** Welcome to the Mac Aquarium Forum!** - Page 3

dsanfili · 10-14-2002, 08:12 AM

Originally posted by feldon23
[b]If we had a poll about it, I'm sure we'd see that a very high percentage like the optional automatic lights which dim every 3-5 minutes instead of lights that stay on for 4 or 8 hours straight. Now what would be cool is independant locking lights. I would lock the back light to dark blue.

I _WISH_ they would dim every 3-5 min! On my machine (G4/933), they go through the complete cycle of bright to dim, back to bright in just under 20 seconds (a bit fast for my taste). What would be NICE is a slider to control the dimming speed!

10-15-2002, 09:32 PM

Originally posted by drfish
First post!

edit:
Well, second I guess, this isn't Slashdot...

Anyway, cool, I don't have a Mac but my girlfriend wants one of the new iMacs, if she gets her way, the Aquarium will be the first thing I put on it.

JimO'Connor · 11-07-2002, 12:18 PM

Thanks, Morgan, for running this site. We at Order N Development appreciate it.

Re- light dimming speed - noted. Will try to work something in on this.

feldon34 · 11-07-2002, 12:45 PM

I'd really like to help further if possible, specifically with creating/improving a tech support form for your website.

Your current feedback form is a bit too generic for the kind of information you need from people to diagnose their problems.

E-mail me.

dsanfili · 11-07-2002, 05:09 PM

Originally posted by JimO'Connor

Re- light dimming speed - noted. Will try to work something in on this.

Wow! That would be FANTASTIC!!!

BobL · 01-25-2003, 05:40 PM

Hi all,
Just posting for the first time here, after downloading Aquarium for my iBook. What can I say? Fantastic screensaver!!!

I first saw this on new XP machines and thought I want that.
Now I have got it and I just sit here watching the fish!!

This is so real it takes me back to my holidays snorkelling around the reefs in The Maldives. At least I won't come face to face with a Reef Shark this time round!!
I swam with a Clown Triggerfish for ages and the only thing missing on this program is the rasping sound as it nibbled at the coral!!!

Thanks Jim!!

Bob

Jav400 · 01-25-2003, 06:07 PM

BobL,

Thanks for the kind comments. I am sure that Jim appreciates them. Stay tuned for more updates, and welcome to the forum.

Arian · 05-17-2003, 12:44 AM

Thanks so much for this fantastic aquarium. My cats haven't seen it yet, but I can hardly wait. I had never seen or heard of this till I read about it at CNet the other day and I bought the full version after about five minutes. No problems whatsoever so far, and I run it a lot at night. Almost like having my old aquarium back. But I haven't gone so far as naming the fish like I did with the real ones.

Jav400 · 05-17-2003, 08:25 AM

Arian,

Welcome to the forums and hope you enjoy your purchase.

07-25-2003, 10:20 PM

Originally posted by JimO'Connor
Thanks, Morgan, for running this site. We at Order N Development appreciate it.

Re- light dimming speed - noted. Will try to work something in on this.

jimw396 · 10-12-2003, 03:43 PM

Thank You! I have been looking for a high quality fish/aquarium screen saver for quite some time. My search is complete. I have the Holy Grail !!
Downloaded the demo, went right back and purchased it.
FANTASTIC artwork and effects.
Looking forward to new critters / enhancements.
Again, thanks for making it available to the Macintosh community.
Best Wishes,
Jim

03-20-2005, 05:50 AM

Hi, I just purchased Marine 2.0 today for my G4 Powerbook running 10.3.7 as was told I could run it as an active desktop. I placed it in the library folder for desktop photos but it will not allow me to access it. Any pearls of wisdom would be greatly appreciated.

Walt

Marian Nichols · 03-20-2005, 06:49 AM

I do not think that it will run as an active desktop screen saver on the Mac, I do know that it isn't on a personal computer .

JimO'Connor · 03-20-2005, 10:04 AM

The Apple Desktop and Screen Saver system preference module will not provide an "Active Desktop" for you. You must run a third part product to get that functionality. I answered that part of your question in your other thread.

Welcome!

