The artist finally speaks up...

[edaniels]

This is my first post; be gentle.

I just thought it might be a good idea to introduce myself to you all... I'm the guy who created all the artwork and animation for the Goldfish Aquarium.

I've known Reichart and Jim Sachs for about 16 years, but have spent most of that time in the world of movie animation, rather than computer software & games. So this is kind of an unfamiliar world to me, and reading your discussions has been extremely helpful... as well as entertaining.

I was going to ask you all to give me feedback as to what would most improve the program, but then I realized you've been doing that for months. So instead, I'll just say THANK YOU so very much for all the comments so far; the compliments as well as the criticisms. Keep 'em coming! (Especially the criticisms.)

I'll try to check in on this board every day or so... So feel free to comment, vent, complain, ask questions, or whatever, at me. And though I can't guarantee that my responses will be as witty and elegant as Jim's, I can guarantee that they'll be spelled better than Reichart's.

--Eric Daniels
(aka Dan E. Schneider)

(P.S. Kudos to Feldon for maintaining what has to be the friendliest, most supportive corner of the entire web!)

[drfish]

Originally posted by edaniels
...And though I can't guarantee that my responses will be as witty and elegant as Jim's, I can guarantee that they'll be spelled better than Reichart's.

Nice... I bet you were waiting to make your first post until you came up with that line...

Anyway, welcome! My wife runs the goldfish aquarium on her computer full time, it looks great in her Indian themed room. So now if you could just work some kind of Indian jungle palace into it, that'd be great... Thanks for helping make that possible.

[Jav400]

Kudo's on your first post Eric. What took you so long?

[Liath]

Hiya, I run the goldfish aquarium as my only SS, although you may end up having some stiff competition from Jim's freshwater tank . Keep up the good work, and as you have already seen, we are definitely not shy about speaking our minds here.

MA and GA are the nicest screensavers I've seen anywhere. I must admit I run GA a bit more than MA only because I really like the plants and 3D background (and of course the Grande Dames et Monsieurs of my favorite five fish: Ginger, Oreo, Algernon, Jack, and Morgan).
What I think would improve the tank is: better (read: more choices than blue to black) background colors, ability to have 3 Freidas equal 1 fish choice or have a bigger Freida-like fish as a choice, and a couple of more choices for background like bogwood instead of the rock or castle/treasure chest/diver/sunken galleon/whatever.
There are also a few remaining bugs (at least I think they are bugs. Maybe the fish are supposed to be able to transcend space and time periodically).
All in all, like MA, GA is a masterpiece.

[James]

Welcome! Just to let you know the Goldfish Aquarium is the most realistic Goldfish SS I ever seen, although the fish's tail never close to what I called the real gofish move, but the texture is the best........

I wish we can see more you post often from now on...(it's nice to see you finally took the first step here....:P)

[edaniels]

Drfish wants an indian jungle palace... (Sounds great! I'll do some research online to see if it gives me any visual ideas.)

Michael wants to know what took me so long to post... (It was sort of a combination of shyness and busyness... I wanted to make sure that whenever I did write, I'd have the time to write right. Then I figured: heck with it! ...and just jumped in.)

Liath is fine with GA as is, but warns me that Jim's next product might give me a run for my money... (too true; I've seen bits of it, and I think it's going to set a new standard. I'd better go take some classes in plumbing or something...)

Clint: control over background colors, more Freidas, bogwood & such, no teleportation... (All good suggestions. I've been experimenting with a petrified wood background piece; how's that sound? But I'll also look into bogwood...)

James thinks the tail movement not quite right... (I'll still work on that. What I'm aiming for is a slightly simplified and caricatured version of the graceful beauty that those huge, six-inch fancy goldfish display. I isolate what strikes me about their movement, attempt to duplicate it in a mathematical equation, tweak the variables until it communicates as purely as possible what I love about the motion, then apply it to a 3d fish model. I still notice things in real goldfish, though, that I wish I had included. So I'll continue to refine the movement. If you could be more specific about what you're missing, that would be very helpful!)

[cjmaddy]

Is the option to place photo backgrounds in a clear tank, ( referred to by Reichart, HERE), still on your list? - I would love to be able to make my ........
'Seamless transition to a screensaver', - using the goldfish!

Petrified wood sounds great! When I had actual aquariums, that and chunks of obsidian were my favorite rocks to use. One wish I forgot to add is...Specular Lighting! It would move GA into a new dimension.

[iMark]

How about a widescreen mode, for those of us with widescreen monitors and plasma's? We run it on a plasma in our reception area on alternate days with the SSA and it looks fine a tad stretched, but a bit more real estate for that mode would make an already awesome product just that much more versatile.

[Marian Nichols]

Greeting Eric,

so you decided to say ‘Hello’ Very glad you drop in. Welcome to our little corner of the world. I am a very big goldfish fan and I have personally kept salt water and freshwater fish, but goldfish are my favorite. Prior to this SS, I had search for years for a really well done and believable goldfish version. When I first discovered Jim’s Marine Aquarium a few years ago, I knew that this technology could also be applied to goldfish and never gave up hope of finding one. When this version was released I was ecstatic, I knew it could only get better. I agreed with Clint on wanted features and another scene to choose from. I like the driftwood suggestion and I am enclosing two pictures of my own tank, one is a 38 gal long which is no longer setup and the other is a 30 gal cube which is my current tank. I like the plants floating on top leaving swimming space at the bottom.

[Marian Nichols]

Here is the 30 gal cube

[TennesseeTurtle]

Dear Santa:
I just want dual monitor support, and some candy and surprises.
Thanks

[ESHIREY]

WOW Marian , Those pics are sweet .

[Marian Nichols]

Thanks Ed.

[Jim Sachs]

Marion -

The creator of the Goldfish Aquarium is Daniel E. Schneider.

Now you can call him Daniel,
or you can call him Eric,
or you can call him Danny,
or you can call him Mr. Daniels,
or you can call him Mr. Schneider...
but ya doesn't have to call him Ed.

(Also not to be confused with Ed Shirey.)

But seriously, folks -- All of us in the computer industry know him as Eric Daniels.

[James]

I thought Marian was thanking WSHIREY as Ed, or am I overlook another humor that I don't understand? ny the way, who is Ed Shirey? WSHIREY?

[Tiny Turtle]

James,
Yup, Ed=W

[Marian Nichols]

Thanks Jim, I see my mistake,

and so I say greeting to Eric,

but my second post was at WShirey. Ed.

Still an enjoyable screen saver and creative.

[Jav400]

Who's on first?