Asus released a new laptop a few weeks ago, the Asus VivoBook Pro 16X OLED. We asked video game developers who worked with this PC during a gamejam what they thought of it.
The Asus VivoBook Pro 16X OLED, perfect for graphic designers // Source: Johana Hallmann for Humanoid XP
A few days ago, we asked the Crafters, a team of four developers, to create a video game in less than 48 hours. This challenge included two constraints:
- Respect the imposed theme: “You can stop, but…”
- Use only Asus VivoBook Pro 16X OLED laptops to create this video game.
It is this challenge, titled #AsusGamejam, that we are going to tell you about today. Following our first episode, our team of developers started working on a video game. How is this #AsusGamejam going? Do the VivoBook Pro 16X OLED hold up? Here is the summary of their first 24 hours of adventures.
It’s been a little over a day since Les Crafteurs started the #AsusGamejam accompanied by the VivoBook Pro 16X OLED. Between apprehension about the choice of theme, getting to grips with the machines and time constraints, here, on D+1, is the first feedback from our team of creatives on their experience.
Who are the Crafters, the developers of the #AsusGamejam?
Les Crafteurs is a team of developers made up of four members with very different, yet complementary personalities and skills. From left to right, meet:
Simon, 30 years old
He’s the jack-of-all-trades of the band. His thing is the creative process. He is also the ear of the team since he is in charge of the musical part (guitar, bass, drums, piano, vocals). In life, Simon loves Legos and progressive metal.
Joris, 29 years old
Joris, his thing is the image. At Les Crafteurs, he is in charge of 3D asset modeling, texturing or even animation work and rendering for cinematics. Within the team, he is also a versatile element. For example, he is behind the 3D printing of one of Toasterball’s toasters, which was used to decorate a stand at a trade show.
Theo, 22 years old
Benjamin from the Crafteurs team, he is one of the two developers of the team. He does the programming. Video games are really his thing. He started by having Alex as a teacher. If development remains his area of excellence, he is also a bit jack-of-all-trades, especially on the graphics part. Its main fuel: crisps.
Alex, 27 years old
As a child, he wanted to be draftsman-inventor “. Today, he takes care of the programming, but keeps a close eye on the artistic direction. In life, he likes role-playing games, complicated films and cooking.
For 48 hours, these four friends took up the challenge of this game jam a bit special. And they made the bet to work only on Asus VivoBook Pro 16X OLED. If the material is rather a great help, the rest of the conditions of the game jam remains quite a challenge.
A Gamejam is above all a race against time
In a Gamejam, the biggest constraint of these 48 hours of programming and creation is undoubtedly time. ” It’s our worst enemy“, admits Theo. ” It’s a real challenge, because you have to know how to manage your time and accept to give up a lot of good ideas“says Joris.
A timer reminds participants of their remaining time // Source: Johana Hallmann for Humanoid XP
” We left on an ice floe atmosphere which we really likedexplains Simon, the team’s composer. “We had found a gameplay in which you glide without stopping, we were starting to sketch the idea well, but we realized that we would never have time, so we had to give up“, he explains to give us an example.
It is in this kind of challenge that the stage of the firstbrainstormingshould be as efficient as possible. “We have a way of working that is similar to the mechanisms of improvisation“says Joris. “When looking for ideas, we don’t say no to anything, all are accepted and then everyone takes it. »
Alex and Simon, testing assets during the 2nd day // Source: Johana Hallmann for Humanoid XP
To support the reflection mechanism, Alex, one of the two developers, provided a valuable tool: a theme generator which notably contains different randomly generated universes such as “comic” Where “everyday life“. The method makes it possible to frame the theme and orient it in one direction.
How to find a good idea? “We are obliged to impose additional constraints“says Alex. “With the clock ticking, if we stay in the dark too long we lose time, and time, we don’t have anys”, he adds, laughing (but with a note of anguish in his voice all the same).
What still remains to be done
“For the moment, we are right in the right area., begins Joris. “We still have 24 hours left, the creative process is well underway, everything seems possible“.
