If you want to try some thing else

[Candle]

Give AGS a try.

Adventure Game Studio allows you to create your own point-and-click adventure games, similar to the early 90's Sierra and Lucasarts adventures. It consists of an easy-to-use editor to create your games, and a run-time engine to play them.

The game interface is fully customizable, with classic Sierra and Verb Coin templates provided by default. AGS manages most of the game so that you don't have to - it does all the donkey work like load/save game functions, pathfinding and scrolling rooms so that you can concentrate on the parts of your game that make it unique.

Set up your rooms, characters and sprites visually in the editor, then add some script to handle game events and you're done! You can even create a standalone EXE file containing your entire game, which you can then distribute to your adoring fans worldwide.

So, how much does it cost? Nothing. That's right, AGS is free, and you can even create commercial games with it (subject to license terms).

Want to play games made with AGS?

Head on over to the Games page and try some out, or check out the showcase links on the right of this page.

Want to make games with AGS?

See the AGS feature list, check out the tutorial, and head over to the download page. If that's not enough, see the resources page for tips and tricks.

Before you start, bear in mind that AGS is not for everyone. In order to make your game respond to the player's input, you'll need to learn the scripting language. Whilst we try to make this as easy as possible, some people will always find themselves more suited to scripting than others. Don't be discouraged, just don't expect to make the best game ever in your first few weeks!

http://www.bigbluecup.com/acfeat.htm

[reneuend]

I looked at AGS when I was first trying to find a good Adventure making application. That's when I chose AM.

I'll have to revisit AGS, but I don't think it's as good as AM.

[Harvester]

I also looked at it years ago, when I wanted to make that first adventure game. And then uninstalled it in about half an hour.
However, it is strange when we come to compare the two softwares, that seemingly AGS has tons of finished, full-lenght games, while AM, well, not many... to make it short, AGS has much more games. Maybe because it is freeware? Or it might have some potential...

For 3rd person games it looks a better solution. Definitely. AM is for first person or panoramic which is a great feature I think.

Harvester

[Candle]

Here's a great game engine page :

http://www.ambrosine.com/resource.html

[Lyberodoggy]

AGS has more extention capabilities with script, that's why some people prefer that one. Also the "commercial use edition" of AM may scare some buyers off, because it sounds too "law-talk"

[reneuend]

Here's a great game engine page :

http://www.ambrosine.com/resource.html

Nice find, Candle.

Now to find examples built with the different engines to see the potential! At least, that seems like a good way to start....so many to choose from!

[Jaked]

So:

AM for when you need the cooler graphics and a Myst format.

AGS for when you feel like a Monkey Island gamer that day.

FPSC is for all that is not Adventure and all that is Half-Life.

And... that's it.

[Harvester]

I think AGS is capable of more realistic graphics then Monkey Island, only you have to know how to start and make much nice graphics... but basically you stated it right. And also there are some easy-to-use engines like Multimedia Fusion or Games Factory 2 that are good for everything 2D if you know how to handle them on an expert level. I made experiments with those and if you know a little about the logics of programming and have a good sense of organisation, I think they are actually quite good engines.

Harvester

[ZeornWarlock]

I've looked into the AGS and tried some of the games done with it and in my opinion it is very good for third person adventure games. If I wanted to create such game, I'd go with AGS for sure.

Although I wish AM had some of AGS 'engine features, I still prefer AM because the later is so easy to use. Just open the AGS editor and start to create a new game and you'll see what I mean! That thing is intimidating.

In any case, AM is probably best for first person and panoramic adventure games. I suppose it all depends on what the maker has in mind for his games.

ZW.

[Imari]

There's also the French adventure game engine, Visionaire.

For those adventurous enough to take the plunge into 3d ( ), I hear that the Unity and Unreal engines are both free now.

For casual games both Play First and PopCap have released their engines for free.