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Old 05-14-2007, 11:23 PM   #623
Jim Sachs
Developer
 
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Join Date: Dec 2000

Location: Southern Oregon
Posts: 9,774
Reflective scales - If I find any worthy saltwater species that need this effect, then I'll implement it. In the current version, the only critter that's shiny is the Copper-Banded Butterflyfish, and I've always been able to handle its shine using specular lighting. The simple fact is that nearly all the saltwater fish that people deem worthy of putting in an aquarium are as flat as velvet. No shine, no visible scales. In my Freshwater program, all the fish are shiny. In fact, the Cardinal Tetras have three types of shine - for the body, the red, and the blue-green stripe.

There are a couple of effects for which I do plan to use pixel shaders. I will be experimenting with motion-blur, especially for the bubbles. My current monitor is able to clearly freeze-frame the bubbles, which now rise much faster than they did in old version. This leads to a strobe-like impression, which detracts slightly from the overall realism. A small amount of motion-blur may be effective in curing this.
Jim Sachs
Creator of SereneScreen Aquarium
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