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Hello, I'm looking into getting a mac. Mostly just to play around with. However one of the main apps I want to use is Codestone. I was wondering what is a reasonable system to get? I've read the requirements but coming from the pc world, I'm unsure how well programs run within requirements in the mac world. Would a beige 266 on B&W; 300 just be too darn slow with codestone? or am I just going to have to lump it and get something of a G4 level system?
Thanks,
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I run Coldstone on both an iMac (G3 266mhz & 154 megs ram) and an old 6500 (PowerPC 233mhz & 96 megs ram) I do most of my developement on the G3 of course, but the 6500 is a great test platform. Coldstone runs really slow on the 6500, but you could get things done on it. If you can find a good used G3, there shouldn't be a problem getting going.
Welcome to the boards, Rob_Merritt. Glad you're here!
Coldstone works very well with an OS 9.2. I suggest you either get a computer that runs 9.2 or get one that runs an OS X, although some people have been having problems with Coldstone and OS X.
(edit) As ayurgal says, though, a G3 should be fine, but I still recommend one with an OS 9.2.
------------------ -- Debra Danillitphil Productions (url="http://"http://www.danillitphil.com/graphics/index.html")www.danillitphil.com(/url)
(This message has been edited by Debra (edited 10-20-2003).)
Hi and welcome to the boards for both Rob_Merritt and ayurgal. I see Debra beat me to the answer just as I was starting to reply.
I, too, use Coldstone with OS 9.2 and have very few of the problems that some have mentioned. It is best, I think, to increase the memory allotment when running this software. Save your build frequently and you should have success with it.
------------------ My Doctor said I was having too much wine, women, and song - so I gave up singing because 2 out of 3 is not so bad. The (url="http://"http://www.evula.org/rduck/")Kingdom of Garendall(/url) sectional map is easily printed from gif format pages. (url="http://"http://www.ambrosiasw.com/cgi-bin/vftp/dl-redirect.pl/damsels.sit?path=pog/addons&file;=damselsV1.1.sit")Damsels in Distress(/url) - A plugin for PoG.
A few things you should know about Macs and OS X in general, before I begin my speech: Mac OS X is Mac's fastest, most streamlined, and most stable operating system. Many people prefer OS 9 for some program bugs/incompatibility, but I think that this is not much of an issue as the Mac OS X operating system comes with a "Classic Environment" where you can run most Classic applications in OS X. One of the most important advantages of OS X is its ability to multitask. 10 apps open at the same time? No problem. They all run great. So you don't have to hold back for OS 9. In addition, Apple has phased out support for OS 9 and will not be introducing new updates for it. If you wait until October 24th, you can get a computer with the newest OS, 10.3. Anyway, on to the long er speech:
Running CS by itself is, as you can see by the above replies, a piece of cake on almost any machine. However, I find that I sometimes like to have Photoshop, Coldstone, Safari (OS X web browser), GraphicConverter, and iTunes (love my music ) open at the same time. OS X is great at handling this stuff which is why I use it. The mentioned bugs have to do with saving in yoru game (i.e. not CS saving, but the game created by it) and with map preview pictures not working (there are a few more little things, but they won't have much effect on you and thus I won't get into them). The map preview pictures bug is not much of an issue as I can do map preview pics in classic CS using the classic environment. Here would be my suggestion of an affordable, yet powerful Mac:
Straight from apple (i.e. 1/2 the cost if you get it anywhere else ), $1,318 for a 60GB HD with 512 MB RAM, 1gHz processor, Combo Drive, 3-year free support and repairs. Yup, it's the eMac
Anyway, sorry for my long windedness. I'm a long time Mac user, and I just decided to impart some of my collected knowledge. Make of it what you will, and congrats on making the switch!
PS: Welcome to CS!
EDIT: clarity
------------------ CI-I@()s (url="http://"http://www.evula.org/world-of-cha0s/")The Homepage of Cha0s(/url)
(This message has been edited by CI-Ia0s (edited 10-20-2003).)
Thanks for the replies. I was really looking towards a refurb unit from a place like Mac Res Q. I've been a pc guy since the early 90s (in the 80s I would switch between Macs & Amigas) So I am mostly looking into getting into the mac experence. I normally buy a $2k-$3k computer every two years and I just bought my current pc May 2002. So I was thinking on spending ~$300 for a G3 mac and if I like it get a high end system next year. However it appears maybe I should just wait as a 266 G3 might be too slow.
Mmmmm, buy yourself a christmas present (apologies if you're not Christian).
If you're newish to the Mac world, you should strongly consider going with OS X, at least version 10.2, and 10.3 may be preferable. If you're going with 10.3, you would need at least a B&W; G3, as I believe the beige G3s are not supported by 10.3.
Unfortunately, Coldstone has not been updated to keep pace with the OS. As others noted, it's got some fairly minor but annoying problems when running under OS X 10.2, and, although I have no evidence as of yet, I would not be in any way surprised if it had even more problems under 10.3, at least until (if?) a Coldstone update is made available. Be aware of this when making your decision.
------------------ 'You can either be on the stage, just a performer, just going through the lines...or you can be outside it, and know how the script works, where the scenery hangs, and where the trapdoors are. Isn't that better?' -- T. Pratchett
I have just migrated from OS 9 to OSX. As of yet I have not had any problems with coldstone. It used to crash on me all the time in OS9 (then again. Everything did). OSX is much more stable and has only crashed once. I use a 400mhz G3 iMac. I is fairly good but if you want to run OSX fairly well 300-400Mhz is the Minimum I would have. If you are planning on getting photoshop and a 3D app and use them on a Mac then get a G4. It has a thing called altivec. Put simply it means that it tears through graphics apps that use it. If you are really rich and want a very powerful machine then get a G5 (excuse the drooling ). If you are at all stuck on a Mac and can't do something you can do on windows the go to xvsxp.com. It compares X against XP but it is very good for finding out how to do things on the opposite platform.
------------------ Pilky (url="http://"http://www.mcubed.cjb.net")M cubed homepage(/url) (url="http://"http://www.coldstonerc.cjb.net")Coldstone Resource Centre(/url) Cheesiest film line of all time "Flash I love you but we only have 14 hours to save the earth" from Flash Gorden
Welcome to the Boards! As to your question, I just switched from OS X to OS 9 for my coldstone stuff, because of the Sloppy port that Beenox made from 9 to X. As for system requirements, any good processor in the hundreds, preferably G4, works good, with a couple hundred megabytes of ram works really well. I use an older Dual 450 MHz PowerPC G4 running 10.3 on 640 MB of Ram. 'Course you don't need a good system. Mac OS 9 machines run what you need rather well, except stuff like Photoshop 7 and 3D engines (Blender, Wings 3D, etc.).
------------------ Whose cruel idea was it to put an 'S' in lisp? (url="http://"http://genesisp.netfirms.com")Genesis Productions(/url)
Out with some new iBook G4 laptops, looking good...
If you want to be desperate, I was first using a 6100/66 for a while before I had the means of borrowing and eventually buying a G3 AIO (All-in-one). It was slow, but it worked. You really don't need that fast of a computer to work in Coldstone, come to think of it, because most of it is point, type, and click. It just helps to have a faster computer, and mandatory if you use photoshop (especially PS7). My AIO handles everything just fine. A G5 wouldn't be bad though, if someone would like to get me an old blue and white G3 tower, it wouldn't hurt ........
------------------ -The ZeroWarrior
**This post has been deleted by the Zerowarrior. **
(This message has been edited by zerowarrior150 (edited 10-23-2003).)