We did hear that a son was born, didn't we? And then, as you say, nothing.

Which clearly leaves a space which must be filled by temporary stand ins! :D

We received a card and picture from him, (of the baby), - but then I started to get concerned having heard nothing more, nor seen anything here on this forum.
However, Doc informed me that as far as he knew, everything was fine and he's just happy being a new dad. - I do hope everything is ok!

.... I wish he would drop by and tell us!

I just received 3.0 and am pleasantly shocked by the improvements over 99L and 1.1.

I am especially pleased:
to be able to select to turn off certain fish.
to select any number of fish up to 30. ( I was at 7)
The seabed moves to enhance the screen saver objective to avoid "burn in" That makes it worth the wait. "Burn in" risk was a major reason that I put it away previously.
I am getting some black/white pattern flicker at the very bottom... below the seabed floor to the edge of the screen. If this is on purpose, then it comes under avoiding "burn in" and is not a major distraction once you get used to it.

System: Gigabyte GA8-PE800Ultra P4 2.66 533 Scoket 478
3 sticks total 1 Gig (PC2700) PNY 333 memory
Original XP updated on line to SP3 and all updates.
ATI 7500 video card with microsoft updated driver.
HP w2207h wide screen Flat-Panel Monitor. (recent purchase)

---------------------

Comment/Suggestion:

By observation, I have found this screen saver qualifies as a real test of the cooling of my CPU, etc. I typically run in the low to mid 30s in everyday operation / idle.
Version 3.0 (great eye candy) with 30 fish, no starfish, no crystal and no barbed fish will run my CPU up into the low or mid 40s. I have added a couple of case fans (9 total) to insure a safe and happy operation. I can see this burning out somebody's system who has no idea about internal temps due to CPU operating at or near capacity. I mean who thinks about CPU power when a screen saver is running? Most people think of the PC as being "at rest".

Therefore suggestion for an add-on package in place of the clock:
CPU temps and percentage of CPU ability in use. See Speedfan software for example. To avoid "burn in" the crystal could change color as the unit heats up and settles down. User set temp alarm would also go a long way to temp additional purchasers like me. If you like the idea, it's yours in exchange for an email letting me know when to send you money for the add-on routine.

Altering the Sleep() setting will help your CPU and GPU temps. - See...
https://www.feldoncentral.com/forums...%29#post112356
https://www.feldoncentral.com/forums...%29#post112575

Yep just press UP and DOWN to adjust your Sleep setting. This is the equivalent of limiting the number of frames per second generated by the Aquarium.

Plus 30-40 is pretty (actually suspiciously) cool for a P4 (though it does depend on how well the thermal monitoring is implemented, some are very inaccurate). I don't think mine gets that cool when idling.

Are you perhaps confusing the two different .scr file names?

Downloading MA3Beta.zip from fish-byte.com will always give you the latest beta that Jim has available, - currently, Beta10a, (T413.3.0.8057).
The extracted screensaver file will always be MA3Beta.scr ..... This currently has the moving clams.
Check out.... https://www.feldoncentral.com/forums...?t=4385&page=3

Downloading from SereneScreen.com will always give you the latest 'Installer' version available, - currently Beta9M, (T302.3.0.1735)
The installed screensaver file will be MarineAquarium3.scr ...... This version does NOT yet have moving clams.

Cliff's right - the file at http://www.fish-byte.com/MA3Beta.zip will always be the very latest (often highly experimental) version. The file contained in the ZIP will always be called MA3Beta.scr, and will overwrite any older file of the same name (so if you want to keep an older file, you can rename it).

When you run the program, the version number will be in the Statistics text in the upper left corner of the screen. This display can be toggled on and off with the "S" key.

Edgar is working on making Beta10a the official version on SereneScreen.com.

Always something new to see LOL. I started the screen saver and noticed a Picasso Trigerfish buried half way in the gravel looked like it was laying eggs or something. :D

Recently I saw a Regal Angelfish emerge from the gravel. This also happened when starting the screensaver.

Should be taken care of with the new fish models/movement.

Hi Jim. Been 7 yrs for me! Just dropped by on a whim and wow the new beta looks and works quite nice. I'm glad to see you finally went pseudo-3D on the coral, they all look great. I'm sure the newer fish models will be first class as well.

If you ever need any free D3D or Windows dev help let me know as I'm quite familiar with both now. I'd be happy to help you spiffy up any part of the app you're getting a lot of complaints on but don't have the time for, if any.

Anyway, just wanted to say I'm glad to see you're back at it/still at it.

Welcome back, flipper.

Frame-Rate issues...
 

Hi guys,

I have just registered to post a request for the "framerate" option to be brought back.

I have a quite fast system, and nothing ever seems to stress any part of it, but the latest beta's lack some way of limiting the framerate.

My graphics card goes from low fan speeds, (normal) to medium, then to "flat-out" within 10 minutes of the screen saver starting.

I have now disabled MA3, as it is more a "system killer" than the designed screensaver.

PLEASE put back the option to limit framerates.

John, First, welcome to the forums!

The framerate limiter is there, it just has a different name: SLEEP.

Press S to see your current Sleep amount.

Press UP and DOWN to change the sleep amount. It defaults to 10, but you can probably get to 20-30 on a high end system and not see any major loss in framerate yet it will put less stress on your system.

Hopefully in a later version, it will have a more promising name like Limit Framerate. Then again, what I would love is an "Autodetect Framerate" button which runs the Aquarium, looks at the framerate over a span of about 10 seconds, and then adjusts the Sleep setting to give you a framerate of 60 fps with nothing extra.

