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Old 10-20-2008, 11:36 AM   #1
Dale
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Marine Aquarium 3 Beta Expired?

In the now-locked thread, Jim said:

"I just uploaded Beta 2. From now on, I will probably name all subsequent versions the same: MA3Beta.zip. That way, the latest version will always be at the same link. When you run the program, the actual Beta number will be on the screen."

Procedural problems:

1. When I try to run MA3, it says "The Beta Test has expired". Now, what version of the Beta was that? I can't tell unless I run the program, and I can't run the program. So, not remembering what Beta I was running on that machine....

2. So, cussing a bit, I download from that link, extract, etc. etc. "The Beta Test has expired".

3. Of course, since what I downloaded was MA3Beta.zip, there's no clue what version it was. So, I go to the extracted MABeta.scr file and look at the properties, and behold - it says it's 1.0.0.1 - so no clue there, either.

Assuming that the Betas will continue to expire, we need SOME clue about what's going on, if the message says that "The Beta Test has expired" and not letting us run the .scr. Either "The Beta 2 Test has expired", or whatever.
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Old 10-20-2008, 11:40 AM   #2
feldon34
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Beta 2 is the current version, and it is expired. There is currently no version you can download which will run, which I agree is a major problem.

I really do appreciate the effort people have put into posting bugs and participating in the Beta so that the final version is bug-free and people feel comfortable with it, knowing that it got the testing it deserved. Thanks!

I've unlocked this topic. By the way there is a similar topic here:
https://www.feldoncentral.com/forums...ead.php?t=4511
"Journalism is printing what someone else does not want printed. Everything else is public relations." - George Orwell
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Old 10-20-2008, 01:10 PM   #3
Dale
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Originally posted by feldon32:
Beta 2 is the current version, and it is expired. There is currently no version you can download which will run, which I agree is a major problem.

I really do appreciate the effort people have put into posting bugs and participating in the Beta so that the final version is bug-free and people feel comfortable with it, knowing that it got the testing it deserved. Thanks!

I've unlocked this topic. By the way there is a similar topic here:
https://www.feldoncentral.com/forums...ead.php?t=4511  
See the following for previous discussions of "Version Control", file identification, etc. etc.

https://www.feldoncentral.com/forums...ead.php?t=3013

https://www.feldoncentral.com/forums...ead.php?t=3440

And other similar threads.
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Old 10-20-2008, 01:14 PM   #4
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Ah yes, I remember those threads.

I do agree with you that there have been problems in the past with not knowing which version is which. If there is a specific bug which is fixed by a new version, then that version should be posted with a note indicating the version number and build number and why it was released.

I think what they're trying to do is stop 4 million people downloading a slightly newer version of the Aquarium unless they are experiencing a specific bug which affects them.

Unless there is some critical bug or you are experiencing some specific bug which is resolved in a newer version of the Aquarium, there is no reason to re-download it. Yet people incessantly re-download the Aquarium frequently, hoping for some new feature or fish, costing a fortune in hosting.

P.S. The Beta downloads are being hosted here on this server.
"Journalism is printing what someone else does not want printed. Everything else is public relations." - George Orwell
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Old 10-20-2008, 01:27 PM   #5
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Beta Expired and now 2.6 wants key re-entered.

Not only is the beta expired but now I have to find my CD to get 2.6 running again. Kinda annoying. Whats up with that? I would like to be able to have 2.6 running without having to insert the CD every time I check out MA3.
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Old 10-27-2008, 03:46 AM   #6
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Hello from sunny (at least today) Belgium.

As last week, the beta 3 has expired today. When can we expect beta 4?

Thanks for all your efforts Jim, the aquarium is awsome.

Christian
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Old 10-27-2008, 04:31 AM   #7
tshooi
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wish come out the full version as fast as possible , always showing expired very boring
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Old 10-27-2008, 06:04 AM   #8
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That is the nature of testing.

So what would you prefer? That a version is released full of problems? Then everyone would complain that Jim should have done a better job of programming.
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Old 10-27-2008, 07:08 AM   #9
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I'm sure we will see beta 4 soon. We have to remember the time difference
"Our greatest natural resource is the minds of our children."

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Old 10-27-2008, 09:06 AM   #10
Jim Sachs
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Beta 4 is up: http://www.fish-byte.com/MA3Beta.zip
Jim Sachs
Creator of SereneScreen Aquarium
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Old 10-27-2008, 01:36 PM   #11
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Awsome!
This saver's a wonderful piece of 3D-art!
Worth waiting for!
Version 4 will last 2 weeks and expires the 10th of November.
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Old 10-28-2008, 06:25 AM   #12
Agile
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Originally posted by Jim Sachs:
Hi,When will we have a full version of the lovely screen saver?.

Regards
David

ps any way to stop the end dates on the beta versions?
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Old 10-28-2008, 08:58 AM   #13
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Other than resetting your time function on your computer, you cannot stop the time out feature.

Everyone please remember that these are Beta versions, they are not supposed to run forever. When Jim feels that enough bugs have been repaired to warrant a full release then you can get one that will run and run and run.
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Old 10-28-2008, 09:26 AM   #14
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Originally posted by Jim Sachs:
Thanks Jim, I was wondering why I got expired on my other one. This one seems to work much better than the beta 3 one.
Peter
Toronto, Canada
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