** SS Aquarium 2.0 & MAT Settings SUGGESTION BOX **

[feldon34]

<table cellspacing=0 cellpadding=12>
<tr><td bgcolor=003939><font face=Arial size=2>Prolific Publishing has put a lot of effort into creating a graphical Settings panel for the Aquarium. And not just for the Aquarium, but for...

<li><b>SereneScreen</b> Marine Aquarium 2
<li><b>SereneScreen</b> Marine Aquarium Time
<li><b>SereneScreen</b> Marine Aquarium Crystal
<li><b>SereneScreen</b> Freshwater Aquarium
<li><b>Prolific</b> Goldfish Aquarium
<li><b>FlagPride</b> Flags of North America

Now that this Settings panel is in place and we have been expressing the hope that the Settings panel would be expanded to include some/all of the features from <a href="showthread.php?s=&threadid=811">Mountainmast er's</a> elaborate Fish Picker plus dreamed-of features in <a href="showthread.php?s=&threadid=349">prototypes</a> that I and others have created, we're starting a new topic...</font>
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Which of these features (or write in your own feature if you don't see yours listed) are you most interested in seeing in future versions of the Aquarium(s) (and other products)?

<font size=2>Realize that anything that is added to the Aquarium that can be reasonably carried over to another screen saver will be done. Of course, almost all of the fish selection and other functionality in Marine Aquarium 2 and Marine Aquarium Time will be available in the Freshwater Aquarium or the Goldfish Aquarium. But there will also be settings which don't make sense in the other paradigms. "Wind speed" is not quite as applicable to fish as Flags. </font>

<font color=DDBB00><b>1. Cycle/Change the fish after a fixed length of time, say every 10 or 20 minutes</b></font> (same as pressing SPACE bar twice)

<a href="../forumpics/MM_Picker2.gif">Mountainmaster's Fish Picker--Cycle Fish</a>


<font color=DDBB00><b>2. Create your own "tanks" (preset selections of fish/settings)</b></font> (not to be confused with moving/adjusting coral)


<font color=DDBB00><b>3. Favorite Fish</b></font> - Control the likelihood of each fish being chosen to fill <RANDOM> slots. Either choices of Rarely, Seldom, Sometimes, Often, or a slider from Less Often to More Often.

In After Dark, these were labeled "Never, Seldom, Often, Always", but this could create confusion if a user has a Yellow Tang manually selected and then sets the yellow tang to 'Never', expecting to never see a Yellow Tang (they would still get the 1 they manually selected).

The alternate is to have a checkbox "Use Advanced Fish Selection" which would eliminate the 7 fish slots and rely exclusively on "Never, Rarely, Sometimes, Often, Always".

<a href="../Sachs/settings/settings3.html">Settings Prototype</a>


<font color=DDBB00><b>4. Set Starfish Position</b></font> - drag the Starfish around in a mock thumbnail Aquarium to one of a dozen preset positions including positions on the glass and also "hidden".


<font color=DDBB00><b>5. Launch as Window</b></font> - start the Aquarium as a window


<font color=DDBB00><b>6. Remember Window Size/Position</b></font>


<font color=DDBB00><b>7. Set Lighting</b></font> - show a mock thumbnail Aquarium above the 2 manual light control sliders so we see the effects of adjusting the lights. (Will be even more useful as Jim adds more controllable lights in the future).

<a href="../forumpics/MM_Picker3.jpg">Mountainmaster's Fish Picker--Light & Starfish</a>


<font color=DDBB00><b>8. Semi-Auto Lights</b></font> - Rather than fully Auto or fully Manual lighting, allow either slider to be Locked or Auto.


<font color=DDBB00><b>9. Launch script/program with Aquarium</b></font> - When the Aquarium comes up, it can start a DOS command. This would allow people to have their mp3 player or other program fire up when the Aquarium does. (This should be an easter egg/hidden setting).
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[Reichart]

Can you make that list easier to read? Nice, pleasant simple font would be good.

Also, FlagPride is the brand, like SereneScreen. The first product is "Flags of North America (FN).

Which was on TechTV today!

[feldon34]

That was my attempt to make it easier to read.
How can I improve it?


TechTV Today? GRR!

I would have set the TiVo for it.


I will fix the product names too.

