Enhancement requests

johnblommers · 08-21-2004, 03:10 PM

Goldfish Aquarium has already given me many hours of enjoyment, and I have a few enhancement requests I'd like the developers to consider.

(1) Provide the user with tuning options over some performance-impacting areas such as texture quality, motion of the plants, and please re-instante the "optimize video memory" like Marine Aquarium has.

(2) Increase the resolution on the plants and those big rocks, they look a bit fuzzy to me.,

(3) Fish should cast shadows upon the bottom at the very least, even if they are blobs. It's not very realistic right now.

(4) In the GA application, as you drag the resize handle, the dimensions do not update, you have to let go of the window. Please update the field in real time as the user adjusts the window size to the desired setting.

(5) How about putting in a little plaque in the tank, and let the user select either some text or an image file? That would be so freaking cool! Please?

JimO'Connor · 08-21-2004, 05:11 PM

1) We pulled the "optimize video memory" because the models in Goldfish have way too much transparency for this to work. Too many odd artifacts. They could be solved but it would increase the memory bound nature of the program.

2) Talk to me in a couple weeks.

3) Shadows are an entirely new ball of wax. Not out of the question, just not something that will come without a HUGE increase in computation.

4) Hmm.

5) You mean a goldfish version of Marine Aquarium Time 2/Logo?

johnblommers · 08-21-2004, 05:40 PM

snip

5) You mean a goldfish version of Marine Aquarium Time 2/Logo?

It's not clear to me if the Marine Aquarium Time 2 Logo allows the user to specify their own image and/or text, but it it does, then something like that would be cool. Seeing as how Goldfish Aquarium is still in Beta, it would be quite nice for you to include that kind of feature.

I'm picturing a little plaque (submerged) with a face whose contents can be adjusted in a "Plaque Tab" in the preferences. Type in some text, drag an image here, that kind of thing.

Rock on!

AKcrab · 08-21-2004, 06:13 PM

Originally posted by johnblommers
It's not clear to me if the Marine Aquarium Time 2 Logo allows the user to specify their own image and/or text, but it it does, then something like that would be cool. Seeing as how Goldfish Aquarium is still in Beta, it would be quite nice for you to include that kind of feature.

I'm picturing a little plaque (submerged) with a face whose contents can be adjusted in a "Plaque Tab" in the preferences. Type in some text, drag an image here, that kind of thing.

Rock on!

The windows version of MA Time allows user created logos. The mac version does not. I'm guessing that the two products will remain separate, Jim may have a definitive answer.

JimO'Connor · 08-21-2004, 06:18 PM

MAT2/MAL for Mac will arrive, someday, I hope.

stinkyFish · 09-05-2004, 08:50 AM

as far as Mac-specific functionality...

i agree that more fine-tuning would be lovely. would it be possible to have a setting to enable FSAA if your graphics card supports it?

rather than cycle through selected tanks, i would like a checkbox (below "cycle...") to randomly select (or start with) a tank when the screen saver kicks in.

the cycling of fish is a little inelegant...i had no idea that setting even existed until i noticed my fish had discovered quantum teleportation and were popping in and out of my screen! perhaps fading out/in of the fish? or replacing them in the same location as their predecessors?

you could also spruce up the "Register" screen a little. it's like a blank canvas

JimO'Connor · 09-05-2004, 09:08 AM

Originally posted by stinkyFish
as far as Mac-specific functionality...

i agree that more fine-tuning would be lovely. would it be possible to have a setting to enable FSAA if your graphics card supports it?

We are looking into that. It is probably the only new thing (other than fixing the UI to reduce tech support questions) that we are considering at this point.

rather than cycle through selected tanks, i would like a checkbox (below "cycle...") to randomly select (or start with) a tank when the screen saver kicks in.

And maybe this one.

Basically, a check box to ignore the currently selected tank a start randomly from one of the checked tanks?

the cycling of fish is a little inelegant...i had no idea that setting even existed until i noticed my fish had discovered quantum teleportation and were popping in and out of my screen! perhaps fading out/in of the fish? or replacing them in the same location as their predecessors?

Would you rather have 25th century fish or ghost fish or shape shifting fish? They all seem pretty scary to me.

you could also spruce up the "Register" screen a little. it's like a blank canvas

No promises. I have to ship this thing SOMEDAY.

stinkyFish · 09-05-2004, 10:49 AM

Originally posted by JimO'Connor
And maybe this one. Basically, a check box to ignore the currently selected tank a start randomly from one of the checked tanks?

exactly. actually, it wouldn't necessarily exclude the "cycle" check box...if you had both checked, it would start with a random tank and cycle from there.

Would you rather have 25th century fish or ghost fish or shape shifting fish? They all seem pretty scary to me.

i don't know. the "popping" effect freaked me out enough the first time i saw it...

Polcamilla · 10-11-2004, 11:30 PM

Since we're making a wishlist here...

...would it be possible to have a little slider that allows you to control the SIZE of each of the fish? It drives me bonkers that some of them are huge and the 'feeder' fish is so tiny that I worry about him getting lost.

I know it's a nitpick, but looking at uneven fish bugs me.

