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a few questions regarding GMS2 PC specs

W

woozywookie

Guest
Hi all,

New to the forum, have been looking at several game creation engines and programs. Have never coded, but am interested in learning what it takes to make games like hyper light drifter, enter the gungeon, binding of isaac etc.

My only computer is a low end laptop, surely not capable of running GMS.

I'm mostly looking to create throwback, retro pixel style top down and side scrolling games. Because of this aesthetic, I didn't think having a very high end system or video card would be necessary. A friend of mine explained while creating and working with GMS might not demand a top tier PC, other processes involving editing and rendering might need a more powerful system. I used to be more techy but have been out of the game for a while now...

I've looked at the minimum and suggested specs, and just had a few questions I was hoping someone could answer. First being, which would be more important, the dual core vs. quad core aspect? Or would a low end vs mid level video card be something I should spend more time considering? The only other thing I wasn't sure about was since GMS requires an intel CPU, as opposed to an AMD, does that mean an AMD video card would not be preferred?

I was looking at some $600 acer towers, and a $500 compact alienware. I'm no mr. moneybags.

Thanks in advance
 
FrostyCat

FrostyCat

Redemption Seeker
It probably won't matter much while starting out. In fact, depending on your target audience, you might not want a machine so powerful that it masks potential performance issues on mid-range systems. Just be sure to get a 64-bit system for GMS 2, and you'll be fine.

And if you want to expand to mobile later, you better save some funds in your budget for the additional devices and licenses. If iOS/Mac is even remotely a possible goal for you, a $600 Mac Mini can double as both PC and Mac for maximum platform flexibility, at the same budget you described.
 
W

woozywookie

Guest
Good point on the high end PC masking issues a lower end computer might have.

As far as a Mac Mini, isn't an integrated graphics card bad news for something like GMS? Thought I read dedicated memory was better in terms of the system not playing tug of war with ram.

At this point my heart is in desktop PC gaming, with my eyes on releasing something on steam being an idealistic end goal. However I've heard success stories with folks who have developed with the App store in mind. Several of my ideas might not mesh with a touch screen interface. Would a Mac be a necessity for iOS? I would understand if you developed something for a Mac computer OS, but would that carry over to iPhones?..
 
Nocturne

Nocturne

Friendly Tyrant
Forum Staff
Admin
woozywookie said:
As far as a Mac Mini, isn't an integrated graphics card bad news for something like GMS? Thought I read dedicated memory was better in terms of the system not playing tug of war with ram.
Click to expand...
I have a refurbished Mac mini and is perfectly fine for most of my needs.

woozywookie said:
Would a Mac be a necessity for iOS? I would understand if you developed something for a Mac computer OS, but would that carry over to iPhones?..
Click to expand...
Sadly, Apple require you to have a Mac, as you need to upload to the app store from a macOS. GMS also needs the Mac as all the iOS build tools are from Xcode, and GMS needs to be able to send and receive files from Xcode to make the application.
 
Mike

Mike

nobody important
GMC Elder
You'll be surprised how old the hardware can go! It works surprisingly well on old Vista hardware, but you really want one that can run the graphics properly so that it doesn't use the software rendering - that'll hurt, especially on laptops.

I've tested on old Acer Aspire Revo machines (from 2010) and it's working okay. 4Gb is fine as is speed of the IDE.
( https://www.amazon.co.uk/Acer-Desktop-RAM4096MB-HD500GB-Windows/dp/B002TI844K )

On apple, an old Mac Mini is also "okay", but we're tied to the OS that XCode can run on, so watch out with that. I've been testing on an old Core2 Duo (2009) Mac Mini, and its fine. However, this is on the cusp as it can't go to newer OS's so next update, I won't be able to use it.

Any "new" 64bit machine should be more than good enough - 8Gig and an SSD if you can get it, but will work fine on 4Gb and HD if not.
 
W

woozywookie

Guest
Thanks for all the feedback.

Seems like the options I've been considering will be just fine if not better than expected.

Though considering a mac dual booting windows has opened up a can of worms!
 
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