Feature Request Couple quick questions

Thisdude08 · 10-13-2008, 05:56 AM

Hi all,

The beta seems to be working fine. A few questions...is there anyway to make the top light color black? It shows the fish & colors better (to my eyes) & It could be done with 2.6. Right now I can only get it to dark blue.

Is there a wide-screen mode?

Thanks for your time...it looks great !

Tiny Turtle · 10-13-2008, 06:10 AM

Black,
Nope. Maybe later.

Widescreen? How do you mean? Doesn't it fill your screen? Or do you mean you would like to see a larger part of the tank with black bars above and below? That will most likely be implemeted at a later stage.

Thisdude08 · 10-13-2008, 06:22 AM

Thanks for the quick reply !

Yes, a larger part of the tank is what I meant. Is that possible?

Also, is there any way to not have the scrolling on by default?
I know I can turn it off in settings but it is back on when re-loading the aquarium.

Thanks for your time !

Jim

Jav400 · 10-13-2008, 06:32 AM

No there is no way to turn it off permanantly. Jim doesn't want to be responsible for any monitor problems so it will always default to scroll and the user must turn it off.

As for the color, yes that will be added in later, maybe even to the point where there are unlimited user selectable colors.

As for seeing a larger part of the tank, hit "F" for windowed mode and then drag it to the size you wish.

Thisdude08 · 10-13-2008, 07:05 AM

Thanks for the help. I would like to ask if scrolling can be turned
off by default...I understand trying to avoid monitor burn but perhaps as a registry setting where the average user wouldn't turn it off by accident yet a user that wants it off (most modern monitors will not burn) like myself could do this. It really helps with the screensaver part as I have a view I like & would like to have it load that way.

Also do you think that the clock will be available? (Such as Marine Aquarium 2 + time)

I really appreciate all the hard work here & it shows! There's no better aquarium program than this! Thanks also for putting up with all my questions.

Jim

Jav400 · 10-13-2008, 07:28 AM

No worries that's what I am here for

As for "off by default" that's been asked before awhile back I think, and no that probably won't happen. Jim just can't take the chance of getting calls from people wanting monitors replaced no matter how obscure the chance might be. Better safe than sorry.

The clock will be added at a later date when a few other things are taken care of.

Jim Sachs · 10-13-2008, 11:42 AM

Yeah, what Michael said.

Thisdude08 · 10-14-2008, 04:34 AM

Well then it looks like I won't be able to run the aquarium the way I want to...even though a user could hit the "p" key & pause the scrolling & then burn their monitor. I really do not understand why Jim would be responsible for this at all. Marine 2.6 didn't scroll by default. I still don't see why this feature can't be added to the latest version.

I would think the user agreement would cover anything that the software might do to ones computer (own risk etc) as with all software. Just as the beta version states very plainly.

If someone installs the beta & it crashes their machine is Jim responsible? I don't think so. So anything could happen & thats why I don't understand why scrolling can't bet off by default.

I don't mean to make a big deal of this but to me it's an important feature to have. So I am asking to please understand my reasons & to atleast mull it over. This is great software & not allowing a user to turn off a feature by default no matter what is harsh to those like me who want to do something the software has always been able to do in the past.

So please, could you consider it?

Best regards,

Jim

Jav400 · 10-14-2008, 05:10 AM

I'm sorry you feel that way. It has been considered long before this point and this was the decision that was already made. I fail to see why being safe and having the user press one key is so difficult to take. Sorry

rctneil · 10-14-2008, 05:29 AM

Originally posted by Thisdude08:

Well then it looks like I won't be able to run the aquarium the way I want to...even though a user could hit the "p" key & pause the scrolling & then burn their monitor. I really do not understand why Jim would be responsible for this at all. Marine 2.6 didn't scroll by default. I still don't see why this feature can't be added to the latest version.

I would think the user agreement would cover anything that the software might do to ones computer (own risk etc) as with all software. Just as the beta version states very plainly.

If someone installs the beta & it crashes their machine is Jim responsible? I don't think so. So anything could happen & thats why I don't understand why scrolling can't bet off by default.

I don't mean to make a big deal of this but to me it's an important feature to have. So I am asking to please understand my reasons & to atleast mull it over. This is great software & not allowing a user to turn off a feature by default no matter what is harsh to those like me who want to do something the software has always been able to do in the past.

So please, could you consider it?

Best regards,

Jim

Can't you just run the aqaurium for the first time and press "p" and then every time you run it from then on it will be paused with no scrolling?

