Jumpy screen images and gappy bubble sound.

hammerfoot · 03-06-2003, 11:54 AM

I recently downloaded version 1.1 for Mac Power PC 9600 with OS 9.1. Overall the scene is amazing, the best I have seen. However there is a problem. The fish images have a jumpy swimming motion and the bubbles sound have a noticeable gap in the sound. Is this normal? Does registration resolve the problem? Any suggestions or help will be appreciated.

mrtew · 03-06-2003, 07:30 PM

That's a really old computer with a really dated graphics card and processor. I doubt if you will get a better result by registering, but I don't really know. Get a new computer dude! :-]

Michael Babin · 03-07-2003, 02:19 PM

You mentioned the computer you're using, but you didn't mention the video card. In my experience, the video card is the chief determinant in the performance of the aquarium. What sort of FPS are you seeing (press the S key to show this information)?

You will definitely not obtain better performance by registering. The "demo" that you downloaded is actually the full product. Registering gets you a keycode which you can use to unlock the full capabilities of the product (increased number of fish that can be displayed at one time, the starfish, availabilty of the Lionfish). The more items displayed simultaneously (fish, starfish), the slower the performance. If you aren't seeing acceptable performance with the three fish demo, then you won't see any improvement when registered. One of the points of being able to download the application before registering is to allow you to judge its performance on your system before buying.

There are some preference settings you can adjust to try to increase performance. Try turning on "Economize video memory" and turning "Shimmer" off. Also, try turning off the bubbles and the sound. If you have multiple monitors attached, try turning off the multiple monitors setting and display the aquarium on the monitor attached to your most capable video card. Finally, reduce the number of fish displayed to one fish. If you do all of this, you should be able to determine the best possible performance of MA on your system. If the performance is acceptable, start turning on options one at a time to determine their effect on performance for your system.

Also, remember that Mac OS 9 is a cooperative multitasking system, so other applications or system tasks can take time from (and affect the performance of) the aquarium. Try running the aquarium when no other applications are running. If you are running right after system start-up, there are some system tasks (such as File Sharing start-up, if File Sharing is enabled) that can take significant chunks of time, causing the aquarium animation to appear "jumpy".

feldon34 · 03-07-2003, 03:23 PM

It is a crying shame, but all the thousands spent on the Power Mac 4-digit models is pretty much down-the-drain for running these kinds of programs. Apple moved to standards like AGP video cards, etc. after that line.

I initially 'switched to the dark side' after being a Mac nut since 1986 strictly for financial reasons. After dropping major cash for a IIci and then IIfx with 19" monitor (his idea), dad just wouldn't pony up $7k for a Power Mac with video editing.

Lainey · 04-25-2003, 12:20 AM

This might not mean anything, but I was having jumpy fish as well on my G4 with OS9. I solved the problem by picking my fish instead of having them run as random.

Worth a try.

JimO'Connor · 04-25-2003, 08:05 AM

File sharing takes a lot of CPU while it is starting up and it isn't obvious to the user that the machine is busy. On my dual 1Gig G4 (the second processor is nearly useless on OS 9) the animation is very jerky until file sharing is done. The joys of co-operative multi-tasking.

Lainey · 04-25-2003, 10:00 AM

Very odd. I have file sharing turned off. And if that had been the problem, wouldn't the jerkiness be intermitant?

The jerkiness was a constant, and never let up. I didn't see the fish swim smoothly till just yesterday. Changing the fish from random was the only thing that I did differently. Now they're having a grand ol' time swishing about smoothly.

Guess we'll just have to chalk it up to 'That's odd!'

JimO'Connor · 04-25-2003, 04:14 PM

When file sharing is starting up it is banging the hard drive pretty constantly for many minutes (depending on the number of files on your hard drive, etc). It is the only thing which I can reliably tie jerkiness in OS 9 to if nothing else is running.

03-06-2003, 11:54 AM	#1
hammerfoot Registered Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: Huntsville, Alabama Posts: 1	Jumpy screen images and gappy bubble sound. I recently downloaded version 1.1 for Mac Power PC 9600 with OS 9.1. Overall the scene is amazing, the best I have seen. However there is a problem. The fish images have a jumpy swimming motion and the bubbles sound have a noticeable gap in the sound. Is this normal? Does registration resolve the problem? Any suggestions or help will be appreciated.

