How to make money programming...

Use BMax and don't forget to plonk a version for the MAC.

I have just bought a few MACs for resale and have been playing witht hem and looking up software available.

About EVERY game I see here would probably sell if it were for MAC.

Grey Alien... you could finally buy that Porsche with the solid Gold engine if you wanted!

There are more of you.

Me? I am wonking out Apps... BMax (as well as B+) can be used to create APPS... First thought... a simple but featured WORD PROCESSOR!!!

Problem is I have to buy a Mac first, I know they don't cost that much. Also I know nothing about them. However, it would be pretty neat to 100% convert my framework to Mac and rerelease my BMax games on Mac :-)

Yeah there is definitely money in app, but picking the right one is tricky I guess. I wrote business software for 9 years and that did very well but was very competitive...

I buy and sell them on ebay for between 45.00 and 95.00 with USA $30.00 shipping average... You can get an iMAC 400hs for about 70.00 and 30.00 shipping... easy!

Of course since I plugged the iMac in my Athlon 64 has been having temper tantrums and decided not to boot, then it killed my soundcard... oy!

wow that's cheap, but I need one that can handle BMax at a half decent framerate...

You should be able to pick up a Mac Mini pretty cheap. They're not top of the line but they should be plenty good enough to run a casual 2d game. The nice thing then is that you only need a little room on your desktop and a £20 KVM switch and then you can use it with your existing keyboard, mouse and monitor.

I think PC World sell them if you don't want to go mail order. Of course, BMax doesn't ( at least natively ) do universal binaries yet. So you kinda need two Mac Mini's, an old PPC one from Ebay and a newer Intel one as well. Or there may be some hacks lying around to hack yourself a universal binary.

OK this info is useful, so I need two Macs, blimey!

Well, check the BMax forums. I know someone was trying to hack a way of producing universal binaries, but since I don't have a Mac ( and since there is no TrueVision Mac port ) I didn't really follow his progress.

Well... not necessarily. You will at least need an Intel Mac. As for PPC you could find a trusting fellow to compile and test anything in the meantime, who could then give you the PPC binary for you to make a universal binary out of.

Mark himself mentioned that there may be a quick hack to fool BlitzMax into compiling a PPC binary on an Intel Mac, although I'm not sure what he may be doing with this thought, as no more has been mentioned. Of course you would still need to test the program on a PPC Mac somehow.

Fortunately, I don't have this predicament, as I have both a PPC and Intel based Mac. As such, I would be willing to help in the future should you require it.

JazzieB: OK Kind offer thanks dude. Basically maybe I just need an Intel one then, and I can get all the OS calls sorted in my framework so it functions correctly then just get it compiled on a PPC and check it works OK and put up both version on my site with a clear link to each?

I have a 450hz 512mb G4 using TIGER 10.4.??? OS and a 400hz 128mb G3 iMac using 10.4OS and would be happy to test anything. As soon as I buy BMax I will happily compile for any what that ask!

Oh, and I resell these things (along with POS systems all over the place... Ask me I ship to the UK!

I still don't think the number of mac sales would make up for the cost of buying a mac to do the port.

Everything I have read says the number of mac sales more than make up for buying a mac. Since Grey is releasing games on a regular basis I think he can easily pay for the mac.

Rook: very kind off thanks.

Basically it's too late to do a HB port (for this year) but the producer of the OZ game wants to do a port because he's had an offer on a very prominent Mac site. I'm trying to get him to pay (it's his product so he should invest, not me the programmer) and I'll put the time in to do the conversion.

As there is a death of Indie games for the Mac (although more and more are appearing) people have reported that 30% of their sales are Mac sales! So I think Why0Why is correct.

Grey!
If you lived inthe USA I would send you a iMac if you paid shipping... I have several. You could trade me a copy of the BONUS game suite!!!

Since you live in the UK... Reallt you should hit eBay and look for a G4 450HZ out there... Should not bid more than $97.00 US AND make sure it has pics of the rear of the unit so you can see a VGA port... ANY VGA will do then... ANY USB keyboard will do as well but all the better if it comes with one! ANY VGA mouse works as well...

Read the descriiption CAREFULLY!!! Make suure it has OS 10.4+ and TIGER is good as well... Also make sure it has DVD at that price and at least 128MB RAM (PC100 / 133 work FINE in this unit!!!)

