Resources
A collection of external resources beyond the book to assist with game development, Usagi, and Lua.
Usagi Resources
If there are ever blog posts and videos about how to use Usagi, let’s link them here!
Game Programming Resources
- Game Programming Patterns — a great book by Robert Nystrom about architecting and organizing non-trivial game codebases
- Code the Classics — a free book covering how to make classic games in PyGame, but you could adapt them to use Lua and Usagi!
- Jeffrey Thompson’s Collision Detection Guide — in-depth explanations of collision detection
- Easing Functions — explainers for different types of easing, useful for animation and juice
Lua Resources
- Learn Lua in Y Minutes — a concise overview of the language, ideal for those experienced with programming but new to Lua
- Lua 5.5 Reference Manual — an in-depth guide to the Lua programming language that Usagi uses
Game Development Resources
Making games is fun but difficult! Here are some blog posts, guides, and more that can help you when thinking about making games just beyond the coding.
- How to Make a Video Game All By Yourself — a concise and enjoyable guide to solo indie dev by Matt Hackett
- Make Games with Derek — thoughtful blog posts on game development from Derek Yu, the creator of Spelunky and other great games
Videos
A selection of the best videos about making games:
- “Juice it or lose it” presentation — how to polish games
- “The art of screenshake” presentation — a step-by-step guide on making a game feel good to play
- “Game a Week: Teaching Students to Prototype” presentation — two college instructors talk about their courses where students make a game a week
Tools
Recommended tools for making games. Most of which are free.
Audio
- jsfxr — generate retro sound effects in your browser
- ChipTone — another sound effect tool
- Audacity — audio editor
- 1BitDragon — intuitive music creation software
- LMMS — music creation tool
Graphics
- Aseprite — pixel art tool
- PixiEditor — multi-purpose 2D graphics editor
- LibreSprite — free pixel art tool, fork of Aseprite
- GIMP — open-source image editor
- Inkscape — open-source vector editor
- Krita — digital painting tool
- Piskel — free browser pixel tool
- YAL’s Pixel Font Converter — make pixel fonts in your browser
Assets
Making a game by yourself can seem like a lot when you need to design the game, code it, make the art, create music, and then release it. Luckily there are lots of generous game devs out there who share their assets, from music to sound effects to sprites to 3D models. Whether you’re rapidly prototyping and will redo the art later or don’t want to deal with it at all, you might be surprised at the great assets out there.
- OpenGameArt.org
- Assets on Itch
- Kenney
- DaFont — font downloads
- Google Fonts — free fonts