_____ ____ | ____|__ _ ___ _ _ / ___| __ _ _ __ ___ ___ | _| / _` / __| | | | | | _ / _` | '_ ` _ \ / _ \ | |__| (_| \__ \ |_| | | |_| | (_| | | | | | | __/ |_____\__,_|___/\__, | \____|\__,_|_| |_| |_|\___| |___/ ____ _ _ / ___|_ __ ___ __ _| |_(_) ___ _ __ | | | '__/ _ \/ _` | __| |/ _ \| '_ \ | |___| | | __/ (_| | |_| | (_) | | | | \____|_| \___|\__,_|\__|_|\___/|_| |_| (Or at least the easiest ways I know of) by TheOuterLinux https://theouterlinux.gitlab.io Last updated: 2021/07/29 Discussion URL (Reddit): https://www.reddit.com/r/TheOuterLinux/comments/i6y8i7/easy_game_creation/.compact Discussion URL (LinuxQuestions.org): https://www.linuxquestions.org/questions/blog/theouterlinux-1169710/theouterlinux-m-se-easy-game-creation-38317/#comments Want to make a video game? Don't have any money? Use GNU/Linux but want to support other systems as well? This is a list of the easiest ways to create your masterpiece that I know of without having to worry about too much about coding or maybe not at all. I would also like to note that much of the mentioned software is included with PsychOS 3.4.6, which is freely available at https://psychoslinux.gitlab.io and does not need to be installed in order to play around with it. Items, such as engines, graphic editors, digital audio workstations, and etc., are listed in alphabetical order and not by preference. _ ____ _ / | | _ \| | __ _ _ __ _ _ ___ _ _ _ __ | | | |_) | |/ _` | '_ \ | | | |/ _ \| | | | '__| | |_ | __/| | (_| | | | | | |_| | (_) | |_| | | |_(_) |_| |_|\__,_|_| |_| \__, |\___/ \__,_|_| |___/ __ _ __ _ _ __ ___ ___ / _` |/ _` | '_ ` _ \ / _ \ | (_| | (_| | | | | | | __/ [1. Plan your game] \__, |\__,_|_| |_| |_|\___| |___/ __ / _ | o |_ __ _ \__(_| | | |_) | (/_ [Calibre] Calibre is a free and open-source E-book organizer that you may want to use to help organize any PDF's and so forth in regards to whatever programming language, game engine, or any other "hotwo." It also has features in regards to obtaining E-Books from within the program, downloading metadata info based on what little you do know about a book, and can even be used to transmit an E-book to tablets, inlcuding iBooks for iOS. Unfortunately, you can not use it to import from iOS. Website: https://calibre-ebook.com/ _ | \ o _ |_/ | (_| [Dia] Dia is simply a diagram editor. You may want something to help you create diagrams to better organize your thoughts in regards to characters and story-lines. Website: https://wiki.gnome.org/Apps/Dia/ _ | \ o _ _ _ __ _| |_/ | _> (_ (_) | (_| [Discord] I don't really like mentioning proprietary software if I do not have to, but if you did have to pick an "evil" in regards to communication, it could be worse. If you are a nerd, you probably arlready know about Discord but if you don't, it is essentially a communication program in which you can create your own channel with subchannels and rules and so forth and invite people to talk about whatever and has text and voice features. The package description says "All-in-one voice and text chat for gamers." You do have to be careful though. Make sure you take the time to go through the settings and turn off anything that would cause a provacy concern though honestly, because it is proprietary, you never really know if those switches work as intended or understood. Website: https://discord.com __ _ (_ _ __ _||_) _ _ _ __ _| _ __ __)(_)|_|| |(_|| \(/_(_ (_) | (_|(/_ | [SoundRecorder] Technically "gnome-sound-recorder," if you are the sort of person that likes talking to themselves and records ideas, this is pretty simple solution and is cross-platform. You can also tell it to use opus when recording and get a whole bunch of time for very little file size. Website: https://wiki.gnome.org/Design/Apps/SoundRecorder | o _|_ _ o \_| | |__> | [Jitsi] Jitsi is more or less a Zoom alternative for those that absolutely have to do video conferencing but want to use a free and open-source platform that does not require a sign-up. It has clients for multiple platforms but only needs a web browser and you can self host an instance on your server if you wanted to. Website: https://jitsi.org/ |V| \/|\| _ _|_ _ | | / | |(_) |_(/_>< [MyNotex] MyNotex is the best desktop-oriented note-taking application I have ever used. You have notebooks, which you can then organize content into sub genres and even then, if you wanted to have separate MyNotex database files to go even further with it you can, essentially giving you three levels of note-taking. And, you can encrypt them, you can embed files, you can search text, tags, and by date. Notes are taken using markdown. It is sort of like RedNotebook (https://rednotebook.sourceforge.io/) but much better, or at least based on the last time I used it. However, if something did happen to the MyNotex project, I would use RedNotebook as an alternative. Website: https://sites.google.com/site/mynotex/ _ _ __ _ / \|_) _ __ /__ _ __ _ |_| ___|_ \_/| (/_| |\_|(_||||(/_| | | |_ [OpenGameArt] OpenGameArt is a website in which people upload sprites, 3D models, sounds, music, documents, etc. under a Creative Commons or GPL-like license so that people who aren't quite creative enough or just need a "stand-in" can focus more on the coding and design aspects of game creating. Website: https://opengameart.com _ |_) _ _ _|_ _ |_ o __ _ __ _| _ _|_|_ _ __ | (_|_> |_(/_|_) | | | (_|| |(_| (_) |_| |(/_ | _ _| o _ |_) _ _ _ |_ | _ _ o _|_ _ _ (_| | _> | (_)_> (_||_) | (/_ _> | |_(/__> [Pastebin and other disposable sites] None of the following require signup and should run fine in web browsers such as the Tor Browser if needed: For verifying a signup via SMS: https://smsreceivefree.com/ For verifying a signup via E-Mail: https://www.fakemail.net/ Temp sharing an image: https://imgbox.com/ Temp sharing an audio file: https://clyp.it/ Temp sharing a vide (may get "This Connection is Untrusted"): https://openload.co/ Temp sharing some text: https://paste.teknik.io/ Temp sharing a file: https://filebin.net/ _ _ |_) o _|(_| o __ | | (_|__| | | | [Pidgin] If you are old-school "cool" like me, then you are more than happy to use reliable technologies such as IRC (Internet Relay Chat) and a few others. This is where programs like Pidgin help. Pidgin is a communication tool that supports a LOT of protocols (https://pidgin.im/plugins/) and can do so all at once if you needed to. And if you are a command-line person, you can use a program called 'Finch' as a TUI (Terminal User Interface) front-end (https://developer.pidgin.im/wiki/Using%20Finch). Website: https://www.pidgin.im/ __ _ _ (_ _|_ _ __ _ (_| _ _ |_)_|_ o _ __ _ __) |_(_) | (_|__|(/_ (_)| |_ | (_)| |_> [Storage options] "The Cloud" is just a sugar-coated way of saying "someone else's computer." Do not use Google, Amazon, 365, iCloud, or GitHub. The risk of them or someone else stealing your ideas before you have the opportunity to complete your work is too great. Microsoft has competitiors on GitHub but guess who now owns it? Microsoft. Think about that one for a second. Why not Google Drive? Because free isn't really free and they collect data every way