It is a common assumption that creating 3D game art requires an assortment of expensive programs to create with; but there are numerous alternatives that are completely free. When used in conjunction with each other, they can produce work of equal quality to the more commonly used commercial packages. Keep in mind that tools and artists are two separate things.

I write this article so that none of you have any excuse not to submit kick-ass 3D game art to the Game Development Art gallery. Maybe you'll learn some useful skills, too.


Before we start, I would like to clarify some things:

This is not a list of every free program that can be used to create 3D game art.

Art created with these programs is BY NO MEANS automatically appropriate to submit to the Game Development Art gallery. "Whaaaat", you say?

Some of these programs contain functionality far beyond what is used in games, and much of what separates 3D game art from standard 3D art is in the methodology of modeling and UV layout. This should only be seen as a list to help point beginners in the right direction regarding tools; it will take a great deal of your own motivation to study correct modeling practice to create efficient, good-looking, usable game art on your own.

And with that, the tools!
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Wings3D

Website: [link]
Cost: $0.00
Tutorials:
Wings3D.com [link]
YouTube [link]

Starting off with one of my personal favorites, Wings3D is a very simple program relative to most modeling software, but for what it does, it does very well. Once you get the basics down, Wings is a lightning fast modeling tool, capable of all of the modeling fundamentals and more, as well as functionality for applying UV texture coordinates. Its power lies in its simplicity.
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Blender

Website: [link]
Cost: Zero
Tutorials:
deviantART! [link]
Blender.org [link]
YouTube [link]

Blender is a complete 3D package with many features on par with packages like Maya, 3ds Max, and XSI. In contrast to Wings3D, Blender attempts to do everything (many of these outside of the scope of game art); modeling, UVs, materials, rigging, animation, rendering, compositing, and more.

This does, however, make Blender a very complex program. Additionally, Blender has a very non-standard interface in comparison to almost all other 3D packages, which introduces a very steep learning curve and is often the source of heated debate - some praise it, while others condemn it. If you can conquer its interface, you will have a many powerful tools at your disposal.
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XSI Mod Tool

Website: [link]
Cost: Na-da
Tutorials:
Softimage.com [link]
YouTube [link]

Mod Tool is a specialized version of Autodesk XSI designed specifically to facilitate the game modification and non-commercial development scene. Using Mod Tool you can create assets capable of being used with a number of game engines and libraries, including Microsoft XNA, Source, CryEngine 2, Unreal Engine 3, and Papervision3D, among others.

Its limitations (compared to full XSI) are fairly lenient - the most notable being that it cannot be used commercially. It retains much of the functionality of XSI 6.
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GIMP

Website: [link]
Cost: Zip
Tutorials:
deviantART! [link]
YouTube [link]

Many of you are probably already aware of GIMP; it has the reputation of being the free alternative to Photoshop. GIMP is more than capable of being used to create the textures for your models once created in a 3D program and given UVs.
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GIMPshop

Website: [link]
Cost: Buh
Tutorials:
Many beginner Photoshop tutorials can be easily understood in GIMPshop's context
deviantART! [link]
YouTube [link]

If GIMP wasn't enough of a Photoshop alternative for you, GIMPshop may be what you're looking for. GIMPshop is a modification of GIMP designed to mimic the appearance of Photoshop. A simple concept, but very handy for those frustrated with GIMP's interface.
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xNormal

Website: [link]
Cost: omg
Tutorials:
xNormal.net [link]

Once you've got the basics down, you may want to start utilizing ambient occlusion (AO), normal mapping, or other fun texture methods/types with your models. xNormal will help you generate these.
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LithUnwrap

Website: [link]
Cost:

LithUnwrap is not a modeling application, but is dedicated toward applying UV texture coordinates to your models. If your 3D application has sub-par UV features (or perhaps none at all), you may want to give this a shot. It has since been superseded by a commercial variant.
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I would be doing you a disservice not to tell you about a couple smaller communities that are completely dedicated to game art:

Polycount [link]

GameArtisans [link]

But of course, we're working towards our own cohesive game art community here at dA! So check them out, because they are useful, but do come back (or I will never forgive you).

That about covers it for right now; if you want to start making 3D game art, you've got tools that will enable you to do so now!