Re: The Sachs Aquarium WISHLIST (3D Background)
 

It's true that paralax isn't necessary for a 3D background such as this, but it could only improve upon it if anything. No big deal, it was just a passing thought anyway. :)

- DL

Re: The Sachs Aquarium WISHLIST (3D Background)
 

Parallax is multiple 2D sprite "strips" at varying vertical heights which move at different speeds to simulate 3D. The new background will be *completely* 3D including the gravel floor. It will have infinite degrees of parallax because there's nothing fake.

Re: The Sachs Aquarium WISHLIST
 

May I suggest a few colourful wrasses?

http://www.aquarist.net/photo/gallery/wrasse2.jpgCheckerboard Wrasse
http://www.flyingfishexpress.com/fis.../christmas.jpgChristmas Wrasse
http://www.flyingfishexpress.com/fis...lime_coris.jpgLime Coris Wrasse
http://www.flyingfishexpress.com/fis.../hardwicki.jpgHardwicki Wrasse

Moorish Idol
 

Hi Folks,

I'm only a week or so into this forum and I have read maybe 50% of what has been posted so forgive me if the following has been addressed.

Any idea if Jim has plans to include the Moorish Idol? I know it is on the wishlist but I've read no comments about it. It is my fav fish of all. I realize that the length of the "thingies" would pose programing problems and that the Wimplefish with similar coloration is already in the tank but it is not nearly as majestic.

Re: Moorish Idol
 

Probably not. The Wimplefish, also known as the "Poor man's Moorish Idol", looks so similar that most people wouldn't know the difference.

Re: Moorish Idol
 

Jim,

Sad but understandable. To me the Wimplefish looks much more like a fresh water angel than a Moorish Idol. The "face" on the Moorish Idol is incredibly unique and it is much better proportioned, by comparison the Wimple looks like in was in a wreck.

Oh well, can't have everything!

Re: Moorish Idol
 

My revised picture of the Moorish Idol did not show up on the last post because I forgot to check "use photo" when I changed it.

Re: The Sachs Aquarium WISHLIST
 

From an e-mail...

Re: The Sachs Aquarium WISHLIST
 

I have to say, that's a very unique looking starfish. Sure wouldn't mind seeing that in the aquarium.

- DL

Fish swimming diagonally
 

The forums have had lots of ideas about fish swimming further into the tank, but what I just noticed is that no fish swim diagonally in or out. It's either along the X-, Y- or Z-axis. Can't we have 'em in combinations?

Re: Fish swimming diagonally
 

Maybe, when the background becomes 3D.

Re: Fish swimming diagonally
 

Oh, guess I didn't think that through enough...

Another round of side scrolling ideas
 

In a future version side-scrolling could become an option if I'm reading the forum posts correctly. I have three ideas on this:

1. Make the scrolling optional

2. Make the scrolling speed user-defineable (sp?)

3. Since side-scrolling would indicate a larger tank, wouldn't we (Jim) have circumvented the "seven is the maximum number of fish a tank the size of the screen would hold without looking unrealistic"-rule?

Then all those people who dream about showing off their video cards could have more fish to play with, even though they/you don't see the whole tank (and most likely not all of the fish) at the same time.

Re: Fish swimming diagonally
 

Hey Turtle,

Where did you get that image next to your name? It looks familiar to me, it resembles an image used in Native American myth.

It's been a while and I could be slightly off base (probably because I've become a bit disconnected from my Mohawk/Iroquois roots over the years), but I think it resembles the Great Turtle. Let me see, if I remember correctly, the story goes something like this -

"There was only the limitless vault of sky and the infinite waters of ocean. Above the sky there was a Sky World where living gods existed. In this Sky World there was a couple. While the pregnant woman was gathering food beneath a tremendous tree, she broke a hole down into the sky and fell, grasping at the plants which grew among the roots of the sky tree. A long way did she fall. Sea birds flying in the sky saw the woman falling. They circled together and formed a flying raft which caught the woman and kept her from falling into the vast sea below. Some of the sea birds called to the ocean creatures below to help save the woman. A Great Turtle emerged from the vast sea and agreed that he could take the woman upon his back. There she existed. The sky above and the sea all around. Finally a muskrat appeared, he dove to the bottom of the sea and retrieved a small amount of dirt within the grasp of his paws. With this soil, the woman grew the plants which remained in her hands and in time the Great Turtle became the earth."

