2d game making program

[Chronoxios]

Hello!

I am an game artist/designer who wants to try making a 2d sidescroller action/adventure game. The game will feature a combosystem for the main characters different moves, particlesystems, pixelshaders and quite hi-res art. I have no problem with producing the visual content of the game but I am not a programming ace :P Also, I have no interest of making profit in the game, it's rather for hobby/portfolio.

I would like some help in deciding on a engine/game maker to use. Currently I am looking into:

XNA Icecream + Milkshake

Scirra Construct

Game maker

I would be happy to hear some pros and cons about the software as well as other suggestions!

[Scurvy Lobster]

You could go with Game Maker 8 (25$ for the full version that includes particle systems) for an easy way to produce a demo or even the full game. It supports everything you need and, best of all, drag-and-drop development for non-coders. I have some step-by-step tutorials on my website for getting started quickly with a Pong and Breakout styled game (will show you all the basics of the engine).

You can find tutorials on making a side scroller on other websites, including the Yoyogames official tutorials. The official Yoyogames.com forum is also a great resource and place to ask for more specific help.

In my opinion the biggest downside of Game Maker is that it currently is Windows-only. A Mac version is in the works and almost complete but it has been put on hold due to the lead programmer leaving the project. There are rumors of some form of hand held release due to this.

But in all Game Maker is a really nice tool that is easy to learn and has a low cost of purchase. You can have a nice demo running within a day if you run through a few tutorials first.

[Dyno Kid]

Game maker 8 has just been released with png support for art.

It has a massive active forum and a million tutorials with great support.

Post a question if you get stuck and you will normally have an answer in 5 minutes!

Darren.

[richtaur]

If you have no interest in selling the game, may I suggest open sourcing the code and releasing the art under a creative commons or similar license? This would definitely help other aspiring game makers out there and might bring more attention to your game.

[Greg Squire]

I've heard a lot of good things about Scirra Construct, so that may fit your bill right there.

Another one you may want to look into is The Games Factory (or Multimedia Fusion) from Click Team. It's another game builder (with little to no programming) type application.

EDIT: And here's another one that I just came across today (thanks to papillon) that looks promising. Indie Games Maker

[RiVEN]

Scirra Construct gets my vote for power and ease of use. Plus it's FREE :) Although still in Beta, it's very stable and highly usable. I'm an artist just like you and I can knock up a side scrolling platformer in about 10 minutes (with test graphics such as blocks).

[Chronoxios]

I have downloaded Scirra Construct and so far I like whar I see. I have worked with MMF2 before but I am not impressed with the particle spray and pixel shaders in Fusion, even if HWA increases the performance dramatically. Anyone has experience with XNA Milkshake? It would be nice to have the possibility of multiplatform (pc, xbox360)

[electronicStar]

Is construct portal friendly? I remember the early versions had the nasty habit of asking you to download some up-to-date directX stuff before it could run.

[Scurvy Lobster]

A note about XNA is that it requires loads of updated software and Pixel Shader 2.0 capable graphic cards. Not an advantage for many older pc's.

At least that has been my experience with 3D XNA games.

[Amirai]

Is construct portal friendly? I remember the early versions had the nasty habit of asking you to download some up-to-date directX stuff before it could run.

They're looking into fixing that.

[Chronoxios]

Scurvy Lobster and Amirai:

My main goal is not to make money, therefore it does not matter if older pc's doesn't support the game (for what I have planned content wise it would be difficult anyway). I guess you could say my goal is to make the game I have always wanted to play myself. Also I am a teacher in game development so I figure I am bound to discover some great things to learn my students. I think I am choosing between Construct and XNA right now, just gotta figure out which one can bring the best result in the least amount of programming :P

[Scurvy Lobster]

I fully support the idea of making games as a learning experience. I also teach game development to my students and have great success with Game Maker actually (the free 'lite' edition - it can do everything needed). My students learn how to make a Pong game first through a step-by-step instruction. Then they build a Breakout game (still with loads of help). Finally they modify the basic Breakout game into their own game with new features, menus, score boards, graphics and sounds. Most of my students never come near programming anything (even though drag-and-drop technically could be called programming). The students who can are free to use GML (Game Makers programming language).
I am working on making everything I use available through my site. The Pong and Breakout tutorials are already online.

I wish you good luck on finding the right engine for your needs! :)

Btw. good news on Game Maker for Mac.

[Chronoxios]

Scurvy:

My students work with Multimedia Fusion 2 in design classes, Actionscript 3.0 and XNA for object oriented programming and I have also recently begun teaching them Unity 3d (great program btw, and now it´s free to download). In art classes we use 3ds Max, Mudbox and Photoshop.

[Scurvy Lobster]

Ok, then you don't need to aim as much for a programming free drag-and-drop engine as I have :)