Feature Request More Eye Candy for High End GPUs?

Arahanto · 02-13-2010, 08:11 AM

Is it possible to add extra eye candy for those with high end GPUs like the ATI Radeon 58xx and upcoming NVIDIA Fermi line (higher res, photorealistic texture)? As they are now, the fish still look only 85~90% or so realistic. Close, but... DX11 FTW!

feldon34 · 02-13-2010, 08:37 AM

So you want Jim to rewrite the Aquarium in DirectX 11 and make it so it only works on Windows 7?

Arahanto · 02-13-2010, 08:43 AM

Well, if he can't do one app for all DX versions, might he do separate versions for different platforms? Too much work? Am I talking about MA4?

Jim Sachs · 02-13-2010, 09:07 AM

I've been working on new (more realistic) fish models for some time, but have hit some major stumbling blocks. There won't be an MA4. There would be Creature Packs for MA3, then I would need to get on to the Freshwater Tank.

Marian Nichols · 02-13-2010, 09:22 AM

I am looking forward to the creature pack. A seahorse is planned isn't it? As well as a cuttlefish.

Jim Sachs · 02-13-2010, 08:31 PM

Yes.

Arahanto · 02-13-2010, 09:51 PM

Originally posted by Jim Sachs:

I've been working on new (more realistic) fish models for some time, but have hit some major stumbling blocks. There won't be an MA4. There would be Creature Packs for MA3, then I would need to get on to the Freshwater Tank.

is that definitive no, Jim? why not 4? are you moving on?

Wizwad · 02-13-2010, 09:59 PM

Too much other stuff to work on. The idea was originally to create a marine aquarium, a butterfly habitat, a terrarium and an aviary. Well - once the fish models have been perfected, that's the marine aquarium pretty much done.

And since he's started on a Freshwater Aquarium and got to the point where only the fish are required, that's next. And then the butterflies, lizards and birds! And then a movie, if there's time.

feldon34 · 02-13-2010, 10:14 PM

Originally posted by Arahanto:

is that definitive no, Jim? why not 4? are you moving on?

Is Jim going to develop the Aquarium specifically for DirectX 11? I would take Jim's comments as a definitive No for that. Spending any time developing a feature that could only be used on Windows 7 and only on $200+ graphics cards (a market of less than 500,000 people) is not something Jim has any interest in doing.

Marine Aquarium has always been designed to run on the maximum possible hardware. When everyone else was requiring Windows XP and high end graphics cards for their screen savers, Jim's ran on Windows 98 on a 16MB card. Marine Aquarium 3 will run on nearly any Mac or PC built in the last 5-6 years.

Incidentally, the purpose of Marine Aquarium was to be part of a line of 4 products that would eventually finance a Movie.

Jim Sachs · 02-13-2010, 11:33 PM

All correct.

Arahanto · 02-15-2010, 05:11 AM

a movie? will it be called Marine Aquarium 4 - The Clownfish Strikes Back, maybe?

what DX does MA3 run on?

JohnWho · 02-15-2010, 08:23 AM

"Avaquarium"?

"Lord of the Aquarium"?

"Lion, Witch, and the Aquarium"?

"The Love Aquarium"?

"The Chronicles of the Aquarium"?

Dale · 02-15-2010, 09:13 AM

Originally posted by Arahanto:

what DX does MA3 run on?

(From the FAQ) DirectX 9.0c or later.

Jim Sachs · 02-15-2010, 09:39 AM

Except for the fact that there's occasionally water involved, the movie has nothing to do with Marine Aquarium.

There is an interesting thing about JohnWho's list, though. All the movies he alluded to are in the fantasy genre (Yes, including Avatar - mountains do not defy gravity). My movie will be hard-core Science-Fiction, a genre which seems almost dead these days. The only arguably Science-Fiction movie I can think of recently is District 9, and even that had some fantasy elements.

