixel art)\n- [git](https:\/\/git-scm.com\/) - (If you're not using version control, you're gonna have a bad time - thanks @naca)\n- [LMMS](https:\/\/lmms.io\/) - (A quite complete DAW, thanks @huvaakoodia)\n\nProprietary (non-free) software alternatives:\n\n- Visual Studio\n  - I recommend: [Code::Blocks](http:\/\/www.codeblocks.org\/) if you want an IDE, I prefer [Unix-like as an IDE](https:\/\/sanctum.geek.nz\/arabesque\/series\/unix-as-ide\/)\n- Adobe Fuse\n  - I recommend: [MakeHuman](http:\/\/www.makehuman.org\/) (I <3 this tool!)\n- Daz3d\n- Sketchup\n  - I recommend: [Blender](https:\/\/www.blender.org\/)\n- Paint.net (although its license is quite permissive)\n  - I recommend: [Krita](https:\/\/krita.org\/en\/) \/ [Gimp](https:\/\/www.gimp.org\/)\n- Tilemancer - They don't make their license clear \/ source accessible AFAIK, so proprietary\n  - I recommend: [Tiled](http:\/\/www.mapeditor.org\/) (Also a great tool!)\n- LabChirp - They don't make their license clear \/ source accessible AFAIK, so proprietary\n  - I recommend: [bfxr](http:\/\/www.bfxr.net\/). If that's tired, record your own with Audacity!\n- Unreal Engine - Also note this engine costs royalties\n  - I recommend: [Godot](https:\/\/godotengine.org\/) or [OGRE](http:\/\/www.ogre3d.org\/) if you don't need GUI.\n- Cryengine\n  - I recommend: [Godot](https:\/\/godotengine.org\/) or [OGRE](http:\/\/www.ogre3d.org\/) if you don't need GUI.\n- Unity Free Edition\n  - I recommend: [Godot](https:\/\/godotengine.org\/). Godot seeks to mirror Unity in most ways.\n- Gamemaker\n  - I recommend: Just using a 2d engine like [SFML](https:\/\/github.com\/SFML\/SFML) or [cocos2d](http:\/\/cocos2d.org\/). TBH I never liked GM\n\nSptyTile - I couldn't actually find this one so IDK. Never used it myself either","title":"Free as in freedom development software","wayback_source":[]}