Then again, you could have just downloaded that image and had no idea what it meant, but I was curious just the same. :)

- DL

Tiny Turtle logo
 

Hey DL!

The logo is an original design by myself, created about four years ago.

I'm really into turtles so your story was interesting to read. Did you now that Chinese mythology also has a "Great Turtle" as a fundamental part of the world?

Because I have a snapping turtle myself the logo turtle had to have the caracteristic long tail of the snapper, and at least when I got him, he was tiny...

/Calle Soderberg, Borlange Sweden

Re: Tiny Turtle logo
 

A snapping turtle eh? I just saw one at the San Diego Zoo today, big monster of a turtle. :) I've always thought they were interesting, where did you get yours at and how big is he/she now?

- DL

Re: The Sachs Aquarium WISHLIST
 

I apologize if this has been requested before.

I would like to have a separate volume control in the Settings for the screen saver. I prefer to have the bubble sound very low, much lower than the volume I wish for listening to CSPAN, for example.

Re: Tiny Turtle logo
 

I know this is Off Topic, group, so please don't flame me too much (would be kinda neat to be flamed in this, the nicest of forums, though...)


Spike about four and a half year old and I've had him since he was less than an inch long (legal here in Sweden, not in the U.S...) right now he's reached a carapace length of around almost eight inches and is weighing in somewhere around 4.5 lbs...

"Auto update" for the retail version
 

I'm thinking about all those future customers not knowing which way is up on their computers. Wouldn't it be a good feature to put a "Update the screensaver" button in the settings which would connect to the i-net and check if there's a newer version available and then proceed to automagically download the latest incarnation of mr. Sachs efforts and install (I mean replace ;-) it?

Then they wouldn't have to worry 'bout versions or URLs or any such nuiscances (sp?). Then again, this might be too automated and microsoftish for everybody else`...

Random Fish
 

Apologies if this has already been suggested.

I mostly just have all 7 fish set to random, however there a couple the of fish types I don't particularly like, and it would be good to have a way of stopping these from appearing as random fish.

I'm thinking along the lines of a set of check boxes where you could mark each of the fish types as 'active'. Taking a fish off Random and setting it to a particular type could over ride the checkboxes for that particular fish. This would allow you, for instance, to ensure that you only had one of a particular fish type, while allowing the rest to remain random.

Only my wishlist
 

Must have
=========
exotictropicals.com/encyc...tndash.htm
exotictropicals.com/encyc.../koran.htm (Juvenile)
www.aquarist.net/photo/ga...rasse2.jpg

Best School
===========
exotictropicals.com/encyc...ilfish.htm
exotictropicals.com/encyc...owtail.htm
exotictropicals.com/encyc...Wrasse.htm


Super Stranger
==============
exotictropicals.com/encyc...dotbox.htm

PlugIn Support
 

PlugIn support would be very useful. So everyone
did not have to download all fishes and Jim would be able to add more effects (bump mapping, lighting (flourescing - see request from Sharkfood) effect and so on). ;)
Thanx...
by bRs

Re: PlugIn Support
 

I'm trying to avoid having separate files lurking in the user's computer. Things get out of hand quickly when trying to determine if all the different pieces are the latest version, etc. By keeping everything in one file, each time I release a new version with more fish, I can also tune up the existing fish, as well as make other improvements to the program.

Network Version Wanted...
 

I would like a network version of this, so that you don't have to register umpteen times and key in registration codes umpteen times.

Re: Network Version Wanted...
 

The problem with a networked version is that if you're using it on a lan at work (with file and printer sharing enabled), then everyone else will have access to it as well. I'm sure that's something that Jim would like to avoid. With any piece of quality software, you should expect some level of security to protect the author's investment and I believe that Jim is taking the right steps to do so while still making it as easy as possible to setup the program on a new computer.

If he makes it too easy though, then far too many people will end up passing copies around to friends at work, on the net, and so on. As it stands now, it's not really all that secure to be honest and I'm sure people are passing it around just the same. Then again, I don't think Jim really figured that his screensaver would garner the interest of hackers.