KMan · 03-20-2005, 07:34 PM

As Jim noted, the screensaver does not come with that functionality. But go to www.versiontracker.com and you'll turn up a number of free programs that let you turn any screensaver into your desktop. (Search "screensaver desktop" -- no quotes -- to see them.) I use "BackLight" with the aquarium, personally, and think it works quite well. It's a great effect.

Be prepared for a somewhat sluggish system, however, unless you have a dual G5... even my iMac G5 slows down noticeably when it's running... this screensaver hits the CPU pretty hard, and it takes a dual processor machine to run well while the background is on.

JimO'Connor · 03-20-2005, 09:02 PM

KMan,

You need to limit your frame rate to something in the 30 fps range and it shouldn't have a very big effect on your system responsiveness. With the frame rate unlimited the aquarium will consume as many resources as are available.

06-14-2005, 03:56 PM

Originally posted by KMan:

As Jim noted, the screensaver does not come with that functionality. But go to www.versiontracker.com and you'll turn up a number of free programs that let you turn any screensaver into your desktop. (Search "screensaver desktop" -- no quotes -- to see them.) I use "BackLight" with the aquarium, personally, and think it works quite well. It's a great effect.

Be prepared for a somewhat sluggish system, however, unless you have a dual G5... even my iMac G5 slows down noticeably when it's running... this screensaver hits the CPU pretty hard, and it takes a dual processor machine to run well while the background is on.

You don't need a program to do this. Just type the following at a shell prompt (in terminal):
nice +20 /System/Library/Frameworks/ScreenSaver.framework/Resources/
ScreenSaverEngine.app/Contents/MacOS/ScreenSaverEngine -background &

[Note that the above is supposed to be all one line, with no space between "Resources/" and "ScreenSaverEngine.app". I broke it in two to get it to fit.]

Running this with a nice of 20 tells the OS to give this the lowest priority, so it will run as fast as it can without impacting other programs, allways allowing other programs to have priority. This way it won't slow down other programs, but will still operate pretty quickly most of the time.

This assumes that MA2 is your default screen saver. If it isn't, you can use the "-module <module_name>" modifier to the command and specify the MA2 screen saver file as the module_name.

06-14-2005, 04:00 PM

Originally posted by Jim Sachs:

If you look no farther then the number of Macs out there compared with the number of PCs, then a software developer would naturally conclude that it wouldn't be worth it to develop for the Mac. But raw numbers don't always tell the whole story.

Thanks to the extremely faithful port by Jim O'Connor and his team, the Aquarium has been very well-received by the Mac community, and sales are running at about 50% of the PC version.

Jim,
For those of us who bought a boxed version, that includes a CD with the Windows and Mac versions on it, make sure you aren't counting such a sale as a Windows sale. :-)

Thank you for your wonderful contribution to the betterment of my world.

08-28-2005, 03:07 PM

Hi I have a 20in mac G5 and the fish aren't very clear and the aquarium isn't the complete size of the screen can you please help me?

JimO'Connor · 08-28-2005, 08:32 PM

The artwork was created for a 1024x762 display, or slightly wider for the wide screen tank. There is a good bit of scaling up to get it to fit on a 20" display. The scaling makes things a bit fuzzy, or lacking in detail. Is this what you are seeing?

I'll need you to describe the problem more fully to understand what you are describing with the aquarium not being the complete size of the screen.

10-14-2002, 08:12 AM	#41
dsanfili Registered Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Omaha, NE Posts: 22	Automatic lights Originally posted by feldon23 [b]If we had a poll about it, I'm sure we'd see that a very high percentage like the optional automatic lights which dim every 3-5 minutes instead of lights that stay on for 4 or 8 hours straight. Now what would be cool is independant locking lights. I would lock the back light to dark blue. I _WISH_ they would dim every 3-5 min! On my machine (G4/933), they go through the complete cycle of bright to dim, back to bright in just under 20 seconds (a bit fast for my taste). What would be NICE is a slider to control the dimming speed!

10-15-2002, 09:32 PM	#42
Unregistered Guest Posts: n/a	carrasco968 Originally posted by drfish First post! edit: Well, second I guess, this isn't Slashdot... Anyway, cool, I don't have a Mac but my girlfriend wants one of the new iMacs, if she gets her way, the Aquarium will be the first thing I put on it.

