I'm about to start my own commercial indie game and am amazing at everything but programming (3-D art, 2-D art, video creation, writing, voice-acting, utilizing royalty-free music and sound effect resources, etc) so do you have any advice for what's the easiest software or method to use to handle the silly, you know, "game" part of the game? Zero programming is a must, so it would have to be any kind of game maker that allows me to use the awesome that I do have to make an at least aesthetically amazing game. (for example my best idea so far is something called 'GameMaker Studio' by a 'YoYo Games', but it looks pretty simple so far so I don't know if it can use full video clips, but let me know if you know something better) A one-player 2-D fighting game interspersed with video clips of my fully animated computer generated characters and story would be nice, but game genre matters less to me than ease of use and having a blast on the game-making side of it. And yes I already thought of just making a film or webisodes but I want to hit this from a game angle as well. Thanks
Build great screenshots of your game and then try to get programmers from forums such as this one or kickstart it...
I just spent hours testing several game-makers, including: Unity with all sorts of plugins (PlayMaker, Universal Fighting Engine, Platforming Starter Kit, Adventure Creator, and uFrame), Construct 2, Fusion 2.5, GameMaker Studio, Stencyl, and Ren’Py. But in my initial explorations of each, nothing immediately stood out as something super fun and easy. I’m willing to buckle down and use the tutorials much further to become proficient in whichever software I go with, but I’m really looking for the absolute easiest, least detailed way of making my own game, no matter what kind. (If I got to choose, I’d probably want a super-simple fighting game maker: One background, two characters, boom bam.) What game-making software and/or plugin is so fun and easy that it’s almost like playing a game in itself, as if I’m simply modding an already-complete game with my own awesome 3-D and/or 2-D art and story-writing, but which I will also be allowed to sell as a commercial game when I’m done? I’m willing to sacrifice tons of control for the sake of simply making ‘my own version’ of a game or game template.
Highly specialized software is hard to come by, if you are making a RPG you can probably try RPG maker. http://www.rpgmakerweb.com/ Being a programmer myself, I have yet to encounter any tool that is "Super Fun and Easy". They all have their fair share of problems that will show up when you least expect it. (Framerate optimization? Resource Management? Engine bugs? etc)
I'm with Son of Bryce - Construct 2 is amazing. Powerful and super easy to learn. - - - Updated - - - Where's your portfolio website? Once you've introduced yourself as 'amazing at everything' - I feel almost obligated to see what that looks like.
I'm deciding between GameMaker Studio and Construct 2. The latter looks more fun and easy and effective in every way so far, but its apparent lack of exporting to the major gaming consoles, Xbox 360/One and PS3/4/Vita, leaves me wondering if GMS, which clearly exports to those consoles, is my only choice. So my question is: Is there ANY way for me to make a game in Construct 2...and then export it to those consoles with an extra step?
Yes I checked it out now but wow, almost $3,000! Haha. Plus the UI seems too simple, can't even seem to increase its extremely dark look without increasing my actual screen brightness to uncomfortable levels. So far it still looks like GameMaker Studio or Construct 2.
How about some samples of your amazing 2d & 3d artwork? You might be able to barter for what you need.
I think the reason I'm intent on doing everything myself is so that I have control over everything, and I'm confident in my ability to learn a visual no-coding software to whip up something interesting and fun. Hence a programmer is something I may not want even if I could get a volunteer. So far I'm leaning towards Construct 2.
Just a thought. But you could learn to code? If you are good at everything else I am sure you are smart enough or more than capable to learn to program. It should not require to much complex coding if you are only trying to do a small single player game.
I have been using Clickteam products for years; mostly for prototyping but a lot of successful games have been made with these tools. In fact, the recent mega-hit game "Five Nights at Freddy's" was made with Fusion 2.5. (By a guy just like you claim to be; good at art, modeling, writing... but not a great programmer.) As an added bonus Fusion 2.5 supports lots of different platforms: PC, Mac, iOS, Flash, Android, and HTML5. Some of the exporters are extra, though.