The point is, that you might end up waiting forever. Programming will always be a part of computer game development up to some degree. If you are not willing to learn it, you will never create a game without the help of others. Simple as that.
It's like wanting to be an author while refusing to learn how to read and write. I suggest following the advice of @Green_Baron
Greetings
You all make valid, experienced points, but let me tell me my experience. I originally started my project in 2002, using "Blitz Basic", I was a "C" programmer by trade, which i loved but found it far too low level for game development. The Blitz package seemed to be a easier tool. .. But to get 3D models into my game i either needed to buy them or make them myself. Many off the shelf models didn't fit my need or had inadequate animations. So .. i spent 2 years, on off learning Milkshape, the easiest, cheapest 3D tool available at that time. it was good but took time to learn .. and master, kinda. Then came adding animations. By the end of this my enthusiasm and nerves were wearing thin.
I sat down and thought about this experience, surely it would have been alot simpler to have a 3D tool, to load in a base human warrior frame with animations, add bits, delete bits, stretch and tuck here and there, save as my new warrior, onto the next one. That should have taken me about 4 hours ? .. instead of 2 years of grid. .. do you see the difference.
I'm not asking for an everything tool, just a take-away-years-Shit-Grid-tool. Something a non-programmer / designer could use simply and enjoyably.
Unreal's Blueprint visual scripting system sounds close to what you're looking for, but programming that isn't text-based is still programming. If that's too much programming for you, then all I can really suggest is that you get into modding. A "total conversion mod" for an existing game - where you replace all the assets with new ones to get a new game that has the same or very similar gameplay as the old one - might be what you're looking for here. Without knowing anything about your target experience it's a bit difficult to suggest which game to use as a base, however, and most games are not built to support modding in any meaningful sense. And then on top of that there's the potential copyright issues.
But if you want to build something truly novel, I don't see any alternative to either programming or collaborating with someone who does.
You say you were a C programmer, so you're clearly capable of programming, so what's the issue with picking up a different language? Unity uses C# as a scripting language, for instance. Development in C#, being a garbage-collected multiparadigm language with a rich standard library and lot less to think about than C, is typically quite fast and the code footprint can be substantially smaller than the C equivalent. There are frameworks for Python and JavaScript, as well, which are a lot less low-level than C. Have you ruled out these languages and frameworks?
9 hours ago, Archaic Warrior said:Thanks for the responses but no one mentioned Lumber Yard ? The latest and greatest tool ? ..obviously LY isn't an upper-level tool ? (I'm a Historian, a hopeless programmer with little
)
I'll wait another 10 years
Lumber Yard? Latest: Kinda. Greatest: Not really. It's based off the Cry Engine, which is not as easy to use as Unreal or Unity + not as much learning materials.
Have you tried learning a bit of programming and a bit of modelling to at least have understanding how games function? Could do that while waiting for next 10 years too 
1 hour ago, Archaic Warrior said:instead of 2 years of grid
An expirienced artist should do it in a day of work but thats the point, in game development you have different professions and people that are experienced in their profession. Go get one or become one yourself!
We have that problem too but we have the profession to make such a tool for our needs and this is what we do for our current project. But you need knowledge, a lot of knowledge to make something AI related that is half as good as you expect it to be
Hey Archaic Warrior,
I don't know much about Blitz BASIC or exactly what you're trying to do, but have you checkout out Godot? https://godotengine.org/
It allows you to build basic 3D stuff and animate them right in the engine, not to mention lots of stuff like particles, physics, etc. Even though it does 3D, I'd still recommend going through a few 2D game tutorials to get your feet wet. Godot also has a visual node programming side to it, but since you have a C background, just stick with GDScript.
I checked out Milkshape a while back and found it to be a good low-poly modeller, but it still wasn't that easy to use. Depending on your mindset (when it comes to modelling), you might like Art of Illusion. http://www.artofillusion.org/
I tried Blender, I tried a few CAD/CAM apps, even SketchUp, but Art of Illusion was the easiest for me to get into. My favorite modelling software is Moment of Inspiration though. http://moi3d.com/ It costs about $300, but it's polygon (STL) export works really well for a NURBS modeller. It has a free full trial. However, you can assemble nice primitive models right in Godot, if you wish.
I think I'm kind of like you are. I have a bit of programming knowledge, I do a bit of modelling and graphic art even, but there is no game making software out there that works they way I would want it to work. However, and I too have waited and checked out the scene year after year, Godot has the most promise I've ever seen.
Just remember the KISS method and you should be making progress in no time.
I just remembered... in Art of Illusion, you need to turn off smoothing when drawing polygon shapes, if you want straight edges. It's a little confusing to find at first and will drive you up the wall if you don't find that option right away. I never said it was the best modeller, but it's pretty straight forward compared to most.
I must also point out I'm 60 years .. young, I learned "C" in the 80s, programmed in it in the 90s .. but that was along time ago, my mind and nerves wouldn't tolerate any more grid / stress ..(fond memories of Rogue Pointer Bugs ..not). This is one reason for the easy to use tool. i have some money but not alot to employ professionals. 2nd reason for the tool. \
I will checkout Godot. Yes, KISS principle all the way ! :D
There exists no tool where "drag and drop" modules do "most of the work." If that existed, then everybody would use the same tool, and all games would look the same, and then game developers would add custom programming to stand out from everyone just doing the simple thing, and then we're back where we started.
So, how come some game designers can ship beautiful games with lots of custom code and lots of custom art, like Final Fantasy XV, or Apex: Legends, or Overwatch, or, indeed, Total War?
The answer is what Henry Ford used to make the Model T car: Specialization. Whoever has the resources to collect other people to make a game, tell them what to do, compensate them, and then sell the game, can make the game they want! Many studios are founded on angel money believing in a certain vision, or on the profits from a previous, smaller game, (which was funded from the profits from a previous, smaller game, which was ....)
If you're a game designer (or programmer without art skills, or artist without game design skills, or ....) then you will have a very hard time building a game on your own, because all those pieces are needed to make a game. It's similar to making a movie -- you need actors, and script, and cinematography, and audio, and someone to make sure everyone does their bit correctly, and all the editing once all the bits and pieces are collected. A modern game, just like a modern movie, or a modern car, is a sum of so many parts, people can't generally make one on their own, unless they scale their requirements WAY back and choose a target product that matches what they can personally achieve.
You might as well ask for a "drag and drop animated film builder" (or, for that matter, "drag and drop comic book builder.") It ain't gonna happen.
