No-Code Video Games (Part 2)

In Part 1 of this post we talked briefly about the fact that you can now create professional looking video games yourself, without knowing how to code.  I also mentioned www.coregames.com as one place where you can create your own game without coding. In fact, you can even select an existing game, download it, modify it and re-publish it as your own (giving credit to the originator). 

To build a new "no-code" game on Core you start by clicking "New Project", then select  to use a "gameplay framework" (similar to using a template on your favorite no-code app platform). Core offers a number of frameworks to start from, ranging from "Dungeon Crawler" for developing an RPG game to "shooter" frameworks like "Deathmatch", "Assault", or "King of the Hill". In the tutorial mentioned in Part 1: 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kWDzrRDuetU  "How to Make a Video Game Without Coding for Free (Step by Step)"

the recommendation is to use a "shooter" framework since it's the easiest to customize. Once you do that Core will generate a "base" framework that includes a game environment and a "shooter" character (if you chose a third-person game). In addition, character actions (running, jumping, firing a weapon) are all programmed into the game already, doors work, objects cast shadows, and so on.

Switching from "preview" mode to "edit" mode allows you to move objects around, add textures to the objects in the environments, add different weapons, add new objects, and (since Core offers this feature) you can make it into a 2-player (or even multi-player) game. When you're satisfied with your game you can publish it to the Core community along with a game summary that covers how your game works and which "action" keys or mouse/joystick clicks and movements do what. 

Obviously different game engines will implement no-code game creation a little differently, but Core is a pretty representative example of how this works. Other game engines that allow you to build a video game without doing any coding include Unity, Buildbox, Godot (completely open source), Game Salad, and even Unreal Engine (generally considered the most powerful game engine). Each company offers fairly extensive documentation and tutorials, so try out a few of them and have fun creating your own video games.