Easy to pick up prototyping game tools?

[Roman Budzowski]

Hi
I will teach game design at University. It's going to be "light game design", because those students will not be IT specialist (non-arbitrary classes for economy students). So I need a tool that will let them easily prototype whatever simple we will design. Some kind of drag& drop is exists would work great :) Main feature: freeware or demo able to work for 6 months.

thanks
Roman

[jankoM]

gamemaker is the closest to drag and drop I think, and is free for non commercial http://www.gamemaker.nl/

[Sirrus]

Multimedia Fusion (www.clickteam.com) IS click and drag...no scripting at all.
Somewhat easier is The Games Factory (same link).

A demo that allows for 6 months? Thats really pushing it...I doubt you will find that anywhere, unless the software is freeware.

I believe there is a one month demo and The Games Factory is particularly cheap.

And why free anyway? At university you have to pay hundreds for books, practically the same thing. Got a lot more out of that tool than those books myself ;)

[Mike D Smith]

Torque Game Builder is pretty simple too. I don't know how it compares to those two though.

http://www.garagegames.com/products/torque/tgb/

[Sirrus]

Torque Game Builder is pretty simple too. I don't know how it compares to those two though.

http://www.garagegames.com/products/torque/tgb/

TGB requires scripting though - I'm pretty sure the ClickTeam line of products is exactly what would fit...

[Frozen In Ice]

Hi
I will teach game design at University. It's going to be "light game design", because those students will not be IT specialist (non-arbitrary classes for economy students). So I need a tool that will let them easily prototype whatever simple we will design. Some kind of drag& drop is exists would work great :) Main feature: freeware or demo able to work for 6 months.

thanks
Roman

Game Maker which has been suggested was designed and created by a Professor who teaches game design. It has the drag & drop feature as well as it's own built in GML language.If you go to the page that was suggested, I remember a link being there for teachers. It might be worth looking into.

[whisperstorm]

I also recommend you try out GameMaker. The shareware version is not crippled in any way (just doesnt have high end features like 3d, etc.). It's also a pleasure to work with once you figure out the ui.

Here is the teacher link http://www.gamemaker.nl/teachers.html

[amaranth]

Here is a great list of resources that you may want to check out:
http://www.ambrosine.com/resource.html

I also think GameMaker could be a good route. It also has a book or two written about it. Could be good reading materials for your students.