=========================
Useful External Resources
=========================

These are resources, available on the web, that might supplement, or aid, with
game design when working with :doc:`protograf <index>`.

.. NOTE::

   Inclusion of these resources does **not** constitute a recommendation! As
   always, check how they are allowed to be used and any terms and conditions.

Contents
========

- `Prototyping Tools`_
- `Icons, Art and Images`_
- `Card Suit Icons`_
- `BoardGameGeek`_
- `Unicode Characters`_
- `Miscellaneous`_


Prototyping Tools
=================

- https://www.ttgda.org/software-tools - lists a number of tools that
  can be used for game design
- https://github.com/christianbachmann/board-game-design-canvas - an outline
  for a game development process that can help choose *what* you need to
  prototype

.. HINT::

    Please also refer to the sections on
    :ref:`hexagonal grid resources <other-hexagonal-resources>`
    as well as  :ref:`playing cards resources <other-card-resources>`.


Icons, Art and Images
=====================

-  https://openclipart.org/
-  https://www.svgrepo.com/
-  https://game-icons.net/
-  https://icon-sets.iconify.design/ (check license and attribution)
-  https://publicdomainicons.firebaseapp.com/icons
-  https://creazilla.com/
-  https://www.irasutoya.com/
-  https://bioart.niaid.nih.gov/ - medical, biological, animal and "various"
   in PNG and SVG formats
-  https://thenounproject.com/ (some free, provided they are attributed)
-  https://developers.google.com/fonts/docs/material_icons - downloadable set
   of free-to-use small icons in PNG/SVG format
-  https://www.the-blueprints.com/blueprints/ - outlines and drawings of
   military and other equipment and objects... plus a skull or two
-  https://www.deviantart.com/sharandra/gallery/38764181/stock-textures - images
   that can be used to fill in background areas (check license and attribution)

There is a collated list of sites with free *artwork* at
https://www.fairway3games.com/where-do-i-get-art-for-free-an-ongoing-list/
(if this site is down, check the archived copy:
https://web.archive.org/web/20220330035328/https://www.fairway3games.com/where-do-i-get-art-for-free-an-ongoing-list/)


Card Suit Icons
===============

-  Playing Cards - the section has a table showing a number of symbols
   linked to image files:
   https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Playing_card#Modern_formats

-  New Suit Icons - https://boardgamegeek.com/image/7928106/bmorayta1


.. _unicode-characters:

Unicode Characters
==================

There are thousands of symbols that are potentially of use in a prototype
design.

For game design, the character sets from U+2000 (General Punctuation) to
U+2BFF (Miscellaneous Symbols and Arrows) are likely to be of interest.

- https://www.compart.com/en/unicode/plane/U+0000
- https://www.w3schools.com/charsets/ref_html_utf8.asp
- https://www.codetable.net/groups
- https://www.unicode.org/charts/ - PDF versions of symbol groups
- https://shapecatcher.com/unicodefonts.html (free fonts supporting Unicode)

.. NOTE::

    Not all Unicode characters can be displayed in all fonts!


BoardGameGeek
=============

The `Board Game Geek <https://boardgamegeek.com>`_ website has many communities
and lists of resources to help support aspiring game designers; one place to
start is https://boardgamegeek.com/forum/974616/bgg/board-game-creation


Miscellaneous
=============

- https://legibility.info/contrast-calculator - calculating and testing easily
  accessible colour combinations for screen and print
- https://cur.by/styleguide - how to write your rulebook!