Development Troubles

SimonFearby · 02-26-2002, 07:47 AM

I understand fully about people bagging Jim's new features in his excellent fishtank product, I am developing a fresh water (not salt water) fishtank and it is painful, busting my gut to make a fish swim better and have people bag it without watching it for more than 30 seconds.

My New Interactive 3D FishTank Simulator (DirectX 8.1) can be viewed at http://www.fearby.com/products/3dfishtank/default.shtml

Screenshots: http://www.fearby.com/products/3dfis...eenshots.shtml

Download: http://www.fearby.com/products/3dfis...aluation.shtml

Jim, I am happy to help with any 'FishCam' DirectX 3D questions you may have..

Simon Fearby
simon@fearby.com

pipeta · 02-26-2002, 08:42 AM

It's a very nice utility. It gives the user alot of control and it seems like we will have more control over things in later versions. It's a good utility to play with for a while but it doesn't achieve what I like in Jim's aquarium. The graphics is good but not as realistic as serenescreen aquarium.
Good work in total. Hope to see more updates.

just some guy · 02-26-2002, 09:42 AM

.

patscarr · 02-26-2002, 10:43 AM

Interesting, very interesting.

Jim Sachs · 02-26-2002, 12:07 PM

The screenshots look great. I can't tie up my computer with a download that big right now, but will grab it when I get the chance.

hpman77 · 02-26-2002, 12:13 PM

looks really interesting
I'll also have an eye on your nice fres water aquarium

SimonFearby · 02-26-2002, 05:43 PM

I love Jim's Fish Tank (only the Plus pack for XP version) and I hope Jim can convert it to full interactive 3D.

The future direction of the freshwater 3DFishTank will be to continue to work on the fish AI and movment code. At the moment the fish have custom Speed, PeripheralVision, Fav Depths and Heights for each fish state etc

All of the fish properties can be modified (at the moment via notepad) to suit your fish or fish species. The fishchase cam can be activated and fly by camera movements etc.

The DirectX 8.1 fish objects are built to be expand upon (e.g the fish will grow by 0.05% each time they eat) and textuers can be modified. Anyway back to development.

All the best with te 3D version Jim

Jim Sachs · 02-26-2002, 05:58 PM

Hi, Simon -

No plans to make mine "interactive 3D". I'll leave that to you.

The 3D background that I'm working on is already the most difficult and time-consuming part of the Aquarium, but there's no way I'd ever finish it in my lifetime if it were full 3D. It's like a Hollywood set -- no backs to the objects. By always knowing where the objects will be viewed from, I can maintain a project which is within my own abilities, keep the polygon count low, and make sure the textures are sharp and clear. The camera will pan back and forth in the 2-screens-wide tank, but there's no way it could go into the scene or change angles.

feldon34 · 02-26-2002, 06:50 PM

I can't get the FTP to download. Can someone put this on a website so I can download it?

I had a very slow video card the first time I tried it a year ago.

hayc59 · 02-26-2002, 09:17 PM

Not Bad But I Am True Blue Sachs Dude!
Its The Only Site I Have In Favorites!!
And its My Home Page.....What A Life Huh!!

SimonFearby · 02-27-2002, 06:27 AM

Sorry here is the http download for the fresh water 3d fishtank

http://download.fearby.com/3dfishtan...-v1.1.0084.exe

Lightfeather · 02-27-2002, 12:56 PM

I love all the shadows and watching how it gets "built" when loading.

I can only run the medium quality one with a degree of success for the high quality ticks by at 3 fps and the low has the fish racing around like someone fueled them with a jet engine.

I can only manage about 23 fps with the medium quality however but it looks more real than either of the others.

I really do love the shadows. And you got the flick-flick- flick- er of the fluorescent light down great!

SimonFearby · 03-25-2002, 03:32 AM

Jim> No plans to make mine "interactive 3D". I'll leave that
Jim> to you.
Jim> The 3D background that I'm working on is already the
Jim> most difficult and time-consuming part of the Aquarium,
Jim> but there's no way I'd ever finish it in my lifetime if it
Jim> were full 3D.