11-07-2002, 12:18 PM	#43
JimO'Connor Mac Development Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: Kenai, Alaska Posts: 678	Thanks, Morgan, for running this site. We at Order N Development appreciate it. Re- light dimming speed - noted. Will try to work something in on this. Jim O'Connor Order N Development

11-07-2002, 12:45 PM	#44
feldon34 Forum Administrator Join Date: Dec 2000 Location: Rock Hill, SC Posts: 10,939	I'd really like to help further if possible, specifically with creating/improving a tech support form for your website. Your current feedback form is a bit too generic for the kind of information you need from people to diagnose their problems. E-mail me. "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

11-07-2002, 05:09 PM	#45
dsanfili Registered Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Omaha, NE Posts: 22	light dimming speed Originally posted by JimO'Connor Re- light dimming speed - noted. Will try to work something in on this. Wow! That would be FANTASTIC!!! Last edited by dsanfili; 11-07-2002 at 05:13 PM.

01-25-2003, 05:40 PM	#46
BobL Registered Join Date: Jan 2003 Location: "Silicon Fen", UK Posts: 26	New User Hi all, Just posting for the first time here, after downloading Aquarium for my iBook. What can I say? Fantastic screensaver!!! I first saw this on new XP machines and thought I want that. Now I have got it and I just sit here watching the fish!! This is so real it takes me back to my holidays snorkelling around the reefs in The Maldives. At least I won't come face to face with a Reef Shark this time round!! I swam with a Clown Triggerfish for ages and the only thing missing on this program is the rasping sound as it nibbled at the coral!!! Thanks Jim!! Bob

01-25-2003, 06:07 PM	#47
Jav400 Administrator Join Date: Dec 2000 Location: Tennessee Posts: 9,725	BobL, Thanks for the kind comments. I am sure that Jim appreciates them. Stay tuned for more updates, and welcome to the forum. Michael Administrator of Inside:SereneScreen Aquarium Forum, Chatroom, Fan Site & *Gallery* DVD Collection

05-17-2003, 12:44 AM	#48
Arian Registered Join Date: May 2003 Location: S. California & Missouri Posts: 1	Thanks so much for this fantastic aquarium. My cats haven't seen it yet, but I can hardly wait. I had never seen or heard of this till I read about it at CNet the other day and I bought the full version after about five minutes. No problems whatsoever so far, and I run it a lot at night. Almost like having my old aquarium back. But I haven't gone so far as naming the fish like I did with the real ones.

05-17-2003, 08:25 AM	#49
Jav400 Administrator Join Date: Dec 2000 Location: Tennessee Posts: 9,725	Arian, Welcome to the forums and hope you enjoy your purchase. Michael Administrator of Inside:SereneScreen Aquarium Forum, Chatroom, Fan Site & *Gallery* DVD Collection

07-25-2003, 10:20 PM	#50
aquapark Guest Posts: n/a	Originally posted by JimO'Connor Thanks, Morgan, for running this site. We at Order N Development appreciate it. Re- light dimming speed - noted. Will try to work something in on this.

10-12-2003, 03:43 PM	#51
jimw396 Registered Join Date: Oct 2003 Location: U.S. Virgin Islands Posts: 1	Thank You! I have been looking for a high quality fish/aquarium screen saver for quite some time. My search is complete. I have the Holy Grail !! Downloaded the demo, went right back and purchased it. FANTASTIC artwork and effects. Looking forward to new critters / enhancements. Again, thanks for making it available to the Macintosh community. Best Wishes, Jim "It's a lousy job, but somebody has to live here!"

03-20-2005, 05:50 AM	#52
Bangkok Walt Guest Posts: n/a	Marine 2.0 as an Active Desktop Hi, I just purchased Marine 2.0 today for my G4 Powerbook running 10.3.7 as was told I could run it as an active desktop. I placed it in the library folder for desktop photos but it will not allow me to access it. Any pearls of wisdom would be greatly appreciated. Walt

03-20-2005, 06:49 AM	#53
Marian Nichols ~Author~ Join Date: Apr 2003 Location: Rocky Mount, NC Posts: 7,429	I do not think that it will run as an active desktop screen saver on the Mac, I do know that it isn't on a personal computer . Write paranormal mysteries. Six books so far.