- DL

SS localization
 

As this SS has sparked a sudden interest for salt water aquariums IRL for me, I'm reading everything I can lay my hands on about 'em. I'm starting to learn the Swedish names for the fishes. When I recently paid a visit to Stockholm's "Aquaria Water Museum" (Ever been there Ingo?) I heard people around me asking their friends what all sorts of fish were called. I was about to answer when I realized that I only knew the english names for them! The Swedish names aren't direct translations of the English (for instance, the swedish name for regal tang would translate into "palette surgeonfish" and the lionfish is a "dragonfish" around my part of the woods.

Anyway, that's when I got the idea for a localized version of the SS. A pull-down menu in the "Settings" dialog with different languages (including Latin of course!) shouldn't be so hard for someone who can create actual life inside my monitor...

It could still be contained inside the sole .scr-file and wouldn't take too much space either. The actual translation work shouldn't be that big a problem, I'm sure that people in this community would trample each other for the opportunity to contribute in any way to this SS.

/Calle

PS
An aquarium with a dark background and one sole lionfish swimming around slowly, that's my dream setup right now!

Lionfish
 

Well, that's an easily-achievable dream! Lionfish are extremely sturdy fish, as long as they're not fed a steady diet of goldfish. Get one that's adapted to frozen foods, and you'll have it a good, long time. Extremely disease-resistant, tolerant of imperfect water conditions, and undeniably interesting. People have even used them to "cycle" a tank, although I wouldn't go that far. Rather poisonous, of course. :)
They don't need a very big tank for the size fish they are, preferring to hover rather than pace. There are dwarf varieties, also.

Great Program!
 

i saw this running in a computer store to show off monitors and i could hardly take my eyes off. needless to say, i'm now registered and hooked!

first, one of the biggest thing right now that distinguishes this from a real aquarium is the fact that the plants don't move. i would love to see this in a future release.

second, i select "random" for all 7 fish. i would like an option to not repeat so that i can avoid having 2 of the same fish swimming around, but still have the randomness.

i'm really excited about all the enhancements i've read about here. thanks!

Screencam?
 

I just bought a small logitech's webcam, and I was trilled about the Reality Fusion Games it has, as they use the movement of the camera's pics as input (detects changes in the images being captured).

It would be great if, once tapping on the glass and those things are implemented, also the fishes could see when you are in front, or there's movement in front of them, as my current fishes (sweet water fishes, a.k.a stupid goldfishes) tend to became very nervous asking for food everytime I come near them (some minutes later, they realise the're not going to be feeded then and loses some interest on me) ;)

What about that?

BTW, Ppl at reality fusion offers a devkit to use their technology, although a) don't know how much does it cost b) don't remember the site's url

Re: Screencam?
 

"sweet water fishes"

That's the first time I've ever heard that term applied to fresh water fish, seems a bit odd. :)

- Digital

In Europe they speak European, - right!
 

Not really. All languages are not variations on English. The direct translation of the Swedish word for fresh water ( sötvatten) would be sweet water too (actually it would be sweetwater since we compound words a lot here...

The German word for it is Süßwasser (pronounced "syecewahsser") where süß means sweet and fresh would be frisch.

If I'm not mistaking myself, it's the same way around with the Spanish language, which would explain Helpman's choice of words. Dulce agua means fresh water, but dulce is sweet and fresh is translated into fresco, right?

Am I still the only one who would like a multilingual version of the SS?

/Tiny

Re:Multilingual
 

I would also like the multilingual version as an add
and for the Swedish one I've tried to collect the Swedish names of the fishes.

Maskarill-Addis Butterflyfish
Clownfisk or Falsk clown-Percula Clownfish
Clown Tryckarfisk-Clown Trigger
Kopparbandad fjärilsfisk-Copperbanded Butterflyfish
Elddvärgskejsare-Flame Angelfish
Gul pincett-Forceps Butterfly
Fransk Ängelfisk-French Angelfish
Trådfjärilsfisk-Golden Butterflyfish
Vitbröstad Kirurg-Powder Blue Tang
Drottningfjärilsfisk-Queen Angelfish
Palettkirurg-Regal Tang
Gramma loreto-Royal Gramma
Vimpelfisk-Wimplefish
Gul kirurg or Gul doktor-Yellow Tang
Blå kirurg or Blå doktor-Purple Sailfin Tang
Picasso tryckarfisk-Picasso Trigger

Bye the way,Tiny Turtle,I've never been to the Aquarium you've mentioned, but have you seen the Tropicarium at Kolmården? Amazing one with a great tank with the great white Carcharadon Carcharias.
There are also piranhas and sting-rays, crocodiles, all kinds of fish.

