I had hoped to see these features in 2.0...

Vega909 · 03-20-2003, 02:12 PM

Hello all,
I've been an avid follower of this screen saver throughout its versions, and this is my first post on this forum. The screen saver is truly terrific! I am not a fish fanatic but I find this screen saver to be most soothing. However, I have a few requests of the development team. I know things are often more complicated than they seem, I'm just curious to know how difficult some of these things may be and if any work has already been done on them.

* Background Artifacts

I find that the only weak spot (and i am being extremely picky) is the background. At certain resolutions it appears pixelated, i know that the development team has (or is working on) using a native 1600x1200 version of the textures for the coral, this would help. EDIT: The next point is a possible solution for this:

* Anti-Aliasing

Hardware anti-aliasing aside, perhaps the edges of the coral could be a bit alpha blended. I find that they are slightly too harsh edges to appear realistic.

* Background Removal

I must admit that I had grealy hoped for this feature. I know a tremendous amount of work has been put into the original 3D background, but sometimes I want a very clean minimalist look. If there could be a way to have the coral background removed completely and have the fish swimming on a black or gradient background, this would be ideal.

* Fish Darting
While the fish behavior has been tremendously improved, i had hoped to see fish randomly dart in one direction as they do in real life.

Lastly, I am currently in upgrading some software that our company has developed. And we needed to rework the software in a new environment which would allow for more flexibility. 90% of our time was spent on the conversion while 10% was spent on what few modifications we had time for. I understand this to be the case for the Aquarium.

I apologize for nit-picking, and I really give a hats-off to Jim Sachs and the development team for such a great product.

TIA for your responses!

Cheers,
Alex

feldon34 · 03-20-2003, 02:29 PM

Originally posted by Vega909

* Anti-Aliasing

Hardware anti-aliasing aside, perhaps the edges of the coral could be a bit alpha blended. I find that they are slightly too harsh edges to appear realistic.

Jim used 1 bit alpha to save disk space and possibly increase compatibility with older cards.

Tiny Turtle · 03-20-2003, 02:38 PM

OK, this is shorter than the last attempt as Morgan's post apparently destroyed mine

I too have wished for a clean (sand-only) background but so far it appears there aren't enough of us to make anything happen

/Tiny Nothing

Vega909 · 03-20-2003, 02:43 PM

Perhaps an 'advanced' console is in order. Then you could include options that people could tweak as far as alpha blending, background parameters, monitor selection (before the dual monitor upgrade is released), etc.

A sand only BG would be perfect! I wonder if its a difficult task with the new sofware design.

feldon34 · 03-20-2003, 03:07 PM

The Aquarium will detect hardware in the future, removing any need for a control panel like that.

Vega909 · 03-20-2003, 03:12 PM

Ah, ok, do you have any comment on the plausability for a sand/gravel-only BG or a simple blank BG? I imagine there will be an option for this once the 3D background is release, but how about for updates to version 2.0?

feldon34 · 03-20-2003, 04:08 PM

It's plausible, sure. Will Jim or anyone involved do it? That's the question.

Jav400 · 03-20-2003, 04:20 PM

Vega909,

First off, Welcome to the Forum.

* Fish Darting
While the fish behavior has been tremendously improved, i had hoped to see fish randomly dart in one direction as they do in real life.

This is the one thing from your original thread that wasn't touched on. You can look for these actions in the future. It has always been planned for the fish to have their own individual personalities. For instance, in the future look for the Clown fish to be territorial and geared towards an anemone when we get to that point.

The other fish will also exhibit more true to life actions when we get there. ie. picking at coral, slightly territorial, quick limited chasing, and so on.

Discovery One · 03-20-2003, 05:15 PM

As to fish behavior, I'd like to see some schooling by the appropriate types of fish. Schooling calms me down....

Jav400 · 03-20-2003, 05:18 PM

That is planned also.

Jim Sachs · 03-20-2003, 05:19 PM

Schooling has always been planned. I'll get to it as quickly as I can, because you look like you could use some calming down

Vega909 · 03-20-2003, 06:10 PM

Jim, what do you think about the background removal?

Jim Sachs · 03-20-2003, 08:02 PM

Doesn't really interest me much.

Jav400 · 03-20-2003, 08:14 PM

Hopefully according to plan,

there are going to be caves and overhangs and so on for the Zebra Eel and the final Octopus to have a place to hide, ( but both will be free swimming ) along with alot of other moving items and invertebrates. I am really looking foward to the new background. Not having one would seem to be a step backwards to me once I have it. Just my opinion though.