[roseangel]

I have already asked for no. 8: semi-automatic lights, so that would be my first choice.

Also, no. 3: favourite fish with the slider.

[Lostboy]

The one I’d really like to see most is #3 “Favorite Fish.” I like the “Use Advanced Fish Selection” option best because I’d really like a “never” option somewhere.

#7 “Set Lighting” would be very convenient. Although instead of picking a picture, setting it in real time like AquaReal’s would be nice.

The third thing I’d like to see is #1’s Cycle Fish. Although I’m not sure what you’d do to make this option more real (fade out, then in?). I never used Mountainmaster’s Fish Picker, so I’m not sure what he did.

The other options I don’t think I’d use.

[IXNAY]

Uhm put in everything

[feldon34]

Reichart,

Let me guess, you have an LCD display. The green backgrounds on this page are piercingly bright on them. Found that out last night when visiting a friend's house. Am adjusting...

Lostboy said:
The third thing I’d like to see is #1’s Cycle Fish. Although I’m not sure what you’d do to make this option more real (fade out, then in?). I never used Mountainmaster’s Fish Picker, so I’m not sure what he did.

His program just pressed the SPACE bar twice (by sending software events).

[Rick]

These are the three features that I am most intrested in:

1. Cycle/Change the fish after a fixed length of time, say every 10 or 20 minutes
3. Favorite Fish
2. Create your own "tanks" (preset selections of fish/settings)

[memilm]

1. Cycle/Change the fish after a fixed length of time, say every 10 or 20 minutes (same as pressing SPACE bar twice)

2. Create your own "tanks" (preset selections of fish/settings) (not to be confused with moving/adjusting coral)

3. Favorite Fish - Control the likelihood of each fish being chosen to fill slots. Either choices of Rarely, Seldom, Sometimes, Often, or a slider from Less Often to More Often.

In After Dark, these were labeled "Never, Seldom, Often, Always", but this could create confusion if a user has a Yellow Tang manually selected and then sets the yellow tang to 'Never', expecting to never see a Yellow Tang (they would still get the 1 they manually selected).

The alternate is to have a checkbox "Use Advanced Fish Selection" which would eliminate the 7 fish slots and rely exclusively on "Never, Rarely, Sometimes, Often, Always".

4. Set Starfish Position - drag the Starfish around in a mock thumbnail Aquarium to one of a dozen preset positions including positions on the glass and also "hidden".

I found this four as the important to implement.

[Wizwad]

Hee! I can see this getting tricky! I'm in favour of most of them now that I've had time to use them properly (in the fishpicker).

I'd very much like these to be included:

1. Cycle/Change the fish after a fixed length of time

2. Create your own "tanks" - i.e. 'save settings'/'scheme'

3. Favorite Fish - Control the likelihood of each fish being chosen to fill slots. Either choices of Rarely, Seldom, Sometimes, Often, or a slider from Less Often to More Often.

4. Not worried about Starfish Position - it can do what it wants!

5. Launch as Window - start the Aquarium as a window - definitely. I'm with cjmaddy in liking the widescreen option which I only get in the windowed form.

6. Remember Window Size/Position - absolutely. So annoying resizing the window every time it starts!

7. Set Lighting - show a mock thumbnail Aquarium - Preview? Not worried by this, though I'll join in the appreciative sighs if it does make it in.

8. Semi-Auto Lights - Rather than fully Auto or fully Manual lighting, allow either slider to be Locked or Auto. It WOULD be really nice to be able to set minmum and maximum levels of light and dark for front and back and then set the auto to slide between these the way it currently does.

Of all of these, though, my emphases would be on 1, 3, 5 and 6.

[bratboy]

well this isnt actually covered but pls consider doing like MMFP and use Black instead of white backgrounds in the fish picker window. The black background , at least to me, sets off the fish and how they look much better than white does.

Just my 2 cents
Just Jess

[Reichart]

Most of these requests will be done. Such as being able to launch Windowed, and remember the size and location. It has been on the list for a long time, but we live by the “sorted” “prioritized” list, and simply, there has always been something else that out votes this. Speaking of which:

Morgon, there is a feature I want on Forums that only partially exists, something I plan to implement on our site one day (even without a forum) because it would be SO POWERFUL for learning “our” real wants and desires for software.

A Sorted Feature Voting system.

