I have a dilemma and I’m not sure which direction to take. My plan is to purchase an iMac and develop with that until OTEE releases the Windows version some time next year. Once it does get released, I’ll sell my iMac and stick with a windows based machine for development.
In the meantime, how the $1199 iMac will perform with the ATI Radeon HD 2400 XT (128MB memory)?
If I purchase the Pro license now, will I be able to switch/transfer/sell it back to get a Windows license once OTEE ports it over?
I can either but the 24" iMac and the Indie now. That forces me only to test on a Mac system. Or I can buy the cheapest 20" iMac with Pro and test builds on a high end Windows machine. If I go with the latter, I don’t want to waste $1500 when I know I’ll want to develop on Windows as soon as the engine is released for it.
To be honest, I think that you’re making some risky planning assumptions. As of today there is no guarantee that we’ll have a Windows version of the Unity editor out “some time next year” nor can we guarantee that you’ll be able to switch/transfer your license from Mac to Win. The timing and licensing of a potential Windows release is all very much up in the air still…
We are definitely keen on making a Windows version of the Unity authoring, I just don’t want you to find yourself disappointed if things don’t work out as you’re expecting (shipping time and licensing).
Thanks for your feedback Tom. I’m sure your team realizes that you’ll more then double your sales since there’s such a larger user base on Windows. Since OTEE doesn’t have any “guarantees” as far as a time frame/licensing, I’ll have to take a risk then sit around waiting for a Windows based engine that’s comparable to yours. As long as the build/performance works great for Windows then I’m on board.
$$$ is nice and I’m sure OTEE wouldn’t mind it. However, there’s also money to be had selling your children to cannibals. Just because you can make money doing it doesn’t mean you SHOULD do it.
And yes, I know work on the Windows version of Unity has commenced. :x
Just but UnityPro and whatever imac you can afford. I can guarantee you dont regret it.
Petes point of view is worth considering, but he and I are using g4’s, and our information is second hand. The imacs inquestion Would get you in the game nicely, and being able to test on a high end pc-well thats what its all about.
i am speaking second hand in that i don’t own a 20" and only am going by what i read on the net. but an 18 bit monitor and the 2400 make it worthless for gaming. i definitely agree get pro but do the 24" or a used g5. heck, a g4 with a decent card would be better than the pos 20 and you can pick them up for a few hundred…
Unity Pro vs. a faster Mac is a trade-off that could makes sense either way. Both are great to have.
A faster machine is great, but unless your game is targeting only really high-end systems, it’s not necessary. Until recently I was developing on a 3-year-old 1.25 Ghz G4 laptop, with high polycounts and high-res textures and lots of physics. In certain situations my game’s FPS would drop noticeably, but it didn’t hamper development in the least. Others on these forums are using Mac Minis with Intel GMA950 graphics (which by the way run my game faster than my G4 with Radeon Mobility).
As for the 20" screen, it looked good to me! Check it out in person. I wouldn’t notice the dithering method used unless I was looking for it, and it certainly wouldn’t affect development.
So I don’t think you NEED a high-end Mac at all.
And if you don’t get Unity Pro, you can still test on Windows in a Web browser. There’s only a slight performance hit, and you can test full-screen at any resolution. And you can upgrade from Indie to Pro later on.
So unless you need render-textures or plugins, I don’t think you NEED Unity Pro either
Sorry I can’t help you decide between the two. Both are great. But I WOULD avoid a PowerPC (G4/G5) Mac and get an Intel model for two reasons:
New is good.
You can then use the Mac AS a Windows machine. An iMac is a great, compact, quiet dual-core Windows PC that you might not want to get rid of after all.
Also check out the refurbished Macs at Apple.com. They have a full warranty and cost less.
(What I use now is a 24" intel iMac–the previous white model, with nVidia 7600–and it’s great. Also dead silent. Possibly even overkill for Unity development, since my games are aimed at a wide range of computers/speeds. But a used 24" white iMac with 7600 might be a nice buy.)
Yes, definitely go check out the iMacs in an Apple store if you can. I think the new displays actually look surprisingly good. The machine itself is sexy too, and the keyboard rules.
Thanks for all your suggestions and thoughts. I think I’ll pick up the 20" iMac and Pro once Unity 2.0 comes out. Hopefully during the conference they shed some light on when the release date is. Who knows, maybe they’ll unveil version 2 this week!
i bought a 24" new iMac and im very happy with it, tested unity and some games and they play nice, we cant compare to the PC specs though, because PC win in games, but im more than happy with my new iMac and the HD2600 for Unity development.
I it was me, i would expend more for the 20" with the HD2600, but 24" is the best…
and yeah an intel is better advice.