"Drag and Drop" Game Development Software?

[onemanfilmcrew]

OK, I'm curious, is there any sort of drag and drop game development software out there? I have exactly ZERO programming ability, so I was wondering if there was something out there where you can drag and drop elements and use "real" descriptions instead of code (for example: instead of ten lines of code to trigger a dialog scene, you can click on a square and say "begin segment").

[J T]

There is the RPG Maker software:
http://tkool.jp/products/rpgxp/eng/

RPG Maker is on PS2 as well, but probably easier to work with and distribute on PC.

There is also the Fighter Maker series
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fighter_Maker

There are online communities for these where you can learn more about using them and you can meet up with others to work on games together if you share a vision. They are a bit more complicated than a simple drag and drop, but much easier than coding everything.


It's kind of hard to get around the fact that videogames are hard to make though. It takes a lot of time and talent. You might want to start off on games that allow for user generated content, like Little Big Planet or Second Life.

[J T]

I also just found this quick guide for making a flash game:
http://www.gameinnovator.com/quickflashgame.php

along with this flash game design website:
http://www.flash-game-design.com/

[onemanfilmcrew]

cool, i'll check those out. much appreciated.

[Jrecee]

Clickteam.com

[Overload]

If you ever decide to get into actual programming, try starting with BlitzBasic. It's fairly easy in comparison to other languages and it's geared toward game development. Some good tutorials are by a guy named amcadam26 on youtube.

[Tercoil]

is it just me or is there a distinct lack of gamemaker being posted???

gamemaker (google it im on school comp and cant get you the link ) is like the most widely used drag and drop application it has a huge community, heaps of tutorials and for the most part is free, you have the option to register for 25 us to gain access to particle effects and stuff but it is unnecessary...

it is a little hard to start but there are many tutorials to get you started, it is also a great transition into programming as it has its own in-built programming language which coincides with the drag and drop buttons.

hope that helps =D

[Jrecee]

Multimedia fusion 2 and The Games Factory 2 are the defacto programs for what he's looking for imo. I've tried gamemaker briefly it just doesn't seem nearly as good. Download some of these games which were made with mmf:

http://create-games.com/download.asp?id=7052
http://create-games.com/download.asp?id=7104
http://create-games.com/download.asp?id=7549

[The Apprentice]

I'd have to say go with RPG maker for PC as your starting point. I was able to make quick, simple games in about two weeks. Everything you neeed is already there, and the event scripting is about as easy as it comes. You can also import a slew or user-created content so if you have the time and resources you could create a massive
RPG with unique characters, dungiouns, overworlds, npcs, monsters, and even cinimatics. It's probably the best tool for anyone wating to try their hand at game design for the first time.

If you try RPG maker, go with RPG Maker XP.

[Jrecee]

Unless you hate rpgs. . .

Either way the technical side is only one thing you'll have to learn. Not having to program will save you a lot of time but it won't teach you to create good gameplay/level design/graphics etc. There could be a program that translates your thoughts into code but there's still a lot to learn. . . But if you've got the time to commit (years not weeks or months) you'll get there eventually.