Originally posted by Digital Lungfish
Jim/Reichart,
I was wondering, how do you guys decide who does the art and models for each new fish from this point forward? Thus far Jim has been making fish from Morgan's Wish List while Ken has created fish that Prolific wants.
This is not an accurate statement.
Jim has always done the fish he wants. Prolific did the fish they wanted. To my knowledge, the wishlist has not driven Jim's decision-making process in the past. I created the Wishlist (2 pages of it) before Jim had any idea there even WAS a fan site being created.
I *have* e-mailed and chatted with Jim in the past about which fish are "likely" or "unlikely", which is where the green checkmarks and red X's came from.
Jim's red X's have been determined for several reasons:
- Aesthetics - Jim doesn't like it
- Realism - either it cannot be reproduced in the Aquarium satisfactorily, or even if it DOES look realistic, to the untrained eye, it would look like a 'cartoon' fish. This is why Jim has not filled the tank with wrasses.
- Intricate patterns too detailed to look satisfactory on 800x600 or 640x480 displays.
- Politics
Do you have any future plans for a unified Prolific/Jim Wish List?
The wishlist, as it stands, is not tailored to anyone but the fans. It is an albeit out-of-date listing of the most-requested fish plus a few biased in my favor.
Not too many people raise a stink about wanting a GENUINE juvenile Emperor Angel [Ken's is an IMPERATOR].
Or will Jim continue on with fish from Morgan's list while Ken and other Prolific artists do fish that Prolific wants?
I don't know who is more likely to do a "popular" fish, Jim or Prolific. I do know that Prolific must've had a reason for steering clear of the Wishlist. And it's funny to say that because they put 2 fish that appear on the wishlist anyway!
I think part of their goal was to put fish that are quite different from Jim's. It is almost a test to see people's reactions. If all the fish were similar-looking or similar in shape to Jim's, then they might be dismissed as half-efforts, but since an effort is being made to do something new, they will hopefully be judged on their own merits.
I think any artist stepping up to the plate of Jim's Aquarium would be wise to also "test the waters" with a few break-the-mould fish.
If you decide to keep the lists divided as they are now, will you ever allow users to submit their fish requests to Prolific as we do here on Morgan's site?
Prolific has looked at our wishlist quite extensively and, to my knowledge, does not have any official wishlist of their own. And I don't think they have permanently included or excluded any fish/creature just yet.
Or perhaps Prolific wants to reserve the right to make fish decisions themselves?
We reserve the right to serve refuse to anyone.