Just had a thought while looking back at
this thread, and seeing that some of the more "basic" modding tools weren't here. Now when I say basic I don't mean that they aren't powerful or anything, quite the opposite really. I'm meaning the things that aren't specifically designed for Starfarer. They may be used by a large number of folks already, but I think it's still good practise to have them there, just so that anyone who doesn't have them can have their job done a hell of a lot easier
Paint.NET: Very useful tool for spriting work, what with the layering, effects and various tools at the user's disposal.
OpenOffice: I find it essential for the .csv files, although that might just be me only really able to read large amounts of data when it's in a clear structured layout
NOTE: OpenOffice will need separators set like this to work properly
Notepad++: Makes coding all those .java files much easier, with syntax recognition and colouring. Finding bugs relating to forgotten commas or brackets is simplicity itself
I'm not sure if these have been discussed in the thread, but it might be worthwhile to chuck them in the OP, just to give starting modders that little leg-up on the ladder