Isn;t that exactly what you are after?

Tiny Turtle · 10-14-2008, 05:50 AM

What if there was a specific registry value one could alter (like setting AutoScrolling=1 to AutoScrolling=0) - that would mean any potential damage by burn-in would be the result of the user hacking the program and Jim would be 100% in the clear since it wasn't an official feature?

Jav400 · 10-14-2008, 06:16 AM

I don't think telling people to hack the registry is exactly something we should be advocating, do you?

jleslie · 10-14-2008, 06:34 AM

You could run it with one of the Windows automation tools that could immediately poke a "P" into it (and perhaps a few side arrows to select the viewpoint)? Also I can't see why being able to turn scrolling off is an issue, if people have to explicitly do it then they can't complain if their CRT (people still use these?) gets burned in (LCD burn-in seems much less of a risk and somewhat more fixable). Plus if the lights can be set to cycle, like 2.6, it shouldn't be an issue.
You could look at http://www.autoitscript.com/autoit3/ which might do the job? Or http://www.autohotkey.com/ ?
John

Thisdude08 · 10-14-2008, 06:35 AM

I mentioned that earlier...perhaps a registry hack?

Please don't think I'm angry...I'm not...just trying to reason this out.

1. Today's monitors can not burn-in images no matter how long they are on the screen.

2. If someone has a monitor that will burn, they could still burn by pressing the "p" key. If they do not understand that scrolling off by default could burn their monitor, they would not understand that pressing "p" could also so this is not really helping anyone.

3. If someone has a monitor that can burn, couldn't they burn by using the same wallpaper/icons? Microsoft does not force you to use a screensaver to prevent this. It's the users responsibility. I feel Marine Aquarium should give their users the same benefit of the doubt.

4. We can't have a feature we want because of the actions of a very few? All software writers/companies know users can damage their computer if they do the wrong thing. But they don't cater or withhold features because of it, they explain what to do & not to do & the rest is up to you. No software can be blamed for this including Marine Aquarium.

Yes, I can accomplish the same by pressing "p" everytime the screensaver starts, but I don't feel as though I should have to. I still feel the scroll should be able to be turned off by default.

Jim should by all means do what he feels is best, but I can't help but present my feelings.

Again, I am not mad, unhappy or anything...just trying to get a feature in that should & always has been there.

Thanks for your thoughts & time.

Regards,

Jim

Tiny Turtle · 10-14-2008, 06:38 AM

No - I think there should be an option to have MA3 coming on with scrolling disabled, but since I'm not calling the shots here I was trying to come up with a workaround to make people happy. Maybe the could be a popup warning on the settings screen when you enable this feature?

Jim Sachs · 10-14-2008, 10:00 AM

OK, I'll put in a secret command to stop auto-scrolling.

Derrek · 10-14-2008, 10:07 AM

If you stop the scrolling it could present another problem. If you have 30 fish set and 20 of them are swimming off the screen some may think there is something wrong and want to see the full 30 fish swim in their frame of view.

Jim Sachs · 10-14-2008, 10:08 AM

They'll eventually swim back into view.

jleslie · 10-14-2008, 10:12 AM

Once they school then all 30 could be at the other end ;-)

Jav400 · 10-14-2008, 10:16 AM

Maybe when Jim gets the tap on the tank instituted we can peck on the monitor and run them back the other way.

10-13-2008, 05:56 AM	#1
Thisdude08 Registered Join Date: Jul 2007 Posts: 8	Couple quick questions Hi all, The beta seems to be working fine. A few questions...is there anyway to make the top light color black? It shows the fish & colors better (to my eyes) & It could be done with 2.6. Right now I can only get it to dark blue. Is there a wide-screen mode? Thanks for your time...it looks great !

10-13-2008, 06:10 AM	#2
Tiny Turtle is pleased Join Date: Mar 2001 Location: Stockholm, Sweden Posts: 7,365	Black, Nope. Maybe later. Widescreen? How do you mean? Doesn't it fill your screen? Or do you mean you would like to see a larger part of the tank with black bars above and below? That will most likely be implemeted at a later stage. 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.

