Home Register Arcade Gallery Chatroom Members Search Today's Posts Mark Forums Read Log In
Go Back   Inside: SereneScreen Fan Forum > SereneScreen Products > Marine Aquarium 3 for Windows
Notices

Reply
 
Thread Tools
Old 12-09-2008, 07:32 PM   #1
Jim Sachs
Developer
 
Jim Sachs's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2000

Location: Southern Oregon
Posts: 9,767
Question Ready to Release?

Prolific (and I) are anxious to get a version out to the public as 3.0. Are there still Beta issues that the average user just wouldn't be able to handle?
Jim Sachs
Creator of SereneScreen Aquarium
Jim Sachs is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 12-09-2008, 07:42 PM   #2
Jav400
Administrator
 
Jav400's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2000
22 Highscores

Location: Tennessee
Posts: 9,725
For the most part I think an average person could handle things ok. I'm not sure about anything to do with multi-monitor though. Since I don't run them, I'm kind of out of the standing in that area without practical experience.
Jav400 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 12-09-2008, 08:02 PM   #3
feldon34
Forum Administrator
 
feldon34's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2000

Location: Rock Hill, SC
Posts: 10,937
I went through and flagged all the threads with the appropriate flags. The only one I see marked Bug:Unconfirmed is:

https://www.feldoncentral.com/forums...ead.php?t=4639
"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
feldon34 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 12-09-2008, 08:13 PM   #4
feldon34
Forum Administrator
 
feldon34's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2000

Location: Rock Hill, SC
Posts: 10,937
I guess my biggest question is, are you going to release with the Crystal as it is now, with no Clock or Calendar and with no official means of importing logos.

I would think putting in a file picker for a PNG file and then it just writes the location of the file to your registry would be a good interim solution. It would mean the Aquarium officially supports 1 logo.
"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
feldon34 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 12-09-2008, 08:25 PM   #5
Bob
Registered
 
Join Date: Jan 2002

Location: Florida
Posts: 103
Still suffering with the jump/blink problem as the title bar appears and dissapears in windowed mode. I would be happier with a title bar always on or always off than the jump/blink.

Is this in the pipeline to be fixed or should I abandon all hope?

Otherwise I'm not having any problems with the beta.

Bob
Bob is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 12-09-2008, 09:01 PM   #6
Ralph
Retired
 
Ralph's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2002
1 Highscore

Location: Edmonton Alberta Ca
Posts: 2,435
As it is.. is probably as ready for release as it will ever be... there is no software out there that does not stumble on at least some percentage of computers.

But.. I do think the public will be disappointed after the initial "wow". Not having.... all those things that you plan to add later... will take some of the shine off the product.

The bar has been raised a lot for aquarium screen savers since 2.6. There is no doubt the 3D background is impressive.. but static corral and random swimming fish are not as impressive as they once were.
Ralph is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 12-09-2008, 09:14 PM   #7
feldon34
Forum Administrator
 
feldon34's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2000

Location: Rock Hill, SC
Posts: 10,937
Originally posted by Bob:
Still suffering with the jump/blink problem as the title bar appears and dissapears in windowed mode. I would be happier with a title bar always on or always off than the jump/blink.

Is this in the pipeline to be fixed or should I abandon all hope?

Otherwise I'm not having any problems with the beta.

Bob  
I was hoping that there would be a 2 second delay from rolling over to the window until the title bar appears as a sort of solution to this issue. I know there are only so many hours in the day.
"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
feldon34 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 12-09-2008, 11:17 PM   #8
Dale
Banned
 
Join Date: Jun 2005

Location: Western Missouri
Posts: 960
I think it needs the clock/calendar (and logo as functional as 2.6, but other than that it can remain supported by the forum only...)

Also, Settings/About (space bar):
1. Make sure everything there works (e.g., Ctrl-R should either work [preferable] or be removed from the description.

2 Add other "user" stuff as appropriate. I'm not sure whether you view up/down arrow as user stuff, or "t", or the other keys that do something but aren't documented.

Finally, and this is "added functionality" if it hasn't been planned already - there needs to be some way for users to know that there's a new version. Either an automatic check for new version, or a button in "about", or whatever.

Other than that, I'd go for "release it".

But: caution - there are PERHAPS some things that are planned, that could be disruptive in a NON-beta (for instance, when the fish become much improved, and you roll it out to the world as an update to the production version, and suddenly 35% of the users get crashes.....).

I don't know what's on the "planned" list, or what the risk-quotient of those things are, so I can't evaluate that. Your call.

Hope that helps.
Dale is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 12-09-2008, 11:40 PM   #9
Jim Sachs
Developer
 
Jim Sachs's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2000

Location: Southern Oregon
Posts: 9,767
Thanks for the feedback, everyone.
Jim Sachs
Creator of SereneScreen Aquarium
Jim Sachs is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 12-10-2008, 12:23 AM   #10
ROBinLA
Registered
 
Join Date: Dec 2002

Location: New York City
Posts: 101
I feel I should throw my two cents in and mirror what Ralph said. While I personally love the 3d background...and everyone here in the forum can appreciate the fine detail, artistry, subtleness of the effect and the enormous time and effort you put into it... the world of computer graphics...and screensavers has gotten a lot more sophisticated in the past 8 years and expectations will be raised.

I feel that releasing 3.0 with the same fish as the 2.x feels like half a new product. I personally would wait till the fish were overhauled and movement made more realistic. I have a feeling that people that pay to get 3.0 will quite possibly send in a lot of emails saying they just paid for 'half' an update...it simply doesn't feel 'complete' without those new fish.

