* Lionfish Questions *

[Swede]

Jim, I like your lionfish a lot!

The fin movement has the right look, and it gives a true feeling of the fish. If the spikes are rounded or not doesn't really matter. (It's not safe to sit so close to the screen that you notice it anyway. )

I have been around since the early Vic20 and C64 days, and I think it's been a great graphical evolution travel. Meeting this artistic masterpiece tops it all. Even imagination!

I registered today, and I look forward to the day when computerscreens becomes flat as paper and large as a real aquariums.

Wouldn't that be great. A full size Serenescreen! I hope it will be ready in time for my retirement.

[Tiny Turtle]

Yay! Another Swede on the forum. Got any closer geographical info than just "Sweden"?

/Calle

[Swede]

Karlskrona. Southern Sweden. 10 inches snow!

[richard32]

sorry will try and sort it out with them richard

[feldon34]

Richard,

Please stop posting these comments everywhere.

Take this up with Service@serenescreen.com.

[Tiny Turtle]

Lucky you! We're on barmark over here...

OK, people. I know I'm OffTopic. Will keep it down

/Tiny Winter

[peter piscis]

Jim is quite right, the lateral fin movement is much more perceptable and better timed when the new frame limit option is set. If I was bold enough to make a suggestion on something so nearly perfect, it might be to slightly amplify this lateral "wave" motion.

Jim, as an aside, I'm surprised that with my frame rate now restricted to a fraction of the maximal rate, the aquarium CPU usage is still 99% (but, yes, I know it is at lowest priority).

Thanks for a great and artistic job. Sorry to read too many petty negative posts.

[riz]

I don't know why so many people here feel bad for Jim when someone has something negative to say about his screensaver. People are paying for this and have every right to speak their minds, make suggestions etc. Jim certainly doesn't need every third post apologising for someone elses opinion. Jim knows he's created art never before seen on a PC... but everything is subject to criticism especially since this is not a free product. People speaking their minds possibly will aid in future tweaks and enhancements..

With that said, the screensaver has more than met my expectations... it is by far, without a doubt the most beautiful recreation of marine life ever conceived on a PC. I had posted before that I dedicated an entire PC with 17" flatscreen monitor in my entertainment center as a full time marine aquarium (which also doubles as a MP3 juke box of 500+ songs It's on all my waking hours and is a joy to look at. I cannot wait for the 3D background and a few other enhancements but am very content for now. But see, we all have opinions on what we want most out of it and Jim reads and picks from what he agrees with or what he'd like to see out of it himself. Sometimes these come from criticisms as well... for me, 3 issues havent been cleared up and if you've read this far, I'll share them: User selectable automatic lighting... I would love to be able to choose tick marks on the sliders so the auto-lighting would stop at more than the 3 current scenes. The transition between light and dark has a beautiful blue BG and I'd like to be able to have it cycle to that one as well. Also, I wouldn't mind eliminating the darkest silhouette mode as it's my least favorite. My next suggestion is toning down the 100% CPU usage. I'm no programmer so maybe it's not possible to run smoothly at less than 100% but I feel that long term use at 100% CPU usage will not benefit the processor and shorten its life (remembering this PC is a full time aquarium running at 100% full time - not good in the long run) My last suggestion is giving us the ability to select which fish appear from the random list... I'm not a fan of a few of the fish and would like to avoid them with my 2 random slots.

Lastly to Jim, I've read much more than I've posted but I've seen postings from you regarding keeping the interface simple for everyone. This makes sense to me but maybe a hidden option for advanced features would be the way to go. Tweakers, like a lot of us here, would benefit from this and your average Joe wouldn't even need to be bother with it. My bottom line is give us the most customization options you are comfortable with that doesn't degrade your overall vision. Lots of us love to tweak and your program has some room to grow in this area

Great work overall and I'm always looking forward to your next release as it just gets better and better

riz

[Jav400]

riz,

Let me address your statement about criticism.

First off, I don't think anyone here, especially Jim, has any problems with people posting opinions or criticism. Basically that's what the whole forum is about. Everyone here is basically a Beta tester for Jim to a certain extent, to offer ideas and hopes for the future. It just so happens that Jim's work is done so well, that usually there aren't to many things negative to say.

Morgan and I expect and welcome things of this nature. Where we try to draw the line is the difference between "could you be quiet for a moment" and "shut up". I think it's sometimes more of an intent thing. I have been here since day 1 on this forum, and since almost day 1 on the old Ezboard forum we used to use. Some of the others have been here about the same and that's 14+ months for some of us. It's like our family and friends now, and we expect people to be treated that way.

[feldon34]

riz,

Vote for your favorite new Settings panel here:

https://www.feldoncentral.com/forums...=&threadid=349

Although in neither case have I got control over where the lighting stops and starts. I've got an idea of how it could be done. I'd have a master switch at the top "Random Lighting" and then precise controls below.

