New Version 99H Released - BANDING BUG - Page 2

Jim Sachs · 03-19-2001, 03:17 PM

First, I have found the "speck" bug and fixed it. V.99H (with the fix) has been re-uploaded to the web site.

Second, there is no banding at all on any of my machines. Both the Powder Blue Tang and the Purple Tang actually look smoother than Morgan's Photoshop mock-up. Therefore, this is a driver problem and not a compression problem. Of course, I will still try to find a work-around to eliminate it on those machines which show it, but it's difficult because I can't reproduce the problem here.

03-19-2001, 03:58 PM

Just downloaded the H version again but its still the old version......

Is it called something else? Aquarium99Ha.exe etc etc??

hooters · 03-19-2001, 03:59 PM

the size of ur pics so i can show what i have in fish colour and keep the pic small like urs Feldon? when i try it the pic comes out at a smaller size but doesnt show what i nead; kinda only shows a small portion of the tank where the FPS is located thnx
sorry for the ramble but I'm way past sleap mode , lol

Lostboy · 03-19-2001, 04:07 PM

My impressions with .99H – The new fish look great! I had that spot that everyone’s talking about, but it’s gone now with this new version. Thank you. But one thing I didn’t care for, and maybe I’m alone here, is the new sound. When I listen to it, all I can focus on is that it’s a looping sound, over, and over, and over. Anyone else find this?

feldon34 · 03-19-2001, 04:14 PM

from 0 Lostboy 0
But one thing I didn’t care for, and maybe I’m alone here, is the new sound. When I listen to it, all I can focus on is that it’s a looping sound, over, and over, and over.

Lostboy, that's the length of sound Jim is willing to do without making the Aquarium a larger download. Check out the discussion here:

pub41.ezboard.com/fsachsa...D=66.topic

Puffy · 03-19-2001, 04:14 PM

Got the new 99H (latest ver. without the artifact) an I really like the new fish and expanded sound. However, I get a recurring (every 5 sec.) low freq. bump or pop if you will that was not present in 99G. Has anyone else noticed this? I do not usually keep the volume up high enough to hear it but wanted to listen to the new expanded bubbles and was surprised to hear this LF bump.

Perhaps its just one of the fish passing some methane gas.

Puffy

feldon34 · 03-19-2001, 04:21 PM

from AdEnuff
Just downloaded the H version again but its still the old version......

Jim made the change without putting any indication on the About, Settings, or Windows properties screens. To determine which H you have, you can check the date/time (first H should be about midnight this morning) or look for the bug.

feldon34 · 03-19-2001, 04:33 PM

from Jim Sachs
there is no banding at all on any of my machines. Both the Powder Blue Tang and the Purple Tang actually look smoother than Morgan's Photoshop mock-up. Therefore, this is a driver problem and not a compression problem. Of course, I will still try to find a work-around to eliminate it on those machines which show it, but it's difficult because I can't reproduce the problem here.

Wow, so probably all my fish and background are not nearly as clear and smooth-looking as they could be! And, this means there is a widely reproducable bug that I'd say 50% of us are seeing, based on comments I've received by e-mail and here on the board.

The #1 video card manufacturer out thre now is nVidia and indeed any TnT Riva or GeForce uses their chipset and their drivers. I know I have seen this 'banding' on all 6 versions of the nVidia software I have used (5.72, 6.31, 6.47, 6.50, 7.52beta, and 6.42WHQL).

I have a TnT Riva 1 (Diamond Viper 550) running nVidia Detonator 3 6.47 drivers (not the latest, 6.50 are the latest and majorly buggy on many systems [including mine]). Running Diamond drivers is out of the question due to the extreme instability they introduce to my computer. I am running Windows 2000 SP1 with 96MB of RAM.

Jim, do you have a TnT Riva 1, 2, or GeForce 1 or 2? If so, what drivers are you running? What driver settings?

03-19-2001, 04:34 PM

I have again downloaded the file again from Jim's site.

File is still the old one, has the bug in it.

"Fish.scr" file is 884kb dated 18/3/01 22:49

Is there another place to download the fixed version??

