Updates of the aquarium ??

[monty_burns_007]

First of all, i would like to say that it is a shame, the aquarium doesn't get any major updates or fish extension packs or the 3D background. It's been almost 2 years now and nothing has happend after the update with the lionfish. It has become a true commercial product like all other software s..t
I understand you need to devellop more software products to be allowed in software shops etc...
Your opponents come very near, ex. Aquareal is very good, fish movement is excellent, supports active desktop and fish interactivity
They devellop more fishes and other creatures.
But i must also say that the serenescreen aquarium looks more real with his coral and light.
People are so unhappy, that they start making hacks of your fishtank, look after serenescreen .... Toolkit (9mb), where you can make your own version of Jim's Tank
Develloping more creatures isn't that hard, and doesn't take that much time with ex. 3d studio, heck look at the toolkit package, it's complete with illustrated instructions.

Monty

[Jim Sachs]

Where do you get this toolkit?

[feldon34]

The Lionfish was last February.

Things coming in the next couple of months:

-Dual monitor version of the Aquarium
-Marine Aquarium Time
-Graphic fish selection screen for both versions of the Aquarium

Further down the road:

-SereneScreen Freshwater Aquarium

Still further down the road:

-3D background for the Saltwater Aquarium
--the list of things being added here is huge, I think we'll see several evolutions over time

Develloping more creatures isn't that hard, and doesn't take that much time with ex. 3d studio, heck look at the toolkit package, it's complete with illustrated instructions.

We've had lengthy discussions in the past about "making our own fish", etc.

The important thing here is that for the first 2 years, Jim was programming the Aquarium himself from scratch without outside coding. Jim will tell you that he is an artist first, animator second, and programming is somewhere down near the bottom of the list.

It's still funny to hear him say this since every beta version of the Aquarium Jim has been released has been more stable than most ".0" releases from the huge software houses with 15 programmers at their disposal.

Still, this leads to slow going for the programming aspects. Jim announced in March of 2001 that programming responsibilities would be shifting to Prolific so Jim could focus on the artwork. This has taken longer than expected. Also Jim still wants to fully understand all the code that Prolific is producing (an unfortunate situation, in my opinion, but Jim feels it is essential to control the quality of the product).

Over the last 9 months, Prolific has been producing advanced development tools for the SereneScreen product line. Expanding on Jim's convincing but ultimately limited "collision avoidance" and other animation routines (written from an artist/programmer instead of a physicist/programmer perspective), Prolific has spent a long time working on routines just to handle fish movement in a more dynamic way.

Instead of trying to create 20 fish at once, Jim wrote one convincing fish animation engine and one fish model. Then he changed the model and created new textures for each fish. Every time a fin shape significantly changed, he had to hard-code in new behavior for that fin. Each fish presented new challenges. Also each fish was locked into a certain number of vertices (control points). So a fish with a more complex fin structure would require a from-scratch rewrite of the engine to handle that fish.

With the new tools, most of the limitations above have been resolved. Instead of lengthy programming, Jim is able to focus more on the artistic aspects.

The Freshwater Aquarium is being written on this new engine and development platform. Once the Freshwater Aquarium comes out, Jim will return to work on the Saltwater Aquarium. In the mean-time, it has been explained to me that the Saltwater Aquarium has been moved to the new engine/platform and awaits Jim's development efforts.

I share your frustration in what has seemed, to the outside, as a year-long standstill. But I have been assured that there has been a lot of progress, just that none of it is tangible at this time.


Jim, Reichart, correct me if I am wrong on any of this.

[feldon34]

Jim said:

Where do you get this toolkit?

I'd write one but Prolific told me to wait.

[monty_burns_007]

Originally posted by Jim Sachs
Where do you get this toolkit?

Do you know edonkey ?

it's the biggest and best file sharing tool (like kazaa and co)
www.edonkey2000.com for the tool

if edonkey is installed, and you enter the following link in your IE, edonkey will download this file to your PC (9,38 mb)
it includes all tools for wireframe adaptation, textures,...

<a href="ed2k://|file|Sachs SereneScreen Marine Aquarium ScreenSaver V1.12 Editable [Toolkit and Tutorial].zip|9840642|eb2581631b1be9fbdf1269867853762c|">Sa chs SereneScreen Marine Aquarium ScreenSaver V1.12 Editable [Toolkit and Tutorial].zip</a>
Even a child can now make his own fishies in your tank

Monty

[patscarr]

I just tried imesh and winmx and couldnt find this toolkit. Anybody try edonkey yet?

[Sergiales]

Hi everyone,

This is the first time i contribute writing in this forum. I'm a big fan of the Sachs Marine Aquarium. The past chat with Jim was a nice experience.