Franklin J. Flocks · 03-20-2003, 09:44 PM

More than 7 fish at a time - If some of the fish are swimming
in schools, all doing the same thing - maybe it would possible
without using using too much CPU power -

Jim Sachs · 03-20-2003, 09:49 PM

Again - 3 fish which flock together will count as 1.

feldon34 · 03-20-2003, 11:11 PM

Originally posted by Franklin J. Flocks
More than 7 fish at a time - If some of the fish are swimming
in schools, all doing the same thing - maybe it would possible
without using using too much CPU power -

The limit to 7 is an aesthetic, not technical decision.

Jim Sachs · 03-20-2003, 11:51 PM

Well, it's sort of technical in the sense that there are major programming difficulties in keeping the fish from passing through each other when there are more than 7 (or 5, really).

Yellow Tang · 03-21-2003, 04:28 AM

Speaking of fish-behavior, i had not hoped to see this feature in 2.0, but i hope to see it in 3.0:
Different swimming-behaviors of the fish - the blue powder tang is 'flying' through the water in reality, when it's fast.

feldon34 · 03-22-2003, 02:24 AM

Not on this forum, sorry.

03-20-2003, 02:12 PM	#1
Vega909 Registered Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: Owings Mills, MD Posts: 4	I had hoped to see these features in 2.0... Hello all, I've been an avid follower of this screen saver throughout its versions, and this is my first post on this forum. The screen saver is truly terrific! I am not a fish fanatic but I find this screen saver to be most soothing. However, I have a few requests of the development team. I know things are often more complicated than they seem, I'm just curious to know how difficult some of these things may be and if any work has already been done on them. * Background Artifacts I find that the only weak spot (and i am being extremely picky) is the background. At certain resolutions it appears pixelated, i know that the development team has (or is working on) using a native 1600x1200 version of the textures for the coral, this would help. EDIT: The next point is a possible solution for this: * Anti-Aliasing Hardware anti-aliasing aside, perhaps the edges of the coral could be a bit alpha blended. I find that they are slightly too harsh edges to appear realistic. * Background Removal I must admit that I had grealy hoped for this feature. I know a tremendous amount of work has been put into the original 3D background, but sometimes I want a very clean minimalist look. If there could be a way to have the coral background removed completely and have the fish swimming on a black or gradient background, this would be ideal. * Fish Darting While the fish behavior has been tremendously improved, i had hoped to see fish randomly dart in one direction as they do in real life. Lastly, I am currently in upgrading some software that our company has developed. And we needed to rework the software in a new environment which would allow for more flexibility. 90% of our time was spent on the conversion while 10% was spent on what few modifications we had time for. I understand this to be the case for the Aquarium. I apologize for nit-picking, and I really give a hats-off to Jim Sachs and the development team for such a great product. TIA for your responses! Cheers, Alex

03-20-2003, 02:29 PM	#2
feldon34 Forum Administrator Join Date: Dec 2000 Location: Rock Hill, SC Posts: 10,947	Re: I had hoped to see these features in 2.0... Originally posted by Vega909 * Anti-Aliasing Hardware anti-aliasing aside, perhaps the edges of the coral could be a bit alpha blended. I find that they are slightly too harsh edges to appear realistic. Jim used 1 bit alpha to save disk space and possibly increase compatibility with older cards. "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

03-20-2003, 02:38 PM	#3
Tiny Turtle is pleased Join Date: Mar 2001 Location: Stockholm, Sweden Posts: 7,365	OK, this is shorter than the last attempt as Morgan's post apparently destroyed mine I too have wished for a clean (sand-only) background but so far it appears there aren't enough of us to make anything happen /Tiny Nothing Thanks to Morgan, Tiny Snapshots is up and running again with "Tiny Järvafält" as the latest addition – Go have a look and tell me what you think. "We knew the world would not be the same. A few people laughed, a few people cried, most people were silent. I remembered the line from the Hindu scripture, the Bhagavad-Gita. Vishnu is trying to persuade the Prince that he should do his duty and to impress him takes on his multi-armed form and says, 'Now, I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds.' I suppose we all thought that, one way or another." /Robert Oppenheimer on witnessing the first thermonuclear detonation in history.

03-20-2003, 03:07 PM	#5
feldon34 Forum Administrator Join Date: Dec 2000 Location: Rock Hill, SC Posts: 10,947	The Aquarium will detect hardware in the future, removing any need for a control panel like that. "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

03-20-2003, 04:08 PM	#7
feldon34 Forum Administrator Join Date: Dec 2000 Location: Rock Hill, SC Posts: 10,947	It's plausible, sure. Will Jim or anyone involved do it? That's the question. "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

03-20-2003, 02:43 PM	#4
Vega909 Registered Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: Owings Mills, MD Posts: 4	Perhaps an 'advanced' console is in order. Then you could include options that people could tweak as far as alpha blending, background parameters, monitor selection (before the dual monitor upgrade is released), etc. A sand only BG would be perfect! I wonder if its a difficult task with the new sofware design.