Digital Lungfish · 03-19-2001, 04:41 PM

Sorry about the delay Jim, here's my specs:

P2 450Mhz
192MB Ram
nVidia TNT1
Dual 12MB Voodoo 2's in SLI
Win98
DirectX 8.0a

I'm not sure what the version number is on my drivers, I can't check because I'm currently @ work and I forgot what they are. I do know they are the latest Detonator drivers though.

- DL

feldon34 · 03-19-2001, 04:44 PM

AdEnuff,

Browser Cache problems perhaps. I downloaded the bugfixed one from:

http://www.serenescreen.com/Aquarium99H.exe

It's dated March 19, 2001, 10:41:18 AM and the speck is completely gone for all fish I've tried.

Jim Sachs · 03-19-2001, 04:52 PM

Well, the machine I'm on at the moment has an GeForce 2 MX in it. That last drivers I remember downloading were 6.31, but these may have been overwritten by DX8 when I installed it. My screen settings are 1024x768x16. All settings are at the default position. The only time I can see any banding is when I try setting the Display_Properties/Settings/Advanced/GForce2MX/Additional_Properties/Direct3D_Settings/MoreDirect3D.../Antialising/Force_Antialising (a long way to go to screw up the display).

feldon34 · 03-19-2001, 05:01 PM

TnT Riva 1 and 2 don't have anti-aliasing so that puts us back at square 1.

Ryan tells me that his video 'card' is an Intel 810 chipset (I presume on his motherboard) and he's experiencing the same thing.

Maybe this is motivation for us to get off our duffs and get GeForce 2's

feldon34 · 03-19-2001, 05:03 PM

If anyone would like to chat about this issue, (any important facts/discoveries will be posted here under this forum topic), head to our new chatroom. No registration required, just put in a nickname and hit Connect.

www.feldoncentral.com/Sachs/chat.html

03-19-2001, 05:35 PM

Morgan/Jim

I'm still having problems downloading the new fixed version. I have deleted my temporary fies, history etc. I have used getright and without. I have tried 5 times now and downloads perfectly every time BUT its still the old version of H as below.

"Fish.scr" file is 884kb dated 18/3/01 22:49

Have you got any ideas? Am I downloading from an ftp site? or direct from serenescene?

If it is my cache, what files or directories should I be looking at, coz I cant find it anywhere else?

thanks in advance

Digital Lungfish · 03-19-2001, 05:47 PM

Morgan,

I'm holding off on the GeeFarce 2 until I get a new system to go with it, but I'm tempted, oh how I'm tempted.

Hey Jim,

REALLY nice mods to the Percula Clown, it looks far more realistic than the previous version. The highlight on the face and the color and details around the body really stand out. My complinments to the chef for frying up the old Clown and catching this nice replacement!

- DL

03-19-2001, 05:56 PM

.99H is an amazing upgrade. The speed improvement is absolutely phenominal. At all resolutions, I'm not restricted to my refresh rate (since vsynch is on). At 1280x1024 I'm running at exactly 85fps. At 1600x1200 I'm running at exactly 72fps. 120fps at 800x600, etc. I was lucky to get 50fps at 1600x1200 with .99G.

Here is my wish list:
- option of no duplicate random fish
- 32bit textures/32bit rendering
- ability to choose playback of any wav/mp3 file
- 3d rendered setting instead of flat background
- shadows

asprague · 03-19-2001, 06:02 PM

Ad Enuff,

Go to the URL immediately below for the file you want (aquarium99h.exe):
www.serenescreen.com/Aquarium99H.exe
it will start to download automatically.
The file size is 569,065.
The date of the file will have to be at least March 19, 2001 as the fix to aquarium99h.exe was today. The file size of the "problem" file was 569,030.

A good starting place is:
www.fish-byte.com/
From there, click on NEWS. The rest will be obvious.