Well, let's talk about that famous Toolkit...
I got it some time ago using Emule (a p2p application).
I unpacked it, read the instructions, and also tryied it. My oppinion: it is a bit crappy.
The author explains how to change the resources inside the executable file (well, actually the .scr file :-).
So you can change the background (very buggy) and extract the fish textures, replace them and so on...
The author gives you a resource decompiler (well, extractor). It also brings with a simply 3D mesh loader and creator, so you can change (in theory) the fish 3D mesh and its movements.

He also claims to have done a sea turtle, with its 3D mesh, textures, and movement. It is very easy to extract a fish texture, and replace it by another one, or colorize it with photoshop, etc...

I have it, so, if you are interested, i could upload it to some FTP.

I wish you the best kind of luck with your software, because it is awesome! Keep up the good work

[Sergiales]

The zip file is called Sachs_SereneScreen_Marine_Aquarium_ScreenSaver_V1. 12_Editable_[Toolkit_and_Tutorial].zip
Filesize is about 9MB.

These are the file and folder contents of the zip:
Readme_Tutorial.html => the tutorial itself (it brings a serial number for the deluxe versión...)
\Tutorial => Tutorial images
Aquarium_Editable.scr => the main file
\Resource Hacker => a program for extracting/updating resources
\Texture Plugin => a plugin for reading the texture files
\Sample Project => a hacked, retouched version of S.S.
\MeshX => the program i talked of in my previous message.
\Microangelo => an icon editor.

Finally, i attach the tutorial (sorry, no pictures).

I wouldn't mind about that hack. As far as i know, it is useless crap...

[Sergiales]

More info about that "toolkit"...
It seems to be that it is being distributed by eDonkey and eMule p2p applications (which it is the same p2p network). Not Kazaa nor WinMX (I think).

As you already noticed, the author says in his tutorial:
"Serial number restrictions were removed for your convenience. If you don't already own a valid license, just click OK when prompted to use the registration code supplied for a full deluxe license".

That is, when you launch the screensaver, it automatically prompts a deluxe serial number :-(
In other words, that toolkit is a set of pirated applications as Microangelo Editor, MeshX, and of course S.S.
A hacked version of S.S v1.1 (he calls it 1.2). Too bad to be true, i suppose :-(...

Well, folks, that's all.
PD.
My only purpose is to keep you inform about this issue.
Moderators: feel free to delete my messages or attachments if you consider them as "non-wanted info". Bye!

[Jim Sachs]

Thanks for the info, Sergiales. Sounds like Prolific's lawyers will be having some fun.

[feldon34]

There is no Electronic Countermeasure in the PC version of the Aquarium to check for modifications/hacking. So the Aquarium does not fall under the DMCA. So the developers of these tools have nothing to fear, legally. I am angry that they provided ways to change the logo and remove the serial number check.

The Mac version, interestingly, DOES have such an ECM "Phase of Moon Error".

[Sergiales]

One idea could be to compress the SCR main file. There are several compression utilities for Win32 executable files that provide irreversible unpacking. That way, the hackers cannot (at least easily) change the original contents (that is: fish textures, logos, wireframe 3D meshes, an so on...)
In the next version, you could compress the executable, or encrypt the resources (textures, etc...)
It is only an idea...

Best wishes.

[monty_burns_007]

indeed,

Use UPX or some other packer, which can't be reverse engineered, and your software is safe

Monty

[feldon34]

MeshX crashes on my system anyway. heh

[Sergiales]

Another idea is to:
- Check the filesize
- Check the file CRC (cyclic redundant code)

When? when the screensaver starts. That way, it is a bit more difficult to modify the file.

[patscarr]

I just downloaded that toolkit and played around with it for a few hours. It was kind of fun at first to put purple stripes on the lionfish and breasts on the purple tang, but after that I tried to change the background a little and couldnt do a very good job. I have a tremendously new respect for Jims artwork and will stick with the origional.

[drfish]

Wow, that would be exactly the kind of thing I would have gotten and messed with a few years ago, but I'm not interested at all to change anything right now... I wonder why?

[Tiny Turtle]

geek,
It has to be all that Dutch dancing at Tulip Time...

/Tiny Tulip

[Jim Sachs]

The Aquarium is copyrighted. No one may remove the copy protection and distribute it as their own product as long as there is any of my original artwork or code in it.

[Vish]

In a spirit of advertising SS, I posted the following thread in one of the forums I visit very often.
http://www.nano-reef.com/forums/show...&threadid=7543

And see what ppl had to say about it.(10-min download ! !)