(P.S. Just thought you'd appreciate knowing that my spouse babysat two girls, aged 4 and 6, the other day that hadn't been over to our house in MONTHS. One of the things they insisted on doing while they were here was watching the fish on the computer!)

Tiny Turtle · 10-12-2004, 01:43 AM

Feeder fish?

AKcrab · 10-12-2004, 02:10 AM

Freida.

Tiny Turtle · 10-12-2004, 02:58 AM

drfish · 10-12-2004, 03:32 AM

...poor Freida... She gets no respect...

johnblommers · 10-12-2004, 12:45 PM

Originally posted by drfish
...poor Freida... She gets no respect...

Thanks for the gentle reminder. I have not been diligent in running my Folding@Home program. These dual 2Ghz G5 CPUs might as well do useful work overnight!

drfish · 10-12-2004, 01:26 PM

Sweet! Finally, a fellow folder on this forum! I noticed you're not on a team... Care to join 2630? Please?

idchafee · 10-12-2004, 01:39 PM

Originally posted by drfish
Sweet! Finally, a fellow folder on this forum! I noticed you're not on a team... Care to join 2630? Please?

Yeah, that would Rule!

drfish · 10-12-2004, 01:44 PM

You made it!

Nice to see you here buddy, welcome to my other home!

(I posted a request in the TR forums for my teammates to help me get John to join our team...)

Edit: BTW, I started this thread some time ago but it didn't get much attention...

johnblommers · 10-12-2004, 03:22 PM

Originally posted by drfish
Sweet! Finally, a fellow folder on this forum! I noticed you're not on a team... Care to join 2630? Please?

Thanks for the invitiation to jointeam 2630 of the Folding@Home project. It's nice to be wanted. You now have a dual processor 2Ghz G5 on the team

drfish · 10-12-2004, 04:11 PM

w00t, w00t! Thanks!

You'll be one of our few Mac folders, glad to have you, I hear those G5s really tear though the work units, it'll be interesting to track your progress...

Also, make sure you stop by the forums over there and say hi, great bunch of folks... Oh, and don't go switching to any of those Mac teams on us...

idchafee · 10-12-2004, 05:00 PM

Outstanding! Folding is a great thing, and folding for 2630 is even greater. Stop in our DC forum and talk some trash. We love it! We got this guy named Leor, he can talk it.....

08-21-2004, 03:10 PM	#1
johnblommers The Architect Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: Seattle Posts: 756	Enhancement requests Goldfish Aquarium has already given me many hours of enjoyment, and I have a few enhancement requests I'd like the developers to consider. (1) Provide the user with tuning options over some performance-impacting areas such as texture quality, motion of the plants, and please re-instante the "optimize video memory" like Marine Aquarium has. (2) Increase the resolution on the plants and those big rocks, they look a bit fuzzy to me., (3) Fish should cast shadows upon the bottom at the very least, even if they are blobs. It's not very realistic right now. (4) In the GA application, as you drag the resize handle, the dimensions do not update, you have to let go of the window. Please update the field in real time as the user adjusts the window size to the desired setting. (5) How about putting in a little plaque in the tank, and let the user select either some text or an image file? That would be so freaking cool! Please? Reasons people don't watch Star Trek: 60% - It’s for nerds. 39% - The show’s stupid. 01% - My parents were killed by Klingons and it's still too painful.

08-21-2004, 05:11 PM	#2
JimO'Connor Mac Development Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: Kenai, Alaska Posts: 678	1) We pulled the "optimize video memory" because the models in Goldfish have way too much transparency for this to work. Too many odd artifacts. They could be solved but it would increase the memory bound nature of the program. 2) Talk to me in a couple weeks. 3) Shadows are an entirely new ball of wax. Not out of the question, just not something that will come without a HUGE increase in computation. 4) Hmm. 5) You mean a goldfish version of Marine Aquarium Time 2/Logo? Jim O'Connor Order N Development

08-21-2004, 05:40 PM	#3
johnblommers The Architect Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: Seattle Posts: 756	snip 5) You mean a goldfish version of Marine Aquarium Time 2/Logo? It's not clear to me if the Marine Aquarium Time 2 Logo allows the user to specify their own image and/or text, but it it does, then something like that would be cool. Seeing as how Goldfish Aquarium is still in Beta, it would be quite nice for you to include that kind of feature. I'm picturing a little plaque (submerged) with a face whose contents can be adjusted in a "Plaque Tab" in the preferences. Type in some text, drag an image here, that kind of thing. Rock on! Reasons people don't watch Star Trek: 60% - It’s for nerds. 39% - The show’s stupid. 01% - My parents were killed by Klingons and it's still too painful.

