Randomize fishes please!!

Mac · 08-22-2002, 07:47 AM

Dear Mr. Sachs/ALL

I am not sure if this has been mentioned before...,
but dont you think it would be nice if the type of fish change at random at a predefineable time interval rather than having to keep pressing the spacebar to have the type of fish change?!

Thanks a lot.

Mac

BTW, this is great site with great folks about a great program

PS. Waiting anxiously for the3D background.

Tiny Turtle · 08-23-2002, 06:00 AM

This has been up a few times before. The main reasons it has been rejected previously was:
1. Not to realistic a tank where fish dis- and reappear.
2. Technically it's difficult to destroy 3D objects. – As I understand it (but I could be wrong) all the fish models has to be loaded into the memory at startup even though they wouldn't be shown until later and this would raise the minimum system requirements – and that's not a too popular thing...

Try out the search function on the forum (I think "destroy" would be a good search term as it (naturally) hasn't been used in too many topics).

/TT

IXNAY · 08-23-2002, 09:27 AM

I like it the way it is, please don't change it...

Tiny Turtle · 08-23-2002, 09:52 AM

I'm sure Mac was thinking of an checkbox for this feature, – just like the other under "Misc" on the settings screen

Tiny Toggle

ewald · 08-30-2002, 10:19 AM

...please include this feature as an option - so everyone can decide for him/herself if he/she wants it...

every other aquarium has this feature (but I want to use this one)

regards,
Ewald

IXNAY · 09-02-2002, 10:45 AM

OK that would be a fine solution

Tiny Turtle · 09-02-2002, 02:45 PM

Um, I thought #2 in my first post was clear enough...

Anyways, perhaps a "Restart the SSA every n minutes" option would be a possible way to circumvent the problem. – Jim, what do you think?

/Tiny Restart

flipper · 09-03-2002, 05:58 PM

TT, actually its not all that technically difficult to randomize models at runtime w/o pre-loading. you see it all the time these days in games. i even have my aquarium app doing this and im pretty much of a hack programmer

feldon34 · 09-03-2002, 07:36 PM

The Aquarium is written in DirectX 6.

Jim had a joy of a time trying to load and unload fish models on the fly. It did not work on all the cards he wanted to support. So instead, he has to destroy and rebuild the 3D world every time you select different fish or the RANDOM setting comes into play.

There is a short, but discernable delay after you exit from the Settings panel. During the delay, the Aquarium is doing as I describe.

flipper · 09-04-2002, 08:02 PM

ugh, i didnt know about the dx6 use. i guess dx7 (what im using) has cleaner/better model creation/deletion support then.

Jim Sachs · 09-04-2002, 08:48 PM

I've stayed out of this discussion because, though it is technically possible to change fish on the fly, I just can't work up enough interest to bump anything else off the to-do list. One species changing into another is something you rarely see in a real tank.

feldon34 · 09-04-2002, 09:06 PM

Well, it could be argued that we're watching just a portion of the tank. All 21 fish are a huge tank and we're watching just one corner of it, so the possibility that we'd see different species swim on and off-screen would not then be so far-fetched.

flipper · 09-05-2002, 03:20 AM

it is alot of work coding-wise to get the unloading/loading to work w/o impacting the framerate. im finding the realism side harder work though. even keeping track of all fish separately (so you dont swap one position/orientation for another) there are all sorts of other things which keep coming up which ruins the realism (at least for me).

08-22-2002, 07:47 AM	#1
Mac Registered Join Date: Feb 2002 Location: Singapore Posts: 6	Randomize fishes please!! Dear Mr. Sachs/ALL I am not sure if this has been mentioned before..., but dont you think it would be nice if the type of fish change at random at a predefineable time interval rather than having to keep pressing the spacebar to have the type of fish change?! Thanks a lot. Mac BTW, this is great site with great folks about a great program PS. Waiting anxiously for the3D background.