Arnold

03-19-2001, 07:03 PM

Hi. Contrary to what I've read here, I'm getting lower framerates. At 1280x1024x16bit (what I normally run it at), in .99G I was getting ~56fps in both normal and wireframe mode, in .99H I'm getting the same in wireframe, but ~42fps in normal mode. The framerate drops in all resolutions too, also, vsync doesn't have any effect (I'm running my monitor at 85Hz). My sys config is:
AMD K6-2/392, 112MHz FSB
192MB RAM
Asus V6600 Deluxe (GeForce256) graphics card, driver version 6.72
SB AWE64 Gold sound card

The only guess I have may be the new expanded sound, though I turn it off, but if that only mutes the sound then it may be using more horsepower? I really dunno, so any suggestions would be helpful. Thanks!

asprague · 03-19-2001, 07:13 PM

My FPS has not changed in normal mode. No info on wired mode. I have the sound turned off.

If my count is correct in 99h vs 99g in terms of fps, we have one higher, one lower, and one no-change. That should make it easy for Jim.

03-19-2001, 03:17 PM	#21
Jim Sachs Developer Join Date: Dec 2000 Location: Southern Oregon Posts: 9,791	Re: Artifact + Banding First, I have found the "speck" bug and fixed it. V.99H (with the fix) has been re-uploaded to the web site. Second, there is no banding at all on any of my machines. Both the Powder Blue Tang and the Purple Tang actually look smoother than Morgan's Photoshop mock-up. Therefore, this is a driver problem and not a compression problem. Of course, I will still try to find a work-around to eliminate it on those machines which show it, but it's difficult because I can't reproduce the problem here. Jim Sachs Creator of SereneScreen Aquarium

03-19-2001, 03:58 PM	#22
Guest Posts: n/a	Fixed version Just downloaded the H version again but its still the old version...... Is it called something else? Aquarium99Ha.exe etc etc??

03-19-2001, 03:59 PM	#23
hooters Percula Clown Join Date: Nov 2001 Location: Ummmmm Posts: 84	how can i resize a pic of my tank to the size of ur pics so i can show what i have in fish colour and keep the pic small like urs Feldon? when i try it the pic comes out at a smaller size but doesnt show what i nead; kinda only shows a small portion of the tank where the FPS is located thnx sorry for the ramble but I'm way past sleap mode , lol ~RELAXATION IS WHAT IT'S ALL ABOUT~

03-19-2001, 04:07 PM	#24
Lostboy SquirrelFish Join Date: Nov 2001 Posts: 206	My Impressions My impressions with .99H – The new fish look great! I had that spot that everyone’s talking about, but it’s gone now with this new version. Thank you. But one thing I didn’t care for, and maybe I’m alone here, is the new sound. When I listen to it, all I can focus on is that it’s a looping sound, over, and over, and over. Anyone else find this?

03-19-2001, 04:14 PM	#25
feldon34 Forum Administrator Join Date: Dec 2000 Location: Rock Hill, SC Posts: 10,939	Re: My Impressions from 0 Lostboy 0 But one thing I didn’t care for, and maybe I’m alone here, is the new sound. When I listen to it, all I can focus on is that it’s a looping sound, over, and over, and over. Lostboy, that's the length of sound Jim is willing to do without making the Aquarium a larger download. Check out the discussion here: pub41.ezboard.com/fsachsa...D=66.topic "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

03-19-2001, 04:14 PM	#26
Puffy Registered Join Date: Nov 2001 Location: Kingwood, Texas Posts: 7	99H Sound Got the new 99H (latest ver. without the artifact) an I really like the new fish and expanded sound. However, I get a recurring (every 5 sec.) low freq. bump or pop if you will that was not present in 99G. Has anyone else noticed this? I do not usually keep the volume up high enough to hear it but wanted to listen to the new expanded bubbles and was surprised to hear this LF bump. Perhaps its just one of the fish passing some methane gas. Puffy Puffy

03-19-2001, 04:21 PM	#27
feldon34 Forum Administrator Join Date: Dec 2000 Location: Rock Hill, SC Posts: 10,939	Re: Artifact + Banding from AdEnuff Just downloaded the H version again but its still the old version...... Jim made the change without putting any indication on the About, Settings, or Windows properties screens. To determine which H you have, you can check the date/time (first H should be about midnight this morning) or look for the bug. "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

