Is there a term for this?

What's the actual term for putting a game etc. together in something like RPG Maker, when no coding is involved?
It's not "programming" per se... Is there another term?
Just putting resources together in an engine to make a game without writing a single line of code?

Well, I guess "Game Making" is kinda general enough to include all types of different process of making a game.

'Developing' would also be a widely used term.

It's called "Game Development". It also encompasses making games both with/without coding. Game programming is also more of just a part of the whole "Game Development" process.

I think you're operating under the misconception that AAA developers "code" a game. Most of them don't. Most of them use an Engine just like RPG Maker is an Engine. Havok, Frostbite, etcetera. These are all engines that minimize the amount of "coding" any "Game Dev" actually has to do. In fact, the only "programming" they end up doing is the same we end up doing for RPG maker MV and VX Ace... And that's essentially running Scripts or Plugins to work within the limitations of the Engine itself, to accomplish different things with it.

Typically, I just call it "Game Development". It's the broadly used term of the industry anyway, especially in college courses.

Like everyone said, the term is indeed 'Development'.


RPG Maker gives us a basic start for a game (JRPG genre in this case), we can just gen it and play it, add items, monsters and whatnot right off the bat, while other engines, like those or Unreal Engine or so require plenty of code for a prototype even.
The maximum you'll get is a default character walking on a mesh. So no, you aren't "essentially running Scripts or Plugins to work within the limitations of the Engine itself" because the basic templates Unreal gives us aren't limitations.
And even with stores (Unity Asset Store, Unreal Marketplace) for blueprints and templates it still requires a load of code to get an actual game.

So it's very different from what RM devs do. Pop a few items in the database, grab a few free plugins from the forums and voilá.

It is, and it isn't. Let me explain, since I assumed everyone would know what I was talking about and I wouldn't have to explain it.

A game company generally does not have to code very much. Because, they typically have already created their "toolboxes" for whatever Engine they're working with. So, in general, a Triple A developer actually need code very little, unless they're using a New Engine they aren't familiar with, or have created an entirely new Engine that their already designed tools don't work with. Plus, each engine only supports certain things, and only up to certain degrees.

The major difference between RPG Maker and other Engines is that RPG Maker already comes with "The Toolbox", so you are just as prepared as most AAA developers. But, if you get something like Unity... You don't have your "Toolbox". You'll have to learn to code one for yourself, to do what you want it to do. However, each engine does have its own quirks and limitations and hard-coding restrictions. Another difference between RPG Maker and other Engines is that it comes with enough material that you could make a simple sample game... which is essentially the tutorial for learning to use the program. Most engines do not do this, because if you're using another Engine, it is already assumed you have or will obtain the assets yourself.

RPG Maker, in essence, is what most AAA Developers have on hand. They've already got the Toolbox to make a new game (all the code already hammered out from when the first game they ever made with that engine was created, so they can essentially copy and paste and alter as necessary), while RPG Maker already comes with that Toolbox.

In all honesty, you need to learn Coding and Programming to do a few things to make a game, but it's not all that necessary unless you plan to code one from absolute scratch (including the engine). Which, if you think about it, really adds about an extra 3 years to every development cycle just to create the new engine you're going to work on. I'm not saying those aren't valuable skills, because they're INSANELY valuable... But, they're nowhere near as "necessary" as most of the Game Development classes and teachers would have you believe. Once you've got that "Toolbox" for creating a game (Ex: The Code you figured out the first time), you never need create that Toolbox again. It becomes "work hard once".

That is why RPG Maker is similar. The "Work Hard Once" was all basically done for its users. The Toolbox Provided. Though, it is incredibly limiting, it's the same Toolbox most Developers are using. Ones they created over a decade or more ago. They created it with the first game they used on their engine and never had to do that level of programming again. Their current level of programming extends to merely altering existing lines of code, optimizing their existing code, or doing new things with their code in sequels in order to "upgrade" the core gameplay/animations/physics.

Make more sense?