that they can and it's the same for all of them. So when in doubt, backup to an external hard drive instead. When a 1TB external USB 3.0 HD only costs $50-$100, choosing the Cloud option makes no since to me. There is also cheap and more permanent options like DVD-R's that hold anywhere between 4-8GB of information, the benefit of which is you can categorize and date them much more easily than trying to figure out some sort of elaborate system via directories you'll never be able to keep up with. This is when simple mistakes become a nightmare. And let's be honest, your first or even second computer game is not going to get even close to 4GB in size. ___ __ | _ / | o _ __ _|_ _ | (_)>< \__ | | (/_| | |__> [Tox Clients] WhatsApp? Owned by Facebook. Zoom? Skype? Owned by Microsoft. Hangouts? Owned by Google. Telemate? Created by the same people that originally developed VK, a social networking site popular with Russians, the Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Moldova, Belarus, and Israel. But what do they all have in common? They each have sharing capabilities with platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, and etc., to which most of that integration is an all-in-one API sort of deal that everyone uses and support for all of those platforms are there whether you actually use them or not. Pardon me if I do not trust any of them and this also includes Signal. You can leave the Snowden quote up for as long as you like, but since the sharing capability, all trust has been lost for me as far as I am concerned. This is where unique projects like Tox clients come in handy. When you open a Tox client for the first time, it creates a "profile" in which is used to communicate with the closest Tox server to let others that you are friends with no that you are available to talk to. There is no sign-up, phone numbers, or E-Mail addresses involved in any way. When an invited friend sees that you have you Tox client running from their Tox client and wants to communicate, the Tox server onl;y does enough work to help create an encrypted P2P (peer-to-peer) connection. Most Tox clients support text, talk, video chat, and file sharing. It is cross-platform, including for iOS and Android. There is even a command-line client for GNU/Linux users called 'Toxic' that supports talk, though I not sure about video chatting. Essentially, you could turn a Raspberry Pi or an old laptop into an Internet phone if you wanted. Website: https://tox.chat/clients.html _ _ |_|__ _ | _| _|_ _ _ |_ o _ __ _ _| | || | (_) | (_| | (_|_> | | | (_)| |(/_(_| _ _ |_ o _|_ _ |_ _ _ __ _| _ __ _| _ _ __ _ |_) _ |_) _ __ \^/| | | |_(/_|_)(_)(_| | (_| (_|| |(_| _> (_)|||(/_ | (_|| (/_ | [An old fashioned whiteboard and some paper] This one should be self-explainatory but just in case, once upon a time there was this thing called a whiteboard, the pre-cursor of the "smart board" you now see in many classrooms. You had these erasable markers that one used to write on this really smooth, white surface. It did not require electricity but did require a tiny bit of cleaning every so often. We also used to have this thing called paper that everything worth using that you could physically touch was designed on first. You could draw on it with what was called a pencil or a pen. You could also paint on it, fold it into shapes, and if not careful get cuts because it was so thin and portable. It's only enemies were water, fire, and the occasional politician or silverfish. But only after a few thousand years of it usage, the Earth started to get kinda warm one day, some animals became endangered, some movies were made, people paniced and switched to digital because for some reason producing a tablet and having it replaced once every few years is better for the environment, never mind the prying eyes of F500 companies and advertisers who use that data to make even more crap no one ever needed. But in reality, the Earth's magnetic poles were switching like they do about every ten thousand years or so and charts based on climate change and the magnetic data almost align perfectly, but you cannot tax what you cannot control. Another rant for another day. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ ____ ____ _ _ _ |___ \ | _ \(_) ___| | __ __ _ _ __ ___ _ __ __ _(_)_ __ ___ __) | | |_) | |/ __| |/ / / _` | '_ \ / _ \ '_ \ / _` | | '_ \ / _ \ / __/ _ | __/| | (__| < | (_| | | | | | __/ | | | (_| | | | | | __/ |_____(_) |_| |_|\___|_|\_\ \__,_|_| |_| \___|_| |_|\__, |_|_| |_|\___| |___/ [2. Pick an engine] If an engine is not mentioned, check: https://theouterlinux.gitlab.io/RecommendedSoftware/Linux/Development/RecommendedSoftware_Linux_Development.html https://theouterlinux.gitlab.io/RecommendedSoftware/DOS/Development/RecommendedSoftware_DOS_Development.html __ /__ _ __ |_ _ _ \_|(_|||||_)(_|_> [Gambas] Not really a game engine, but it is as close to Visual Basic for a GNU/Linux operating system as you are going to get. The neat thing about Gambas is that it has runtime's (gambas3) available for 32-bit, 64-bit, and ARM and you only need to make a .gambas executable and it'll run on all of them. Think of them like Java JAR files but for something that's closer to Visual Basic. It also has export options to create packages such as .deb, .rpm, Slackware, source, etc. from the application itself in a fairly idiot-proof way. It's very nice. However, if you want to create an Arch package, you need to export on Arch because of some package only Arch has. __ __ /__ _ __ _ |_ _| o _|_ _ __ \_|(_||||(/_ |__(_| | |_(_) | [Game Editor] Game Editor is the closest to a clone of Game Maker by YoYo Games that you will get. Unfortunately, it has not been updated in quite some time and is only 32-bit but with just a tiny bit of work, you can get it running on your 64-bit machine no problem. Grab a copy from: http://game-editor.com/Download In a terminal: -------------- sudo apt install lib32stdc++6 libx11-6:i386 libxext6:i386 cd /path/to/GameEditor chmod +x /path/to/GameEditor/gameEditorLinux ./gameEditorLinux And some how, it'll export to Linux, Windows, MacOS X, Pocket PC, Windows Phone, GP2X, or Game Data Only, all from GNU/Linux without the need to use another system. However, you need to keep in mind that the binary it creates is 32-bit and some newer versions of systems like macOS Catalina have stopped supporting 32-bit all together. __ /__ _ __ _ |V| _ | _ __ \_|(_||||(/_ | |(_| |<(/_ | [Game Maker] If you absolutely have to, and I understand that the temptation is very real, you can grab a copy of one of the classic Game Maker versions (pre-Studio) from http://gamemaker.cc/ and most of the versions will run just fine via WINE (https://www.winehq.org/), which is available for GNU/Linux, BSD, MacOS, and Android. However, I am not sure what happens if you use extensions or extra DLL's along with your game. If you get DirectX errors on GNU/Linux, make sure both Mesa and mpg123 are installed. You may also need a serial key and for that, you are on your own. Also, do not forget to look up "Game Maker d3d" if you want to create an at best