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?

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.

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

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

Thanks for the feedback, everyone.

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. :)

Concur with this. This to me feels unfinished.

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.

Can't afford to wait. We just ran out of peanut butter.

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!

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

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.

I'm with Ralph, Rob, (and others!) - It's not ready yet!

But you appear to have made your mind up! :|

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

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?