Jim, I have been working on a read 3d background and plants and it seems to be the easiest part. Actually creating the fish is the hard part for me.

I would be very interested to hear your comments on how you created your fish? (by managing the verticies manually or via a 3d mesh tool and animating keyframes and controling the animation actions based on the keyframes and the actual fiosh actions?

Anyway I had better get back to work and try and make some freshwater fish.

My Freshwater 3dFishTank Development history http://www.fearby.com/products/3dfis...thistory.shtml

Simon

flipper · 03-25-2002, 09:39 PM

Simon, I've started one of my own just to kill time in class

.

About every fish movement's randomized within min/max parameters. And I'm having success with sine-wave-like vertex displacement, especially for fin edge fluttering. I think it might work for whole body movement too, but I need a larger mesh count for that first.

Have you seen the dolphin DX sample app? If not, that might be worth looking into for rendering those body bending turns Jim's fish have. NVidia has some cool sample apps too that might help out.

02-26-2002, 07:47 AM	#1
SimonFearby Registered Join Date: Feb 2002 Location: Australia Posts: 18	Development Troubles I understand fully about people bagging Jim's new features in his excellent fishtank product, I am developing a fresh water (not salt water) fishtank and it is painful, busting my gut to make a fish swim better and have people bag it without watching it for more than 30 seconds. My New Interactive 3D FishTank Simulator (DirectX 8.1) can be viewed at http://www.fearby.com/products/3dfishtank/default.shtml Screenshots: http://www.fearby.com/products/3dfis...eenshots.shtml Download: http://www.fearby.com/products/3dfis...aluation.shtml Jim, I am happy to help with any 'FishCam' DirectX 3D questions you may have.. Simon Fearby simon@fearby.com

02-26-2002, 09:42 AM	#3
just some guy Banned Join Date: Nov 2001 Location: South Cakalaki Posts: 110	. . Last edited by just some guy; 05-11-2002 at 12:20 PM.

02-26-2002, 10:43 AM	#4
patscarr Pet Shark Join Date: Nov 2001 Location: Back in Buffalo Posts: 5,454	Interesting, very interesting. Patrick

02-26-2002, 12:07 PM	#5
Jim Sachs Developer Join Date: Dec 2000 Location: Southern Oregon Posts: 9,771	The screenshots look great. I can't tie up my computer with a download that big right now, but will grab it when I get the chance. Jim Sachs Creator of SereneScreen Aquarium

02-26-2002, 12:13 PM	#6
hpman77 Blue Angel Join Date: Jan 2001 Location: Santander (Spain) Posts: 285	looks really interesting I'll also have an eye on your nice fres water aquarium .:: AMD Athlon XP 1700+ :: 512MB SDRAM :: Windows XP SP1 :: shappire ATI radeon 9600 PRO :: Soundblaster Live Player 5.1 :: Directx 9.0 :: (Always latest drivers for everything) ::.

02-26-2002, 08:42 AM	#2
pipeta Royal Gramma Join Date: Nov 2001 Location: Israel Posts: 146	It's a very nice utility. It gives the user alot of control and it seems like we will have more control over things in later versions. It's a good utility to play with for a while but it doesn't achieve what I like in Jim's aquarium. The graphics is good but not as realistic as serenescreen aquarium. Good work in total. Hope to see more updates.

