When the New Marine version will released ?

[Jim Sachs]

Yodelking - No, the Clearfin is nowhere near done.

Ed - Yes, that is a Clearfin, but they vary greatly in appearance.

[ESHIREY]

I see what you mean. I just found this pic and it is different. http://www.alinks.se/uw/Fotogalleri/...n-lionfish.asp I can't wait to see which one you picked out.

[Ad_Enuff]

Originally posted by Jim Sachs:

Lately I have been discussing with Prolific the idea of putting the Freshwater Tank on hold, and returning to the Marine Aquarium for a major update. Encore has been pushing for this for some time now, hoping to have a product to fill the store shelves when CD sales start to flag.  

Jim,

It's nice to finally see my thoughts posted on this forum many moons ago finally being realised.

The idea of continuing with the Fresh Water Tank at the expense of the Marine Tank seemed commercially silly to me.

Although I appreciate programming any 3D application/program can be a nightmare and I realise you have had to go back to basics and learn a new program/language etc but I think this is for the greater good and moving this project on and upward.

I know some talk was made with regards to having more than one product for sale, but as 3D graphics becomes increasingly more realistic with each new generation of 3D card and CPU's, it will be only time that someone else with equally good artistic talent to produce something equal or better than your product.

The next thing I would consider would be porting it to Object Desktop found here http://www.stardock.com/products/aquarium/

It's just another outlet of your product to finance the next generation of Marine Aquarium.

[Jim Sachs]

Thanks for your thoughts on the subject. The current plan is: Two new fish for the Holiday season, then a return to work on the 3D background. Freshwater would be either after that, or after the first Creature Pack.

The desktop thing will never happen while I still breathe.

[Ad_Enuff]

Originally posted by Jim Sachs:

The current plan is: Two new fish for the Holiday season, then a return to work on the 3D background. Freshwater would be either after that, or after the first Creature Pack.  

It's logical to complete one project at a time, and more importantly the most attractive one both visually and from a commercial point of view. After all the Marine Tank is much more brightly coloured than a standard Fresh water tank with its much more muted colours.

Is there a time scale now that ENCORE has had discussions with you?

Also in my other thread I mention having a WIP page with just pictures of whats being done etc?

Originally posted by Jim Sachs:

The desktop thing will never happen while I still breathe.  

I'm not entirely sure why your not prepared to create an animated desktop? This to me fills what your fans/consumers want in the first place. After all you made your screensaver with the option to run it in a window so as to watch it whilst working on the PC. I remember even feldon running SMA this way ages ago. Perhaps feldon could run a poll on how many fans run their SMA that way to see how much demand there is?

The only way to enjoy your screensaver is to not use your PC! Having a desktop screensaver will allow the consumer to enjoy it at anytime rather than wait for 1 min so the screensaver can kick in?

If your not willing to provide this, perhaps Prolific/ENCORE may wish to investigate the possibilities?

I wonder just how much sales Stardock’s Desktop Aquarium receives? And that screensaver isn’t even as good as yours! How much revenue are you missing out on by snubbing it?

[Jim Sachs]

The Marine Tank is more brightly colored, but the Freshwater tank does have its charms. The bubbling treasure chest turned out especially well.

Encore has tried to suggest time scales a few times, but I get such a small percentage of the hard copy revenue that they carry no weight with me. When the programs are done, Encore will probably have the opportunity to carry them, assuming we can come to an agreement on the box (I'm not very happy with the latest 3-in-one box).

Regarding the animated desktop, I doubt that you will find many artists that would approve of their work being covered by clutter and graffiti. It doesn't matter how many sales the Stardock Aquarium receives (I would be very surprised if it were more than 10% that of MA) - this is not a money issue. Do I want the Aquarium to be the only program running? Absolutely. Does George Lucas want you to be watching only Star Wars while you are in his theater? Of course. The Aquarium is not designed to be a screen saver, and I have never referred to it as such. It's an aquarium simulation program with a last-minute add-on feature which allows it to be used as a screen saver. Many people, including some major celebrities, set up entire computer/Plasma display systems just to run the Aquarium full-time.

[johnblommers]

Originally posted by Jim Sachs:

The desktop thing will never happen while I still breathe.  

Jim, you can breath easier now On the Mac we can put any screen saver under the desktop icons and windows using Backlight 2.0 and it works great with Marine Aquarium 2 and Goldfish Aquarium. No extra effort is required on your part! Just another fine example of Macintosh engineering ;-)

- John

[Ad_Enuff]

Jim,

The above MAC desktop does look very cool indeed, this is what most of your fans want to do with your screensaver.

Anyone else think this is a cool way to display SMA?

I'd like to see a poll on this.....feldon?

[Tarkus]

Ad_Enuff: What part of "The desktop thing will never happen while I still breathe" confuses you?

It's Jim's art, and thus, his call. Let it go. It's clearly not going to happen.

[cjmaddy]

I don't think that seeing the very thing Jim has just said he doesn't want to see, - will now allow him to breathe easier!

..... Just another fine example of Macintosh engineering ??? ... I think not!