Good luck buddy! Hey, good luck all of you!!!

Thanks for the advice Rook, I know a little more know :-)

Oh man Rook, that's a sweet offer and very considerate of you. I don't suppose it's open to someone who does live in the USA, is it? ;)

I was wondering what the US to UK carriage would be...

Rook,

so I'm in the UK whats the deal exactly? Would you trade for a copy any of my fine software?

He was saying he'd ship me a Mac if I lived in the US., but I don't and neither do you ;-)

It would cost a fair bit to ship it, and you might well get stuck with paying tax on it, since it's big and may not pass through customs unopened. Then you'd need a decent step-down transformer to power it. I've had similar offers from people before and I've always said thanks but it wouldn't be worth it. I could be wrong, but that's always been my judgement when it was for me.

Weight 49lbs for the iMac. I have no idea what that is in metric.

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Buy one on eBay but if you want an evaluation... I would be glad to look at a page or three for you...

MUCH CHEAPER!!! USPS/BPS is impossible to ship at the moment as it is considered sensitve electronics and has an amazing amount of hassles just leaving the country!!!

Yowzer those prices are crazy lol!

Rook, I shan't be doing anything until Jan, but thanks for the offer of help, may contact you then.

I'm thinking a 450MHz G4 system probably also doesn't come with a particularly modern gfx card, maybe something like GeForce2? 1GHz G4 with GeForce4 is pretty nice for BlitzMax. The graphics card makes all the difference for gfx speed.

For me at the moment Mac is the native platform and anything else is extra, including Windows. But I know Windows has the numbers so am aiming to support that too. Of course linux then comes in 3rd place. Hopefully Max is friendly enough at cross-platform to make it easy.

I am buying BMax for myself for Xmas... When I get it I would attempt to compile for anyone that wants... Test builds only... final product compile is up to you because I don't want to be liable for anything popping out freely!!! (OK no puns on that last statement!!!)

I also have both an Intel Mac and a G4 Mac, I'd be happy to test or compile (within reason) for anyone who asks nicely. The Intel Mac is what I use mainly at home, for development, etc. so I can probably help with any Mac related questions or issues.

I also have Linux (Ubuntu 6.10) and Windows of course.

If you want to get a Mac on the cheap, PowerMac G4s should be pretty cheap on eBay by now, although I'd try to get a so-called Mirrored-Door one, as the hardware is a bit better and more modern than the Sawtooth (plus it supports faster G4s.)

Mac Minis are pretty expensive really.

I have a G4 box that came with an ATI graphics card... very capable system... not BLAZING FAST when opening or closing but whilst running... great! COST$ 69.00 US. plus 30.00 SHIPPING. Had to replace one fan: MAC part $45.00 / Mouser Electronics part $12.00 (I used Mouser same fan, same manufacturers PN#... just had toreclip the molex)

My wife likes it, she says it is "Friendly!"

haha and a friendly price too.

To really make money programming give up on the games and start writing applications. Most of the tools for that kind of work are free now (Oracle, Java, MS) for development.

Sounds a bit extreme, dynaman. Blitz is great for games and clearly can be used to achieve profits.

For me that statement is 100% correct. I have found a nice market writing apps for companies. It's amazing how many companies don't realise that there are businesses available that'll write software for them to do whatever they need.

Next year though I'm gonna write a game in my spare time and see what comes of it. I'm just itching to give it a go, but finishing off current contract work comes first.

I've done the professional business software thing for 9 years, it's not my bag anymore (but hell yeah it bought me a Subaru Impreza Turbo), so I'm appying those skills to making games.

MAC needs a decent word processor. The open office port has a bit steep basic system requirements... The other programs out there look more like notepad.exe

I would go for two Minis - used or new - because a) they are somekind of low level but on the other side provide enough performance to not get on your nerves, b) occupy little space, c) can run this or the next version of OSX pretty well, d) are sure worth the price as i guess you'll be able to get the money out from the games as mac users tend to pay for stuff.

If all goes wrong you at least could test multiplayer games on your own... ;O)

yep good thought, I do stress though... 400 speed is basic... there are 350s out there but there is a lag.

Make sure the auction states OS X INSTALLED or OS 10.4.??? TIGER installed is a good idea too!