Hi!

I have an idea for a game I want to make but I don’t know which engine to choose. I have no programming experience apart from some really basic html. I made a text-based game using Twine, but I think it will be hard to make this game in Twine… Do you have any ideas which engine I should use if I want to avoid as much programming as possible and still make it work?

My idea: A text-based game where you are exploring a village. This is how I picture it would look on the screen: There is a column/menu to the right for save, load, inventory and health bar. On the top, left of the menu there is room for a picture showing a landscape/the part of the village you are currently at. Below the picture there is room for text telling you what is happening, dialogue, clickable text etc. It would be nice to be able to click on certain parts of the picture, making you go to different parts of the village, but I could also work around that with text if it makes things easier. Im making the music and the art myself and I want to be able to put it in the game in a smooth/easy way.

Although I cant think of any examples, I guess you have played many games using a similar setup? I find it hard to make it with Twine because of the interface I want to have, but if you have a simple solution to make it work I would of course appreciate that aswell!

@Adrenalinus RPG Maker.

RPG Maker was mentioned already, I don't know anything about it, I think it might very well work for your game tho,
Godot is what i use, and it involves coding in some way, its very good engine, at least for hobbyists in its current state,

If you aren't ever planning to branch out from Top Down FF like RPG games, then go with RPG Maker,
If you on the other hand want to do different style of games, then you should go with Godot or something else that is flexible that isn't Unity.

Good Luck with your development journey!

I have tried RPG maker but it doesn’t match the preferences/idea of UI that I mention above, sorry… Godot I haven’t tried, but maybe I should look into it. Is it easy to make the things I write about above with Godot?

Yes, Godot should be able to do that,

But be sure to not over scope your game idea,
If you don't know how to make character move for example,
You need to first learn how to make the mechanic and understand how it works and why it works. (Character Movement is in its core is: Moving a object in its Coordinates.)

If you are completely new to programming, Consider these:

Learn how to use the engine first and how to program simple games like: Asteroids, Pong or Breakout. (They might sound boring, But the fun comes from the fact that YOU did it. :D)
OR
The Second option is: Go with Godot 3 instead of Godot 4, Godot 3 has Visual Scripting feature what means that you can build games with Blocks, kinda like in Scratch.
(But don't get stuck with the visual scripting forever, There might be some situations in the Future where you need Typed code for your game.)

@Adrenalinus

Adrenalinus said:

I have tried RPG maker but it doesn’t match the preferences/idea of UI that I mention above, sorry…

Then you haven't tried hard enough 🙂 It matches perfectly. You can make most types of games with it, even 2d platformers. Godot is much more difficult, and development will take longer for beginner programmers…

Its been a minute since ive been on here. Based on what you've wrote…If your lacking in the coding department i'd reccomend, Construct3, Scratch, or Gdevelop. Scratch is made for children and its is the most beginner friendly of the three. Construct and Gdevelop is very similar, But GDevelop is free and has a tutorial for learning. Those are the only difference i can tell you on those two, I havent fully made a game with GDevelop. But I have made one with Scratch and Construct2. Construct has a very active forum for when you run into an issue.