03-20-2005, 10:04 AM	#54
JimO'Connor Mac Development Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: Kenai, Alaska Posts: 678	The Apple Desktop and Screen Saver system preference module will not provide an "Active Desktop" for you. You must run a third part product to get that functionality. I answered that part of your question in your other thread. Welcome! Jim O'Connor Order N Development

03-20-2005, 07:34 PM	#55
KMan Registered Join Date: May 2003 Location: Studio City, CA Posts: 15	As Jim noted, the screensaver does not come with that functionality. But go to www.versiontracker.com and you'll turn up a number of free programs that let you turn any screensaver into your desktop. (Search "screensaver desktop" -- no quotes -- to see them.) I use "BackLight" with the aquarium, personally, and think it works quite well. It's a great effect. Be prepared for a somewhat sluggish system, however, unless you have a dual G5... even my iMac G5 slows down noticeably when it's running... this screensaver hits the CPU pretty hard, and it takes a dual processor machine to run well while the background is on.

03-20-2005, 09:02 PM	#56
JimO'Connor Mac Development Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: Kenai, Alaska Posts: 678	KMan, You need to limit your frame rate to something in the 30 fps range and it shouldn't have a very big effect on your system responsiveness. With the frame rate unlimited the aquarium will consume as many resources as are available. Jim O'Connor Order N Development

06-14-2005, 03:56 PM	#57
Unregistered Guest Posts: n/a	Run MA2 as desktop without any additional program Originally posted by KMan: As Jim noted, the screensaver does not come with that functionality. But go to www.versiontracker.com and you'll turn up a number of free programs that let you turn any screensaver into your desktop. (Search "screensaver desktop" -- no quotes -- to see them.) I use "BackLight" with the aquarium, personally, and think it works quite well. It's a great effect. Be prepared for a somewhat sluggish system, however, unless you have a dual G5... even my iMac G5 slows down noticeably when it's running... this screensaver hits the CPU pretty hard, and it takes a dual processor machine to run well while the background is on. You don't need a program to do this. Just type the following at a shell prompt (in terminal): nice +20 /System/Library/Frameworks/ScreenSaver.framework/Resources/ ScreenSaverEngine.app/Contents/MacOS/ScreenSaverEngine -background & [Note that the above is supposed to be all one line, with no space between "Resources/" and "ScreenSaverEngine.app". I broke it in two to get it to fit.] Running this with a nice of 20 tells the OS to give this the lowest priority, so it will run as fast as it can without impacting other programs, allways allowing other programs to have priority. This way it won't slow down other programs, but will still operate pretty quickly most of the time. This assumes that MA2 is your default screen saver. If it isn't, you can use the "-module <module_name>" modifier to the command and specify the MA2 screen saver file as the module_name.

06-14-2005, 04:00 PM	#58
Unregistered Guest Posts: n/a	Originally posted by Jim Sachs: If you look no farther then the number of Macs out there compared with the number of PCs, then a software developer would naturally conclude that it wouldn't be worth it to develop for the Mac. But raw numbers don't always tell the whole story. Thanks to the extremely faithful port by Jim O'Connor and his team, the Aquarium has been very well-received by the Mac community, and sales are running at about 50% of the PC version. Jim, For those of us who bought a boxed version, that includes a CD with the Windows and Mac versions on it, make sure you aren't counting such a sale as a Windows sale. :-) Thank you for your wonderful contribution to the betterment of my world.

08-28-2005, 03:07 PM	#59
Unregistered Guest Posts: n/a	New Fish Hi I have a 20in mac G5 and the fish aren't very clear and the aquarium isn't the complete size of the screen can you please help me?

08-28-2005, 08:32 PM	#60
JimO'Connor Mac Development Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: Kenai, Alaska Posts: 678	The artwork was created for a 1024x762 display, or slightly wider for the wide screen tank. There is a good bit of scaling up to get it to fit on a 20" display. The scaling makes things a bit fuzzy, or lacking in detail. Is this what you are seeing? I'll need you to describe the problem more fully to understand what you are describing with the aquarium not being the complete size of the screen. Jim O'Connor Order N Development