Obviously for all I know you've already looked at these tools and consider them below par, but my picks for low-cost game art creation:
GIMP (free, 2D image editing)
Wings3D (free, modeling)
Ultimate Unwrap ($40, texture mapping, file format conversion)
CharacterFX ($15, animation)
And a slew of other tools, but those are the core.
GIMP (free, 2D image editing)
Wings3D (free, modeling)
Ultimate Unwrap ($40, texture mapping, file format conversion)
CharacterFX ($15, animation)
And a slew of other tools, but those are the core.