Thanks to Delta for popping up an old topic that reminded me to do this.
I'm making a sticky that I'll keep up-to-date as I find (or am told of) things that can be used by gamers to make things for they're games. etc.
I'll post more as I have time but to get things started:
The grand daddy of free stuff and probably one of the most useful is Open Office:
- Open Office
What it is: A full office suite of programs a la Microsoft Office.
Why you need it: Can read and write Microsoft files. Allows you to make PDF's!
Do I use it?: Yes, I don't even have MS Office installed... no point. - Inkscape
What it is: A vector drawing program like Xara X or Corel Draw
Why you need it: Vector drawings are completely scalable. Explaining it is beyond this article so go here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vector_graphics
Do I use it?: No, I bought Xara X, it remains one of my favorite applications. - GIMP
What it is: A Raster(Bitmap) drawing program like Photoshop
Why you need it: Everyone needs a paint program. Even if it's just for cleaning up and resizing pictures.
Do I use it?: No, I own Photoshop CS3. I have installed it on lots of machines though. Warning! If you know photoshop, the interface differences will drive you nuts.
More later.