10-13-2008, 06:32 AM	#4
Jav400 Administrator Join Date: Dec 2000 Location: Tennessee Posts: 9,725	No there is no way to turn it off permanantly. Jim doesn't want to be responsible for any monitor problems so it will always default to scroll and the user must turn it off. As for the color, yes that will be added in later, maybe even to the point where there are unlimited user selectable colors. As for seeing a larger part of the tank, hit "F" for windowed mode and then drag it to the size you wish. Michael Administrator of Inside:SereneScreen Aquarium Forum, Chatroom, Fan Site & *Gallery* DVD Collection

10-13-2008, 07:28 AM	#6
Jav400 Administrator Join Date: Dec 2000 Location: Tennessee Posts: 9,725	No worries that's what I am here for As for "off by default" that's been asked before awhile back I think, and no that probably won't happen. Jim just can't take the chance of getting calls from people wanting monitors replaced no matter how obscure the chance might be. Better safe than sorry. The clock will be added at a later date when a few other things are taken care of. Michael Administrator of Inside:SereneScreen Aquarium Forum, Chatroom, Fan Site & *Gallery* DVD Collection

10-13-2008, 11:42 AM	#7
Jim Sachs Developer Join Date: Dec 2000 Location: Southern Oregon Posts: 9,771	Yeah, what Michael said. Jim Sachs Creator of SereneScreen Aquarium

10-13-2008, 06:22 AM	#3
Thisdude08 Registered Join Date: Jul 2007 Posts: 8	Thanks for the quick reply ! Yes, a larger part of the tank is what I meant. Is that possible? Also, is there any way to not have the scrolling on by default? I know I can turn it off in settings but it is back on when re-loading the aquarium. Thanks for your time ! Jim

10-13-2008, 07:05 AM	#5
Thisdude08 Registered Join Date: Jul 2007 Posts: 8	Thanks for the help. I would like to ask if scrolling can be turned off by default...I understand trying to avoid monitor burn but perhaps as a registry setting where the average user wouldn't turn it off by accident yet a user that wants it off (most modern monitors will not burn) like myself could do this. It really helps with the screensaver part as I have a view I like & would like to have it load that way. Also do you think that the clock will be available? (Such as Marine Aquarium 2 + time) I really appreciate all the hard work here & it shows! There's no better aquarium program than this! Thanks also for putting up with all my questions. Jim

10-14-2008, 04:34 AM	#8
Thisdude08 Registered Join Date: Jul 2007 Posts: 8	Well then it looks like I won't be able to run the aquarium the way I want to...even though a user could hit the "p" key & pause the scrolling & then burn their monitor. I really do not understand why Jim would be responsible for this at all. Marine 2.6 didn't scroll by default. I still don't see why this feature can't be added to the latest version. I would think the user agreement would cover anything that the software might do to ones computer (own risk etc) as with all software. Just as the beta version states very plainly. If someone installs the beta & it crashes their machine is Jim responsible? I don't think so. So anything could happen & thats why I don't understand why scrolling can't bet off by default. I don't mean to make a big deal of this but to me it's an important feature to have. So I am asking to please understand my reasons & to atleast mull it over. This is great software & not allowing a user to turn off a feature by default no matter what is harsh to those like me who want to do something the software has always been able to do in the past. So please, could you consider it? Best regards, Jim

10-14-2008, 05:10 AM	#9
Jav400 Administrator Join Date: Dec 2000 Location: Tennessee Posts: 9,725	I'm sorry you feel that way. It has been considered long before this point and this was the decision that was already made. I fail to see why being safe and having the user press one key is so difficult to take. Sorry Michael Administrator of Inside:SereneScreen Aquarium Forum, Chatroom, Fan Site & *Gallery* DVD Collection

10-14-2008, 05:29 AM	#10
rctneil Registered Join Date: Jul 2008 Posts: 239	Originally posted by Thisdude08: Well then it looks like I won't be able to run the aquarium the way I want to...even though a user could hit the "p" key & pause the scrolling & then burn their monitor. I really do not understand why Jim would be responsible for this at all. Marine 2.6 didn't scroll by default. I still don't see why this feature can't be added to the latest version. I would think the user agreement would cover anything that the software might do to ones computer (own risk etc) as with all software. Just as the beta version states very plainly. If someone installs the beta & it crashes their machine is Jim responsible? I don't think so. So anything could happen & thats why I don't understand why scrolling can't bet off by default. I don't mean to make a big deal of this but to me it's an important feature to have. So I am asking to please understand my reasons & to atleast mull it over. This is great software & not allowing a user to turn off a feature by default no matter what is harsh to those like me who want to do something the software has always been able to do in the past. So please, could you consider it? Best regards, Jim Can't you just run the aqaurium for the first time and press "p" and then every time you run it from then on it will be paused with no scrolling? Isn;t that exactly what you are after?

