... and we don't need that.

Re: Jelly polyp
 

The ring-like things are baby medusa-form jellyfish (the kind usualy seen) that will soon bud off and become adults.

What do you mean, Marian? Are you saying we don't need human rhinovirus or that you're expressing the forum's common opinion of polyps not being wanted in MA?

No, LOL, I'm sorry, we , the Earth, do not need the virus,

But still, I don't think we want something in the Aquarium that looks like it would make lunch of the other tank inhabitants. Just my opinion of course.

But then again beauty isn’t everything.

MD mode realism fix
 

Ok, I read through several hundred posts and then skipped ahead and found I'd gotten only halfway through this thread... so I'm just gonna make my suggestion and hope it wasn't one of the hundreds that I haven't read yet. Forgive me? :)

I have the Marine Aquarium 2MD version, and I love it, except for one thing: my monitors have bezels (as most monitors do), and the screensaver doesn't take that into account. The physical distance between the two display areas is not taken into account.

A fish approaches the edge of one screen and suddenly its face appears on the other screen, while its tail is on the first screen, but the 1.5-inch fish is stretched to 5-inches-plus, until it completely transits to the second screen.

What should happen is that the monitor bezels should be regarded as a feature/frame in the picture. Fish should be able to disappear behind them. Fish should not exist partly in one monitor and partly in the other unless they were already depicted that long. It would mean also hiding a portion of the background.

If some people prefer the way it works now, then the new real-dual-monitor mode could be optional. As well, I'd want to see a user setting for the width of bezels -- really, you'd only need one setting for "width-of-bezel-gap"... the user can grab their own tape-measure and measure the actual distance between their own monitor 1 and monitor 2 display areas. Some new LCD panels have very skinny bezels, while big old CRTs have very thick ones, so a user-settable width would be useful.

Anyway, I really love the look of this screensaver (it's the first one I ever liked enough to actually buy -- and it cost me more than $50 cuz I bought the Windoze PLUS Pack first, only to find out that all I had was a demo that I could have downloaded... :eek:
So, I'm sorry about the money I wasted on Uncle Bill, but I think that the money I sent to serenescreen was well spent. My cube gets tons of visitors to admire the fish, and I've got my screensaver start delay down to 3 minutes.

Cheers

Currently, no version of the Aquarium truly supports spanning across more than one monitor, only displaying the same image on all monitors. True, it is possible to do it on some hardware setups, but only by grotesquely stretching the image horizontally. I'm working on a version with a double-wide background, which should support spanning. I'll seriously consider your suggestion of adding a "bezel-width" adjustment in the user interface.

Cool.

And once it's programmed, it's portable to your other screensavers.


BTW, even with two screens to work with, I usually have fewer than the 7-fish maximum at any one time. Don't like it feeling crowded or too busy. So, I'm thankful for the lionfish, that moves slowly and looks so different from the others. For the same reason, I'm eagerly anticipating the crustaceans and anemone. I also like somebody's idea about an eel or other creature that is mostly in hiding, but just occasionally darts from one bit of cover to another -- a little bit of mystery to keep us from getting jaded. :D
When you add personalities to the other fish, some of them would practically jump out of their skins whenever the lurker-in-darkness sprinted to its next hidey-hole.

As for the existing fish, and having had aquaria before, I keep expecting them to occasionally turn and nudge the front glass, but they never do. That, along with the mouth and gill movements will certainly bump up the realism quotient on an already very convincing little world.

Jim:How is everything coming along,and what are you working on now?

Only two? But I have three monitors
 

Why stop at two monitor spanning Jim? I have three monitors, all different resolutions, and a Mac to boot :cool:

NOTHING would be cooler than to see a fish swim from the left monitor past the middle one onto the right monitor. That feature would make quite the SPLASH huh?

Heck, then you could relax your limit of 5 fish in a tank since three monitors means room for 15 fish.

Get busy man! Your work is cut out for you :cheers:

- John

Maybe because Jim isn't using a can of paint and a roller but is instead creating a piece of 3D artwork? Saying "why not make it 3 screens wide" is like saying "Da Vinci, could you perhaps extend the Last Supper so it fits my long window?"

Do I detect a tone of sarcasm?
 

Don't underestimate Jim's creativity! He creates incredible 3D art, no question there. And he's doing it commercially with great success. His is the ONLY screen saver I have ever plunked down cold hard ca$h for :loco:But in the commercial market you have to keep innovating to sell product.

So I'm saying that I'd buy an aquarium screen saver that spans three screens.

OK, we have one possible sale of a 3-screens-wide version. Oh, wait - it's someone who already owns the Aquarium, so his upgrade is supposed to be free.

Seriously, how many more people would buy a triple-wide who wouldn't buy a double-wide? Enough to justify the extra year's work?

Where's the imagination?
 

Ok I give up. No 3-screen aquarium screen savers are the horizon. I had no idea it takes a year to create such work. I meant no offense, no disrespect, I felt it would be so cool. I'll keep my ear to the ground to see what transpires.

Take care :TU:

A year? Give credit where credit is due. :)

Jim's been working on the 3D background since 2000.

True, but there have been a lot of false starts where I've thrown out everything and started over from a different point of view.

Rock on Jim. I admire your work and enjoy your virtual Aquarium. I look forward to the next release of your creative juices.

Yesterday I was at the local Fred Myers looking at electronics. Sure enough, there across the aisle was the charming, friendly, and oh-so-recognizable Marine Aquarium displayed on all the LCD monitors on sale. The really good monitors stand right out from the mediocre ones in that setting.

Rock on!

Yeah, one of the Fred Meyer stores in Medford uses it to show off monitors, too.

I had never been in a Fred Meyer before I started going to Oregon. Really strange store. They've got everything. It's great if you happen to need a crescent wrench, a wedding ring, and an avocado.

A few ideas
 

I would be cool if the fish pecked at the coral once in a while, like
real ones do. How about having some little worms wiggling out of the
coral and the fish occasionally tugging at one and eating it? Feeding
in and around a sea anemone with the tentacles slightly closing would
be neat. How about an octopus or a Moray eel? Some sand worms working their way through the gravel next to the glass would be interesting too. One more thing, some of the fans should wave a little like the current was moving them.

I just got my new copy from That fish place, That pet place mag. and they show and sell the SS and the Goldfish program. :TU: http://2ni2.com/emoticon/animal/pez.gif http://img118.exs.cx/img118/4022/fishmlt0ha.gif

That's it, from now on I'm calling Ed, "Mr.Smiley" :)