TOOLS OF THE TRADE

It is time for a little step back - or to the side - to talk about what you need to make a game, besides the idea and the time to prepare a prototype.


Hardware

I will presume that you have access to a computer. It really doesn't matter if it is an old, barely working machine - as long as it can run a word processor, and possibly some simple graphic software, you are covered.

Apart from that, you will need a ruler, a hobby knife (mainly to cut cards and chits) and scissors. Pens, pencils, markers in various colors, loose sheets of paper and notebooks are also necessary, along with some glue.

A printer, even a cheap one, is very useful; but if you don't have one, you can always resort to a print shop.

Software

At the very least, you'll need a word processor and a graphics program. Here's some suggestions:

Free Software

Word Processors: Libre Office is an excellent office ensemble. It is free, often updated and it has it all: word processor, spreadsheet, calc, and a simple drawing app too.
It is one of a series of suites spawned when Open Office ceased development. Another one you might want to look into is Apache Open Office.
Another option to produce text documents and format them is Google Docs; its only  disadvantage is that you must be online to use it.

Graphic Software: In my opinion, currently the best free graphic software is the classic GIMP. The only problem is, it has a steep learning curve - you will probably need a few days before being able to use it properly.
If you are experienced in vector graphics, you may want to try Inkscape - it is very good, but its user interface is a little "mysterious". Anyway, there's plenty of instructional videos for it, so a simple visit to Youtube, Vimeo or similar channels will probably solve all your problems.

Desktop Publishing: Desktop publishing software (or, for short, DTP) is all the software needed to create a layout aimed for print. You can prepare your files in a word processor or a graphic software, but DTP programs are specialized in this, and will surely make a good job.
In this field, I have just one program to recommend, as I haven't tried any others: that is Scribus. If you have used InDesign before, Scribus will be quite easy to learn. Otherwise, as usual, it will take some time, as its interface is a little out of date.

There's some more things that you might find useful; I'll tell you about them in the next post.

All the images in this post CC by Wannapik Studio - www.wannapik.com

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