The way it works is; you are show a list, already sorted alphabetically (for example) at first. Perhaps it has 3-100 line items.

Black
Blue
Brown
Green
Orange
Purple
Red
Yellow
White

A user can vote on any item to be moved to the top of the list, or using some simple mechanism, sort the list the way they want it. The point being, a person can pick just one thing to be the TOP, or one thing to be the BOTTOM, or any percentage of the list. And so can everyone else.

The program simply tracks each person's prefs, and then shows the accumulated results:

103 Blue
77 Red
23 Green
15 Purple
1 Orange
0 Brown
0 Yellow
0 White
0 Black

Some items never get voted on. An thus sit lonely at the bottom of the list.

Lastly, of course, is the ability to add other items to the list, which are added after being approved by the Forum master.

This would be a GREAT PHP project for you (although you could write it in less than 10 lines of www.Rebol.com, this is what Rebol does best).

[feldon34]

There are 2 kinds of polls in vBulletin.

Multiple choice, which allows the user to vote on 1-N items, and each vote has the same weight.

One choice, which allows the user to pick 1 favorite. Each vote has the same weight.


These kinds of polls appeal to me (maybe one of them is close to what you are talking about?):

Preference (point system) - give 1~5 scores on each item on the list. Each person's vote counts as 100%, but they can give different weights to each item. If they only vote on 5 out of the 15 items, then their "points" are distributed that way.

We did this for the fish ranking.

Ranking, Each user can pick their top 3 choices, and they are weighted 60%, 40%, 20%.


If we did the 'arranging' as you mention (the javascript involved would be a nightmare, how about 10 drop-down menus for first choice, second choice, third choice, etc. and as you select items, it removes them from the other menus?)

what if they only vote on 5 out of the 15? What if someone else votes on 12 of them?

I would hope that each person's vote counts as "100%" somehow.

This would be a GREAT PHP project for you (although you could write it in less than 10 lines of www.Rebol.com, this is what Rebol does best).

#1 I can't wait for the Rebol documentation to improve.
#2 How do you deploy Rebol on a website?

[Wizwad]

Without wanting to comment on how forum polls work (mainly because I don't know ) this sounds a lot like the Eurovision Song Contest in, errr, Europe. (Duh!)

The way that works is like this: You have however many countries which are currently eligeable - somewhere around 24, say. Each presents a song to the world. Then each participating country gets to vote on all the songs except it's own. (I know - that bit doesn't apply here!)

Anyway, the countries assign from a maximum of 12 points to a minimum of 0 points. Only once can points from 1 to 12 inclusive be granted to a country - so only 1 country gets awarded 1 point, only 1 country gets 2 points, etc., from any country, up to a maximum of 12 points. The remaining entries are awarded 0 points. (Maybe because the song was bad, maybe because the artist was climbing all over the stage equipment, or wearing ridiculous outfits - whatever!) Points awarded by a country must total the maximum possible. Then the next country votes, then the next, and so on.

I've simplified slightly in that for some reason countries don't get awarded an 11 at all, but I think that pretty much covers the gist of it. If such a system could be implemented here that would probably fill the brief. Any voter has to award between 1 to 10 points to a selection of 60 fish, for example, thus keeping it fair.

Of course, I don't know how to get round the problem of late entry fish, but I'll leave the brainstorming in somebody elses hands for that.

[feldon34]

Yeah, as we add fish, this gets complicated.

I'd like to see people vote from 1-10 on each fish.

So each country gets to assign 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, and 12 points?

67 points is kind of odd IMO.

[Wizwad]

And 78 isn't?

Whilst enjoying the spectacle each year, we don't take the contest too seriously here in the UK, thus annoying the pants off all our European neighbours. Still. Heigh, ho! Cookie crumbles that's the the way: rearrange into a well known phrase!

[Tiny Turtle]

Bah! – It's always Johnny Logan that wins the whole thing every year anyway

Actually there's no 9 pointer involved (resulting in a much evener total of 58 ).

/Tiny Spectacle

[Wizwad]

Yeah - those Irish, with their folk music tradition and their St Patricks Day! Hunh!

Thanks for that Tiny - I'd forgotten about no 9. <:-|

[snorkler]

How about an option to not have the starfish?

[MadBob]

always on top in windowed mode