On the other hand, I would heartily recommend that you write small programs to do the really dull stuff, such as game maps and data entry, or sprite designers, that sort of thing.

Leave game creation software to those who can't code.

PS. Please DON'T steal my idea DS.

Gnnh, I think I need to clarify my point. Writing a program to (for instance) convert your sprite data or edit your text files is NOT the same as writing a whole Game Kit.

Does anybody here remember SEUCK, the Shoot-Em-Up Construction Kit? Very limited. If you write a program to make your game it will need to be able to add all its little quirks and remain general enough (and simple enough to use) for making more.

I considered writing something like that for a text adventure game, when I considered all the events that would take place I realised that I'd still need to code all these oddities in by hand, whether I use a designer program or my own coding knowledge.

Hey man, do what YOU want. It's your code.