[riz]

Morgan - I remember that thread from way back when... I loved all the tweaks and I thought the interface was great... If the future interface actually hits that level of customization we are all in for a treat

But now we need a way to stop at the blue background as that didn't exist when you made those prototypes

riz

[peter piscis]

A very, very small detail, but anyone else notice a few black pixels sparkling in and out in front of the lionfish gills? Only appears at some angles. See image below (no spots on the left fish, but arrows pointing to the spots in the middle and right snapshots).


Geforce2 MX, 1280x1024
Athlon 1300

[Jim Sachs]

riz -

Thanks for your very balanced and reasonable post.

Regarding criticism: I've come to think of the Forum members as family, and it's always disheartening when a family member seems ungrateful when you've given up so much trying to make them happy. I don't make any money giving away free updates. There is only one reason I do it: because I promised I would. From a business standpoint, it's ridiculous. The smart thing to do would be to stop all further development on the Aquarium and get on to the next item for sale. But I'm just not built that way, and will continue to improve the Aquarium for years to come.

Most people have no concept of how difficult and time consuming this is for me. Just the movement of the Lionfish took 5 weeks, 16 to 20 hours a day, no days off. If there's another developer willing to do that for the users of a little $20 program, he should probably be locked up. So when I come to the Forum on the very day I release the new version as see a banner title on the topmost thread "Lionfish Dissapointment", I get very discouraged.

Of course I do know that the vast majority of users do appreciate the effort, and that keeps me going. I take user suggestions very seriously, and look at every message in the Wishlist. It's because of user suggestions that this version contains the "Starfish Not Allowed On Glass" button, remembers the location of the starfish, saves settings upon exit, and includes several other new features. When offered in a constructive spirit, as yours are riz, all suggestions are welcome. When the tone leans toward "I'm dissapointed, and don't feel I got my money's worth", it feels like I've been blindsided from within the family.

[bslenter]

I agree with Jim... this should not be such an important topic of discussion. People are getting way too picky in here about little details like how the fins are rendered. Look, 3d rendering has always involved taking shortcuts and performing "tricks" to create believable animation while maintaining a good framerate.

For example, run your favorite 3-D racing game, and take a close look at the trees on the side of the road. They are flat planes. But overall they contribute to a believable environment, unless you sit there and stare at one of them. You want more realistic trees? Then prepare to buy a GeForce10 and drive at 5 fps.

I'm not saying that making 'constructive' comments is a bad thing. But let's not go overboard. And let's not constantly remind Jim of the little compromises that he's had to make to get this incredible screen saver to work. He's well aware of them. He's a perfectionist more than any of us.

If you need to remind yourself just how great this screensaver is, go hunt around the internet, find the next best aquarium screensaver, load it up, and see how long you can tolerate it. You'll be back to Jim's masterpiece in no time.

Personally, I'd rather Jim concentrate on making new creatures than spending the next 6 months perfecting the lionfish. It's pretty awesome already...and would look even better next to a coral shrimp (hint hint).

Just my $0.02

[riz]

Originally posted by Jim Sachs
If there's another developer willing to do that for the users of a little $20 program, he should probably be locked up.

LOL, I hear you Jim and I do know how much time and effort you've put into your masterpiece. I am starting to rethink some of what I said as well... I.E. right now I'm engaged in a conversation with the man behind the program which generally is unheard of. Show me where else can you have direct input, on this level, that can/does affect the features/enhancements of a program. No where, that's where. I think people, including myself, have taken that for granted... Also, I can see how on the day of releasing a new version with a new awesome creature and to get the level of nitpicking that would make my mother cry, would get a little sour to you and the main forum members. I guess it just struck me the wrong way when people kept defending you when you can easily defend yourself... or just have your screensaver do all the talking for you.

Jim, I appreciate your input and hope the screensaver brings you all the wealth, fame and happiness that you deserve.

riz
I had posted this many months ago but if anyone wants to see riz's full time virtual aquarium click here ...oh and my DC is now an Xbox

[Jim Sachs]

Yes, I remember that pic -- nice setup.

[codgio]

Jim,

I had thought your comment about not knowing why you bother was a bit touchy, but that was before I read further down and found out what the topic was originally entitled, and sticky to boot. I can see that with all the effort you put in to have that stuck right in front of you must have been very disheartening.

I was amazed when I first turned on the lionfish. It looks amazing and is easily the best fish so far. Of course there are improvements which can be made to the aquarium, nothing is ever perfect, but for now I'm content to enjoy the new addition t the aquarium for what it is rather than concentrating on what it's not. Especially since I know how commited you are to improving your creation, so I know that it will get even better, but all in good time.

Having said that, I do have my own personal wish list, but they have all been mentioned before, so I'll just wait and see if any of them appear in the future

[Jeroen]

Jim, I just want to let you know that I am very pleased with the update. The Lionfish is just incredible!
Another thing is that I used to have bsod's with the previous version (A winXP/Geforce 2GTS/Serenescreen conflict) which have completely disappeared with 1.1

Me and my three boys of 9, 7 and 3 years old are watching open-mouthed several times a day at this wonderful piece of virtual reality you have created!

Thanks a lot !

Jeroen

[richard32]

jim has answerd my question thanks jim great tank cant wait for the butterfly gaiden screensaver yours richard from england