Inside: SereneScreen Fan Forum - View Single Post

feldon34 · 07-19-2002, 12:58 AM

Paul Pollock said:

Automatic Lighting mode is a waste of time. I don't need or use it. Would much rather have a clock based lighting system as has been suggested by others, and would not be difficult to program. Or nothing at all. Can't see the fish? Quit the program!

If we had a poll about it, I'm sure we'd see that a very high percentage like the optional automatic lights which dim every 3-5 minutes instead of lights that stay on for 4 or 8 hours straight. Now what would be cool is independant locking lights. I would lock the back light to dark blue.

In the 18 months that I've been tracking the Aquarium, I have seen maybe a dozen requests for lights that operate on a schedule. Honestly, I'd want the Aquarium to kick out and switch to a black screen after I go to sleep, rather than run the CPU and video card (Even at reduced speeds, see below) for 10 hours.

Paul Pollock said:

Frames/sec option should be removed

Are you talking about the "Limit frames per second to 60" or the optional Frames/sec display?

If you're talking about Limit frames per second to 60, well, this is a feature that's been requested by many people, moreso in the Windows world. In some system configurations, having it switched on stabilizes the animation.

It is by no means perfect, but I see no reason to remove a feature outright.

and program needs to produce the maximum number of FPS at not more than 30% CPU activity for the Aquarium task. That will provide a safe margin of CPU resources for other tasks. After all, the Aquarium should be an accessory while doing other things, more useless waste of CPU provides one with a $1500 video display and nothing else useful<grin>. Common sense should prevail!

You will find that on the Windows and Mac versions of the Aquarium, the CPU is unnecessarily pegged at 100%, but that tasks that request CPU time are granted it. The Aquarium should not be stealing significant cycles from other programs.

I am hopeful that a future version of the Aquarium will only use the CPU power necessary to generate the number of frames per second being displayed. I'm not sure I agree on the 30% flat rate. Second generation iMacs shouldn't be artificially limited to less frames than they're capable of.

I just want the CPU and video card usage to be what is necessary, no more no less. And I would use the 60 frames per second feature to keep my video card from running 100% all the time too.

Maybe the Macintosh team can tackle this first and beat Windows users to the punch. I know for a fact that it does not require 500MHz of a Mac CPU or 1400 MHz of an AMD CPU to calculate 60~75 frames per second of animation of the Aquarium.

It's unfortunate to hear that you've deleted it.

07-19-2002, 12:58 AM	#29
feldon34 Forum Administrator Join Date: Dec 2000 Location: Rock Hill, SC Posts: 10,938	Paul Pollock said: Automatic Lighting mode is a waste of time. I don't need or use it. Would much rather have a clock based lighting system as has been suggested by others, and would not be difficult to program. Or nothing at all. Can't see the fish? Quit the program! If we had a poll about it, I'm sure we'd see that a very high percentage like the optional automatic lights which dim every 3-5 minutes instead of lights that stay on for 4 or 8 hours straight. Now what would be cool is independant locking lights. I would lock the back light to dark blue. In the 18 months that I've been tracking the Aquarium, I have seen maybe a dozen requests for lights that operate on a schedule. Honestly, I'd want the Aquarium to kick out and switch to a black screen after I go to sleep, rather than run the CPU and video card (Even at reduced speeds, see below) for 10 hours. Paul Pollock said: Frames/sec option should be removed Are you talking about the "Limit frames per second to 60" or the optional Frames/sec display? If you're talking about Limit frames per second to 60, well, this is a feature that's been requested by many people, moreso in the Windows world. In some system configurations, having it switched on stabilizes the animation. It is by no means perfect, but I see no reason to remove a feature outright. and program needs to produce the maximum number of FPS at not more than 30% CPU activity for the Aquarium task. That will provide a safe margin of CPU resources for other tasks. After all, the Aquarium should be an accessory while doing other things, more useless waste of CPU provides one with a $1500 video display and nothing else useful<grin>. Common sense should prevail! You will find that on the Windows and Mac versions of the Aquarium, the CPU is unnecessarily pegged at 100%, *but* that tasks that request CPU time are granted it. The Aquarium should not be stealing significant cycles from other programs. I am hopeful that a future version of the Aquarium will only use the CPU power necessary to generate the number of frames per second being displayed. I'm not sure I agree on the 30% flat rate. Second generation iMacs shouldn't be artificially limited to less frames than they're capable of. I just want the CPU and video card usage to be what is necessary, no more no less. And I would use the 60 frames per second feature to keep my video card from running 100% all the time too. Maybe the Macintosh team can tackle this first and beat Windows users to the punch. I know for a fact that it does not require 500MHz of a Mac CPU or 1400 MHz of an AMD CPU to calculate 60~75 frames per second of animation of the Aquarium. It's unfortunate to hear that you've deleted it. "Journalism is printing what someone else does not want printed. Everything else is public relations." - George Orwell "If voting changed anything, they'd make it illegal." - Emma Goldman Last edited by feldon34; 07-19-2002 at 01:01 AM.