Which engine for a 2D rpg for a beginner?

Question

I am currently looking to build a small RPG as a hobby.

I already made a few games using Pygame but I find it tedious to start from scratch every time.

I also want to start using a proper game engine.

There currently is a huge discount on the Steam sale for RPG Maker VX Ace. Which promises easy and rapid RPG building. Yet, it looks like customising the scripts is a hell of a challenge. So I fear I might not learn that much from it.

The other thought I had was to use Unity with the top down rpg starter kit . I think I would have much more versatility with that tool. However I have no experience in it and I really don't want to spend hours learning it for nothing. I didn't quite understand if the rpg starter kit provides a working demo game with which I can make some trials to learn how it all works and then either start from scratch or build on that base. What I don't want is an asset pack of scripts and sprites with instructions designed for experienced Unity users.

Any advice would be really welcome. I would just ask that you consider the two options above in your reply even if alternatives are welcome so that the question doesn't go to far off topic.

NB: I have Python programming experience but none for Ruby, C# ,or Javascript

Answer 1

I would recommend GameMaker: Studio.

This piece of software costs $50 normally but I was able to get it for free through some sale. There is also a free version of GameMaker except it only allows you to have I think 15 sprites.

It has its own programming language called Game Maker Language or GML. This programming language is pretty simple and it gives you quite a bit of power.

With GameMaker you can also import maps that have been made from other pieces of software like Tiled.

I have used GameMaker to make several games including a couple platformer games and one RPG. It works very well and there is surprisingly quite a bit of non official documentation on YouTube. I would definitely recommend this piece of software if you want to make a simple RPG.