Wiper

Yeah, I mean if anything in that scenario it would be Wargroove doing the overshadowing, clearly!

I've hit a bit of a stumbling block, as there are a few games that would likely make my top ten, but are games that weren't PS2 exclusives - not such a problem in itself, but in all cases they are games that I would generally choose to play on a different console for which the game was simultaneously/previously released, and, in all but one case, are games I initially played on a different machine. So, rather than having to make an actual decision of my own, I shall ask the floor: which of the following (if any) should I consider as potential candidates: Beyond Good & Evil (originally played on Xbox, never tried on PS2) Crazy Taxi (originally played on DC, prefer that version) Hitman: Blood Money (originally played on PS2, prefer the [concurrently released] 360 version) Outrun 2/2006 (originally played on Xbox, prefer that version) Prince of Persia: Sands of Time (originally played on GC, prefer that version) Psychonauts (originally played on Xbox, prefer that version) Rez (originally played on DC, prefer that version) Note that I have more than enough games to make a top 10 purely of exclusives should I exclude all of the above. And, equally, that if I were to keep all of the above in consideration, I can guarantee that at least three of them would make my top five.

It's all about their 16-bit output for me: On topic, I'll have to think about that for a bit. Even as a distant third amongst that generation's consoles for me (discounting handhelds), there are still a ton of great games for the PS2.

That would be wildly inappropriate! Goats, camels, llamas and sheepies do not moo.

Over the past couple of years I've started a good few projects using a variety of tools - from tower defence (GameMaker) to life simulator (Ren'Py), horizontal pacifist-shmup (PICO-8) to text adventure (Twine) - and have inevitably gotten as far as building a functional framework before promptly abandoning the project. In an attempt to avoid succumbing to this fate yet again, this time I've decided to document what I'm doing and what progress I'm making in an attempt to shame myself into, you know, actually finishing what I've started. Maybe I'll even start a blog at some point, but for now the forum and Twitter will do. Lucky you! I started this project a couple of weeks ago, but the idea for it had been sitting with me since before Christmas - specifically, since the new Lemmings game came out for smartphones and promptly turned out to be awful. Which got me thinking that I've not played a decent Lemmings-style game in ages. Since, well, Lemmings 2, in fact. A cursory glance around the internet suggested a few games of note, most recently Zombie Night Terror, but none of them really grabbed me; the latter in particular was spoiled for me by its ambiance. There's a bit of dark humour to Lemmings, sure, but I want it tempered by a bit of likeable stupidity, rather than fuelled with zombie nihilism. So I got to thinking, and settled on a game blending elements of three of my favourite early 90s games (I hear mixing genres is cool now): Captive (aspects of its setting and theme, plus the rule of four); Fury of the Furries (a reliance on unique character abilities rather than a full toolbox to play with); and, of course, Lemmings (indirect control of morons). That is to say, a game in which you indirectly control four robots on a quest to rescue yourself, relying on each's unique skills to get through each level. Being a 2D game I opted for GameMaker once again; it helps that I'm reasonably confident with its scripting language by now (though having gotten used to Python for work I do occasionally feel a little constrained by it). Obviously, being a whole two weeks in (and only working on it evenings/weekends) I haven't quite gotten to the point of feature-completeness just yet. But I have implemented basic robot movement, and my first dynamic props: a computer that can activate various devices (linked up using invisible circuits) if used by the appropriate robot; and the first of said devices, a grabber claw that can transport robots along its track. None of which sounds or looks particularly impressive, but here it is in action: It's been nice to work with a premade tileset, as tweaking animations is a lot less time-consuming than scratch-building them, it turns out. A shame my capture software seems to struggle a bit - the game runs at a perfectly smooth 30fps, but Camtasia has decided to apply occasional judder to the thing, but there we go. Next steps: adding in the extra robots and their abilities, adding doors and pressure pads. Should keep me occupied for a while.

Tch, bloody newbie.

I was playing home computer games back in the 80s and early 90s, so yes. If we're restricting ourselves to modern titles, though, nothing really springs to mind. Plenty of games I've not finished, but none I can think of whose difficulty prevented me from enjoying them!

Final changes, then! Celeste leapt in after I played further into the game and discovered that it wasn't just that the music was good, it's that the whole soundscape was perfectly matched to the levels; Obra Dinn is something I finally played last week, and is just good enough to push out The Council with its ingenious narrative challenge; Paratopic and Prey just came from reconsideration. Removals: Additions: Sound Design of the Year S2. Celeste S3. Paratopic Writing of the Year W3. Return of the Obra Dinn Your game of the year that didn't come out this year (basically what is your favourite game you played this year that came out in 2017 or earlier) X1. Prey

Good luck with it! In my experience the PICO community are very friendly as well, and if you do end stuck on something, and/or up making a game, no matter how simple, don't hesitate to share it with them, as you'll likely get helpful feedback. The only shame is that the delightful Pocket CHIP died a death, as that was a lovely way to both play and work on your game while out and about. Hopefully someone will produce an equivalent device using Raspberry Pi!