Wolfenstein-like 3D game with a primarily 2D engine. Yo Yo Games did make a GM4Mac, which was technically GM7. Documentation, other than what is included with GM, which is fairly adequate, is a bit scarce. Here is what I've been able to find: https://gamemaker.fandom.com/wiki/List_of_functions https://web.archive.org/web/20101230221651/http://www.yoyogames.com/help/firefox# https://web.archive.org/web/20111026140208/http://gmc.yoyogames.com/ **You may want to play around with the Wayback Machine's dates. Most of the files that were hosted on yoyogames.com are no longer there but a few people were smart enough to upload zips to other places that may or may not still work. Worse case, read a tutorial. __ _ __ /__|_) (_ _|_ _| o _ \_||_) __) |_|_|(_| | (_) [GB Studio] Want to make a Gameboy ROM for use with an emulator? GB Studio makes this fairly easy and is cross-platform. It is currently the most drag- and-drop friendly engine you will find for this. However, music creation at the moment is a bit tricky as you will at least need a basic understanding of how music trackers work because it only accepts MOD files. To sort of ease the burden, take a look at this write-up on "From SCLUB to GB Studio": https://theouterlinux.gitlab.io/Public/Articles/SCLUB2GB.TXT Grab a copy of GB Studio here: https://www.gbstudio.dev/ __ /__ _ _| _ _|_ \_|(_)(_|(_) |_ [Godot] People like Unity; I've used it before and I understand; however, at that time, Godot did not exist. Now it does. Help the planet and use Godot instead. It literally does everything Unity does but is free and open- source. There is no "when you make blah blah dollars, give us % of money" clause when you make and sell games with it. The only current problem that I can think of is it does have fewer exporting options but if your target audience is game consoles, your are going to "pay out the butt" for a license anyway and therefore probably would stick with PC gamers anyhow. You also do not need to be running Windows or be running some sort of weird remote desktoping VM "what have you" to export to other platforms, but you may need to install some easy to get SDK's for platforms like Android. Website: https://godotengine.org/ _____ _ / ___ _ __ /__ _/| \ _ _ __ / | _/| \ _ _ __ _ __ _| (_ | _ _| _ \_|/__|_/(_)(_)|||/ |__/__|_/(_)(_)||| (_|| |(_| __) | (_|(_|(/_ [GZDoom/LZDoom and Slade] Slade lets you customize a DOOM.WAD file so that you can then use either the original DOOM.EXE with something like DOSBox to play your maps or use another engine like GZDoom, LZDoom, etc. There are also free and open source doom players for DOS if you want to keep it "old school" such as Boom, Fusion, Joel's Doom Port (JDP), Marine's Best Friend (MBF), RORDoom, and Smack My Marine Up (SMMU) and if you want to redistribute your "game." Website: https://zdoom.org/downloads __ | __ ___ __ _ | _ _|_ _ __ _ | /__|V| -+- |_ |\| | /__|V||_| |__(_| |_(/_ | (_| | \_|| | | |__| |_|_\_|| || | [LateralGM + ENIGMA] LateralGM is essentially a JAVA-based IDE for opening and saving Game Maker files while also looking as close to Game Maker as possible and can use the ENIGMA engine to compile them for Windows, Mac, and Linux using gcc, g++, clang, MinGW, etc. (both 32 or 64). It does take a bit of work to get it setup properly, but it's worth it. Just make absolutely sure that if you are using a GNU/Linux distro such as Ubuntu or Debian that you have the gcc-9 and gcc++-9 stuff installed as gcc-8 will not be enough. After installing gcc-9 and gcc++-9 or higher, make sure that it is the default by running: sudo update-alternatives --install /usr/bin/gcc gcc /usr/bin/gcc-9 9 sudo update-alternatives --install /usr/bin/g++ g++ /usr/bin/g++-9 9 sudo update-alternatives --config gcc ...and choose the number corresponding to version gcc-9. Then, follow the instructions here: https://enigma-dev.org/docs/Wiki/Install:Linux Worse case, the people on their Discord are incredibly helpful and you should check it out. Website: https://enigma-dev.org o_o\ / __ | / \ V |_ |__\_/ |__ [LÖVE] Love is a framework in which you can make 2D games with the Lua language. It's fairly simple to use as far as writing code goes and there is even a game engine called "Boxclip" that utilizes Love to easily create a Super Mario like game. Love website: https://www.love2d.org/ Boxclip: git clone --recursive https://github.com/Jigoku/boxclip.git Packaging your game is as simple as (in a terminal): ---------------------------------------------------- cd /path/to/yourgame/directory zip -9 -r YourGame.love . cat /usr/bin/love YourGame.love > YourGameBin To play the game (in a terminal): --------------------------------- chmod +x YourGameBin ./YourGameBin _ _ __ | _ _ | \/ \(_ |__(_)\_/(/_|_/\_/__) [LoveDOS] LoveDOS is an attempt at porting Love to DOS. However, it currently does not support sound or animations. Grab LoveDOS: https://github.com/rxi/lovedos |\/| _ ~/ _ | |(/_(|(|/_(/_L|>< [MegaZeux] _| Use MegaZeux to create an old-school, ANSI character, dungeon crawler. It supports Windows, Mac, Linux, DOS, Android, and even a few game consoles. Website: https://www.digitalmzx.com/ _ _ _ _ __ __ __ / \|_||_)|_)|_)/__/ |_ \_/| || \| \| \_|\__|__ [OHRRPGCE] Want to make a role-playing game like the classic Final Fantasy NES and SNES games? Chrono Trigger? OHRRPGCE (Official Hamster Republic Role Playing Game Construction Engine) is your best bet, as long as you do not mind the requirement of it being installed in order to play the game you created (*.rpg) as it currently does not produce a portable binary. Grab a copy from: https://rpg.hamsterrepublic.com/ohrrpgce/Main_Page However, if wanting the DOS version, grab this one instead as it uses the correct HSPEAK version that does not require Windows: https://psychoslinux.gitlab.io/downloads/OHRRPGCE.zip _ _ _ _ __ / \|_) _ __ |_)|_)/__ |V| _ | _ __ \_/| (/_| | | \| \_| | |(_| |<(/_ | [Open RPG Maker] "Open RPG Maker is a free and open source 2D RPG creation utility, similar to the popular RPG Maker series." This engine does not produce standalone binaries but is available for GNU/Linux, Windows, and MacOS X. Website: http://openrpgmaker.sourceforge.net/ _ _ _ / \|_)|_ |_| \_X|_)|_) | [QB64] QB64 is essentially the modernized version of QB45 that is also compatible with most QB45-based scripts. It also has it's own functions to make things like displaying images, playing audio, keyboard, mouse, etc. much easier. However, once you use those _FUNCTIONS, you cannot compile with QB45. Website: https://www.qb64.org ------------------------------------------------------------------------ ..-'''-. \.-'''\ \ __ __ ___ . __.....__ | | | |/ `.' `. .'| .-'' '. __/ / | .-. .-. ' .' | / .-''"'-. `. |_ '. | | | | | | __ < | / /________\ \ `. \ | | | | | | .:--.'. | | ____| | \ '. | | | | | |/ | \ | | | \ .'\ .-------------' , | ,.--. | | | | | |`" __ | | | |/ . \ '-.____...---. | |// \ |__| |__| |__| .'.''| | | /\ \ `. .' / ,'\\ / / / | |_| | \ \ `''-...... -' -....--' / `'--' \ \._,\ '/' \ \ \ `.. __..-' `--' `"'------' '---' .-'''-. ' _ \ / /` '. \ __ __ ___ __.....__ . | \ ' | |/ `.' `. .