Awesome Learn Gamedev
A Mega-List of Learning Resources for Game Creators
## Contents
- [About](#about)
- [Key](#key)
- [General](#general)
- [Programming](#programming)
- [Gameplay](#gameplay)
- [Graphics](#graphics)
- [Networking](#networking)
- [Fun](#fun)
- [Technical Art](#technical-art)
- [Shaders](#shaders)
- [Rigging](#rigging)
- [VFX](#vfx)
- [Art](#art)
- [2D/Illustration](#2dillustration)
- [3D](#3d)
- [Animation](#animation)
- [Resources for Non-Artists](#resources-for-non-artists)
- [Design](#design)
- [Level Design](#level-design)
- [UI/UX](#uiux)
- [Reference](#reference)
- [Audio](#audio)
- [Writing](#writing)
- [Production](#production)
- [Marketing and Business](#marketing-and-business)
- [Job Hunting and Career](#job-hunting-and-career)
- [Other](#other)
### 💜 Curated by [Hazel Kennedy](https://linktr.ee/dawdledoodles) 💜
Got resources? Notice a broken link? Email me, shoot me a DM, or make a pull request! I like chatting too - don't be shy! ^^
## About
This list is aimed at learning the craft of game development. It has been curated to offer general knowledge, resources, and hiring advice for the variety of disciplines and roles under the gamedev umbrella.
Nearly all resources are free, and anything with a price tag will be clearly marked. Paid resources are only included if they have been personally endorsed by an industry professional working in the relevant discipline.
Suggestions and future-proofing efforts are always welcome! See `Contributing.md` for contribution guidelines, and check out [open issues](https://github.com/notpresident35/learn-awesome-gamedev/issues) for tasks that need completing, such as archival work.
Generally, this lists avoids tools and assets. However, it contains courses/tutorials for specific tools wherever they are required for a role, and assets whenever they would enable a person to learn their role more effectively (for example, the animation section contains rigs). For tools, assets, communities, and more granular lists for individual tools like Unity, check out [the gaming category of awesome](https://github.com/sindresorhus/awesome#gaming)
This list avoids including tutorials (within reason). It aims to help you develop your problem-solving skills and improve your general knowledge, rather than show you how to solve a particular problem. It also avoids design analysis videos, as they tend to be aimed at passive entertainment more than active learning. Both of these are easy to find and difficult to categorize. For curation purposes, this list errs on the side of exclusion.
These resources made my career possible. I hope they are just as helpful for you!
Disclaimer: I'm a technical artist and gameplay programmer, so most resources are geared towards tech and art. However, _most_ disciplines are represented here in some fashion, particularly through general materials and other curated lists.
## Key
💠 Starred Resources are "best for beginner" links. These include courses, classes, books, and lists aimed at people who are new to the games industry, or game development as a whole.
🟪 Purple Resources are “most useful” links. These include highly influential courses/books, resources I've personally found invaluable, and other entire mega-lists.
## General
### [New to game development? Start here](https://allurious.itch.io/cheatsheets2018) 💠🟪
["The Door Problem"](https://lizengland.com/blog/2014/04/the-door-problem/) 💠🟪 - A one-sentence summary of most major roles in a large studio, and a bigger explanation of a game designer's job
[My mega-playlist of great gamedev videos](https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLLwMDKo-0Eku3TxVg2Ye9dgW0jtUgkWRn) 🟪 - Conference talks, tutorials, analyses, etc
[GameDev Contacts](https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/e/2PACX-1vRYveFAl_GuvBo0iuy3EvgPm0fWAGci-Z8e5CZ6hoYz9n8gcoK4dgE0RML-x0pWqRNjGqte-V7phtqB/pubhtml) 🟪 - A huge list of professional game developers you can contact for advice! Be courteous - these are real people! Curated by Joe Hobbs - @JLHGameArt on Twitter.
[MIT Open Courseware](https://ocw.mit.edu/) 💠🟪 - classes and materials from MIT (free to access)!
[Game Design Stuff](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pb5oIIPO62g&list=PLZQDJJp3vTmB6awcmhFc9V6HG2bd9vofo&index=58) - Another mega-list of game development videos (primarily aimed at game design and programming)
[FOSS GameDev](https://docs.google.com/document/u/0/d/1HMtvSenYvd9SN58gTmRNs-FqiHhbnnVgkMEV5mqKKaQ/mobilebasic) - A list of Free and Open Source Software for every aspect of gamedev
[VGDC at UCI Resources](https://docs.google.com/document/d/1yGzqp1Cq8emRasH0JHYMXE4-Z6xYxQ0GDe6ZyemctVM/edit) - A list of workshops and resources from the Video Game Development Club at the University of California, Irvine ()