Gamesalad and MacBook Air

Ren_ElljayRen_Elljay Member Posts: 23
edited April 2012 in Working with GS (Mac)
Hey guys. So the system requirements for Gamesalad are pretty low. As long as you have Mac OS, Intel, and 1gb of ram etc.

I'm thinking of purchasing a 13-inch MacBook Air for the sole purpose of working with GS on the go.

Does anyone here work with a MacBook Air? Have you had any issues developing games etc? If there is any compromise in the development and end product then it won't be worth it.

Thanks guys. Apologies if this is a "noob" question lol.

Best Answers

  • mynameisacemynameisace Hull, UKPosts: 2,484
    Accepted Answer
    Not a n00b question at all Buddy.

    I have been using a 13" Air for about a year for Gamesalad. Before that I used a 27" iMac and still occasionally use the iMac. For me though, I travel a lot and still need to be working on Gamesalad projects, so it's perfect and runs the software very well.

    The only problem is screen real-estate (although the resolution is high, so doesn't become as much of an issue). The only time it becomes a bit of a pain is creating an iPad or larger game because you have to scroll about a bit, but I'm completely used to it now.

    I do all my art on my Air as well and it runs Photoshop and Illustrator great.

    All in all, it's your preference. If you prefer to be working out and about (I'm a touring musician, so ALWAYS on the road) or want to work sat in front of the TV, the Air is absolutely perfect. If you prefer to work with a big screen in an office, you can't beat the iMac.

    Ace
  • EatingMyHatEatingMyHat Posts: 1,246
    Accepted Answer
    Using 13" MBA for 6 months now.
    1. Gamesalad
    2. Photoshop
    3. iMovie
    4. MS Office
    and many more and at the same time.

    Never had an issue, best laptop I ever owned. I was debating MBA 13 or MBP 15, 6 months later I'm sure I made the right decision.

    but this is me ;)


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Answers

  • kungfupanda99kungfupanda99 Member Posts: 27
    well probably not much of help, but I have a macbook pro with nvidia geforce gtx 2gb 560M with 8gb ram and 500gb HDD and GS runs great never had problems with it except it has crashed a few times but thats just software. Probably not much help but anyway...
  • Ren_ElljayRen_Elljay Member Posts: 23
    Yeah. But my point is that I don't want to go high-end unless I need to. I'm actually thinking that the 13-inch MacBook Pro might be a better solution. It's cheaper too. Would love to hear from anyone working with these machines. Thanks.
  • mynameisacemynameisace Hull, UKMember Posts: 2,484
    The Air has a higher resolution (so will look and feel like a larger screen and you'll be able to get more one it) and is faster because of the flash memory.

    Ace
  • Ren_ElljayRen_Elljay Member Posts: 23
    Sorry. Posted without seeing the new replies! Thanks guys. That's more of what I was looking for. So I guess either would be great. I was scared that a weaker rig might not process everything properly and games might come out buggy lol. Thanks again!
  • mynameisacemynameisace Hull, UKMember Posts: 2,484
    Nope, don't have to worry about that at all. I would definitely pick the Air over the Pro though if it was my decision. The Macbook Pro 13" isn't really a Pro machine as the name implies.

    Ace
  • Ren_ElljayRen_Elljay Member Posts: 23
    Nope, don't have to worry about that at all. I would definitely pick the Air over the Pro though if it was my decision. The Macbook Pro 13" isn't really a Pro machine as the name implies.

    Ace
    Yeah. I was thinking about that. It's cheaper, but doesn't seem very pro at hehe. They seem very similar in specs aside from the Flash memory. Any personal thoughts on MBA-13 vs MBP-13?

  • bazookaBenbazookaBen Member Posts: 318
    edited April 2012
    you need a lot of RAM as the game grows in size+complexity

    i'm on a MBP 4gb ram, bought in 2011. Working on a game that's 30mb large. GS still hangs often when i try to access the tables.

    i'm thinking of upgrading to a heavily pimped Mac-Mini.
  • mynameisacemynameisace Hull, UKMember Posts: 2,484
    They have similar spec but the flash memory skrockets the speed through the roof on the Air compared to the Pro.

    Ace
  • EatingMyHatEatingMyHat Member Posts: 1,246
    @mynameisace yes, Air with SSD can run circles around MBP 13" without SSD

    @bazookaBen not sure why you hang, I have a 45mb project and it works just fine. However, I only have small tables, are your tables very large?


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  • Ren_ElljayRen_Elljay Member Posts: 23
    Thanks again guys. There's online rumors of impending updates (or merging) in the MacBook line-ups, so I might wait a bit, but I think you guys have sold me on the Air. A friend who custom built my gaming rig swears by SSD, and even though it's only 256GB, I'll only be using for GS anyway. I can always transfer projects to an external HDD. Cheers.
  • mynameisacemynameisace Hull, UKMember Posts: 2,484
    If you're happy with the spec it is today (and I've had one for over a year and still happy with my spec), then why wait for what may or may-not come according to internet rumours. If you get one and the new one comes out the next day, so what? If you're happy with it, get it. Internet rumours were guaranteeing an iPhone 5 last June... It's getting close to this June and Apple still haven't released it and won't likely until October.

    Ace
  • JustMe74JustMe74 Member, PRO Posts: 542
    I haven't tried it on the Air yet, but GS runs well for me on:

    1). 27" iMac (latest model) with 16 GB RAM + SSD... just flies even on large project files.
    2). Mac Mini w/4 GB - runs well, no issues
    3). Ancient 17" Macbook Pro w/ 2 GB ram.. I'm seeing some choppiness with a large project file.. but it runs.
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