Excellent idea, though I'd prefer a "Set Max Framerate" option with an input field for the desired framerate instead. Personally, I'm satisfied with MA3 running at 30-40fps. And then there is my multi-monitor system. MA3 averages between 33 and 37fps at all Sleep settings (when stretched across all 3 screens). It definitely changes the CPU utilization though, from ~10% to 100%.

111.13fps
 

Whats going on, I have a standard HP 9277 (quad) with 25 and 1/2 inch screen running at 1920x1200, MA3 no problem yet tried pressing S and got following 111.13fps sleep 10, loads of fish in tank, could not count less than nine. Music and bubbles are on, 111.13fps is not a typing error, lucky I guess.

Plecostomus, - try increasing the default Sleep() setting until your FPS drops to around 60ish.. - It will benefit your CPU usage, considerably! :)

On my modest system, lowering the Sleep() to '1' can give as much as 190 FPS, (in Windowed mode), but with 100% CPU usage!!!
The default Sleep(10) setting produces about 112 FPS and registers around 60% CPU usage in the Task Manager.
Increasing to Sleep(20) produced about 52 FPS and registers around 25/30% CPU usage. - Your setup of course may be different.

As others have said though, the best thing to do is change the Sleep() setting until the FPS drops to about 60, - any more than that is pointless and will only contribute to over-heating. - On my system I find that Sleep(17) gives me around 63fps. :TU:

BTW, - Welcome to another UK member to the forum! ;)

Thanks for info cjmaddy,will go and tamper with settings,if lights go out in Lancs its probably my fault:D

Thanks for the info, I have a frame rate of about 110 now (was over 900) and all is well.

It seems strange to have such a critical setting hidden, rather on the display panel in the options menu... :confused:

YOR SURPRISE 10B
 

Hi Jim,
Although your post is dated as yesterday, I suppose that because I am in Sydney in Aussie land that I have just seen Beta 10B, downloaded and seems to be working fine , Dusting away and ducking out of sight when approached.
had a delay before I could find it -- I thought you might have placed it further away on its own in an uncluttered area not so close to that magnificent large Coral that was so appreciated in your very first versions of SS.
anyhow just reporting that it all loded up Ok and working and I would add that my underwater Music still is working splendidly.
Now all I want is that Banded Shrimp we spoke of back in 2001, but still waiting patently, hope I can last the distance !!!
Many Thanks once again.
pAUL

The dark area where I put the Feather Duster was always intended for it. Even the original picture that I took of that pink overhanging coral had one there. I had to remove it when making the textures.

Whats on tap for the next visual treat for the aquarium?

Now comes the long process of creating new fish models and movement.

Which is first:

- The new movement

OR

- New fish models

?

I'm just guessing here, but I am going to say that each fish will probably have a slightly different movement model instead of each one using exactly the same. So my guess is that Jim will redo a fish, and the movement that goes with that particular fish, and release each new fish and movement one at a time.

That would be awesome. I take it the new movement will also include:

Pecking at corals
Schooling
Darting
and a more realistic swimming movement?

Depends on the fish and their natural behavior. If that particular species pecks at the coral, then I would say yep. :)

As for the rest - to some extent I would expect each fish to exhibit some of that behavior. It's up to Jim on how much his interpretation of the actions each fish would show.

Remember, I am just guessing at this point though, Jim hasn't told me specifically what he plans to implement.

Yes to all that.

10b working fine on my machine; vista 64 and all. Is that by any chance the new 'installed' version?

But actually I was waiting for conversation to move to 'fish movement' because I think I noticed a small anomaly, and would appreciate anyone confirming it so we'll know whether it's just my machine or a generall problem:

I notice that the fish exhibit a strange 'staccato' up-and-down movement at times. Usually (I think) it's when it is near the bottom, and especially when another fish swims directly over it. It's as if the fish is bouncing rapidly (almost vibrating) between the bottomg and the other fish.

Is this just me?

What you may be seeing is a hitch in the current routines, which I think, is one of the things Jim wants to work on. Basically when fish get to close or get hemmed in where there is no place for them to go or a clear direction for them to turn without doing flips or some unnatural movement, that's when you will see that.

Yes, that's one of the reasons for re-writing the routines.

Thanks guys. Glad to know it'll be resolved. What a great screensaver, Jim.

the best is not that you have created an awesome screensaver; the best is that you are still working on it, and you want to recreate an almost real marine habitat.;)

I'm sensing some impatience here, or maybe it's just excitement. This next phase in the development of MA3 will not be a fast one.

True

Go to our arcade - play some games - steal some high scores - have a few tournaments. :)

OMG. No impatience here. Just wanted to check in with a lingering concern. Didn't mean to pressure you, Jim. In fact, why don't you take the rest of the week off? You deserve it :)

-Tom

I'm lookin' at the lion fish and the movement looks very robotic, like there's no gradiation between movements, it just starts moving up or down without accelerating, it just goes.
It only happens with the lion fish and it happens amost every time it moves.

Is anyone else seeing this? And if the are, Is this going to be refined in the "Alpha" version?

To the best of my knowledge, Jim is going to redo the textures of every fish, redo and probably add some vertices to each fish, and take time to refine the movement of each fish, and probably refine - or maybe even have to reinvent - the collision avoidance routines for every creature in the tank. Which is where the "going to take some time" factor is involved.