-'' '. | ' | '| .-. .-. ' / .-''"'-. `. \ \ / / | | | | | |/ /________\ \ _`. ` ..' / | | | | | || | .' | '-...-'` | | | | | |\ .-------------' . | / | | | | | | \ '-.____...---. .'.'| |// |__| |__| |__| `. .' _..._ .'.'.-' / `''-...... -' .-'_..._''. .' \_.' _________ _...._ . .--. .' .' '.\ .--./) \ |.' '-. .'| |__| / .' /.''\\ .-,.--. \ .'```'. '.< | .--.. ' | | | | | .-. | __ \ | \ \| | | || | \`-' / | | | | .:--.'. | | | || | .'''-. | || | _ /("'` | | | |/ | \ | | \ / . | |/.'''. \| |. ' .' | \ '---. | | '- `" __ | | | |\`'-.-' .' | / | || | \ '. . . | / /'""'.\ | | .'.''| | | | '-....-'` | | | ||__| '. `._____.-'/ .'.'| |// || ||| | / / | |_ .' '. | | | | `-.______ /.'.'.-' / \'. __// |_| \ \._,\ '/'-----------' | '. | '. ` .' \_.' `'---' `--' `" '---' '---' [3. Make some graphics] As far as your "artistic talents" go, you are sort of on your own. However, you can grab resources for use with your game from one of the following sites: https://theouterlinux.gitlab.io/Public/Articles/PublicDomainWebsites.txt The following is a list of graphics related programs, listed in alphabetical order. Many of these items have similar tools but each have there own particular advantages over the other. If this list is not extensive enough for your tastes, you may also want to look at: https://theouterlinux.gitlab.io/RecommendedSoftware/Linux/Graphics/RecommendedSoftware_Linux_Graphics.html https://theouterlinux.gitlab.io/RecommendedSoftware/DOS/Graphics/RecommendedSoftware_DOS_Graphics.html _ _ _ |_|__ o __ _ _|_ _ __|_||/ |_| | || | | |||(_| |_(_) | | ||\ | | [AnimatorAKA] AnimatorAKA, once proprietary and now open source due to patent related stuff, is a DOS program for creating FLI animations and non-animated GIF (87a) images, which you can also import at one frame at a time. FLI is what many newer DOS games used to create intros and cutscenes; however, it does not support audio and other ways had to be figured out in order to combine the two. (Psst.. you may be able to get creative with some of this stuff... https://archive.org/details/dangerhotstuff) Download: https://github.com/downloads/AnimatorPro/Animator-Pro/AnimatorAKA.zip _ _ __ _ |_| _ _ |_) __ o _|_ _ _ __ | o |_ __ _ (_ |_) __ o _|_ _ | |_> (/_| | | |_(/_ (_) | |__ | |_) | (/___)| | | |_(/_ [Aseprite or LibreSprite] When referring to Aseprite, I am talking about the free and open-source version before, for whatever reason, they changed the license. This program makes it very easy to create pixel art. GIF animation is supported. Website: https://www.aseprite.org/ LibreSprite is the free and opensource fork of Aseprite and has source and AppImages available. Website: https://github.com/LibreSprite/LibreSprite _ _ |_) o __ _|_|_ _ __ _|_ |_) | | (_| | (_)| | |_ [Birdfont] Fonts used in a game are often not thought of as being important as the sprites or music since well made ones simply blend in with the overall theme. In other words, it actually is important and you should try to create your own if you can. Birdfont is a free and open-source program that makes this fairly simple. Website: https://birdfont.org/ _ |_) | _ __ _| _ __ |_) | (/_| |(_|(/_ | [Blender] Blender is a free and open-source program for creating 3D models as well as doing a number of other animation-related things. If you plan on using a 3D game engine like Godot, Platinum Arts Sandbox, Cube, etc., then you'll need a way to create models and this is the best way. You know how in some movies, they use a green screen and a person moving around in black tights with white dots all over it to map to a 3D model? Blender has this feature out-of-the-box; just saying... Website: https://blender.org _____ _ __ / ___ __ ___ _ /__ | |V||_) /__ |V| | / | __ | _ _ _ |_) _ \_|_|_| || / \_| | |_|_\__ / _|_| | |<_> (_ (_|| (/_ / __ _ _ _ /__|_) o _ | _ __ _| |_|(_| _ _ \_|| | (_ |< / (_|| |(_| | |__|(_|\_/(/_ [GIMP, G'MIC, Inkscape, and Agave] GIMP is a Photoshop alternative, whether you actually agree with that or not and it's no one's fault but your own [or your teachers] for the self- imprisonment that is proprietary garbage. However, I am not mentioning GIMP for creation from scratch purposes but for editing. It launches fairly quickly and with all of the free plugins available, including G'MIC (http://gmic.eu/gimp.shtml) (GREYC's Magic for Image Computing), it's hard to beat as far as free and open-source photo/picture manipulation goes. Sometimes people want crisp graphics, especially when it comes to things like icons and buttons. This where Inkscape comes in as a free and open-source alternative to Adobe Illustrator. Bad with colors? Use GPick to grab color information, including creating color palettes from images and use Agave for designing color schemes from scratch. It is important for a game to have a standardized color set, or at least within each level. Once you have figured out the sort of color schemes or palettes you are looking for, you can take a pre-existing image, index the colors, and then change those colors based on out-of-the-box or imported GIMP color palette files, which GPick can export to. If you are having a hard time figuring color palettes out, especially if you want to emulate older game consoles, feel free to grab the ones I made here: https://theouterlinux.gitlab.io/Downloads/GIMPColorPalettes.zip However, you can easily port these to other free and open-source programs like Aseprite, GrafX2, Krita, and MyPaint. Your version of GIMP (2.10+) may or may not include MyPaint brushes. GIMP website: https://www.gimp.org/ Inkscape website: https://inkscape.org/ GPick website: http://www.gpick.org/ Agave website: https://web.archive.org/web/20161020131950/http://home.gna.org/colorscheme/ __ _\ /__ /__ __ _ _|_ X _) \_| | (_| | / \/__ [GrafX2] This program is old and still going strong. It has builds available for a ridiculous amount of operating systems and the latest version supports animation and Lua scripts for extending its functionality. The one unique advantage that GrafX2 has over other modern pixel art programs is that it can do animation based on palette color changes the same way the famous Amiga spinning white and red checkered ball does or NES, SNES, and SEGA Genesis waterfall scenes, aka " indexed color cycling." A video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lg3kolPcVOw Website: http://pulkomandy.tk/projects/GrafX2 DOS version: http://artscene.textfiles.com/viewers/dos/gfx2b965.zip Lua scripts: ------------ DB Toolbox v1.4: http://privat.bahnhof.se/wb364826/toolbox14.zip Df458 GrafX2 Scripts: https://github.com/Df458/GrafX2-Scripts |V| _ | _ |_| __ _ __ | |(_| |<(/_| ||_||||(_|| | [MakeHuman] Modeling people is hard. MakeHuman makes it very easy. You can also grab accessories, skins, hair, bones, etc. from http://www.makehumancommunity.org/content/user_contributed_assets.html, as well as install plugins from http://www.makehumancommunity.org/content/plugins.html, which includes a plugin to obtain assets from within the program. Website: http://www.makehumancommunity.org/ __ | _ |_ \_|(_|\_/|__ [JavE] Want to create some cool, old-school documentation (like this one), or perhaps you are creating an even older type of game such as a text adventure, then look no further because JavE is one of the best and easiest ASCII paint programs I've ever seen. It is like using MS Paint but instead of colored pixels, it's text. It also supports animation and can convert images (GIF, JPEG, and BMP) to ASCII art. All you need is Java Runtime Environment 1.6 or higher and perhaps some cool figlet fonts. Website: http://www.jave.de/ |/ __ o _|_ _ |\ | | |_(_| [Krita] Krita is a fantastic paint program and with the Krita version of G'MIC (https://download.kde.org/stable/krita/4.3.0/gmic_krita_qt-x86_64.appimage), it is easily a competitor for Photoshop in that regard. Besides "professional artists" being taught to use Photoshop in schools, I honestly have no idea why you do not see it used more in videos or live streams. Website: https://krita.org/ **If the Krita vesion of G'MIC fails, go to the Krita website's downloads page and look around for a newer link. You may be able to install the Krita version of G'MIC from your package manager if using GNU/Linux but based on personal experience, it probably won't work and you should use the AppImage version instead, which you need to specify the location of in Krita's settings. _ |V| \/|_) _ o __ _|_ | | / | (_| | | | |_ [MyPaint] Is your system to old or light (such as ARM) to run Krita or GIMP 2.10+? Then, you need a program called MyPaint. It's light and fast with lots of cool brushes to pick from and has built-in support for WACOM tablets, though to be fair, most GNU/Linux systems do thanks to most including xserver-xorg-input-wacom and perhaps libwacom2. Website: http://mypaint.org/ _ \ / |_) o _ _|_ V o _ | | (_ |_ | (/_\^/ [PictView] If you are developing a game for DOS, then you may want an image viewer that supports both old and new formats. PictView to this day supports more image formats than any other program I have seen. It is not free and open-source like many of the other programs listed here, but it is freeware with both DOS (use DOSBox) and Windows versions. Website: http://www.pictview.com/ __ (_ |_ _ _|_ _ | | __)| |(_) |_\^/(/_ | | [Shotwell] With all of those sprites, textures, and backgrounds you may be making for your game, you may want an easy way to organize it all. Shotwell is the lighest and simplest way of doing that, especially for GNU/Linux users. You can point it to a folder with thousands of images, maybe wait a minute of two, and it wont crash. You can also set it so that tags are embedded into the images themselves just in case somethings happens and you need to reimport everything. Please also see my tutorial on settings up a private shotwell instance if that is something you need (https://theouterlinux.gitlab.io/Public/Articles/PrivateShotwell.txt). Website: https://wiki.gnome.org/Apps/Shotwell ------------------------------------------------------------------------ __ ____ ____ _____ ____ ___ _____ __ __ ____ /. | ( _ \( _ \( _ )( _ \ / __)( _ )( \/ )( ___) (_ _) )(_) )) / )(_)( )___/ \__ \ )(_)( ) ( )__) (_)() (____/(_)\_)(_____)(__) (___/(_____)(_/\/\_)(____) ____ ____ __ ____ ___ ( _ \( ___) /__\ (_ _)/ __) ) _ < )__) /(__)\ )( \__ \ [4. Drop some beats] (____/(____)(__)(__)(__) (___/ _ |_| _| _ _ o _|_ \/ | ||_|(_|(_|(_ | |_ / [Audacity] Audacity is a free and open-source digital audio work station with with simple to use recording functions and plugins. This is what you would use to record sound effects and voices. There are more powerful DAW's (Digital Audio Workstations) than this, such as Ardour, but in the long-run, Audacity is enough for most people when it comes to recording audio. Website: https://www.audacityteam.org/ __ | |V||V|(_ |__| || |__) [LMMS] Currently, the site suggests that LMMS is an acronym for "Let's Make Music," but most of GNU/Linux users remember it meaning "Linux Multimedia Studio" and the description via package managers still list it as such. Anyway, potential future "gentrification" aside, this is an excellent program for quickly creating 100% digital music. It would, however, been a good idea to make sure to have sound fonts installed and ZynAddSubFx or Yoshimi installed for extra synthesizers. You could in theory just use Yoshimi to record to Audacity, but you get more editing options if you use LMMS. Website: https://lmms.io/ __ |V| _ _ (_ _ _ __ _ | ||_|_> (/___)(_ (_) | (/_ It's actually kind of weird how many random people I've met that know about MuseScore, a program mainly for those that know how to read sheet music since you compose music with it the same way. At the very least, it is good program to help take MIDI files of Public Domain Classical music and export it in a format that sound much better than just regular MIDI fonts. You can also use it to export your sheet music to PDF or upload it to their website for sharing. It's probably not for everyone but just a thought anyway to help your fans learn how to play that main menu masterpiece you came up with. It's hard to beat free advertising. If you plan on using the DOS version of OHRRPGCE and want to use MuseScore to create a MIDI file, followed by a BAM conversion, I have made a list of how those instruments are interpreted here: https://theouterlinux.gitlab.io/Public/Articles/MIDI2BAM.txt. Website: https://musescore.org/ __ __ (_ _ __ _| / | |_ __)(_)|_|| |(_| \__ | |_||_) [Sound Club] Sound Club is a DOS program that is the closest to a modern user interface for music creation that I know of. You can import MIDI (MID), MOD, SN, and ROL files and export as 4 or 8 channel MOD or "General MIDI." So basically, you do not need a complicated tracker program to make music for a DOS game if you have Sound Club. However, even though it pretty much supports every major sound card ever made with DOS systems in mind, make sure that if you do use it, setup Gravis UltraSound (GUS) (http://www.gravisultrasound.com/) first and then run it. It runs fine in DOSBox. You could get away with just using PC speakers if needing to run it via FreeDOS on a newer computer, but I woulnd't if you do not have to. Website: http://www.bluemoon.ee/history/scdos/index.html ------------------------------------------------------------------------ ______ ______ ___ __ /\ ___\ /\__ _\ /\_ \ /\ \ \ \ \__/ \/_/\ \/ ___ ___\//\ \ __ __ \_\ \ __ \ \___``\ \ \ \ /' _ `\ /'___\\ \ \ /\ \/\ \ /'_` \ /'__`\ \/\ \L\ \__ \_\ \__/\ \/\ \/\ \__/ \_\ \_\ \ \_\ \/\ \L\ \/\ __/ \ \____/\_\ /\_____\ \_\ \_\ \____\/\____\\ \____/\ \___,_\ \____\ \/___/\/_/ \/_____/\/_/\/_/\/____/\/____/ \/___/ \/__,_ /\/____/ __ __ __ /\ \ /\ \__ /\ \__ __ \_\ \ ___ ___ __ __ ___ ___ __ ___\ \ ,_\ __ \ \ ,_\/\_\ ___ ___ /'_` \ / __`\ /'___\/\ \/\ \ /' __` __`\ /'__`\/' _ `\ \ \/ /'__`\ \ \ \/\/\ \ / __`\ /' _ `\ /\ \L\ \/\ \L\ \/\ \__/\ \ \_\ \/\ \/\ \/\ \/\ __//\ \/\ \ \ \_/\ \L\.\_\ \ \_\ \ \/\ \L\ \/\ \/\ \ \ \___,_\ \____/\ \____\\ \____/\ \_\ \_\ \_\ \____\ \_\ \_\ \__\ \__/.