SereneScreen News

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SereneScreen Marine Aquarium 2.0 announced!

Building on the new platform first exhibited in the SereneScreen Marine Aquarium Time product, we are happy to announce that SereneScreen Marine Aquarium 2.0 will be adding the following features:


Fish Selection Settings panel





100% CPU usage resolved
CPU usage has been reported as low as 2-5% on some systems now!


(2 and 5 indicate Marine Aquarium Time running full-screen in 16-bit color)


Fix for soundcard usage
Although some of you have already gotten the incremental 1.1.5 and 1.1.6 fixes of the Aquarium, the sound card fixes are being rolled out in MA2.0.

This problem involves the Aquarium blocking other applications from generating any sound on certain systems, even if the Aquarium sound was muted. The solution required adding a checkbox to completely disable any attempt by the Aquarium to initialize the sound hardware.


Ctrl-Alt-Del/Alt-Tab drops out of Direct3D, giving black screen bug has been worked on.
This is a problem on Windows 2000 and XP which could lead to the entire screen being black and no obvious way to exit (Alt-Tab will do it).


5 new fish and 1 redesigned fish!

redesigned Queen Angel


Blue Ring (Annularis) Angel


Imperator Angel (adult)


Redfin Butterfly


Rock Beauty Angel (adult)


Square Spot Butterfly (real photo, not from SSA 2.0)

I have requested higher-quality snapshots from Prolific. I realize these pictures are very blurry and do not indicate the relatively quality of the new fish. I mentioned to Reichart about "first impressions" and "putting your best foot forward", etc. and he's said he's working on it.

<center><table bgcolor=1D2890 border=1 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=10 width=80%><tr><td><b>SereneScreen Marine Aquarium 2.0 is expected in the next <strike>2-3 weeks</strike> few days.</b>

MA 2.0 will be a free download/upgrade for all users who purchased the Aquarium at 1.0 or below (Fry's boxed version and all online versions 99L and prior). <strike>It is not yet known whether purchasers of 1.1 (online Lionfish edition) have a small upgrade fee or not.</strike></td></tr></table></center>

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[feldon34]

I have just gotten a test version of SereneScreen Marine Aquarium 2.0. Let's get the formalities out of the way first...

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<tr><td><center><b>SereneScreen Marine Aquarium 2.0 will be (barring any major bugs) available next week!</b></center>

Purchasers of the Aquarium before February 22nd, 2002 (prior to the Lionfish's release) are entitled to a free upgrade to MA2.0. <strike>If you purchased the Aquarium online and it came with the Lionfish, the upgrade to MA 2.0 is $5.</strike>

An e-mail will be sent out to all registered forum members and subscribers to SereneScreen Fan Site news regarding MA2.0, Marine Aquarium Time (shortly after MA2), FlagPride (~ this week), and the Goldfish Aquarium (~ next week).</td></tr>
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Now, back to the fun part. Testing MA2.0...

6 words...

SS Aquarium 2.0 is Freakin Awesome!!!

All the issues we found in MAT? Gone!

My worries about my GeForce 2 MX400 64MB being up to the task? Gone. (Maybe some of the sluggishness of MAT can be attributed to the Crystal, I don't know.)


I'm running 1024x768x16 at 60fps stable, smooth animation, 7 fish, with 7-12% CPU usage!!!

If I turn off the "fps limiter" and tweak my DirectX to run at 85Hz, the Aquarium runs silky smooth at 85fps (CPU usage is pegged at 100% though).


The new fish? The old pictures did not do them justice.

The Redfin Butterfly:


The Imperator Angel is big! It is properly sized since it is an adult fish:




The Annularis Angel (blue stripe):


The Squarespot Anthias:


The Rock Beauty Angel:


The new Queen Angel:




<table border=1 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=10 bgcolor=000055>
<tr><td>To get the best possible animation without racing your CPU at 100%, you must:

1. Have the Aquarium set to change your video mode to 16 bit color.
2. Do not leave "S" (show framerate) or "Ctrl-S" (previously used to stabilize the animation on nVidia cards) enabled. The only way to save your Ctrl-S setting to the registry (so that it is remembered next time) is to hit Ctrl-S, then SPACE to bring up Settings, then click OK.*
3. Limit Framerate to 58fps.**
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Note that at 3am in Calif, everyone on the Aquarium (including Jim) is still awake and writing/testing/bugfixing the Aquarium. I've gotten 3 builds of MA2.0 in the last 4 hours. I found 4-5 bugs and they've all been fixed along with several others.

