I have a nice idea for a simple exploration-type game I’d like to try making, but honestly I don’t have the faintest clue where to begin. Does there exist a program that helps someone who’s totally new to game-making create something workable, or is it a necessity to learn everything from scratch?
I know there’s RPG Maker, but is there something good like that for adventure/exploration games?
Are you talking something like Adventure Game Studio? It makes point and click games.
If that’s the type of software you are looking for, there are lots of them.
Ah, no, not point-and-click type games. The kind of adventure games where you have to expore around and find things, platform, that sort of thing.
If you are looking for those similar to King’s Quest games, you can try Adventure Game Studios. It is responsible for the King Quest I and Quest for Glory II remake.
If you are looking for a freeware alternative to RPG Maker, there is the RPG Toolkit
Finally, the Game Creation Resourceshave more links to game engines than you can shake a stick at. Some freeware, some open-source, some commercial.
I think it might help people find you something if you named a few games that were in a similar vein.
Are you talking about a Rayman type game? (Before it went 3D, obviously - doubt you’d find any decent easy to make 3D game makers)
Thank you very much for the resource link. I’ll browse through and I bet I’ll find something really helpful 
I didn’t want to name games like Cave Story even though it’s that sort of game that I’m thinking of, because the idea I have isn’t nearly going to be nearly as big. I didn’t want people thinking that I was out to make the next huge freeware game without knowing what I’m doing. I just want to learn a bit and see if I can get the hang of things.
I’ve been hearing great things about the Unity engine. Here’s the postsfrom some guys who, starting from no gamemaking experience whatsoever put together a competent FPS in the span of two months. For a clearer idea of what the tools are like, this post describes how you would make pong in the engine.
Ooh, thank you for that.
Careful, Unity3D is a 3d engine, and requires scripting in JavaScript or C# for game logic. It’s not exactly a drag-and-drop game engine out there, but it’s good for intermediate programmers who want to do 3D games without messing with OpenGL or Direct3D.
Oh, no worries. I’m still intending to stay far in the 2-D realm, but it was nice to get linked to something like that nonetheless.
For soemething that will only require a bit of scripting and simple level design, have you thought about using a game’s toolset?
Neverwinter nights 1 and 2 both have toolsets you can use, and so does Dragon age. You can use those tools to concentrate in level design basic scripting, and game design.
These tools are free… kind of. They come with the game, so you’ll have to buy the game first.
I didn’t know Dragon Age had a toolset like that; interesting. If I ever pick it up, I’ll have to check that out too. Level editors can be pretty cool 
The reason I was looking for an open-ended 2D engine that allowed customization was because I have a specific idea for a cutesy game and I like 2-D a lot even putting aside that it would be far more difficult to work in 3-D.
How much experience do you have in 3d work and programming? I ask because the XNA API is also available. You can use it to design 2d and 3d games for the Pc, zune and xbox 360. Mind you this gets you started but you’ll need to know c#/managed c++ and know your way around 3d and 2d game development a bit, though what you can achieve is only limited by your imagination (and time + resources).
Ah, well, like I said in the OP I’m completely new to this sort of thing. It’s neat that there’s programs to make games for the 360 and such, but it’d certainly be far out of my range.
The game example you gave looks like a 2D sidescrolling platformer, even though no one seems to want to describe it as such.
So what maybe you want is Platform studio? If not, surely there’s something here for you.
Thank you for the link, I’ll have to search through it. And yes, basically an open-ended 2-D platform game (one large map, not levels).
Haha, my first attempts at spriting have been…interesting. But this is still fun and I’ll get it eventually. Thanks a bunch to all of you guys for your help and suggestions! 
There’s also Multimedia Fusion 2, the application used for I Wanna Be The Guy, but the creator of said game said that he wouldn’t really recommend using it.
Edit: Sorry, never mind it looks like you have to buy it.
Game Maker is a good alternative to MMF2, and it’s ‘shareware’ - the registered version just let you upload the game to their portal.
Yeah, that’s one of the programs I want to try, to see if I can learn it.