Marine Aquarium 3 Rumors and Speculation

[johnblommers]

Originally posted by Jim Sachs:

Ha, ha - I hadn't even thought about that new screen-grab nearly matching up with the previous one.  

So if DVD playback programs disallow screen grabs then I expect there is a capability in Windows to programatically disable screen grabs. That suggests that Jim could simply disable screen grabs in MA3 if he wanted to. He does not want to. That speaks volumes to me.

[Jim Sachs]

Yes, it's easy to disable the PrintScr key. I have no problem with customers using an MA screengrab as wallpaper.

[Leon]

It's looking excellent, Jim. I don't see any pixellation at all.

Now comes the long wait...

[cohiba420]

Hey... maybe you can add some buttons to the interface that control how long the intervals are before the lighting (or whatever else) changes... something like... 1 min, 5 min, 1 day, October (which is an undefined period of time). ;-)


lol. (just teasin')

[feldon34]

Originally posted by johnblommers:

So if DVD playback programs disallow screen grabs then I expect there is a capability in Windows to programatically disable screen grabs. That suggests that Jim could simply disable screen grabs in MA3 if he wanted to. He does not want to. That speaks volumes to me.  

DVD playback software rarely disables screen snapshots intentionally. Instead, they write directly to the frame buffer, bypassing Windows altogether.

PowerDVD has a "screen snapshot" button. You could also theoretically turn off all video hardware acceleration, and then DVDs would play in software mode, which would be very slow and choppy, but you'd be able to take screen grabs any time you want.

[Bob]

Originally posted by Jim Sachs:

Yes, it's easy to disable the PrintScr key. I have no problem with customers using an MA screengrab as wallpaper.  

Jim, I was very surprised to see you write this. I know how strongly you objected to the use of MA as a "living wallpaper" several years ago. And everytime the subject has been brought up as a feature request you have remained firm in not wanting this done.

So what is the difference between using a screen shot of the MA as wallpaper and using MA running as live wallpaper?

Please don't take this message as any kind of attempt to stir up old troubles.

Bob

[Jim Sachs]

A screengrab isn't the program, it's just a static dead picture of the program. MA is a living thing, especially 3.0. My objection was always to using the program itself as a background for a bunch of icons and clutter. I can't even stand to watch TV shows with an NBC logo on the screen. Now they have even more intrusive ads, with little people moving around down in the corner of the screen.

[ESHIREY]

I know just what you mean. I hate that too.

[Marian Nichols]

Ditto on that! In fact that action will draw your attention so much that you will miss what is happening on your program. There should be law.... but that's another thread.

[grape_jellyfish]

The energizer bunny started it all.

[Dabombguyman]

I'm not sure if anyone ever got my question. In the screenshot, even though the quality isn't very good, I can still see that the edges of the fish are still pixelated. I'm am not at all speaking of the background. I'll show you what I mean. In the picture, the enlarged circle on the left has the standard pixel outline, while the circle on the right has an edge that when shrunk down to normal size looks perfectly smooth. The fish have the edge on the left; I was wondering if it was possible for them to have the edge on the right.

[cjmaddy]

Dabombguyman,
Your attached image link doesn't appear to be working. ..... But I would hazard a guess that you are referring to what is commonly referred to as 'jaggies' - If so, does your video card give you the option to apply AA or AF ? (ie. Antialiasing & Anisotropic Filtering). If it does, try settings like these. - It can make a very noticeable difference to what is otherwise unavoidable, without a lot of complications to the programming.

[johnblommers]

Originally posted by Dabombguyman:

I'm not sure if anyone ever got my question. In the screenshot, even though the quality isn't very good, I can still see that the edges of the fish are still pixelated. I'm am not at all speaking of the background. I'll show you what I mean. In the picture, the enlarged circle on the left has the standard pixel outline, while the circle on the right has an edge that when shrunk down to normal size looks perfectly smooth. The fish have the edge on the left; I was wondering if it was possible for them to have the edge on the right.  

You've described the positive effects of anti-aliasing perfectly. The fish are meshes upon which textures are mapped. The edges of the mesh rendered against objects behind them will have the jaggies when no anti-aliasing is applied regardless of the bit map used to texture that mesh. From Jim's notes I gather that he leaves anti-aliasing settings alone, letting the user set them globally outside of the program, using the video card's control panel's advanced settings.

[cjmaddy]

I could have sworn that is what I've just said! .... AND without a quote.

[Jim Sachs]

Yes, if your card does antialiasing, and you can afford the performance reduction, by all means turn it on. I try to keep my development systems fairly low-end, so I see what the average user will see. Turning on FSAA, even at the lowest setting on my nVidia 5200 card reduces the frame rate from an acceptable 42 fps to a jerky 26 fps. I'll turn it on next time I do a screen-grab.

[Patrick Gallagher]

Hello to everyone! I have been lurking on this board for about 2 years and it is time to make myself known. First off, Thank you Jim for this wonderful product. Second, a request. Would Jim or one of the beta testers consider authoring a short laymans explanation of the minimum hardware needed to run MA 3.0 and get all the good stuff. (Yes, I know about two screens :-) I think I have what I need but this Shaders topic seems important and I don't think my card supports it.

Looking forward to ALL your future work Jim.

Patrick in Seattle,

[Jim Sachs]

Another lurker surfaces! Welcome, Patrick.

Shader hardware is not absolutely necessary - if the CPU is fast enough, DirectX can simulate the necessary vertex shaders in software. We're still working on a list of minimum equipment. I've been under a lot of criticism for making the requirements too LOW, instead of too high.

Which card do you have? Maybe one of the testers has some experience with it.

[str8edge]

Jim,
Will MA3 be able to support different resolutions? My display on my laptop is capable of 1280x800, and I also have a LCD HDTV capable of 1440x900 attached to it. Will MA be able to drive both displays at their native resolutions?

Thanks,
David

[Jim Sachs]

That's the plan.

[Dabombguyman]

I did it! Thanks for the help. it was the antialiasing that I needed.