Greetings!

I have been considering starting an old project of mine, and I'd appreciate your opinion on which game engine to use for it.

Said project is nothing too fancy. I don't want to make the next MMORPG.

At it's theoretical peak, it could be something akin to the isometric games of old - graphically speaking. Gameplay would be rather different from the usual, but only in terms of mechanics. Single-player all the way, too.

So, in terms of graphic capabilities, something capped at 2D or limited 3D is perfectly okay.

Scripting/coding capabilities are a must, but I don't think I know of any engine that doesn't. Note that I have very little programming knowledge of languages relevant to game-making, but I do understand the logic and structure of code. I have written some pseudo-code for this project already, in fact.

Ease of use is naturally a plus, but not a primary point. However, since I'm a one-man team working on my free time, I'd rather skip the lower-level stuff as much as possible.

The license should be as permissive as possible. I don't know yet what I want to do with this project, but I know I want it to be mine, down to the last line of code. Except the engine maybe. No draconian licenses, no "the game is yours but not quite", and so on. Open source if possible.

I'm not looking for the standard canned answers: Unity 3D, Game Maker Studio, and so on. Those I know of already, but I'm looking to broaden my horizons if possible.

One more thing: game making is a hobby for me. I never directly spent a single cent in any of my hobbies, and I don't want to start now. So, no commercial solutions, please.

Features summarized:
 - Native 2D support
 - Customization options through scripting/coding.
 - License that gives me full control over whatever I might want to do with the game
 - Free

My apologies if the question is poorly worded at some point, or if I didn't provide enough information for proper advice. Feel free to ask me anything; I will answer and update the OP accordingly.

Thanks in advance,
wkwkwkwk1

Do you have any programming knowledge? What other options have you considered, besides Unity and GameMaker? Why you're excluding them? Only because of the license?

You can go a bit "low-level" and directly use a library like SDL2, Allegro or SFML. For something on a higher level, look at projects like libGDX, Love2D, Cocos2D, Godot, Urho3D, etc.

7 minutes ago, wkwkwkwk1 said:

At it's theoretical peak, it could be something akin to the isometric games of old - graphically speaking

What this means? How much "old"? Atari-like? NES? SNES? PSOne? Generally, old 2D graphics style can be achieved with almost any modern library/engine, so the engine you choose doesn't matter much.

1 hour ago, TerraSkilll said:

Do you have any programming knowledge? What other options have you considered, besides Unity and GameMaker? Why you're excluding them? Only because of the license?

You can go a bit "low-level" and directly use a library like SDL2, Allegro or SFML. For something on a higher level, look at projects like libGDX, Love2D, Cocos2D, Godot, Urho3D, etc.

What this means? How much "old"? Atari-like? NES? SNES? PSOne? Generally, old 2D graphics style can be achieved with almost any modern library/engine, so the engine you choose doesn't matter much.

 

Very little actual knowledge of languages relevant to game making, but a solid enough understanding of high-level code logic and structure. I have created some pieces of pseudo-code for this project, in fact.

Ah, yes, I meant for something higher-level, if possible. Since I'm a one-man team working on this on my free time, I'd rather skip the lower-level stuff as much as possible. I'll have a look at those engines, thanks!

I mean on the style of Baldur's Gate and its spiritual successors

Thanks for your reply!

EDIT: OP updated

EDIT2: I have also been looking at Godot. I have rejected Unity because of the issues I found 2D-users have had, up to and including ruined projects, and because of the license. Game maker, while I don't recall the license, was rejected mainly on the basis that it uses a proprietary language. It is, however, a valid option.

You might take a look at Urho3D. It's open-source, supports many different platforms (windows, mobiles, raspberry pi, etc...) and rendering backends (D3D11, OpenGL, etc...). Has 2D and 3D support. Supports scripting via AngelScript or Lua. Support for web applications by way of Emscripten. It's a pretty decent engine, and it's the one I'm using for my game.

I'm a little late to finding this thread, but if you're still looking for a 2D engine, consider Corona. It's been around since 2009 and has a very easy to use set of API calls that are based on Lua. Check it out https://coronalabs.com

Rob