New hardware needed

[Cybermonkey]

Before I can throw in my 2 cents, what kind of development do you want to do?

Cross-platform? Commercial? Stick to a single platform? library development? just hobby/freeware/community stuff? High end graphics and 3D with physics?

Development should be cross-platform, Windows and Linux. At the moment just hobby/freeware stuff, usually 2D (with physics ).

[WILL]

Sorry for taking so long to reply.

Development should be cross-platform, Windows and Linux. At the moment just hobby/freeware stuff, usually 2D (with physics ).

Ok well if you only want to support Windows and Linux then you might be safe sticking with a Windows machine for your development platform. However should you ever want to support Mac OS X, then I would suggest making the Mac your main development platform. Simply put it's 1000 times easier to go from a Mac-based Lazarus project that accounts for Windows than it is to go from a Windows-based Lazarus project and then account for Mac. Bundling, resource paths, etc. I can't emphasize that enough.

Windows development is a heck of a lot easier than Mac, I can't speak towards Linux as I've only tinkered and played with it on the odd occation and out of the box Lazarus seems to play nicer on both of those OSes than Mac. That said, Lazarus 1.0 has just come out and it could be a whole different story.

How this relates to hardware... it doesn't. Other than the Mac factor of course.

To be honest, what hardware you get shouldn't matter too much for 2D other than getting a good decent graphics card that can do the level of shading you want to pursue should you get into 3D. If you ever want to go commercial, I'd consider a Mac simply to develop on to cover the booming Mac/iOS markets. (a Mac Mini if you don't want a heavy investment) You won't make any money (or enough to matter) from Linux.

Sorry I couldn't tell you buy X, Y or Z piece of hardware. I don't think you need that advice from me anyhow. Just balance out what is in your budget with how cutting edge it is and you'll have something that should last you long enough until you have to replace it down the road.

[Super Vegeta]

As for Windows vs. Linux as dev platform, cross-compiling from Windows is a pain in the ass. Under Linux, I had no problems whatsoever. Speaking of Lazarus, I guess it depends on what components do you use, but I personally found some features lacking under Windows. Configuring Linux can be tiresome at the beginning, mostly because you're already used to the Windows interface and because, oh well, You have to learn something about the system. But if you give it some time, you can really bend the OS to your wish.

It's a matter of personal choice, but frankly, after I finally found a distro I liked (Fedora) and configured it to be comfortable for me, WinXP on my laptop is mostly laying dormant, sometimes turned on for gaming.

Or, if you like challenges and don't mind spending some time banging your head against the wall, maybe try coLinux? It is an interesting project that allows you to, basically, run Linux alongside Windoze. (Yep, you have two kernels running alongside eachother at the same time). Configuration can be tough, but then, you won't have to dual boot and switch OS..

[Cybermonkey]

Sorry, guys, I already know Linux. I use Linux since the beginning of this millenium. I know how to configure Lazarus and Freepascal under Linux and Window. Thanks for that but it was more the hardware question because it was clear that this will become a dual-boot machine. Linux will be some Ubuntu flavour either Kubuntu or Linux Mint KDE. I think I will go with that Athlon X4, I think that's almost 3-4 times faster than my actual PC according to the benchmarks. As for the Mac: it's too expensive (even a Mac Mini) currently. Btw, for development, I will have a closer look at Asphyre Sphinx 3. Seems what I need although I'm missing some beginner's tutorial.

[Super Vegeta]

Seems what I need although I'm missing some beginner's tutorial.

I daresay that's the pain of many many libraries.

[code_glitch]

@Will: Its always possible to make a hakintosh... Not saying anyone here would know anything about that Although its usually considered harder on AMD hardware I believe that gap has now closed quite a fair bit in recent years and now its roughly equal. Though some driver issue still exist.

Or you could vmware/virtualbox a copy of OS X since AMD seems to include all the VM instructions sets on virtually anything and everything. Not saying anyone would know anything about that either though

[WILL]

@Will: Its always possible to make a hakintosh...

Actually the Hackintosh and virtual machine concept is completely legit these days. In fact when Steve Jobs first presented Mac OS X, he was running it on PC hardware. If that's not endorsement, then I don't know what is.

Do note that I said at least get Mac OS X running to do development from Mac to Windows if you were going that route. And for all commercial games I'd recommend making a Mac version of your games. You'll double your sales if not more since the Mac gaming market isn't quite as saturated as the Windows gaming. If the quality of your game is high and is quite marketable you can do well on the Mac today.

I don't mean to step over Cybermonkey's main topic here, but for commercial games, I would never do Linux as a priority unless it was a mere couple hours of work to include them. Adding Linux to your supported list of platforms is simply PR for your game as most Linux users don't want to buy anything that they use. It's like selling neck ties to pot smoking hippies.

As for the hardware, I only suggest getting something that is current and will have a little bit of power for now. (sorry I just can't say what that is as I don't by clone PC parts anymore) Should you want to go commercial(selling your games) in the next couple of years get a Mac or hardware that will run and be fully supported by Mac OS X. You'll still be able to develop for Android allowing you to hit the top 4 selling platforms for gaming.