Thanks for the suggestions, Leon. Currently, MA3 has no user interface and all 28 fish are in the tank. I am taking suggestions for the type of interface that would allow a large number of fish to be chosen, as well as multiple copies of each fish. The Beta testers are coming up with some pretty good ideas.

Regarding the new fast PCs and cards -- yes, that is the whole reason for MA3. There will be some sort of minimum-equipment requirement, but it will still include most cards made in the last 5 years, and DirectX 9.

Having more fish on sceen sounds great, but a lot of us don't have high-end video cards. My Mac's VRAM is 32 MBs., and it isn't interchangeable. If it can't handle 28 fish, I REALLY hope you will consider users being able to select the number of fish on screen - if technically practical to design.
Same goes for groups or schools of the same species traveling together - that would look great.

Sure, you'll be able to have any number of fish on the screen up to the max. All I'm saying is that the max will be much higher than it is now.

There will be SOME minimum equipment requirement -- the whole point of MA3 is to take advantage of hardware that has come out since I wrote the original version 8 years ago. For those with lesser equipment, there's always MA2.6.

I'm currently under a lot of fire for making those equipment requirements too LOW, instead of too high. Since you have a Mac, I really have no idea yet whether it will work on your machine. First I have to finish the PC version, then turn it over to Jim O'Connor to do a Mac conversion (if it's even possible).

please don't forget to implement the keyboard shortcuts for all functions in the user interface... I think that I'm not the only one who is really pleased to use or set program functions with the keyboard without any mouse clicking.

Yes, it will have a full compliment of keyboard shortcuts, but not all will be the same as the old program. For example, the left and right-arrow keys, which formerly controlled the background lightis, now scroll the scene left and right.

Is it possible to have a ui where the fish are swimming in single smaller tanks, like in pet shops and such?

Sounds like a lot of work.

I would think so!

Hi All,

I love the friendly and positive nature of this forum - and thanks for the welcome, Marian!

I agree with Memilm - the keyboard feature allows a lot of control over the aquarium. I am constantly playing with it and "trying out" new fish in the tank.

I suppose I am a frustrated marine tank fan. I have always wanted one but I do not think I would be capable of running one without the fish suffering. And we don't want that! Time is also an issue. Maybe when I retire...

One thing that keeps cropping up on the forum is the idea of feeding the fish in the screensaver. You have my vote for that one!

When I was fortunate enough to dive in the Seychelles, I fell in love with the Octopus. They are highly intelligent creatures and able to camouflage themselves and some even mimic other animals like lionfish and sea snakes. Good luck with animating one of those, Jim!

Leon

The octopus is the most difficult creature on the wishlist, and will almost certainly be the last one to be added. I have fairly strong theories about how to do all aspects of it, including camouflage, but putting those theories into practice is another matter.

I was wondering if your making it so that some fish are shy, some are agressive or some just don't care where they are, like give them personalities. And yes I know it would be difficult to do. :erm:

All the fish should have distinctive personalities before everything is said and done. They should generally be acting like their real life counterparts. :)

Yeah - what he said.

What if you could select a personality type for your fish. Instead of programing it into the fish, make it a separate piece of code that just explains how the fish should act and react.

I'm looking forward to the behaviors being roughly equivalent of how the fish behave in real life.

Many books on tropical fish list the general behavior type (agressive, passive, timid, etc.). I'll use these to make the behavior as realistic as possible. There may be a little chasing, but no violence, even among fish that are really not recommended for the same tank.

WOW!!!
This is getting is more & more exciting by the minute! Virtual characteristics... and you don't even have to clean the tank... or may be I missed something in earlier threads...
I remember the once buying a tamochochi for my youngest which was forever 'passing on' because it was not fed & cleaned properly- I became something of an expert in tamachochi parenting!
Chasing sounds good.
Schooling/shoaling sounds good also.
Fish that appear different size by virtue of how near they are to the front of the tank.
Fish that grow or infant fish?
Fascinating just how many factors come potentially in to the equation when you start to develop the concept further. Where does it stop?

"Where does it stop?" ....

Well, I'm fully expecting MA3 to require my desk to need strengthening, in order to support the added weight of the larger tank!

"Fish that appear different size by virtue of how near they are to the front of the tank." -- They have always done this (it's what makes them 3D).

"Fish that grow or infant fish?" -- Probably not, at least in the short term. However, when several of the same type of fish are chosen, they will probably have some size variation.

I was wondering. In 2.6, which I have, the edges are sharp and rectangular like the edges of this smilie :D. Are you going to make it so that the edges are smooth on any screen (like this O)? Because that would make the experience alot easier to look at.

PS: It doesn't look like the fish in the screenshot have shadows. Are they supposed to?