[Coelacanth]

I'm not following your "four steps" comment, Morgan. It wouldn't be four steps, it would be four choices. The user wouldn't have to go through four steps, just one. Or did you mean you think four gradations would be too much? I would disagree. Sure, in its PRESENT state (and probably near future state), yeah, there won't be four levels of graphic complexity. But I'm thinking beyond that. The aquarium could eventually have myriad choices, some of which may require a lot of graphics power to accomplish (at least when all of the other basic graphic elements are ALSO turned on), so therefore these schemes would come into play.

And I think you mean "less load on the GPU," not CPU. The video card is what we're talking about primarily here.

Yes, more complex geometry (polygons) and more complex texturing are what put a load on a graphics card. But stationary elements aren't going to put nearly the load as animated elements. I believe if the scene never changes, there is no additional calculation to be done to create a new scene. I've tried this in games quite often. Move into a new complex area (such as looking at a 3D castle), and the fps will dip down. Stay stationary, looking at the same castle, and the fps will rise and stay at a steady rate. Moving stuff definitely puts more of a load on the system.