\_\\ \__\\ \_\ \____/\ \_\ \_\ \/__,_ /\/___/ \/____/ \/___/ \/_/\/_/\/_/\/____/\/_/\/_/\/__/\/__/\/_/ \/__/ \/_/\/___/ \/_/\/_/ [5. Include documentation] Yeah... I know. Not fun at all and even though you do your best at creating a README, some HTML files, etc., people never actually look at them and will E-Mail you stupid questions anyway. But, you have to make those documents anyway, if only to give license or disclaimer information. These are programs I recommend for creating documentation but whatever you decide to use, just make sure it has spellchecking. _ |_||_ o _ __ _| | ||_) | \^/(_) | (_| [Abiword] I'm only really mentioning Abiword as an alternative to LibreOffice's Writer program if you are using an older or lighter computer. Abiword is fast and only takes up about 10-15MB of space and uses less RAM just to do the same things. However, it does have an interesting advantage that many people do not seem to know about and that is that newer versions have an AbiCollab feature (https://abicollab.net/). In otherwords, something similar to having multiple people editing on Google Docs. Website: https://abisource.com/ __ | _ |_ \_|(_|\_/|__ [JavE] See JavE as already mentioned in "2. Make some graphics." This is for when you just want to make a plain text document or perhaps do not have much of a choice if tageting an older system. Website: http://www.jave.de/ _ _ _ | o |_ __ _ / \_|__|_ o _ _ |__ | |_) | (/_\_/ | | | (_ (/_ [LibreOffice] Microsoft Office is over-rated and does nothing extra but perhaps look better or have slightly better support for proprietary datbase formats and a few calculation-type stuff in Excel. Website: https://www.libreoffice.org/ | \/ |__ / >< [Lyx] Lyx is a free and open-source, WYSIWYG (what you see is what you get) LaTeX editor. This program is more or less most likely to be used for things such as research papers and journals, but if you have issues with standardization, you really can't beat TeX or LaTeX. If you do not know, then do not worry about. Website: https://www.lyx.org/ __ /__ _ _ __ \/ \_|(/_(_|| | / [Geany] This is feature-rich but lightweight ("flyweight"), free and open source IDE (Integrated Development Engine). However, it is also a great text- editor with useful formating options and spellchecking thanks to plugins. I would also like to note that as far as copy/paste goes from one editor to another, Geany also has the fewest issues by comparison. Website: https://www.geany.org/ ------------------------------------------------------------------------ ______ ______ _______ _______ _________ _______ _ / ____ \ ( __ \ ( ____ \( ____ \\__ __/( ____ \( ( /| ( ( \/ | ( \ )| ( \/| ( \/ ) ( | ( \/| \ ( | | (____ | | ) || (__ | (_____ | | | | | \ | | | ___ \ | | | || __) (_____ ) | | | | ____ | (\ \) | | ( ) ) | | ) || ( ) | | | | | \_ )| | \ | ( (___) )_ | (__/ )| (____/\/\____) |___) (___| (___) || ) \ | \_____/(_) (______/ (_______/\_______)\_______/(_______)|/ )_) _______ _______ _______ _______ _______ ______ _______ ( ____ \( ___ )( )( ____ \ ( ___ )( __ \ ( ____ \ | ( \/| ( ) || () () || ( \/ | ( ) || ( \ )| ( \/ | (_____ | | | || || || || (__ | (___) || | ) || (_____ (_____ )| | | || |(_)| || __) | ___ || | | |(_____ ) ) || | | || | | || ( | ( ) || | ) | ) | /\____) || (___) || ) ( || (____/\ | ) ( || (__/ )/\____) | \_______)(_______)|/ \|(_______/ |/ \|(______/ \_______) [6. Design some ads] As far as graphics and sound goes, those programs have already been covered; however, maybe you would like to make some videos or presentations. That's where the following come in: |/ _| _ __ | o _ |\ (_|(/_| | | | \_/(/_ [Kdenlive] Kdenlive is one of the best free and open-source video editors you can get. It comes loaded with plugins do so all sort of effects. So far, all of my videos have been made using it and probably will continue with it for a very long time. However, if Kdenlive is not an option, you may want to take look at Openshot. It's a little more easy to use and has a really cool 3d title scene maker that utilizes Blender. https://kdenlive.org/ _ _ _ | o |_ __ _ / \_|__|_ o _ _ |__ | |_) | (/_\_/ | | | (_ (/_ [LibreOffice] For the case of using LibreOffice to create an "ad," this is more or less about using LibreOffice Impress, the presentation program, to create a slideshow for public events, kiosks, etc. You could also use it to help present your game on a more professional, private level, but in those cases, you may be better off with Prezi (https://prezi.com/) or creating a video. Website: https://www.libreoffice.org/ _ _ __ __ / \|_)(_ (_ _|_ _| o _ \_/|_)__) __) |_|_|(_| | (_) [OBS Studio] OBS Studio is a free and open-source live broadcasting and local recording program. If you need to record game play but have overlays and scenes to switch to in real time, this is what you use. Website: https://obsproject.com/ ------------------------------------------------------------------------ _____ ____ _ _ _ _ _ _ |___ | | _ \(_)___| |_ _ __(_) |__ _ _| |_(_) ___ _ __ / / | | | | / __| __| '__| | '_ \| | | | __| |/ _ \| '_ \ / /_ | |_| | \__ \ |_| | | | |_) | |_| | |_| | (_) | | | | /_/(_) |____/|_|___/\__|_| |_|_.__/ \__,_|\__|_|\___/|_| |_| [7. Distribution] __ /__ o _|_| _ |_ \_| | |_|__(_||_) [GitLab] GitLab is like GitHub but not owned by Microsoft and can be hosted on your own server if you wanted. You may want a place to backup and collaborate with people on a private level and GitLab does not place limits on the amount of private repositories and you can use it to create a free website that comes with SSL. And the cool thing about using something like GitLab for your website is that you can update any of your pages via a simple "git add .", "git commit -m '...'", and "git push". No more need for cPanels or programs like Filezilla. You can build your site from the command-line if you wanted to. The only down side that I can think of is the site would be static, meaning no Wordpress; you will have to learn HTML, CSS, and maybe JavaScript and put it all together yourself; however, there are programs that make this a bit easier for you if you want such as BlueGriffon (http://bluegriffon.org/) and KompoZer (https://sourceforge.net/projects/kompozer/). Website: https://gitlab.com ___ | _|_ _ |_ _|_ |_(_ | | [Itch] Itch.io is a site for those that love playing Indie games. You can create an account and set a price. You can also set it as free but give the option to donate before downloading. That's kinda cool; however, if you are a privacy enthusiast like me, this unfortunately is not one of those sites you can simply upload something, give a PayPal email address, and let that be that. You have to "connect" either a PayPal or Stripe account in order to get paid and some people, like myself in most cases, do not like connecting everything to everything. Itch.io makes money by using what they are calling "open revenue sharing": https://itch.io/updates/introducing-open-revenue-sharing, as well as having a Patreon and Website: https://itch.io/ | _ _ _ | _ |__(_)(_ (_| | _> [Locals] I know; it sounds like a dating site, but it isn't. It is essentially a Patreon alternative in which you can create you own little fan obsessed, subscription-based "universe." The real advantage of it in regards to distributing your game