/Tiny foot in it. ... (Apologies to TT)

ps, ... This has been going on for years. - I'm sure we've all 'Ad_Enuff' of it! ....... We don't need a poll, IMHO.

[Ad_Enuff]

Originally posted by Tarkus:

Ad_Enuff: What part of "The desktop thing will never happen while I still breathe" confuses you?

Tarkus,

It's Jim's art, and thus, his call. Let it go. It's clearly not going to happen.  

The point I'm making is this: Do the purchasers or Jim's SMA want this? Surely if Jim is selling and making money from this, creating another outlet of his screensaver would be good commercially. This money can then be re-invested into SMA for example new programming languages, new hardware etc and personal profit.

The fact that Jim has also admitted that its not a screensaver by design but really a simulation, he admits that one of the nice outcomes of his work was that it created a screensaver.

Most people on here seem to kiss Jim's backside more than help push the project along with helpful comments and ideas whether Jim agrees or not. It's a forum after all.....my views are my own and this is called democracy.

Feldon has made offers of help to push this project along with few others. This is what I want to see on a more regular basis. Criticism isn’t a bad thing. Sometimes you need it in order to move forward, perhaps in a direction you hadn’t thought of before.

The even stranger thing is, is that you haven’t answered my Question: As fan and purchaser of SMA, if you could buy it so you could display SMA as a desktop would you buy it?

That also goes to cjmaddy too!

[Jav400]

This particular question has been raised before. Your opinion is your own, and you are entitled to it, as is Jim. In 5 years I have never seen Jim even remotely say that he will consider this, it is always an adamate no for a response. Since it is his creation, that is his right, no matter if you agree with it or not. That has nothing to do with "pushing the project along", or "kissing anyones backside". It has to do with having enough sense to "not beat a dead horse." ( My appologies to Cliff. ) Learn to take no for an answer.

[Ad_Enuff]

Jav400,

My advice to Jim would be, "never say never"....

[drfish]

It's just a matter of principle, simple as that, I'm sure there are things all of us would never do, Jim has his list just like the rest of us and what you're asking for is one of them.

[Ad_Enuff]

Originally posted by drfish:

It's just a matter of principle  

DrFish,

What do you mean by this statement? It's hardly a moral dilemma! I'm not asking him to do something illegal!

By porting it to Object Desktop, it will give him another commercial outlet, the fans get another version in which they can enjoy..... seems to me a win win situation.

It also funds the next generation of SMA.

So what your saying is as a purchaser and fan you dont want a new version of SMA and Jim not to be able to profit from this?

Eh? Is this some weird alternate universe or something?

[celine]

Hey~~I do love "Object Desktop" and fan of Stardock Corp(windowblinds,icon pacakage...). But if Jim don't want that,we respect his decision.

[drfish]

Originally posted by Ad_Enuff:

...It's hardly a moral dilemma! I'm not asking him to do something illegal!  

It doesn't have to be, principles aren't necessarily based on morality...

BTW, no one here is disagreeing with what you're saying (we're not idiots), yes an extra feature might be nice (personally I wouldn't use it though, I never see my desktop when I'm using my computer), yes it would allow another marketing angle and probably sell more copies, we agree with that, but we've had this talk dozens of times before and all that stuff doesn't even make it into the equation, there's no price placed on it, it's just not going to happen. It's a matter of principle. We respect Jim's decision and support it, that's all that's going on here.

[cjmaddy]

Originally posted by Ad_Enuff:

That also goes to cjmaddy too!  

Anyone who has been on this forum from the start, and I see that Ad_Enuff has been on for as long as I have, - should know that kissing Jim's backside, (or anyone else's), is not my style! - I will lavish praise where it is due, but I will also let it be known when I think others are wrong! - (Ask Morgan and Michael ! )

Jim's opinion has been made abundantly clear on many occasions, therefore, to post a picture illustrating exactly what he doesn't want to see, is surely ill advised at best! - As Michael has said, this subject should now be put to bed, particularly by anyone who has been posting since 2001.

To answer your Question: "As fan and purchaser of SMA, if you could buy it so you could display SMA as a desktop would you buy it?"

My answer is NO, - I don't like active desk top in any form, it has always caused conflicts on the few occasions I have tried it. - Also, take a look at that screen shot that has just been posted, ..... it looks dreadful.

[Ad_Enuff]

Originally posted by cjmaddy:

Anyone who has been on this forum from the start, and I see that Ad_Enuff has been on for as long as I have, - should know that kissing Jim's backside, (or anyone else's), is not my style!  

LOL! Strange, I actually mean't answering my question of whether you'd buy Object Deskop SMA!

The fact you thought I was making a dig at you and peoples backside kissing ways, only makes my point even more the funnier….

[feldon34]

Jim did not design the Aquarium to be the most realistic 3D aquarium simulation just so it can be used as a backdrop to have rows of icons and windows floating on top of it.

Jim does not make all of his decisions based on what will make the most money. If you can't accept that, then I don't know what to tell you. Jim is an artist, as anyone who has met him or looked at the amount of time, detail, and perfection he puts into his artwork can tell you. The Aquarium is not nor was it ever a get rich quick scheme.