Ingo

Tropicarium
 

Ingo!

It seems like someone's exaggerated a little bit when they told you about Tropicarium. The largest sharks they keep there are Sand tiger sharks - Odontaspis taurus (Carcharhinus taurus). As far as I know, noone has ever been able to keep a Great White in captivity, but if I'm wrong, I'm sure someone in this community will enlighten me.

Anyway, Tropicarium seems like a interesting aquarium and I'll visit it as soon as I find enough free time. Thanks for the tip!

I don't know where in Sweden you live, but if you happen to be in the vicinities of el Stockholmo, I recommend you to take a trip to Djurgården and visit Aquaria. It's in the old Wasa museum next to Gröna Lund. They've got this Green Moray Eel that is just huge! He didn't swim around in the tank but the three feet of him that was out of the cave for me to see were absolutely massive!

/Tiny

Re: In Europe they speak European, - right!
 

Oh I fully understand how certain words don't always make a direct translation across some languages, I guess I just found it rather strange that the word "sweet" would be applied to fresh water (even when translated). Even though it seems a bit strange to me, I still find it very interesting just the same!

- Digital

Re: In Europe they speak European, - right!
 

Re:Sharks
 

Tiny Turtle you're right about the sharks, they have "sandtigerhajar" and other smaller sharks, but not the great white.
I'm living in the middle of Sweden, Mariestad but come from "Skåne".
Ingo

lighting ripple effect
 

I know shadows are not realistic, but wouldn't the ripple effect that appears on the coral also appear on the fish to some extent.

When the fish get personalities, will they interact with each other at all (except for the schooling fish.)? For instance, when a timid fish gets too close to an aggressive fish it would swim away quickly and the aggressive fish would follow it for a second.

Every thing else that I would like to see has been covered already.

I love this program. I have only registered a few programs online before and up until now they have all been utilities :)

Thanks,
Paul

The unbearable lightness of shadows
 

About those shadows:
I recently checked out a quite large tank (21,000 gallons) at Stockholm's "Aquaria" museum. There the fishes definately had shadows that were visible if they were closer than about five or six inches to the reef floor. This applied only to the smaller fish like regal tangs or the beautiful copperband butterfly they had. The five feet sharks left shadows even though they were swimming at the top of the tank (ten feet above the bottom).

Did they have a different kind of light at this place or what?

/Tiny

Re: The unbearable lightness of shadows
 

and how about lighting that alters with your PC clock? so that it changes subtly as the day progresses,

apologies if this is already on here somewhere but I haven't the time to slog through ten pages of wishlists on a 'call gapping' BT line and 56k modem on a ezboard server, it all just adds up to way to slow :( I have to talk Anita into having ADSL (she needs it she just doesn't know yet)

can't wait for the squid or whatever for those who register before the beta is up get, and how about pirrahna fish to nibble at the others? you could have 7 fish one day and then 6 the next etc.

I used to have a tank when I was a kid but had to sell it when I grew bored (as you do when you're a kid) it wasn't tropical or salt I think it was one of those 'win at the local fairground' type of fish and then I got a few more to keep it company, you know I cannot even remember what I called them! so this is a fantastic maintenance free alternative,

err... I hope I am not the only one here to actually give the fish names, in fact I may even start naming the SS fish :/

Re: The Sachs Aquarium WISHLIST
 

I'm surprised that no one has requested one of my favorite fish, the long-horned cowfish. OK, it's not really a reef aquarium fish (it should be kept in a fish-only tank), but then again, neither are clown triggers!

Other ideas:
1. Horseshoe crab
2. Bristleworms! (yes, they ARE part of any reef tank)
3. Jawfish that burrow in the gravel
4. "Cleanup crew" animals like blue-legged hermit crabs
5. A wider choice of backgrounds -- or the ability to aquascape your own tank, using different live rock and coral objects.
6. Pulsing Xenia
7. Free-swimming comb jellies, which would put on a light show when the tank goes dark. (Hey, jellyfish-keeping is popular in Japan, so this isn't too far-fetched.)
8. Pipefish
9. Grunt Sculpin. (OK, you can't buy this species in a pet store. But if you've ever seen one -- like those at the Long Beach Aquarium -- you know how goofy they look and how interesting they are.)
10. Catalina Goby