“We’ll panic tomorrow when we only have an hour left, we’re going to miss finishes and we’ll have to give up some things on the way.“says Simon laughing.
“There we are going to make sure that everything works, but badly, and that it is ugly (laughs)“says Alex.
So there’s still a whole day to go.game jam. The last day, reserved, in principle, for the refinement of the game and its dressing. all about the VivoBook Pro 16X OLED made available by Asus.
The VivoBook Pro 16X OLED, a powerful ally for video game creation
To make a video game with such significant time constraints, you need powerful computers that can easily meet creative requirements. The VivoBook Pro 16X OLED has this profile.
The Asus VivoBook Pro 16X OLED, a computer designed for creatives // Source: Johana Hallmann for Humanoid XP
This nomadic computer from Asus, designed for creative people, has a strong technical sheet:
- Intel Core i7-11370H 3.3GHz processor;
- Nvidia GeForce RTX 3050 graphics card;
- 16GB LPDDR4 RAM;
- Storage 1TB M.2 NVMe PCIe 3.0 SSD;
- A 16-inch 4K OLED panel, with a latency time of 0.2 ms, and a brightness of 550 nits.
With its OLED screen, latest generation processor and 16 GB of RAM, the VivoBook Pro 16X OLED is designed to run applications such as Blender, Unity, Reaper or Visual Studio Code.
A very nice 4K OLED display, perfect for graphics work
During thisgame jamone of the strengths of this VivoBook Pro 16X OLED which made everyone agree, it’s the 4K OLED screen. With 100% coverage of the DCI-P3 color space, this laptop’s display is built for creatives. Its 16:10 ratio is also designed for productivity and offers a more than interesting format. And with its OLED panel, the blacks are deeper, and the colors more vibrant and close to reality.
“It’s super nice, I’ve never had a screen with such accurate colorsappreciates Joris.
The homogeneity of screen calibration is also a big advantage for those who work in teams.
“In addition to making the images beautiful, the fact that the screens are calibrated reassured in the choice of artistic direction and colors», Completes Simon. “We were all in tune, with the same visual results on all screens, it saved us a lot of time“, concludes the crafter.
The Pantone certification was also welcomed. “I think for those who do print, it’s a real plusconcludes Joris.
The two developers appreciated the comfort of typing on the keyboard and the propensity of the machine to reduce blue light. “When you type lines of code all day, you have to spare your fingers and your eyes», describes Theo.
Remember that the Asus VivoBook Pro 16X OLED has an Eye Care feature that reduces the emission of blue light by 70%, for optimal visual comfort, even if you work most of the day on the computer.
A powerful tool for creatives
The other strong point of this VivoBook Pro 16X OLED is its latest generation Intel processor. “We work on Unity and Visual Studio Code at the same time“, explains Theo. “Where we can see that the VivoBook Pro 16X OLED is really good is that there is no slowdown, including during script compilation times“, he adds. “Clearly, such a powerful Intel processor is a real plus for the dev part”», completes Alex.
The Asus VivoBook Pro 16X OLED // Source: Asus
RAM is also one of the stumbling blocks for machines during events likegame jam. “On this kind of project, we need resources. We don’t do triple A so 16 GB of RAM is the perfect number“analyzes Alex. “You can run several programs at the same time, without any noticeable slowdown“.
A sober and neat design
Designed for image, sound or programming professionals, the VivoBook Pro 16X OLED also knows how to be discreet in its aesthetics. Exit computers with gamer connotations: on this new model, it is sobriety that prevails with a comet gray chassis all in simplicity equipped with a woven effect coating.
The back of the VivoBook Pro 16X OLED, an elegant matte finish // Source: Johana Hallmann for Humanoid XP
“The design of the VivoBook Pro 16X OLED is quite elegant in its minimalism and much more professional visually than a typical “gamer” PC of the same level of performance. It also seems pretty solid.”notes Alex.
Joris confirms:it’s nice to have a high-performance computer that doesn’t look like a gaming monster with RGB everywhere. »
In short, the VivoBook Pro 16X OLED offers top performance, a perfect configuration for mobile creatives and a discreet and elegant look. All for a price of less than 1800 euros.