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[feldon34]

<center><img src="/forumpics/MA2/longbanner.jpg">

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<tr><td><center><b>SereneScreen Marine Aquarium 2.0 has been <font color=FFCC00>RELEASED!</font></b></center>

If you are a registered forum member, you have already received an e-mail with your new MA2.0 keycode and instructions on where to download it.

If you are are not a forum member but have registered at the Inside: SereneScreen Fan Site, you would have received an e-mail from SereneScreen with your new MA2.0 keycode and instructions on where to download it.

Everyone else can use the Keycode request form to get their MA2.0 keycodes.</td></tr>
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All download version purchasers of the Aquarium from .996 through 1.1.2 were entitled to a free upgrade to MA2.0 through June 17th. After that time, if you purchased the Aquarium after February 22nd, 2002, the upgrade will be $5.95.

If you purchased the PC or Mac Aquarium retail boxed version, you are able to upgrade to MA2.0 for $5.95. This upgrade is available at SereneScreen.com.

The 3D background is still a free upgrade (subject to an as yet undetermined future purchase deadline?). 'Regular' fish that Jim produces would probably be free upgrades as well.

Fish produced/created by Prolific and Creature Packs by Jim S. will cost extra.

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<tr><td><center><b>Monitor Negotation</b></center>

<strike>Marine Aquarium 2.0 accesses DirectX using all the correct/documented function calls as prescribed by Microsoft. This may result in an increased number of "clicks" of the relay in your monitor as this negotiation is taking place, especially if you are running your display in 32 bit color and the Aquarium is set to 16 bit color.

One solution is to set the Aquarium to also run in 32-bit color and/or your Desktop Resolution.

If you are experiencing more than 6 clicks and you feel it is a serious issue, please <a href="mailto:feldon@feldoncentral.com?subject=Stop TheClicking">e-mail me</a>.</strike>

The Aquarium has been tested on hundreds of systems, so this should be not be a widespread issue.</td></tr>
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[feldon34]

Marine Aquarium Time

Prolific Publishing is pleased to announce a brand new version of the SereneScreen Marine Aquarium for Windows product, available at a discounted rate to existing Aquarium owners, or as a separate product (even a bundle is available).


What is Marine Aquarium Time?

Many customers have asked us for a way to display a clock and the date in the Aquarium. Out of this was born "Marine Aquarium Time".

We've taken the existing popular SereneScreen Aquarium and embedded a "crystal" within the coral background which has an alternating clock, calendar, day-date-time display, and logo "etched" into the crystal. It is an unobtrusive way to display a clock on your computer!

The clock settings include showing or hiding the second hand, and indicating AM/PM or 24 hour time. The calendar can be set to start the week on any day (it is not limited to Sunday). The cycling of the clock, calendar, and logo can be adjusted.

Marine Aquarium Time fully recognizes international language and date schemes and as a humorous option, you can set your MAT to display the Crystal in any language for which you have installed the appropriate Windows language pack.

The long-awaited graphic Fish Selection control panel also makes its first appearance in Marine Aquarium Time! When you press the SPACE bar to change the Settings, such as picking your favorite fish, you will be presented with a new drag-and drop "tank" which shows a photo of each fish and information about that particular species. If you leave the Settings alone, your Aquarium will display a random selection of fish.


<center><table width="92%" border=1 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=10 bgcolor=000075>
<tr><td><center><b>SereneScreen Marine Aquarium Time has now been officially <font color=FFCC00>RELEASED!</font></b></center>

Marine Aquarium Time, is available in 3 forms:
&nbsp;&nbsp;Marine Aquarium Time (new purchase)
&nbsp;&nbsp;Marine Aquarium Time & Marine Aquarium 2.0 (new purchase)
&nbsp;&nbsp;Marine Aquarium Time (existing Aquarium purchaser)<br><br>

If you have been using the beta test versions of MAT, you have already received a proper MAT keycode and should be running the latest version!

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<font size=4><b>Download or Purchase Marine Aquarium Time</b></font>
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[feldon34]

Marine Aquarium 2.0 UPGRADE FOR CD-ROM Version

Prolific Publishing is pleased to announce that the Marine Aquarium 2 upgrade is NOW AVAILABLE for purchasers of the boxed CD-ROM version of the Aquarium!


How do I upgrade?

Please visit this special website at SereneScreen.com and fill out the form. You should receive your MA2.0 CD Upgrade Keycode shortly.

Marine Aquarium 2 Upgrade for CD-ROM Purchasers


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