03-06-2003, 07:30 PM	#2
mrtew Registered Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: michigan Posts: 109	That's a really old computer with a really dated graphics card and processor. I doubt if you will get a better result by registering, but I don't really know. Get a new computer dude! :-] mrtew

03-07-2003, 03:23 PM	#4
feldon34 Forum Administrator Join Date: Dec 2000 Location: Rock Hill, SC Posts: 10,939	It is a crying shame, but all the thousands spent on the Power Mac 4-digit models is pretty much down-the-drain for running these kinds of programs. Apple moved to standards like AGP video cards, etc. after that line. I initially 'switched to the dark side' after being a Mac nut since 1986 strictly for financial reasons. After dropping major cash for a IIci and then IIfx with 19" monitor (his idea), dad just wouldn't pony up $7k for a Power Mac with video editing. "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

04-25-2003, 08:05 AM	#6
JimO'Connor Mac Development Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: Kenai, Alaska Posts: 678	File sharing takes a lot of CPU while it is starting up and it isn't obvious to the user that the machine is busy. On my dual 1Gig G4 (the second processor is nearly useless on OS 9) the animation is very jerky until file sharing is done. The joys of co-operative multi-tasking. Jim O'Connor Order N Development

04-25-2003, 04:14 PM	#8
JimO'Connor Mac Development Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: Kenai, Alaska Posts: 678	When file sharing is starting up it is banging the hard drive pretty constantly for many minutes (depending on the number of files on your hard drive, etc). It is the only thing which I can reliably tie jerkiness in OS 9 to if nothing else is running. Jim O'Connor Order N Development

03-07-2003, 02:19 PM	#3
Michael Babin Mac Development Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: Rowlett, Texas Posts: 199	You mentioned the computer you're using, but you didn't mention the video card. In my experience, the video card is the chief determinant in the performance of the aquarium. What sort of FPS are you seeing (press the S key to show this information)? You will definitely not obtain better performance by registering. The "demo" that you downloaded is actually the full product. Registering gets you a keycode which you can use to unlock the full capabilities of the product (increased number of fish that can be displayed at one time, the starfish, availabilty of the Lionfish). The more items displayed simultaneously (fish, starfish), the slower the performance. If you aren't seeing acceptable performance with the three fish demo, then you won't see any improvement when registered. One of the points of being able to download the application before registering is to allow you to judge its performance on your system before buying. There are some preference settings you can adjust to try to increase performance. Try turning on "Economize video memory" and turning "Shimmer" off. Also, try turning off the bubbles and the sound. If you have multiple monitors attached, try turning off the multiple monitors setting and display the aquarium on the monitor attached to your most capable video card. Finally, reduce the number of fish displayed to one fish. If you do all of this, you should be able to determine the best possible performance of MA on your system. If the performance is acceptable, start turning on options one at a time to determine their effect on performance for your system. Also, remember that Mac OS 9 is a cooperative multitasking system, so other applications or system tasks can take time from (and affect the performance of) the aquarium. Try running the aquarium when no other applications are running. If you are running right after system start-up, there are some system tasks (such as File Sharing start-up, if File Sharing is enabled) that can take significant chunks of time, causing the aquarium animation to appear "jumpy".

04-25-2003, 12:20 AM	#5
Lainey Registered Join Date: Apr 2003 Location: British Columbia Posts: 10	This might not mean anything, but I was having jumpy fish as well on my G4 with OS9. I solved the problem by picking my fish instead of having them run as random. Worth a try.

04-25-2003, 10:00 AM	#7
Lainey Registered Join Date: Apr 2003 Location: British Columbia Posts: 10	Very odd. I have file sharing turned off. And if that had been the problem, wouldn't the jerkiness be intermitant? The jerkiness was a constant, and never let up. I didn't see the fish swim smoothly till just yesterday. Changing the fish from random was the only thing that I did differently. Now they're having a grand ol' time swishing about smoothly. Guess we'll just have to chalk it up to 'That's odd!'