is that it allows file uploads instead of making you upload a file somewhere else and then hope no one shares the link. However, I have yet to take full advantage of this site just yet to propose any more potential ideas and therefore anyone reading this should probably do some research before committing. It does however have the disadvantage of only supporting Stripe (https://stripe.com/) to get payed. Website: https://locals.com/ _ _ __ _ _ |_) _ \/|_) _ | _ __ _| (_ _|_ __ o |_) _ |_) _|__|_ _ __ _ | (_| / | (_| | (_|| |(_| __) |_ | | | (/_ |_)|_| |_ |_(_)| |_> [PayPal and Strip Buttons] When referring to a "PayPal button," most people think of a donation button, which isn't a bad idea, but what if you wanted to sell something instead of assuming your GNU/Linux community will always be altruistic? To help combat this, you can use PayPal to create buttons to sell digital goods instead. The one HUGE disadvantage is that you are going to have to get creative and change your game's URL every so often since the button only takes people to the URL you input for download. As far as using Stripe for this goes, it is sort of all over the place and assumes that you are the sort of person that doesn't mind connecting online payment sites to other sites and probably uses Wordpress and so on and so forth. I'm only mentioning using Stripe to create "buy now buttons" because not everyone has those sort of concerns like I do. PayPal website: https://www.paypal.com Stripe website: https://stripe.com ------------------------------------------------------------------------ __ () , ______ _ _ __ ( ) /`-'| _/__/_ / / ' ) / / / ') _/_ ./' / / _ / / o ____ _, --/ /_ _ / / /__ __ __/ / /. . / (__)o /__-<_ [BBS and Forums] Please remember that this list in alphabetical order and that utilizing a BBS (Bulletin Board System) or forum to inform people of your game, unless it is for a much older system or game console, is probably not such a great idea anymore. However, if you are making a game for a system like DOS, Amiga, AtariST, etc., believe it or not, there are still plenty of active BBS's to choose from. However, most of them use a site URL instead of dialing in the traditional way. If you do take the BBS route, I highly recommend using the program NetRunner by Mystic BBS (http://www.mysticbbs.com/downloads.html) if you want an SDL-based program that makes it look as though you are using an old-school BBS program. If not, you can simply use the 'telnet' command in most cases, with the advantage of possible torification because of plain text. https://www.telnetbbsguide.com/ https://www.bbscorner.com/ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_bulletin_board_systems ...Teefax?... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W8B3OIM__Mk |V| _ _ _|_ _ _| _ __ | |(_|_> |_(_)(_|(_)| | [Mastodon] Mastodon is a free and open-source, decentralized Twitter alternative who's primary target audience are either very liberal or for those that feel disenfranchised in some way. It's loaded with "odd balls," I guess, which for the most part is prefectly fine and kind of cool as it gives you the opportunity to learn all sort of things as long as you are willing to keep an open mind. Just remember, if you do not have your settings setup to prevent just anyone from following you without your approval on Mastodon, you will most definitely run into robots and crazies; potential sponsors may or may not feel comfortable with what they see on the platform, even though most of the top GNU/Linux distros have Mastodon accounts. These servers have lots of GNU/Linux users, retro gamers, HAM radio enthusiasts, etc., but it also has people who are VERY enthusiastic in regards to alternative life styles, politics, religion, and sexual orientation. Just know that it isn't for everyone. Worse case scenario, if you want a Mastodon account but also want to make you own rules, you can always just setup your own Mastodon instance. Website: https://joinmastodon.org/ |V| _ __ _ |_ | |(/_ | (_ | | Merchandising in the video game word, or at least for AAA games, is important as it is essentially advertising that consumers are willing to pay more than the production cost for. It's ingenious. However, as an Indie developer, this will be a hit or miss as everyone with a paint program is designing shirts, coffee mugs, face masks, phone cases, etc. But, having an account with a site like TeePublic (I got one, wink wink), may help show people how serious and committed you are to your game or other projects. Some people want something they can physically own in order to support a developer as opposed to just clicking a donate button. My TeePublic isn't the greatest in the world, but it would be sort of stupid not to take the opportunity to drop a URL: https://www.teepublic.com/user/theouterlinux _ |_) _ _| _| o _|_ | \(/_(_|(_| | |_ [Reddit] Reddit has probably helped my projects with discoverability probably more than any other social network. When you make something command-line related, post to /r/commandline. When you make something Linux related, you post to /r/Linux. So on and so forth with tens, hundreds, or even thousands of bored subscribers to those subreddits skimming through those posts every day while avoiding the temptation to download another animated GIF to add to their "meme collection." If you do have game or a username that you utilize everywhere, it may not be a bad idea to create your own subreddit for people to posts questions, concerns, praises, issue reports, etc. But what about privacy?! Isn't Reddit a proprietary platform? Yes it is. However, I would not rank it anywhere near to those such as Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter and is certainty nowhere near as "toxic" as long as you aren't a complete asshole, think before you type, and stick with subreddits that have submissions made by actual professionals. If you would know now a way around this issue, please take a look at the Twitter section below and simply do the same steps except that you can use a GUI program called Reditr or the command-line program 'rtv'. Website: https://reddit.com _ ___ _ __ |_) _ _ __ | |_ _ _ __ _| |_) o _|_/ |_ _|_ _ | (/_(/_ | | |_||_)(/_ (_|| |(_| |_) | |_\__| ||_| |_(/_ [PeerTube and Bitchute] PeerWhat? BitWho? It's okay; not everyone has heard of these sites. These are essentially alternatives to YouTube, both making "free speech" claims except PeerTube is more liberal while BitChute is more conservative. Therefore, if you are looking for another way to upload videos of your game to then post about elsewhere, you may want to appear as neutral as possible and utilize both. Never mix political beliefs with video games as it never ends well. Remember, most people play games to escape reality. PeerTube website: https://joinpeertube.org/ BitChute website: https://www.bitchute.com/ ___ | o _|__|_ _ __ | \^/ | |_ |_(/_ | [Twitter] Twitter? NOOOOOOO! Joking. Most GNU/Linux users see this as a "toxic, privacy nightmare," yet those people saying so on their YouTube videos (-_-?) all depend on it to help with discoverability. And unfortunately, other platforms like Google when searching for "John/Jane Doe's Awesome Game" are more than likely to list the Twitter account before the actual game's download site. It's because most search engines give ranking preference to whomever makes everyone the most money. Is Twitter a privacy nightmare? Yes. They, like other social networking companies, sell your data to not only advertisers, but also to other competing social networks. So if you do not mind Twitter but hate Facebook, as far as what is know as "the deep web" (web-related stuff you do not see) as concerned, it sort of doesn't matter in the long-run. But have no fear! TheOuterLinux is here! There is way. Believe it or not, You can create a Twitter account, use it, and stay fairly private. 