Dev. hardware - Which one?

[bNasty]

Hi,

I'm a game-developer on PC/Xbox/PS2 and was thinking of moving to Mac development, at my spare time at first. I have tons of my own game-code, few OpenGL engines, all of it on PC, but I'm having an idea of changeing my platform and port that stuff over to Mac.

However, I don't even have a Mac, yet :( , 'coz I don't know which model/spec would be the minimum for programming games.

I don't have plenty of cash to spend on Mac (for some fancy PowerMac 2xG5), so I was thinking of getting an iBook/Powerbook to go along with my PC at home.
Can this machine (cca 1200GBP) do the job?
What kind of Mac are you using for coding?

I'm sorry if this question was asked elsewhere, couldn't find appropriate answer. If so, links would help

Cheers

[Shivers]

Well, there is not one standard "minimum" system required for game development. If you are making simple 2D arcade games, you could get a used G3 on Ebay for under $200 and it would suffice. However, based on your post I'm assuming you are making much more complex games in which case you will probably need a more powerful machine.

Why don't you take a look at at the minimum requirements for some mac games that are at about the same level of complexity that you plan on making. Getting a system that meets those requirements. For modern, commercial 3D games you are going to want a G5, but other than that a G4 will suffice.

[Zwilnik]

While a full blown PowerMac G5 Dual would be very cool, getting a G4 iBook or G5 iMac is a good idea if you want to have a test machine that's within the spec of your average 'new' Mac gamer. The base end iMac G5 is enough to cope with compiling (even an old G3 iBook is if you're patient ;) ) and it's a good spec to target for a new game. It's worth throwing some more memory in it though!

I'm currently using a G4 Powerbook (1Ghz), G3 iBook (700mhz) and iMac G5 (1.6Ghz, arriving tomorrow!) with most of the actual coding/compiling being done on the Powerbook, but moving that aspect to the iMac.

[PowerMacX]

G5 is the official development platform for XBOX 2, there is already a SDK kit for it (google that info)

[bNasty]

Thx for ur replies guys,

I think I'll do my xmass shopping in few days for a Powerbook (throwing a gig of RAM is, I guess, a good move) 64 bits are not needed yet, I hope :)

G5 is the official development platform for XBOX 2, there is already a SDK kit for it (google that info)

Yes, I know that for quite some time ;)
Although, the first Xenon devkit wasn't PPC-based... interesting times ahead of us :)

[FCCovett]

I am currently using a 14" iBook G4 1.0 GHz with SuperDriver, that should hold it until the G5 portables come out (no more desktop setups for me, if I get it my way). It's an awesome machine for its price, but you can get an iMac G5 for about $200 more. Check out the Apple refurbished machines - those (also) come with a 1-year warranty that you can extend to up to 3 years.

[Max]

I think I'll do my xmass shopping in few days for a Powerbook (throwing a gig of RAM is, I guess, a good move) 64 bits are not needed yet, I hope :)

I recommend you get a PowerBook equipped with a ATI Radeon 9700 graphic card. The GeForce FX graphic card is... crap. I know because I'm using one. :(
The mid-range PowerBook G4 (15-inch, 1.33GHz) should be perfect. Increase the RAM to 1GB. A total of $2,500. Sounds good?

[BinarySpike]

Well nobody talked about the OS ...why?... I don't suggest Tiger (I heard it doesn't have good support for the newer OSs) and Panther is the main one right now. I recomend using OpenGL with Carbon (unless you are doing HiTech Games then OS 9 would be out of the question)...
What type of computer should you have ...simple... TON's of RAM if you intend to do really good coded games then you shouldn't get a very fast one 700-1Ghz should be good. A laptop is better but if you intend to do OpenGL then go for a good video card. If you want a hard-to-break computer then get a desktop computer that's NOT SLOT LOADING :cry: .

all-in-all you should have Panther 700Mhz Laptop with a fairly good video card.
(unless you use video specific code then I would get the BEST of the BEST)

also, think about getting wireless internet (it will help with the learning:))


Get something GOOD
BinarySpike :cool:

[bNasty]

Summa Summarum : I'm glad to see that one doesn't have to use top of the range Mac for doing some game-developing :) (On a PC, with a fairly big game project, VisualC++ tends to be very very slow, even with 3GHz CPU)

The mid-range PowerBook G4 (15-inch, 1.33GHz) should be perfect. Increase the RAM to 1GB. A total of $2,500. Sounds good?
Yep, I was going for something like that, although I don't see the option on Apple Store to opt for a different graphics card. I mean, GF5200/Radeon 9200 are ridiculously slow boards. Noooo way you can get 30fps in a modern game with a card like that! Apple - wake up! :(


Btw, off-topic maybe, what's the shareware market like for Mac? If I get carried away with porting some shareware stuff from PC, can it do me any good, money-wise? :) Or should I stick to "writing Mac games just for fun"? (I don't mind that, either) :)


Again, thx for ur replies guys,
I hope to have something up and running in few months time. I'll post it here as soon as I have something ready :)

[Max]

Yep, I was going for something like that, although I don't see the option on Apple Store to opt for a different graphics card. I mean, GF5200/Radeon 9200 are ridiculously slow boards. Noooo way you can get 30fps in a modern game with a card like that! Apple - wake up!

Radeon 9700, not the 9200! Big difference! Hehehe! As for customizing, you can only do that with Power Mac G5.

Btw, off-topic maybe, what's the shareware market like for Mac? If I get carried away with porting some shareware stuff from PC, can it do me any good, money-wise? :) Or should I stick to "writing Mac games just for fun"? (I don't mind that, either)

The Mac shareware market is rather "okay". Most games have good quality. I think card/boards games and puzzle games are best sellers. You want to port Call of Cthulhu to Mac OS X?

[bNasty]

Radeon 9700, not the 9200! Big difference!
Doh! Sorry for not reading the specs carefully. Apple's changing it every week it seems! Well, even better, proper 2.0-shader card :)

You want to port Call of Cthulhu to Mac OS X?
I wish ... Although, I can guess what the publisher would say at this moment :(

[ThemsAllTook]

I mean, GF5200/Radeon 9200 are ridiculously slow boards. Noooo way you can get 30fps in a modern game with a card like that! Apple - wake up! :(

Not true at all! Unless you're going absolutely crazy with the visual effects, you can easily get 30+ FPS on such cards. And if speed does become a problem, you could always make your graphics scale to meet the card's capabilities. What are you planning on doing that takes so much GPU time?

- Alex Diener