10-14-2008, 05:50 AM	#11
Tiny Turtle is pleased Join Date: Mar 2001 Location: Stockholm, Sweden Posts: 7,365	What if there was a specific registry value one could alter (like setting AutoScrolling=1 to AutoScrolling=0) - that would mean any potential damage by burn-in would be the result of the user hacking the program and Jim would be 100% in the clear since it wasn't an official feature? 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.

10-14-2008, 06:16 AM	#12
Jav400 Administrator Join Date: Dec 2000 Location: Tennessee Posts: 9,725	I don't think telling people to hack the registry is exactly something we should be advocating, do you? Michael Administrator of Inside:SereneScreen Aquarium Forum, Chatroom, Fan Site & *Gallery* DVD Collection

10-14-2008, 06:34 AM	#13
jleslie Engineer Join Date: Aug 2002 Location: London, UK Posts: 1,279	You could run it with one of the Windows automation tools that could immediately poke a "P" into it (and perhaps a few side arrows to select the viewpoint)? Also I can't see why being able to turn scrolling off is an issue, if people have to explicitly do it then they can't complain if their CRT (people still use these?) gets burned in (LCD burn-in seems much less of a risk and somewhat more fixable). Plus if the lights can be set to cycle, like 2.6, it shouldn't be an issue. You could look at http://www.autoitscript.com/autoit3/ which might do the job? Or http://www.autohotkey.com/ ? John

10-14-2008, 06:35 AM	#14
Thisdude08 Registered Join Date: Jul 2007 Posts: 8	I mentioned that earlier...perhaps a registry hack? Please don't think I'm angry...I'm not...just trying to reason this out. 1. Today's monitors can not burn-in images no matter how long they are on the screen. 2. If someone has a monitor that will burn, they could still burn by pressing the "p" key. If they do not understand that scrolling off by default could burn their monitor, they would not understand that pressing "p" could also so this is not really helping anyone. 3. If someone has a monitor that can burn, couldn't they burn by using the same wallpaper/icons? Microsoft does not force you to use a screensaver to prevent this. It's the users responsibility. I feel Marine Aquarium should give their users the same benefit of the doubt. 4. We can't have a feature we want because of the actions of a very few? All software writers/companies know users can damage their computer if they do the wrong thing. But they don't cater or withhold features because of it, they explain what to do & not to do & the rest is up to you. No software can be blamed for this including Marine Aquarium. Yes, I can accomplish the same by pressing "p" everytime the screensaver starts, but I don't feel as though I should have to. I still feel the scroll should be able to be turned off by default. Jim should by all means do what he feels is best, but I can't help but present my feelings. Again, I am not mad, unhappy or anything...just trying to get a feature in that should & always has been there. Thanks for your thoughts & time. Regards, Jim

10-14-2008, 06:38 AM	#15
Tiny Turtle is pleased Join Date: Mar 2001 Location: Stockholm, Sweden Posts: 7,365	No - I think there should be an option to have MA3 coming on with scrolling disabled, but since I'm not calling the shots here I was trying to come up with a workaround to make people happy. Maybe the could be a popup warning on the settings screen when you enable this feature? 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.

10-14-2008, 10:00 AM	#16
Jim Sachs Developer Join Date: Dec 2000 Location: Southern Oregon Posts: 9,771	OK, I'll put in a secret command to stop auto-scrolling. Jim Sachs Creator of SereneScreen Aquarium

10-14-2008, 10:07 AM	#17
Derrek Registered Join Date: Nov 2001 Posts: 186	If you stop the scrolling it could present another problem. If you have 30 fish set and 20 of them are swimming off the screen some may think there is something wrong and want to see the full 30 fish swim in their frame of view.

10-14-2008, 10:08 AM	#18
Jim Sachs Developer Join Date: Dec 2000 Location: Southern Oregon Posts: 9,771	They'll eventually swim back into view. Jim Sachs Creator of SereneScreen Aquarium

10-14-2008, 10:12 AM	#19
jleslie Engineer Join Date: Aug 2002 Location: London, UK Posts: 1,279	Once they school then all 30 could be at the other end ;-)

10-14-2008, 10:16 AM	#20
Jav400 Administrator Join Date: Dec 2000 Location: Tennessee Posts: 9,725	Maybe when Jim gets the tap on the tank instituted we can peck on the monitor and run them back the other way. Michael Administrator of Inside:SereneScreen Aquarium Forum, Chatroom, Fan Site & *Gallery* DVD Collection