Hi everyone. Long time gamer and budding developer here.

So Im studying in college right now for a foundation in game art and its going well. Following this, provided I complete the course I would like to study for a degree in game design, in fact I have already had my interview for it. Im not sure how it went, the interviewer didnt seem all that interested in my work and it felt a little rushed. Theres a chance I may not get a place, however, i wont let that stop me from making my own game. In my interview I did ask what was the best program for making my game and he recomended game maker and construct. I have been using MMF2 up untill now. Theres so many options I dont know where to start.

The game I want to make is a 2d platformer that utilizies multiple playable characters in the same way Kid Chamelon for the megadrive did. Now me being a total noob, this will be a challenge but Im up for it. I allready have a simple proto working that uses a character swap mid level but its instant, which isnt what I want:

I want the character to collide with an object, stop, frame to pause, while an animation takes place, previous character is destoyed, new one takes its place and the frame resumes. I have implemented sperate health bars for different characters using seperate objects for each. When the changed character runs out of HP, it reverts to the default character. If that character runs out of HP, he dies and the frame resets.

Theres also the matter of the bloks the player would destroy to find goodies. The player jumps and collides with the bottom and an object would fall to the ground. Not sure how to implement that.

The goal is to get as close the kid Chameleon engine I can. If I can do that, i believe I will have everything I need to make this work.

I would rather not program if I can help it, but If I need to learn it to make the game I want, then im more than happy to. I do have some previous experience in game making, Ive been following various fusion and game maker tutorials but I thought it would be bennifical to start up a disscusion with like-minded individuals so I could get some clear advice.

Thanks for reading, and thanks in advance for any assistance you can provide.
Sorry if I posted this in the wrong place.