Developing a roguelike/dungeon crawler 2D game

[Shockbolt]

Developing a roguelike/dungeoncrawler 2D game, to be done by someone with almost no coding experience, what engine/software would you recommend using, if there is any alternative out there?

[Shockbolt]

Seems Game Maker, ClickTeam Fusion, Construct 2, Unreal, UE4 are the top options, after some searching on my own.

[Shockbolt]

The style won't be far off from these images, 2.5D preferably, the game itself a survival/part puzzle/dungeon crawl/no class system game:

[Shockbolt]

Going with Unity 5 + Pro D - Procedural dungeon generator from the asset store seems like a tempting way to go right now, checking out the features before deciding.

[Nick]

I think Unity is what Jeff and Diego have used for NPPAngband. Did you have plans for this game on one of your sites at some point? It looks familiar.

[Shockbolt]

You are correct Nick, these images are concept art/screenshots of some of the rooms programmed for a light puzzle game, based on my upcoming graphic novel.

The version I'm pursuing now will be less puzzle, more fun and more roguelike/dungeoncrawler. There won't be a fixed class ststem, instead the player can develop his/hers character's abilities the way they wish.

[MadeOfBees]

You are going to have to at least learn scripting if you want to make any interesting interactions.

Scripting is pretty easy, especially with that engine, its worth learning, youll have a much funner product once you get it down.

[AnonymousHero]

I think Unity is what Jeff and Diego have used for NPPAngband.

Unity? I'm pretty sure they're using Qt, given this.

[Shockbolt]

You are going to have to at least learn scripting if you want to make any interesting interactions.

Scripting is pretty easy, especially with that engine, its worth learning, youll have a much funner product once you get it down.

I doubt I will be able to create the game I want, all by myself, and you are right, scripting and programming will be essential to learn. I just don't want to spend the next 2-3 years learning how to program, then get my game project started, which is why I'm looking for assets that will go a long way in letting me mod the code or asset into my own game(legally of course)

Unity and Pro-D seems to be a good start: http://produnity.blogspot.no/

[Derakon]

I doubt I will be able to create the game I want, all by myself, and you are right, scripting and programming will be essential to learn. I just don't want to spend the next 2-3 years learning how to program, then get my game project started, which is why I'm looking for assets that will go a long way in letting me mod the code or asset into my own game(legally of course)

Unity and Pro-D seems to be a good start: http://produnity.blogspot.no/

You're almost certainly going to want to learn to program as you work on your game, yes.

You should also take a look at the Unreal Engine and its "blueprints" scripting system, which I understand is pretty accessible. But ultimately nobody has yet figured out a way for people to program without learning to program first.

In any event, good luck!

[Shockbolt]

Playmaker and uScript will be of great aid for me, both visual scripting tools for Unity, until I gain some understanding on how to program on my own. I've tried various ways to program before, but nothing advanced. A tiny bit of C++, Lua in Corona SDK, mainly dealt with programming with my various websites over the years, modding html and css.

I know I'm a bit stubborn when I say I don't want to spend several years just learning, it's just the way I'm programmed guess.

[AnonymousHero]

Playmaker and uScript will be of great aid for me, both visual scripting tools for Unity, until I gain some understanding on how to program on my own. I've tried various ways to program before, but nothing advanced. A tiny bit of C++, Lua in Corona SDK, mainly dealt with programming with my various websites over the years, modding html and css.

Just beware that "visual" programming -- while it sounds appealing -- can very quickly become hugely limiting as soon as you want to do even rudimentary code reuse (even just at the level of "functions" and such). (There's a reason nobody "serious" actually uses such things at the moment, at it's not just because of legacy.) And at the end of the day, they don't actually help you avoid programming -- you'll need to understand what the program actually does regardless of whether it's represented visually or textually.

Hopefully you won't need too much programming given that engines do a lot for you these days.

I would suggest that it would probably be better to just actually learn a bit of "real" programming in your engine of choice, but of course that's up to you.

[Nick]

Unity? I'm pretty sure they're using Qt, given this.

Yes, I'm confused - I was thinking of Cthangband.

[Zireael]

Shockbolt, personally I recommend T-Engine , given that you have dabbled in Lua a bit.

[Shockbolt]

Shockbolt, personally I recommend T-Engine , given that you have dabbled in Lua a bit.

The idea of using t-engine crossed my mind but I never got around to check if it's easy to port a game to iOS/iPad for example using that.