All my stuff is make in PlayBASIC, but then again I did write it.. so whatever
As a tabletop game designer, artist, writer, and publisher, I gotta say that Notepad as a digital tool on smartphones and laptops is one of the tools I use a LOT. also physical notepads, too. Libre Office: Libre Office Writer and Libre Officer Calc, are also very often used. 3D Paint is one of those tools that I happen to use regularly, because it is easy to use, available almost everywhere, and you can use it on the net, too. I list these because I use these all regularly among other tools, programs, etc., but I also like these. Simple free tools that are usually already even on library computers. I like to keep my easy, simple and carefree.
And I shall mention these, too.
I have used Rupert Spore’s Fictional Area Creation Tool ( https://rupert-spore.itch.io/fictional-area-creation-tool-fact ) as a writing prompt tool and as an inspiration sparkler.
I've also used Creature Feature All Dice Table by Jesse Galena and Thomas George as an inspiration ignition as part of my creative writing process. You can get yourself the latest copy of it (https://rexiconjesse.itch.io/creature-feature) on their creator page ( https://rexiconjesse.itch.io/ )
I create my own game engines. My Fairy Tale, Star Story I and II have been created with the Apollo Game Engine, which I created myself. Star Story II is however the final project in Apollo as I am just in the development of a brand new engine named "Scyndi's Creative Interpreter" (or SCI for short) in what I am also doing my next project already.
I create as many tools myself as possible in either C++ or C# depending on what I need for that specific tool.
But as I can also not do all by myself, I also use programs like Paint.net, GIMP, Audacity and such. I have not really a "favorite". The tool just has to do the job and shouldn't be too hard to use.
I think Corel Painter would be a good addition to the graphics side of things. I've been using it instead of photoshop for years and at least for me it's much nicer to work with when it comes to actual drawing/ painting. Photoshop is still much better for any sort of photo emitting of course.
I tried to use MagicaVoxel you already have on the list, just to try out the voxel thing. It seemed like a pretty good tool, but damn it, the whole menu layout is unintuitive as hell.
I use Unity as my game engine to create games and write with C# because it's basically all I know. For 3D graphics and design I use blender and for 2D I usually use adobe illustrator for sprites or photoshop. I'm planning on using Adobe Animate for animation but i'm not into the stuff yet. I use Visual Studio as my IDE because it's default for Unity and is just easy for me. I use Garageband for creating soundtracks and plan on upgrading to something more complex like FLStudio or maybe Logic Pro when I become better at it.
I've made a cool prompt generator, this is helping me a lot to make games with new ideas that I would have never thought about! Here is the link -> Random Theme Generator
Basic but gets the job done :)
Defold - a very underrated game engine https://defold.com/
Gdevelop - just for quick Prototyping https://www.getpaint.net/
VisionCrafterAI - For all my Game Design Arts, Backgrounds, Character Design, Pixel Design (all Graphic stuff) https://visioncrafterai.itch.io/
REAPER - Audio Production https://www.reaper.fm/
I can't believe articy:Draft X doesn't seem to have been mentioned here. I'm making an RPG with Disco Elysium-style branching dialogue and articy is a godsend, especially if you're writing games with open-ended, branching stories.
articy lets you write dialogue and plot timelines by means of a 'flowchart' simply called the flow, where you can also do simple scripting by attaching code to flow items, and also comes with a database to help you keep track of documents, images, music, locations, people, items, etc. (which can also be tied to modules in the flow). Best of all, you can export your project directly to Unity or Unreal.
Its uses are very niche, but if you're looking to make a visual novel, then Visual Novel Maker is a pretty great engine. It's a bit rough around the edges, but you can create a whole game from start to finish with it. It's by the same people that make RPG Maker, it just doesn't receive the same level of support
Las 3 herramientas más completas para desarrollar videojuegos hoy en día son Unity, Unreal Engine y Godot. Unity es súper versátil para 2D y 3D, usa C# y tiene una comunidad enorme, ideal para proyectos que pueden escalar. Unreal Engine es más potente en gráficos, perfecto para juegos AAA o visualmente muy exigentes, con C++ y Blueprints para quienes prefieren lo visual. Y Godot, que es open source, muy liviano y fácil de aprender, ideal si estás empezando o querés algo sin licencias. En la carrera de Programación de Videojuegos en UNIAT usamos estas tres según el tipo de proyecto, y todas tienen mucho que ofrecer según tus metas y experiencia.