Thanks for the replies, all.
My apologies, I think I facilitated part of the "getting out of control" facet of this thread. Didn't mean to. (Note to self: Never post after a stressful day at work and/or when you're ticked off at another post.)
Anyway, some replies to your comments, in order of their appearance in the thread. I'll just post them all here instead of making separate replies:
Jav400: "No one is suggesting that you not use the forum"
I know. I didn't infer that from anyone's posts. I was the one that questioned the purpose of the wish list if it is not to wish for things -- and of this forum (in part), if it is not to suggest things.
Jav400: "[Jim] has stated on more than one occassion many things that his aquarium will have as options and many things that it will not, and one of those is the ability to overcrowd the tank, irregardless [sic] of the capabilities of your video card. He will set the limit of fish in the tank to an amount that would be healthy and beneficial to the inhabitants."
That's fine. Again, perhaps I did not make that clear in the beginning, but I too do NOT wish for an overcrowded tank or one that is not "beneficial" to the "inhabitants." That was not the purpose for my suggestions. My suggestion was more about adding more animals -- or to break it down to even more basic terms, more "animated things," whatever those may be. There is a wide, wide number of such things that the aquarium currently does NOT animate, such as moving anemones, tentacles moving on the sea apple, nudibranchs, snails, hermit crabs, more choices in lighting (actinic/power compact/halide) and corresponding changes in animations due to different lighting chosen, coral polyps extending sweeper tentacles or expanding and contracting, even possibly Banggai Cardinal fry produced by a mating pair. And some of you have wished for lionfish and possibly even leafy sea dragons in the aquarium. Considering the very high number of polygons most likely required to make these fish look even the least bit realistic, I would say that cards like the GeForce3 should help in that endeavor, right?
Look, I know that a lot of people (especially those in some overseas countries) won't EVER be getting GeForce 3's or similar cards. I might not even get one. But Jim appears to have the skills to be able to push the envelope so that people with these cards can get an amazing aquarium, while people without them would certainly not feel very left out, having a great aquarium also, albeit without possibly being able to choose every high-end option.
Jim: "I am not a programmer. I am an artist who happens to have picked up a little programming ability."
I think you're selling yourself way short, Jim! If you're not a programmer, then I'm not a computer geek.
You have tons of programming skill, as far as I can see.
Just the fact that the screensaver weighs in at only 1MB, yet does what it does, testifies to that fact. And I understand about the overseas folks that don't have CD-ROM drives or Net connections. I admit I didn't really consider them, thinking instead that the program was ONLY available to people with Net connections, as a download.
And why not network up all of your machines and then post revisions onto a share instead of doing the floppy disk "sneakernet" each time!
FishyBusiness: "Most of the people that own computers are not computer-literate. I know this from personal experience. Having someone turn features on and off is quite a hard task. I know this sounds absurd but it is true."
Oh, believe me, FB, I know how true it is. I've worked in technical support for the last dozen years. When you get people that can't understand why none of their computer devices will turn on, and you go up to their desk only to find that sure enough, the surge protector IS plugged in and switched on...but it's plugged into ITSELF, well then you pretty much know where things stand.
But at the same time, by that logic, MS Word is WAAAYYYYY too complicated for these people to ever grasp, and therefore it should never have been developed. And games? Have you seen the array of setup options available in nearly all of today's games? They are mind-boggling. Yet games are what drive more PC sales than anything else.
There is a compromise. Make configuration "schemes" like MODEST SYSTEM, MEDIUM SYSTEM, FAST SYSTEM, and THE WORKS. Put them on big, easy to click, understandable buttons. And include an ADVANCED button which would lead to a screenful of options for the tweak-happy propellerheads.
Feldon23: "As for more creatures in the tank, I'm not sure how this exploded into a huge discussion. Maybe I should put more information out there so this doesn't happen."
Sorry, but why do that? Isn't the purpose of the forum, again, to *encourage* discussion? Sure, some things that are said may be things that other people have already discussed, in different ways, more or less. So what? If things really do get redundant, then point the person to the previous thread (which may be hard to do considering the pathetic search engine of EZBoard...) But I doubt that any of this is really *entirely* repeating things that have already been said. I bet there are at least a *few* new ideas, and new angles to old ideas, present in threads like this one. Just some food for thought.
Feldon23: "We voted for #2 OVERWHELMINGLY."
Cool. That's what I would have voted for, obviously. Sounds like a good choice.
Hooters: "PS if u took it as to u personally and somehow came up with that i was implying ur not gratefull and ur comments are not welcome - then u took it all the wrong way."
Fair enough.
Digital Lungfish: "However, we do get some cases where certain users feel very strongly about their ideas (like yourself) and REALLY want to see them included in the screensaver just because it makes so much sense to them."
I think you misunderstand again. I'm just dreaming, that's all. Imagining what might be done. Do I really care that much one way or another if Jim takes advantage of the GeForce 3 or not? Not really. Heck, I don't even have one yet and not even sure when or if I'll buy one, though I'll probably end up with something along those lines eventually. I ain't losing any sleep over it, that's for sure, and I'm not going to throw any tantrum if none of it comes to pass. I just toss stuff up, and I might argue my point one way or another for a while, but in the end I'm just dreaming, nothing more.
Digital Lungfish: "no need for you to misread my posted comments."
Wasn't misreading them. I knew you probably weren't really saying that. Just making a point about the purpose of the forum, that's all.
Digital Lungish: "I've been working in the game industry for over 10 years now, so I guess that means I've played or worked on a few here and there."
The question wasn't directed to you specifically. Rhetorical.
So anyway, bottom line: I'm just suggesting features I think would be cool. Take them or leave them, I don't really care, despite my long-winded posts (hey, I type *really* fast). I'm just thinking of the myriad possibilities of expanding upon a simulated marine environment using new video technologies, that's all, nothing more.
Cheers,
Coel