02-26-2002, 05:43 PM	#7
SimonFearby Registered Join Date: Feb 2002 Location: Australia Posts: 18	Future Freshwater 3DFishTank Directions I love Jim's Fish Tank (only the Plus pack for XP version) and I hope Jim can convert it to full interactive 3D. The future direction of the freshwater 3DFishTank will be to continue to work on the fish AI and movment code. At the moment the fish have custom Speed, PeripheralVision, Fav Depths and Heights for each fish state etc All of the fish properties can be modified (at the moment via notepad) to suit your fish or fish species. The fishchase cam can be activated and fly by camera movements etc. The DirectX 8.1 fish objects are built to be expand upon (e.g the fish will grow by 0.05% each time they eat) and textuers can be modified. Anyway back to development. All the best with te 3D version Jim

02-26-2002, 05:58 PM	#8
Jim Sachs Developer Join Date: Dec 2000 Location: Southern Oregon Posts: 9,771	Hi, Simon - No plans to make mine "interactive 3D". I'll leave that to you. The 3D background that I'm working on is already the most difficult and time-consuming part of the Aquarium, but there's no way I'd ever finish it in my lifetime if it were full 3D. It's like a Hollywood set -- no backs to the objects. By always knowing where the objects will be viewed from, I can maintain a project which is within my own abilities, keep the polygon count low, and make sure the textures are sharp and clear. The camera will pan back and forth in the 2-screens-wide tank, but there's no way it could go into the scene or change angles. Jim Sachs Creator of SereneScreen Aquarium

02-26-2002, 06:50 PM	#9
feldon34 Forum Administrator Join Date: Dec 2000 Location: Rock Hill, SC Posts: 10,938	I can't get the FTP to download. Can someone put this on a website so I can download it? I had a very slow video card the first time I tried it a year ago. "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

02-26-2002, 09:17 PM	#10
hayc59 VoodØØ Child™ Join Date: Nov 2001 Location: Witness Protection Program Posts: 252	Not Bad But I Am True Blue Sachs Dude! Its The Only Site I Have In Favorites!! And its My Home Page.....What A Life Huh!! ãrê ¥Øu êxpêriêncêÐ 9.11.01 Never Forget God Bless America

02-27-2002, 06:27 AM	#11
SimonFearby Registered Join Date: Feb 2002 Location: Australia Posts: 18	http download for fresh water 3d fish tankl Sorry here is the http download for the fresh water 3d fishtank http://download.fearby.com/3dfishtan...-v1.1.0084.exe

02-27-2002, 12:56 PM	#12
Lightfeather Occupation: Nerd Join Date: Oct 2001 Location: California Posts: 314	I love all the shadows and watching how it gets "built" when loading. I can only run the medium quality one with a degree of success for the high quality ticks by at 3 fps and the low has the fish racing around like someone fueled them with a jet engine. I can only manage about 23 fps with the medium quality however but it looks more real than either of the others. I really do love the shadows. And you got the flick-flick- flick- er of the fluorescent light down great! Experience is what you get when you don't get what you want.

03-25-2002, 03:32 AM	#13
SimonFearby Registered Join Date: Feb 2002 Location: Australia Posts: 18	Development Delays Jim> No plans to make mine "interactive 3D". I'll leave that Jim> to you. Jim> The 3D background that I'm working on is already the Jim> most difficult and time-consuming part of the Aquarium, Jim> but there's no way I'd ever finish it in my lifetime if it Jim> were full 3D. Jim, I have been working on a read 3d background and plants and it seems to be the easiest part. Actually creating the fish is the hard part for me. I would be very interested to hear your comments on how you created your fish? (by managing the verticies manually or via a 3d mesh tool and animating keyframes and controling the animation actions based on the keyframes and the actual fiosh actions? Anyway I had better get back to work and try and make some freshwater fish. My Freshwater 3dFishTank Development history http://www.fearby.com/products/3dfis...thistory.shtml Simon

03-25-2002, 09:39 PM	#14
flipper Registered Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: Texas Posts: 60	Simon, I've started one of my own just to kill time in class . About every fish movement's randomized within min/max parameters. And I'm having success with sine-wave-like vertex displacement, especially for fin edge fluttering. I think it might work for whole body movement too, but I need a larger mesh count for that first. Have you seen the dolphin DX sample app? If not, that might be worth looking into for rendering those body bending turns Jim's fish have. NVidia has some cool sample apps too that might help out.