03-20-2003, 03:12 PM	#6
Vega909 Registered Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: Owings Mills, MD Posts: 4	Ah, ok, do you have any comment on the plausability for a sand/gravel-only BG or a simple blank BG? I imagine there will be an option for this once the 3D background is release, but how about for updates to version 2.0?

03-20-2003, 04:20 PM	#8
Jav400 Administrator Join Date: Dec 2000 Location: Tennessee Posts: 9,725	Vega909, First off, Welcome to the Forum. * Fish Darting While the fish behavior has been tremendously improved, i had hoped to see fish randomly dart in one direction as they do in real life. This is the one thing from your original thread that wasn't touched on. You can look for these actions in the future. It has always been planned for the fish to have their own individual personalities. For instance, in the future look for the Clown fish to be territorial and geared towards an anemone when we get to that point. The other fish will also exhibit more true to life actions when we get there. ie. picking at coral, slightly territorial, quick limited chasing, and so on. Michael Administrator of Inside:SereneScreen Aquarium Forum, Chatroom, Fan Site & *Gallery* DVD Collection

03-20-2003, 05:15 PM	#9
Discovery One Dave? Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: outside of Atlanta Posts: 60	As to fish behavior, I'd like to see some schooling by the appropriate types of fish. Schooling calms me down....

03-20-2003, 05:18 PM	#10
Jav400 Administrator Join Date: Dec 2000 Location: Tennessee Posts: 9,725	That is planned also. Michael Administrator of Inside:SereneScreen Aquarium Forum, Chatroom, Fan Site & *Gallery* DVD Collection

03-20-2003, 05:19 PM	#11
Jim Sachs Developer Join Date: Dec 2000 Location: Southern Oregon Posts: 9,816	Schooling has always been planned. I'll get to it as quickly as I can, because you look like you could use some calming down Jim Sachs Creator of SereneScreen Aquarium

03-20-2003, 06:10 PM	#12
Vega909 Registered Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: Owings Mills, MD Posts: 4	Jim, what do you think about the background removal?

03-20-2003, 08:02 PM	#13
Jim Sachs Developer Join Date: Dec 2000 Location: Southern Oregon Posts: 9,816	Doesn't really interest me much. Jim Sachs Creator of SereneScreen Aquarium

03-20-2003, 08:14 PM	#14
Jav400 Administrator Join Date: Dec 2000 Location: Tennessee Posts: 9,725	Hopefully according to plan, there are going to be caves and overhangs and so on for the Zebra Eel and the final Octopus to have a place to hide, ( but both will be free swimming ) along with alot of other moving items and invertebrates. I am really looking foward to the new background. Not having one would seem to be a step backwards to me once I have it. Just my opinion though. Michael Administrator of Inside:SereneScreen Aquarium Forum, Chatroom, Fan Site & *Gallery* DVD Collection

03-20-2003, 09:44 PM	#15
Franklin J. Flocks Registered Join Date: Feb 2003 Location: Palo Alto, California Posts: 19	More than 7 fish at a time - If some of the fish are swimming in schools, all doing the same thing - maybe it would possible without using using too much CPU power -

03-20-2003, 09:49 PM	#16
Jim Sachs Developer Join Date: Dec 2000 Location: Southern Oregon Posts: 9,816	Again - 3 fish which flock together will count as 1. Jim Sachs Creator of SereneScreen Aquarium

03-20-2003, 11:11 PM	#17
feldon34 Forum Administrator Join Date: Dec 2000 Location: Rock Hill, SC Posts: 10,947	Originally posted by Franklin J. Flocks More than 7 fish at a time - If some of the fish are swimming in schools, all doing the same thing - maybe it would possible without using using too much CPU power - The limit to 7 is an aesthetic, not technical decision. "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

03-20-2003, 11:51 PM	#18
Jim Sachs Developer Join Date: Dec 2000 Location: Southern Oregon Posts: 9,816	Well, it's sort of technical in the sense that there are major programming difficulties in keeping the fish from passing through each other when there are more than 7 (or 5, really). Jim Sachs Creator of SereneScreen Aquarium

03-21-2003, 04:28 AM	#19
Yellow Tang YT Join Date: Jan 2002 Tournaments Won: 1 Location: Germany Posts: 729	Speaking of fish-behavior, i had not hoped to see this feature in 2.0, but i hope to see it in 3.0: Different swimming-behaviors of the fish - the blue powder tang is 'flying' through the water in reality, when it's fast.

03-22-2003, 02:24 AM	#20
feldon34 Forum Administrator Join Date: Dec 2000 Location: Rock Hill, SC Posts: 10,947	Not on this forum, sorry. "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