Feature Request Creature feature?

Inspector Dryfish · 10-28-2008, 11:18 AM

This might be an easy freebie, so I'm posting in the Beta forum, rather than the wish-list. If it's silly or if it would require any significant effort, just move this thread and/or tell me to shut up.

Add a switch to wireframe mode such that all the non-fishy wildlife has labels.

In other words, put the common and latin names beside each coral, shell, and other significant object - a "map key" or group-photo key for those of us who don't have marine biology degrees, or a real marine aquarium at home.

The names would not even need to be attached to the chorals, once they are made .... um.... pliable/wavy. It's not like they'll ever uproot and move around the tank, so the text labels could be fixed - for least-effort implementation.

Alternatively, if you can find a letter that's not already used, perhaps in the normal view, a hot-key press could bring up an overlay of text to name the various thingies for 30 seconds or so before fading away.

Obviously, very low priority, but if it's a simple addition, why not? It's a new and fabulous tank, and people would enjoy knowing what they're looking at.

Regards,

- Kevin
(Ottawa, Canada)

Jim Sachs · 10-28-2008, 07:09 PM

Pretty good idea, I might just do that.

feldon34 · 10-28-2008, 10:47 PM

There's a thread right here with the names of the coral:
https://www.feldoncentral.com/forums...ead.php?t=4499

Inspector Dryfish · 11-11-2008, 10:05 AM

Originally posted by feldon32:

There's a thread right here with the names of the coral:
https://www.feldoncentral.com/forums...ead.php?t=4499

Yeah, I saw that today when I came back. Downloaded the high-res picture. Thanks.

But still, if it's not a big effort, I think it would be a nice feature as I described it, since I'm sure that only a fraction of MA users participate in these forums. Also, unless you make Simico's picture-with-the-names sticky somehow, that thread is soon going to vanish into the archives where few people will ever see it.

Oh, hey! I just thought of a work-intensive way to make the proposed feature fancier (as if you needed that) - embed the names in each object, and provide a "magnifying glass" cursor mode such that when the mouse pointer is moved over a planted creature, its name expands to readabililty, then shrinks back to invisibility as the "magnifier moves on. Sort of a Mac-ish take on hover-text/tooltips.

There, now. Doesn't the original proposal seem easier already?

[Edit]
PS: I see that the thread is sticky within the Beta3 forum, but I was taking the long view. Once MA3 leaves Beta, it'll be several years till the next major version, so the entire forum would slide into obscurity. Meantime, you'd have /t/h/o/u/s/a/n/d/s/ hundreds-of-thousands of new customers... :-)

Tiny Turtle · 11-11-2008, 10:18 AM

Dry,
In post #2, Jim liked the idea and indicated he would try and implement it. That's not good?

10-28-2008, 11:18 AM	#1
Inspector Dryfish Registered Join Date: May 2005 Posts: 18	Creature feature? This might be an easy freebie, so I'm posting in the Beta forum, rather than the wish-list. If it's silly or if it would require any significant effort, just move this thread and/or tell me to shut up. Add a switch to wireframe mode such that all the non-fishy wildlife has labels. In other words, put the common and latin names beside each coral, shell, and other significant object - a "map key" or group-photo key for those of us who don't have marine biology degrees, or a real marine aquarium at home. The names would not even need to be attached to the chorals, once they are made .... um.... pliable/wavy. It's not like they'll ever uproot and move around the tank, so the text labels could be fixed - for least-effort implementation. Alternatively, if you can find a letter that's not already used, perhaps in the normal view, a hot-key press could bring up an overlay of text to name the various thingies for 30 seconds or so before fading away. Obviously, very low priority, but if it's a simple addition, why not? It's a new and fabulous tank, and people would enjoy knowing what they're looking at. Regards, - Kevin (Ottawa, Canada)

10-28-2008, 10:47 PM	#3
feldon34 Forum Administrator Join Date: Dec 2000 Location: Rock Hill, SC Posts: 10,939	There's a thread right here with the names of the coral: https://www.feldoncentral.com/forums...ead.php?t=4499 "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

11-11-2008, 10:05 AM	#4
Inspector Dryfish Registered Join Date: May 2005 Posts: 18	Creature Feature (naming) Originally posted by feldon32: There's a thread right here with the names of the coral: https://www.feldoncentral.com/forums...ead.php?t=4499 Yeah, I saw that today when I came back. Downloaded the high-res picture. Thanks. But still, if it's not a big effort, I think it would be a nice feature as I described it, since I'm sure that only a fraction of MA users participate in these forums. Also, unless you make Simico's picture-with-the-names sticky somehow, that thread is soon going to vanish into the archives where few people will ever see it. Oh, hey! I just thought of a work-intensive way to make the proposed feature fancier (as if you needed that) - embed the names in each object, and provide a "magnifying glass" cursor mode such that when the mouse pointer is moved over a planted creature, its name expands to readabililty, then shrinks back to invisibility as the "magnifier moves on. Sort of a Mac-ish take on hover-text/tooltips. There, now. Doesn't the original proposal seem easier already? [Edit] PS: I see that the thread is sticky within the Beta3 forum, but I was taking the long view. Once MA3 leaves Beta, it'll be several years till the next major version, so the entire forum would slide into obscurity. Meantime, you'd have /t/h/o/u/s/a/n/d/s/ hundreds-of-thousands of new customers... :-)

11-11-2008, 10:18 AM	#5
Tiny Turtle is pleased Join Date: Mar 2001 Location: Stockholm, Sweden Posts: 7,365	Dry, In post #2, Jim liked the idea and indicated he would try and implement it. That's not good? Thanks to Morgan, Tiny Snapshots is up and running again with "Tiny Järvafält" as the latest addition – Go have a look and tell me what you think. "We knew the world would not be the same. A few people laughed, a few people cried, most people were silent. I remembered the line from the Hindu scripture, the Bhagavad-Gita. Vishnu is trying to persuade the Prince that he should do his duty and to impress him takes on his multi-armed form and says, 'Now, I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds.' I suppose we all thought that, one way or another." /Robert Oppenheimer on witnessing the first thermonuclear detonation in history.

10-28-2008, 07:09 PM	#2
Jim Sachs Developer Join Date: Dec 2000 Location: Southern Oregon Posts: 9,789	Pretty good idea, I might just do that. Jim Sachs Creator of SereneScreen Aquarium