Most not active in this forum will not appreciate the time and effort you took to create the 3d background and will simply see a new background and same fish and feel unsatisfied.

This is just my opinion of course and I reserve the right to competely change my mind at any time. It's also free and probably worth half that.
ROBinLA is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 12-10-2008, 12:44 AM   #11
Socrates
Sage
 
Socrates's Avatar
 
Join Date: Apr 2001

Location: West Hills, CA
Posts: 1,529
Originally posted by Bob:
Still suffering with the jump/blink problem as the title bar appears and dissapears in windowed mode. I would be happier with a title bar always on or always off than the jump/blink.

Is this in the pipeline to be fixed or should I abandon all hope?

Otherwise I'm not having any problems with the beta.

Bob  
Concur with this. This to me feels unfinished.
Bat rays? We don't need no stinking bat rays!
Socrates is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 12-10-2008, 12:47 AM   #12
Socrates
Sage
 
Socrates's Avatar
 
Join Date: Apr 2001

Location: West Hills, CA
Posts: 1,529
Originally posted by feldon32:
I was hoping that there would be a 2 second delay from rolling over to the window until the title bar appears as a sort of solution to this issue. I know there are only so many hours in the day.  
The problem is not that it apears for me. The problem for me is that it makes the aquarium jump up and down. Rather than the title bar apearing above the running tank it pushes the tank down. Because of this stuttering effect every time the mouses passes by I do not run it in a window anymore which was my main way of using the 2.x versions.
Bat rays? We don't need no stinking bat rays!
Socrates is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 12-10-2008, 01:26 AM   #13
Jim Sachs
Developer
 
Jim Sachs's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2000

Location: Southern Oregon
Posts: 9,767
Can't afford to wait. We just ran out of peanut butter.
Jim Sachs
Creator of SereneScreen Aquarium
Jim Sachs is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 12-10-2008, 02:41 AM   #14
Mith
Registered
 
Mith's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2008

Posts: 140
Jim... I think most of the major things are fixed (not the seam issue though posted https://www.feldoncentral.com/forums...ead.php?t=4588 <--- here.


I think a general concensus is, you REALLY need to update the fish before you release this. When I first got the program, I was really put off by the motion of the fish after having had Dream Aquarium. If you do ANYTHING else, PLEASE fix the fish movements.

Other than the fish... my "i" version of the beta has worked flawless and I really enjoy it.

(fix the fish... )... lol


Good luck though what ever you decide, I love the aquarium SS!
Mith is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 12-10-2008, 03:07 AM   #15
Jim Sachs
Developer
 
Jim Sachs's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2000

Location: Southern Oregon
Posts: 9,767
Won't survive long enough to fix the fish before first release. But just think of the excitement when I do. Rumors will start - Sachs added the new fish movement! Then it will be confirmed. It will be Christmas all over again. People will stay home from work to download the update. Schools will get out early. Who am I to deprive people of all that fun?
Jim Sachs
Creator of SereneScreen Aquarium
Jim Sachs is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 12-10-2008, 03:28 AM   #16
Mith
Registered
 
Mith's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2008

Posts: 140
Originally posted by Jim Sachs:
Won't survive long enough to fix the fish before first release. But just think of the excitement when I do. Rumors will start - Sachs added the new fish movement! Then it will be confirmed. It will be Christmas all over again. People will stay home from work to download the update. Schools will get out early. Who am I to deprive people of all that fun?  

Ya, and lamb will lay down with the lion.... LOL


Hell, give me your address and I'll send you some penut butter and top roman! LOL
Mith is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 12-10-2008, 05:58 AM   #17
Yodelking
yodeler
 
Yodelking's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2002
1 Highscore

Location: Staffanstorp, Sweden
Posts: 294
I agree with Dale, a "New version" available option is important if you release the V3 now. Otherwise people who pay for it might miss out on when the background moves and the new fish, and so on.
Yodelking - För god att kolsyra!
Yodelking is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 12-10-2008, 07:24 AM   #18
cjmaddy
Registered
 
cjmaddy's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2001

Location: Lancashire, UK
Posts: 7,854
I'm with Ralph, Rob, (and others!) - It's not ready yet!

But you appear to have made your mind up!
cjmaddy is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 12-10-2008, 07:29 AM   #19
rctneil
Registered
 
Join Date: Jul 2008

Posts: 239
Hey,
I agree that the aquarium should have the majority of features from 2.6 and the new fish and behaviors completed. So my opinion of stuff to add before relasing would be:

- New fish and movement/behaviours
- Automatic Lights options
- Crystal full finished with clock, calendar and easy image importing

Updates like 3.1 and 3.2 can add the background movement and creatures.

Thanks

Regards,
Neil
rctneil is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 12-10-2008, 07:40 AM   #20
Jav400
Administrator
 
Jav400's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2000
22 Highscores

Location: Tennessee
Posts: 9,725
I doubt that most of you realize what you are asking for. If Jim did all that before release it wouldn't get released until 2010. He needs to pay his bills and eat too.

I think the main question is - is it stable enough, and working well on most everyone's system's?
Jav400 is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply
Go Back   Inside: SereneScreen Fan Forum > SereneScreen Products > Marine Aquarium 3 for Windows



Thread Tools

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is On


All times are GMT -6. The time now is 11:02 PM.


Powered by vBulletin®
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.