08-21-2004, 06:18 PM	#5
JimO'Connor Mac Development Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: Kenai, Alaska Posts: 678	MAT2/MAL for Mac will arrive, someday, I hope. Jim O'Connor Order N Development

09-05-2004, 09:08 AM	#7
JimO'Connor Mac Development Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: Kenai, Alaska Posts: 678	Re: more Mac improvements... Originally posted by stinkyFish as far as Mac-specific functionality... i agree that more fine-tuning would be lovely. would it be possible to have a setting to enable FSAA if your graphics card supports it? We are looking into that. It is probably the only new thing (other than fixing the UI to reduce tech support questions) that we are considering at this point. rather than cycle through selected tanks, i would like a checkbox (below "cycle...") to randomly select (or start with) a tank when the screen saver kicks in. And maybe this one. Basically, a check box to ignore the currently selected tank a start randomly from one of the checked tanks? the cycling of fish is a little inelegant...i had no idea that setting even existed until i noticed my fish had discovered quantum teleportation and were popping in and out of my screen! perhaps fading out/in of the fish? or replacing them in the same location as their predecessors? Would you rather have 25th century fish or ghost fish or shape shifting fish? They all seem pretty scary to me. you could also spruce up the "Register" screen a little. it's like a blank canvas No promises. I have to ship this thing SOMEDAY. Jim O'Connor Order N Development

08-21-2004, 06:13 PM	#4
AKcrab Registered Join Date: Mar 2003 Posts: 233	Originally posted by johnblommers It's not clear to me if the Marine Aquarium Time 2 Logo allows the user to specify their own image and/or text, but it it does, then something like that would be cool. Seeing as how Goldfish Aquarium is still in Beta, it would be quite nice for you to include that kind of feature. I'm picturing a little plaque (submerged) with a face whose contents can be adjusted in a "Plaque Tab" in the preferences. Type in some text, drag an image here, that kind of thing. Rock on! The windows version of MA Time allows user created logos. The mac version does not. I'm guessing that the two products will remain separate, Jim may have a definitive answer.

09-05-2004, 10:49 AM	#8
stinkyFish Registered Join Date: Sep 2004 Posts: 16	Re: Re: more Mac improvements... Originally posted by JimO'Connor And maybe this one. Basically, a check box to ignore the currently selected tank a start randomly from one of the checked tanks? exactly. actually, it wouldn't necessarily exclude the "cycle" check box...if you had both checked, it would start with a random tank and cycle from there. Would you rather have 25th century fish or ghost fish or shape shifting fish? They all seem pretty scary to me. i don't know. the "popping" effect freaked me out enough the first time i saw it...

10-11-2004, 11:30 PM	#9
Polcamilla Registered Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: Los Angeles, CA Posts: 31	Another enhancement? Since we're making a wishlist here... ...would it be possible to have a little slider that allows you to control the SIZE of each of the fish? It drives me bonkers that some of them are huge and the 'feeder' fish is so tiny that I worry about him getting lost. I know it's a nitpick, but looking at uneven fish bugs me. (P.S. Just thought you'd appreciate knowing that my spouse babysat two girls, aged 4 and 6, the other day that hadn't been over to our house in MONTHS. One of the things they insisted on doing while they were here was watching the fish on the computer!)

10-12-2004, 01:43 AM	#10
Tiny Turtle is pleased Join Date: Mar 2001 Location: Stockholm, Sweden Posts: 7,365	Feeder fish? 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.

10-12-2004, 02:10 AM	#11
AKcrab Registered Join Date: Mar 2003 Posts: 233	Freida.

10-12-2004, 02:58 AM	#12
Tiny Turtle is pleased Join Date: Mar 2001 Location: Stockholm, Sweden Posts: 7,365	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.

10-12-2004, 03:32 AM	#13
drfish the Doc Join Date: Feb 2002 Location: Zeeland, MI Posts: 5,357	...poor Freida... She gets no respect... I don't watch commercials.

10-12-2004, 01:26 PM	#15
drfish the Doc Join Date: Feb 2002 Location: Zeeland, MI Posts: 5,357	Sweet! Finally, a fellow folder on this forum! I noticed you're not on a team... Care to join 2630? Please? I don't watch commercials.

10-12-2004, 01:39 PM	#16
idchafee Registered Join Date: Oct 2004 Posts: 29	Originally posted by drfish Sweet! Finally, a fellow folder on this forum! I noticed you're not on a team... Care to join 2630? Please? Yeah, that would Rule!

10-12-2004, 01:44 PM	#17
drfish the Doc Join Date: Feb 2002 Location: Zeeland, MI Posts: 5,357	You made it! Nice to see you here buddy, welcome to my other home! (I posted a request in the TR forums for my teammates to help me get John to join our team...) Edit: BTW, I started this thread some time ago but it didn't get much attention... I don't watch commercials.

10-12-2004, 04:11 PM	#19
drfish the Doc Join Date: Feb 2002 Location: Zeeland, MI Posts: 5,357	w00t, w00t! Thanks! You'll be one of our few Mac folders, glad to have you, I hear those G5s really tear though the work units, it'll be interesting to track your progress... Also, make sure you stop by the forums over there and say hi, great bunch of folks... Oh, and don't go switching to any of those Mac teams on us... I don't watch commercials.

10-12-2004, 05:00 PM	#20
idchafee Registered Join Date: Oct 2004 Posts: 29	Outstanding! Folding is a great thing, and folding for 2630 is even greater. Stop in our DC forum and talk some trash. We love it! We got this guy named Leor, he can talk it.....