Other Stuff

Game Development Resources:

Here's a list of some programs that might be of interest to your students. Some of them might be a bit advanced, but if you have any tinkerers in the class, they might enjoy the challenge! -- Bryan Paul Johnson

* http://stencyl.com/ (Similar to Gamestar Mechanic, but for Flash [and eventually HTML5])
* http://www.rpgmakerweb.com/ (Similar to Gamestar Mechanic, but focused on Japanese style RPGs.)
* http://sketchup.google.com/intl/en/product/newin8.html (Simple and free 3D modeling. It's more widely used in engineering and drafting circles, but valuable for learning how 3D workds)
* http://usa.autodesk.com/maya/ (The biggest name in 3D animation. They offer a free trial.)
* http://usa.autodesk.com/3ds-max/ (The most common 3D software used by games. Again a free trial. Curiously, it's the same company that owns Maya. They must have recently merged, as that wasn't the case a few years ago!)
* http://www.panda3d.org/ (This is a 3D engine--it's more advanced than Gamestar Mechanic, but similar in what it does)

Other interesting places to explore:

• The Top 100 Arcade Video Games
• The International Arcade Museum
• More tools to build your own video games (mostly free)
• Microsoft's Kodu Game Lab (for building games for the Xbox)
• Mobile Device Game Development (Note: not all of these are free, so read the fine print)
  
• Game Editor
  
• Mo' Mini
  
• Game Salad
• Blender 3D Animation/Game Creator suite (open source: free) -- recommended by Andrew
• Multimedia Fusion 2 game design software -- recommended by Tristan