Yeah, it's a stunning piece of work. Sadly the game it's from (Future Wars) is hard to recommend for anything beyond its fantastic backgrounds. The skyscraper is probably the most impressive, which at least means that everyone got to enjoy it (it's from the very start of the game), but the main pleasure to be had in the game is encountering new environments; e.g:

The demo did its job of letting me know what to expect from the game, which unfortunately was to confirm my fears that it really has taken Resi 2 and upped the horror to a point where I can't stomach it. Sort of the opposite of Evil Dead 2; where that acknowledged that a large part The Evil Dead's charm was just how cheap and naff it was, and stuck its tongue firmly in cheek while retelling its story, the Resi 2 remake looks to 'fix' the original by really upping the horror and downplaying the silliness. Hopefully it'll do enough of a good job of that to please 'proper' horror fans, but it renders it unplayable to me Time to get the Dreamcast discs out, I guess!

Real artistry is taking a palette limited to 16 colours per screen and a resolution of 320 x 200 / 320 x 240 and producing this: And this: Eric Chahi was disgustingly good in his heyday.

I can't speak for Dreams specifically, but as above there are a good few tools out there for making games without coding experience (whether by allowing you to get by with a fully point and click interface, or by having a very friendly engine and easy code syntax to learn, or a combination of the above), but there's never an 'effortless' solution because irrespective of the tool you'll need dedication and logic/problem-solving skills to make exactly what you're after. Really, the first hurdle isn't finding a good tool, as there are many; rather it's identifying which will be best suited to what you want to build; the more narrowly you can define what you want to make the more likely it is you'll be able to find the perfect, most accessible tool; the broader your design the harder it is. So, to answer your question: "what is currently the best piece of software for making games with no coding experience? Is there anything that fits the bill on PC?"; it depends! I'll go through some of the options I've either used and can recommend, or have seen recommended, in order of relative simplicity of use, though that's somewhat subjective: Text Adventures/Interactive Fiction - Twine (free) This is a scripting system, not drag and drop. Which makes sense, considering you're making a text-based game. But it's an utterly straight-forward scripting language, produces instant results, and is a joy to work with. There's a reason you'll see this being used in game design classes for children and teenagers. 16-bit JRPGs/top down adventures - RPG Maker (commercial) (no link because there are like 5 billion versions by now, all equally usable) A great way to get used to structuring out an adventure/basic RPG, and extremely helpful thanks both to the interface and wide range of resource packs. You can get into more complex things by creating custom scripts (e.g. to make an SRPG), but if you're happy sticking with making a Dragon Quest-alike then you can get by with no coding whatsoever. Also one of the only options that is also open to people without a PC, with versions on many consoles. Basic 2D games (played in browser) - Construct 2 (commercial) The other tool you'll see used in classes oriented towards younger students, I've not actually used Construct 2. However, its simple point and click interface, immediate output to HTML, and general friendly nature mean its one of those tools I see a lot of people using for prototyping and teaching. Point and Click Adventures - Adventure Game Studio (free) Like RPG Maker a venerable piece of software, this, and like RPG Maker with good reason. By the nature of its genre this is a bit more complicated to work with - you have to establish relationships between items and so on, after all, and you'll probably have a fair bit of asset creation ahead of you - but it's a fantastic tool for making a '90s style point and click adventure. There's a reason that there are still modern, brilliant, complex point and click adventures being made using this! Visual Novels - Ren'Py (free) As with Twine, naturally this is text-oriented due to the nature of the games being made. It also adds the need for some asset creation/acquisition, but otherwise can be as simple or complex as you want to make it. A linear/lightly-branching visual novel is extremely easy to script out; however, with its optional Python scripting functionality you can drastically complicate things if you want; tracking inventories and past decisions to allow for complex loops, adding the ability to mess with game files (and maybe the player...), I've even seen games made in this which add turn-based strategy modes. General 2D games - Gamemaker (commercial) Probably the tool I've used the most, as its generalist nature makes it flexible, while its 2D focus keeps it from being quite as messy as, say, Unity. Offers full drag and drop if desired, but also allows for full scripting. Perhaps a bit overwhelming for an absolute beginner on first attempt, I'd recommend getting your head around simple logic with one of the previously mentioned tools first. I must admit I barely remember what Gamemaker was like pre-Studio, so can't really comment on the old, free version, but I'm a big fan of Studio (both original Studio and the current Studio 2). And judging by the sheer number of games made using it I'm evidently not alone. 8-bit games - PICO-8 (commercial) Almost the opposite of the above, this is pure programming - a lot of typing awaits. Which sounds daunting, but for a certain kind of beginner this is an ideal system to get used to coding with. It's severely constrained - in terms of the size of the file you can make, in terms of resolution, in terms of palette - and that makes it ideal if you find asset creation exhausting. Instead, this gives you an imaginary 8-bit console to code for, applying constraints that enable you to focus solely on coding. Also publishes extremely easily to web, and can be shared by storing the game as a virtual cartridge - literally a tiny image file that holds all of your code. Certainly worth considering if you want to learn basic coding! Those are just the ones I'm aware of and know enough about to recommend them; the genre focus is evidence of that. I would say that level designers are also worth considering, particularly if you're interested in 3D games design; as much as something like Unity is a natural choice for more advanced work, if you want to get a feel for 3D game building you could do a lot worse than tooling around with either a Doom level editor (seriously) or UnrealEd.

Ace Combat 7 is of interest, but my pick for dark horse of the month is At the Gates - a pseudo-historical Dark Ages 4X game that's taken nearly seven years to come out and came close to killing its sole developer, who happens to be the lead designer of Civ V. If nothing else, I'm intrigued by it!

Bungie West - a secondary studio which (IIRC) only produced Oni before closing