Resources
Here is a list of potential resources, sites, plugins, tutorials and forums that I visit regularly.
Gaming
- Game Maker- Made by game veterans Sandy Duncan and Michel Cassius, this software is for rookie/hobbiest intrested in making games. They have a ton of resources and a thriving community.
- BFXR- 8/16 bit music generator. Next-gen AS3SFX.
- AS3SFX- 8/16 bit music generator. A must for game sound effects.
- Stencly- Free Flash game creator and growing community, good for intermediate users.
- Lost Garden- Lot of articles on game design, prototyping and an all-round approach to game creation by Daniel Cook.
- Designer’s Notebook- Insightful articles on game design and related by Ernest Adam.
- Ambrosine’s Game Creation Links- an exhaustive list of resources by Greg Ryan.
- Sloperama’s Game Design Zone- Tom Sloper’s advice to folks interested in making a career out of the Gaming Industry.
- Indie Marketing and Biz Tips- Exhaustive list for an indie game developer by Simon Kaizen (PixelProspector).
- Texture Packer- Excellent image packer for sprite creations. Watch the demo here
Design/Art
- 960 Grid System- Fundamental first step for making websites.
- Smashing Magazine- Insightful articles of Webdesign and Type.
- Material Designer- A very good collection of links to design/type/color theory and similar topics by Christopher Hendrix.
- Pixel Art Tutorials- by GAS13 (Alex Garkushin) a must for pixel artists.
- Wirify- Reverse-engineer sites to their bare layouts, with the power of magic.
- ColourLovers- community based site for colors, lovers pallets and patterns.
- Drawn.ca- blog that features various artists/animators
- Principles of Beautiful Typography – by Jason Beaird
- 10 common typography mistakes – by Brian Hoff
- Exhaustive list of Art books
Animation
- Cold Hard Flash- One of the best Flash news blogs.
- Newgrounds- One of the oldest Flash portals.
Flash Plugins
- Flash Pixel Tool V2- By Patrick Mineault. www.5etdemi.com . The ‘only’ Flash Pixel Tool plugin.
- Frame Edit, Search and Replace and Toggle Guide- Give Dave Wolfe all your money for making Flash Plugins.
- Library:Find and Replace- By Christoph Landers @ Freelanders.de
- Zoë- Export SWF to Sprite Sheets by the good folks at gskinner.com
Forums
- Cold Hard Flash Forum- One-stop shop for all Flash animators.
- NewGrounds Forum- One-stop butcher shop for Flash animators in the making.
- Animation World Network Forum- Long standing forum for all mediums of animation
Websites
- Reddit/r/Gaming- game news, before it happens
- Wireframes Magazine- Site featuring wireframe and production related web/apps and such.
- Usability- best practices
- useit.com- usability for teenagers by Jakob Nielsen
