I've showed a new prototype Settings panel for the Aquarium to Jim and a few others in the chat and generally got warm responses. I showed them Settings Panel A below:
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<Td><Center><A href="https://www.feldoncentral.com/Sachs/settings/" target="_blank"><img src="https://www.feldoncentral.com/Sachs/settings/settingthumb.jpg"><br>Settings Panel A</a></td><td><img src="https://www.feldoncentral.com/Sachs/forum/pixel.gif" width=15 height=1></center></td>
<td><Center><a href="https://www.feldoncentral.com/Sachs/settings/settings101.html"><img src="https://www.feldoncentral.com/Sachs/settings/settingthumb101.jpg"><br>Settings Panel B (Fri, Nov 30)</a></center></td>
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<b>All comments below refer to Settings Panel A.
To see the comments about Settings Panel B, <A href="https://www.feldoncentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=349&pagenumber=2#post89 65">click here</a>.</b>
To explain a little about the Settings panel, I've gone ahead and put in 3D background settings even though I don't have a beta (I swear!).
On the Fish Selection panel, the Aquarium defaults to having the checkbox at the top turned on. That means you have 7 random fish just like the present Aquarium, each with the same odds that it will appear.
If you change any settings below, then the checkbox at the top will be unchecked and the fish preferences in the bottom panel take effect. You can set some fish to never appear, some fish to sometimes appear, some fish to appear often, and then you can manually specify fish to always appear (like you do in the Aquarium now).
I haven't figured out how to accomodate the people who want a tank of 9 percula clowns yet. Maybe if you specify "Always", a box appears next to it where you can type in a number. And if you try to type in a number more than the number of available "Always" slots, it will beep at you.
The ability to give preference to some fish and prevent other fish from appearing is one of the most often-requested features. I hope this settings panel is a good start at fulfilling it.
By the way, there are some rumblings going on behind the scenes to instead replace the settings panel we have now with a new one that lets you drag icons of the fish into the tank. No provision is made for setting some fish to "never", "often", or "seldom". It would basically work the way the Settings panel works now; the plan is to make it easier for users to select fish.
There is no guarantee that this Settings panel or anything we discuss here will make it into the Aquarium. It's just a prototype/idea.