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feldon34 · 09-18-2006, 04:41 PM

It's a conundrum to say the least.

.99L was created by Jim Sachs. He was the artist, animator, developer, programmer, publisher, and tech support person.

Starting with 1.0, Prolific Publishing got involved. They did the tech support, the publishing, and started to help with some of the programming.

1.1, 2.0, and 2.6 are all running on a completely rewritten and refactored version of the Aquarium which is more of an engine than a hard-coded Aquarium. Using Jim's engine, it has been possible to create several different screen savers, add new fish, add a calendar/clock, add multi-screen support, etc. all in 1 product.

Prolific Publishing wants to get paid for this effort. As a result, upgrading from the .99 series to 2.0 cost $5.99. For a period of 3 months, many people were able to upgrade to it for free. Recently, 2.6 came out, which at $5.99 is a bit overpriced as an upgrade in my opinion since .99 -> 2.0 was major and 2.0 -> 2.6 gives most users 2 more fish and that's it (for those who care, 2.6 is a single download that gives you the regular, widescreen, dual screen, and clock/calendar features), but I guess they want to maintain the same pricing structure.

So the conundrum. Jim said that "regular fish" would always be free. Jim said that the 3D background would be free. So far, it has not been possible (nor do I think we'll ever see) to get .99K with the extra fish bolted on to it. You are getting the fish for free, in essence, but paying for all the other features. 2.0 was a substantial improvement in the Settings panel, no longer overheating people's CPUs and video cards, etc.

I think $20 + $5.99 is reasonable for 6 years of enjoyment. I'm guessing that 3.0 will be another $5.99. I really hope it isn't, but past history has been pretty clear. Prolific has to take Jim's development efforts and redevelop and refactor them to work on the 2.6 codebase. Some people might not want to pay another $5.99 for what will probably be the most incredible looking Marine Aquarium simulation. Those folks can vote with their wallet.

09-18-2006, 04:41 PM	#2
feldon34 Forum Administrator Join Date: Dec 2000 Location: Rock Hill, SC Posts: 10,938	It's a conundrum to say the least. .99L was created by Jim Sachs. He was the artist, animator, developer, programmer, publisher, and tech support person. Starting with 1.0, Prolific Publishing got involved. They did the tech support, the publishing, and started to help with some of the programming. 1.1, 2.0, and 2.6 are all running on a completely rewritten and refactored version of the Aquarium which is more of an engine than a hard-coded Aquarium. Using Jim's engine, it has been possible to create several different screen savers, add new fish, add a calendar/clock, add multi-screen support, etc. all in 1 product. Prolific Publishing wants to get paid for this effort. As a result, upgrading from the .99 series to 2.0 cost $5.99. For a period of 3 months, many people were able to upgrade to it for free. Recently, 2.6 came out, which at $5.99 is a bit overpriced as an upgrade in my opinion since .99 -> 2.0 was major and 2.0 -> 2.6 gives most users 2 more fish and that's it (for those who care, 2.6 is a single download that gives you the regular, widescreen, dual screen, and clock/calendar features), but I guess they want to maintain the same pricing structure. So the conundrum. Jim said that "regular fish" would always be free. Jim said that the 3D background would be free. So far, it has not been possible (nor do I think we'll ever see) to get .99K with the extra fish bolted on to it. You are getting the fish for free, in essence, but paying for all the other features. 2.0 was a substantial improvement in the Settings panel, no longer overheating people's CPUs and video cards, etc. I think $20 + $5.99 is reasonable for 6 years of enjoyment. I'm guessing that 3.0 will be another $5.99. I really hope it isn't, but past history has been pretty clear. Prolific has to take Jim's development efforts and redevelop and refactor them to work on the 2.6 codebase. Some people might not want to pay another $5.99 for what will probably be the most incredible looking Marine Aquarium simulation. Those folks can vote with their wallet. "Journalism is printing what someone else does not want printed. Everything else is public relations." - George Orwell "If voting changed anything, they'd make it illegal." - Emma Goldman