08-23-2002, 09:27 AM	#3
IXNAY Green Frog Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: Germany Posts: 840	I like it the way it is, please don't change it... IXNAY dreaming of the serene terrarium - My Private Homepage -

08-23-2002, 09:52 AM	#4
Tiny Turtle is pleased Join Date: Mar 2001 Location: Stockholm, Sweden Posts: 7,365	I'm sure Mac was thinking of an checkbox for this feature, – just like the other under "Misc" on the settings screen Tiny Toggle 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.

09-02-2002, 10:45 AM	#6
IXNAY Green Frog Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: Germany Posts: 840	OK that would be a fine solution IXNAY dreaming of the serene terrarium - My Private Homepage -

09-02-2002, 02:45 PM	#7
Tiny Turtle is pleased Join Date: Mar 2001 Location: Stockholm, Sweden Posts: 7,365	Um, I thought #2 in my first post was clear enough... Anyways, perhaps a "Restart the SSA every n minutes" option would be a possible way to circumvent the problem. – Jim, what do you think? /Tiny Restart 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.

08-23-2002, 06:00 AM	#2
Tiny Turtle is pleased Join Date: Mar 2001 Location: Stockholm, Sweden Posts: 7,365	This has been up a few times before. The main reasons it has been rejected previously was: 1. Not to realistic a tank where fish dis- and reappear. 2. Technically it's difficult to destroy 3D objects. – As I understand it (but I could be wrong) all the fish models has to be loaded into the memory at startup even though they wouldn't be shown until later and this would raise the minimum system requirements – and that's not a too popular thing... Try out the search function on the forum (I think "destroy" would be a good search term as it (naturally) hasn't been used in too many topics). /TT 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.

08-30-2002, 10:19 AM	#5
ewald Registered Join Date: Aug 2002 Posts: 24	...please include this feature as an option - so everyone can decide for him/herself if he/she wants it... every other aquarium has this feature (but I want to use this one) regards, Ewald

09-03-2002, 05:58 PM	#8
flipper Registered Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: Texas Posts: 60	TT, actually its not all that technically difficult to randomize models at runtime w/o pre-loading. you see it all the time these days in games. i even have my aquarium app doing this and im pretty much of a hack programmer

09-03-2002, 07:36 PM	#9
feldon34 Forum Administrator Join Date: Dec 2000 Location: Rock Hill, SC Posts: 10,947	The Aquarium is written in DirectX 6. Jim had a joy of a time trying to load and unload fish models on the fly. It did not work on all the cards he wanted to support. So instead, he has to destroy and rebuild the 3D world every time you select different fish or the RANDOM setting comes into play. There is a short, but discernable delay after you exit from the Settings panel. During the delay, the Aquarium is doing as I describe. "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

09-04-2002, 08:02 PM	#10
flipper Registered Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: Texas Posts: 60	ugh, i didnt know about the dx6 use. i guess dx7 (what im using) has cleaner/better model creation/deletion support then.

09-04-2002, 08:48 PM	#11
Jim Sachs Developer Join Date: Dec 2000 Location: Southern Oregon Posts: 9,816	I've stayed out of this discussion because, though it is technically possible to change fish on the fly, I just can't work up enough interest to bump anything else off the to-do list. One species changing into another is something you rarely see in a real tank. Jim Sachs Creator of SereneScreen Aquarium

09-04-2002, 09:06 PM	#12
feldon34 Forum Administrator Join Date: Dec 2000 Location: Rock Hill, SC Posts: 10,947	Well, it could be argued that we're watching just a portion of the tank. All 21 fish are a huge tank and we're watching just one corner of it, so the possibility that we'd see different species swim on and off-screen would not then be so far-fetched. "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

09-05-2002, 03:20 AM	#13
flipper Registered Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: Texas Posts: 60	it is alot of work coding-wise to get the unloading/loading to work w/o impacting the framerate. im finding the realism side harder work though. even keeping track of all fish separately (so you dont swap one position/orientation for another) there are all sorts of other things which keep coming up which ruins the realism (at least for me).