The free tools mod authors actually use: Blender, image and texture tools, sound, code editors, Git, and each game’s official tools

24 Oct 2026 · 3 min read · ModsDrop

Pictured: Nissan Skyline ER34 – JDM Sedan with Body Kits and Tuning, from the ModsDrop library.

Every mod in our library was made with software, and nearly all of it can be made with software that costs nothing. Here are the free tools mod authors actually use, general-purpose first, then the official and community tools for each game we host, with a line on what each one is for.

3D modelling

Blender: the standard. Modelling, UV unwrapping, texture baking, rigging and export for every game here, with official or community exporters for each. Free, open source, and the tool every tutorial assumes.

Images and textures

GIMP: full image editor; opens and saves DDS.
Krita: painting-oriented editor, excellent for hand-painted textures and decals.
Paint.NET (Windows): lighter editor with built-in DDS support including BC7.
texconv (Microsoft DirectXTex): command-line conversion, resizing and mipmap generation, ideal for batch work.
NVIDIA Texture Tools Exporter: DDS export with a visual preview of compression quality.

Textures 101 explains the formats these tools write.

Sound

Audacity: recording, cutting, cleaning and looping engine and effect sounds.
FMOD Studio: the audio middleware the SCS truck games use since version 1.37; truck sound mods are built as FMOD banks. Use the version the game’s modding documentation specifies.

Text, data and packaging

Visual Studio Code or Notepad++: for JBeam, XML, SII, JSON and Lua, with syntax highlighting and search across files.
7-Zip: opening and creating archives, and checking what is inside someone else’s.
Git: version control for the text parts of a mod (JBeam, XML, definitions, scripts). It shows exactly what changed between versions and lets you undo a bad edit months later.

BeamNG.drive

The World Editor, built into the game, for maps and level objects, with the Material Editor (which since 0.40 shows video-memory estimates per material) and the Terrain Editor.
The game’s own debug views for nodes, beams and collisions, essential for JBeam work.
BeamNG’s official documentation site for JBeam, materials, Lua and the editor.
Blender with Collada export for vehicle models. The BeamNG pipeline overview puts it together.

Euro Truck Simulator 2 and American Truck Simulator

SCS Blender Tools: SCS Software’s official Blender add-on for exporting models and materials in the games’ formats.
Conversion Tools: SCS’s official tools that turn exported assets into game files and package mods.
SCS Extractor: unpacks the games’ own archives so you can study and reference official definitions.
Workshop Uploader: SCS’s tool for publishing to the Steam Workshop.
The official modding wiki for formats and definitions. See the SCS pipeline overview.

Farming Simulator 25

GIANTS Editor: the official scene, map and vehicle editor, free from the GIANTS Developer Network.
GIANTS Blender exporter: official export of models to the game’s .i3d format.
TestRunner: GIANTS’ checker that reports errors in a mod before submission.
The Developer Network’s script documentation. See the GIANTS pipeline overview.

GTA V

OpenIV: archive editor and the mods folder that keeps original files clean.
Script Hook V and ScriptHookVDotNet: what script mods run on.
Community Blender add-ons for importing and exporting the game’s model formats.

Assetto Corsa

The official Assetto Corsa SDK with its editor for preparing cars and tracks.
Content Manager: testing, a showroom for previews, and packaging.
Custom Shaders Patch documentation for the features most modern mods rely on.

Where to start

Blender, an image editor, a code editor and 7-Zip cover the first year of modding in any game here. Add the game’s official tools when you need them, and learn Git early; the first time it recovers a file you broke, it pays for every minute spent learning it.