1. Grab a copy of the Tor Browser and do all of the following from within it. You may also want to install addons such as 'uBlock Origin', 'Privacy Badger" and some sort of auto-cookie destroyer. 2. Use the Tor Browser to visit Protonmail's .onion version and create an E-Mail address. If you have issues with this, such as asking for another E-Mail account for some sort of verification, just use a temporary E-Mail service to obtain any codes. The reason we are not giving Twitter a temporary E-Mail address is because if the Twitter account gets hacked, you are screwed and you may want to use E-Mail for alerts instead of logging into Twitter everyday. Also, Protonmail allows you to make it so that you have to enter credentials for the account and then another password to decrypt the E-Mail box, which they do not store in anyway that they themselves can decrypt, or supposedly. 3. In the Tor Browser, setup the Twitter account using the Protonmail E-Mail address. You may have to allow certain JavaScripts via NoScript to get things working. Log into the Twitter account and go through the privacy settings first thing and enable/disable what you need to. And if you want an "app" to check your Twitter instead of using the Tor Browser each time, you can install 'tor' to run on the system level, install 'tosocks' and 'cawbird', and then while tor is running, 'sudo service tor start', use 'torify cawbird', go through the setup processes, and when done using Cawbird, you can stop the tor daemon by using 'sudo service tor stop'. Double check that your connections are using tor by running 'lsof -P -i -n'. Website: https://twitter.com \ / ___ ___ Y _ | |_ _ | o _|_ _ |_ _ __ _| | (_)|_| | |_||_)(/_ / | \^/ | |_(_ | | / (_|| |(_| _ |_) o _ _ ___|_ _ | | (_ (_| | |_(_) [Youtube, Twitch, and Picarto] I was more of a "Justin.tv" fan, but a lot of people these days watch others play video games, if nothing else than to get hyped before purchasing. Therefore, it may not be a bad idea to stream game-play to get others curious. Unfortunately, in regards to at least YouTube, if privacy is a concern, you are sort of SOL. This is because Google doesn't let you sign-up for anything made by them with out creating a GMail, to which then is followed by requiring a phone number for some sort of two-step verification process (**cough sell to advertisers **cough). Twitch is now sort of the same way if you want to live stream at all. Picarto is still somewhat "safe" as long as you understand that it is a live streaming service primarily for artists and has "adult drawing" channels; things can get weird quick if you're not careful, but at least it doesn't seem to be owned by anyone known for selling everyone's data. I would also like to note that in the near future, PeerTube for live streaming may be an option. Fingers crossed: https://joinpeertube.org/roadmap YouTube website: https://www.youtube.com/live Twitch website: https://twitch.tv Picarto website: https://picarto.tv ------------------------------------------------------------------------ _____ _ _ |_ _| | | | | | | _ __ ___ _ __ ___ _ __| |_ __ _ _ __ | |_ | | | '_ ` _ \| '_ \ / _ \| '__| __/ _` | '_ \| __| _| |_| | | | | | |_) | (_) | | | || (_| | | | | |_ |_____|_| |_| |_| .__/ \___/|_| _\__\__,_|_| |_|\__| / ____| | | | | | | ___ _ _|_| _____ _ __| |_ ___ _ __ ___ | | / _ \| '_ \ \ / / _ \ '__| __/ _ \ '__/ __| | |___| (_) | | | \ V / __/ | | || __/ | \__ \ \_____\___/|_| |_|\_/ \___|_| \__\___|_| |___/ [Important Converters] This is a list of converters that I would almost guarantee that you will need to make use of sooner or later or are at the very least a dependency for one of the previously listed programs. For listed command-line programs, feel free to look at my notes: https://gitlab.com/TheOuterLinux/Command-Line. Also, I would like to mention that PsychOS 3.4.6 comes with a Yad-based script I made called 'QuickEdit' as an option when right-clicking a file (Thunar custom action) for quickly resizing, converting, changing modified dates, removing silence at the end of audio, render a Blender project file, etc. for several supported file formats. You can find a video on it here: https://peertube.mastodon.host/videos/watch/ce59e19a-a1e6-422b-b1fa-1122d6905e19 __ __ _ _ |_ |_ |V||_) _ (_| | | | || (/___| [FFMpeg] FFMpeg is an audio/video conversion program that anyone with a computer has probably used at some point or another and haven't realized it. It runs from the command-line but several graphical programs that do any sort of audio or video editing or converting use it. Which brings me to the point of that it is very easy to use just by itself if you wanted. Just do something like 'ffmpeg -i input.flv output.mp4' to convert an FLV file into an MP4; it's that easy. You can also do the same with audio formats, just do not forget the '-i' part to let it know what file represents the input. Website: https://ffmpeg.org/ ___ _ _ | __ _ (_| _ |V| _ (_| o _ | _|_|||(_|__|(/_| |(_|__| | (_ |< [ImageMagick] ImageMagick is being mentioned in this case for its easy to use command- line options and not the awkward dinosaur interface no one likes but in rare cases is somewhat beneficial for displaying rarely used file formats. For instance, let's say we created sprite using Krita but later wanted a GIF format because of a DOS or older Windows program like VB6 or older. You could open it in something like GIMP or Krita and convert it, but that is completely unnecessary. If ImageMagick is installed, all you need to do is in a terminal use 'convert input.png output.gif'. You can also quickly resize by adding '-resize WidthxHeight' and add '\!' to the end to ignore keeping the aspect ratio. Website: http://www.imagemagick.org/ ___ _ __ \|/ | __ (_| _)-*- _|_|||__|/__/|\ [Img2*] On my website's projects section, I have a few Python-based image converters for use with QuickBasic, FreeBASIC, and BBC BASIC if anyone needs a little help in that regard. Website: https://theouterlinux.gitlab.io/Projects/desktop.html Videos: https://theouterlinux.gitlab.io/Public/Videos.html _ \ / |_) o _ _|_ V o _ | | (_ |_ | (/_\^/ [PictView] It's not completely obvious, but PictView doubles as an image converter and has the advantage in some ways, though perhaps not quite over GrafX2, in regards to older image formats. Website: http://www.pictview.com/