03-19-2001, 04:33 PM	#28
feldon34 Forum Administrator Join Date: Dec 2000 Location: Rock Hill, SC Posts: 10,939	Re: Artifact + Banding from Jim Sachs there is no banding at all on any of my machines. Both the Powder Blue Tang and the Purple Tang actually look smoother than Morgan's Photoshop mock-up. Therefore, this is a driver problem and not a compression problem. Of course, I will still try to find a work-around to eliminate it on those machines which show it, but it's difficult because I can't reproduce the problem here. Wow, so probably all my fish and background are not nearly as clear and smooth-looking as they could be! And, this means there is a widely reproducable bug that I'd say 50% of us are seeing, based on comments I've received by e-mail and here on the board. The #1 video card manufacturer out thre now is nVidia and indeed any TnT Riva or GeForce uses their chipset and their drivers. I know I have seen this 'banding' on all 6 versions of the nVidia software I have used (5.72, 6.31, 6.47, 6.50, 7.52beta, and 6.42WHQL). I have a TnT Riva 1 (Diamond Viper 550) running nVidia Detonator 3 6.47 drivers (not the latest, 6.50 are the latest and majorly buggy on many systems [including mine]). Running Diamond drivers is out of the question due to the extreme instability they introduce to my computer. I am running Windows 2000 SP1 with 96MB of RAM. Jim, do you have a TnT Riva 1, 2, or GeForce 1 or 2? If so, what drivers are you running? What driver settings? "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

03-19-2001, 04:34 PM	#29
Guest Posts: n/a	New Fixed version of H.......... I have again downloaded the file again from Jim's site. File is still the old one, has the bug in it. "Fish.scr" file is 884kb dated 18/3/01 22:49 Is there another place to download the fixed version??

03-19-2001, 04:41 PM	#30
Digital Lungfish Obey the toad! Join Date: Jan 2001 Location: San Diego, California Posts: 2,557	Re: New Version 99H Released Sorry about the delay Jim, here's my specs: P2 450Mhz 192MB Ram nVidia TNT1 Dual 12MB Voodoo 2's in SLI Win98 DirectX 8.0a I'm not sure what the version number is on my drivers, I can't check because I'm currently @ work and I forgot what they are. I do know they are the latest Detonator drivers though. - DL Steve www.tron-sector.com - www.badcartridge.com - www.classicgaming.com - www.dinofish.com Today is the tomorrow you were worried about yesterday...

03-19-2001, 04:44 PM	#31
feldon34 Forum Administrator Join Date: Dec 2000 Location: Rock Hill, SC Posts: 10,939	Re: New Fixed version of H.......... AdEnuff, Browser Cache problems perhaps. I downloaded the bugfixed one from: http://www.serenescreen.com/Aquarium99H.exe It's dated March 19, 2001, 10:41:18 AM and the speck is completely gone for all fish I've tried. "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

03-19-2001, 04:52 PM	#32
Jim Sachs Developer Join Date: Dec 2000 Location: Southern Oregon Posts: 9,791	Re: Artifact + Banding Well, the machine I'm on at the moment has an GeForce 2 MX in it. That last drivers I remember downloading were 6.31, but these may have been overwritten by DX8 when I installed it. My screen settings are 1024x768x16. All settings are at the default position. The only time I can see any banding is when I try setting the Display_Properties/Settings/Advanced/GForce2MX/Additional_Properties/Direct3D_Settings/MoreDirect3D.../Antialising/Force_Antialising (a long way to go to screw up the display). Jim Sachs Creator of SereneScreen Aquarium

03-19-2001, 05:01 PM	#33
feldon34 Forum Administrator Join Date: Dec 2000 Location: Rock Hill, SC Posts: 10,939	Re: Artifact + Banding TnT Riva 1 and 2 don't have anti-aliasing so that puts us back at square 1. Ryan tells me that his video 'card' is an Intel 810 chipset (I presume on his motherboard) and he's experiencing the same thing. Maybe this is motivation for us to get off our duffs and get GeForce 2's "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

03-19-2001, 05:03 PM	#34
feldon34 Forum Administrator Join Date: Dec 2000 Location: Rock Hill, SC Posts: 10,939	Re: Artifact + Banding If anyone would like to chat about this issue, (any important facts/discoveries will be posted here under this forum topic), head to our new chatroom. No registration required, just put in a nickname and hit Connect. www.feldoncentral.com/Sachs/chat.html "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

03-19-2001, 05:35 PM	#35
Guest Posts: n/a	Downloading problems....... Morgan/Jim I'm still having problems downloading the new fixed version. I have deleted my temporary fies, history etc. I have used getright and without. I have tried 5 times now and downloads perfectly every time BUT its still the old version of H as below. "Fish.scr" file is 884kb dated 18/3/01 22:49 Have you got any ideas? Am I downloading from an ftp site? or direct from serenescene? If it is my cache, what files or directories should I be looking at, coz I cant find it anywhere else? thanks in advance

03-19-2001, 05:47 PM	#36
Digital Lungfish Obey the toad! Join Date: Jan 2001 Location: San Diego, California Posts: 2,557	Re: Artifact + Banding Morgan, I'm holding off on the GeeFarce 2 until I get a new system to go with it, but I'm tempted, oh how I'm tempted. Hey Jim, REALLY nice mods to the Percula Clown, it looks far more realistic than the previous version. The highlight on the face and the color and details around the body really stand out. My complinments to the chef for frying up the old Clown and catching this nice replacement! - DL Steve www.tron-sector.com - www.badcartridge.com - www.classicgaming.com - www.dinofish.com Today is the tomorrow you were worried about yesterday...

03-19-2001, 05:56 PM	#37
Guest Posts: n/a	.99H nice, wishes for next version .99H is an amazing upgrade. The speed improvement is absolutely phenominal. At all resolutions, I'm not restricted to my refresh rate (since vsynch is on). At 1280x1024 I'm running at exactly 85fps. At 1600x1200 I'm running at exactly 72fps. 120fps at 800x600, etc. I was lucky to get 50fps at 1600x1200 with .99G. Here is my wish list: - option of no duplicate random fish - 32bit textures/32bit rendering - ability to choose playback of any wav/mp3 file - 3d rendered setting instead of flat background - shadows

03-19-2001, 06:02 PM	#38
asprague Regal Angel Join Date: Nov 2001 Posts: 80	Re: Downloading problems....... Ad Enuff, Go to the URL immediately below for the file you want (aquarium99h.exe): www.serenescreen.com/Aquarium99H.exe it will start to download automatically. The file size is 569,065. The date of the file will have to be at least March 19, 2001 as the fix to aquarium99h.exe was today. The file size of the "problem" file was 569,030. A good starting place is: www.fish-byte.com/ From there, click on NEWS. The rest will be obvious. Arnold

03-19-2001, 07:03 PM	#39
Guest Posts: n/a	Re: New Version 99H Released Hi. Contrary to what I've read here, I'm getting lower framerates. At 1280x1024x16bit (what I normally run it at), in .99G I was getting ~56fps in both normal and wireframe mode, in .99H I'm getting the same in wireframe, but ~42fps in normal mode. The framerate drops in all resolutions too, also, vsync doesn't have any effect (I'm running my monitor at 85Hz). My sys config is: AMD K6-2/392, 112MHz FSB 192MB RAM Asus V6600 Deluxe (GeForce256) graphics card, driver version 6.72 SB AWE64 Gold sound card The only guess I have may be the new expanded sound, though I turn it off, but if that only mutes the sound then it may be using more horsepower? I really dunno, so any suggestions would be helpful. Thanks!

03-19-2001, 07:13 PM	#40
asprague Regal Angel Join Date: Nov 2001 Posts: 80	Re: New Version 99H Released My FPS has not changed in normal mode. No info on wired mode. I have the sound turned off. If my count is correct in 99h vs 99g in terms of fps, we have one higher, one lower, and one no-change. That should make it easy for Jim.