The reason this is important to me is that I think movies should not just entertain, but educate. Hardly anybody reads any more, so the cinema seems like one of the last great forums for presenting information. In making my movie, I'll be consulting some of the top minds in physics, geology, biology, etc. While some of the story elements might be highly improbable, nothing will be impossible.

jleslie · 02-15-2010, 09:52 AM

Since unobtanium is supposed to be a room-temperature superconductor I'll suspend disbelief enough for floating mountains. Magnetism will do that for you (okay, just - I doubt you could get that much distance). It'll also screw your instruments.
John

Nicki · 02-15-2010, 03:57 PM

Originally posted by Jim Sachs:

My movie will be hard-core Science-Fiction.

Yes, yes, yes. I love science fiction. Not exactly a secret of course. And then when Jim is on Entertainment Tonight I can say "I know him" and nobody will believe me.

Dale · 02-15-2010, 04:35 PM

Originally posted by Jim Sachs:

... My movie will be hard-core Science-Fiction, a genre which seems almost dead these days.
...

The reason this is important to me is that I think movies should not just entertain, but educate. Hardly anybody reads any more, ...

Well, I read (and subscribe to Analog but not Asimov's). And still prefer "hard" SF. So, a good SF movie would be a joy.

And my kids and grandkids read. And I'm encouraging my grandkids to read things as close to hard-core Science Fiction as I can find for them.

Wizwad · 02-15-2010, 05:48 PM

I'd be prepared to believe in floating mountains if they didn't have waterfalls cascading from them!

JohnWho · 02-15-2010, 05:58 PM

Weren't the mountains supposed to have Unobtainium in them which is why they "floated"?

The Unobtainium would not be in the water nor would it be in many of the objects that would fall from the mountain such as non-unobtainium based rocks, the water, tree branches, animals, etc.

Wizwad · 02-15-2010, 06:31 PM

My point is, where does all that water come from in the first place? Not from your standard mountain streams, that's for sure.

02-13-2010, 08:11 AM	#1
Arahanto Registered Join Date: Jan 2010 Posts: 15	More Eye Candy for High End GPUs? Is it possible to add extra eye candy for those with high end GPUs like the ATI Radeon 58xx and upcoming NVIDIA Fermi line (higher res, photorealistic texture)? As they are now, the fish still look only 85~90% or so realistic. Close, but... DX11 FTW!

02-13-2010, 08:37 AM	#2
feldon34 Forum Administrator Join Date: Dec 2000 Location: Rock Hill, SC Posts: 10,939	So you want Jim to rewrite the Aquarium in DirectX 11 and make it so it only works on Windows 7? "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

02-13-2010, 09:07 AM	#4
Jim Sachs Developer Join Date: Dec 2000 Location: Southern Oregon Posts: 9,791	I've been working on new (more realistic) fish models for some time, but have hit some major stumbling blocks. There won't be an MA4. There would be Creature Packs for MA3, then I would need to get on to the Freshwater Tank. Jim Sachs Creator of SereneScreen Aquarium

02-13-2010, 08:31 PM	#6
Jim Sachs Developer Join Date: Dec 2000 Location: Southern Oregon Posts: 9,791	Yes. Jim Sachs Creator of SereneScreen Aquarium

02-13-2010, 09:59 PM	#8
Wizwad Only me... Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: Essex, England Posts: 2,584	Too much other stuff to work on. The idea was originally to create a marine aquarium, a butterfly habitat, a terrarium and an aviary. Well - once the fish models have been perfected, that's the marine aquarium pretty much done. And since he's started on a Freshwater Aquarium and got to the point where only the fish are required, that's next. And then the butterflies, lizards and birds! And then a movie, if there's time. Mark ----------- Intel i7 12700K \| Aorus Z690 Pro \| Corsair DDR5 5600 32GB \| Asus Dual RTX3060ti 6GB v2 Mini OC \| Corsair RM850 Gold PSU \| 1TB NVMe M.2 WD Black SN850 \| 4TB Seagate BarraCuda HDD \| Corsair Airflow 5000D Case \| HP 32QHD 4K Monitor \| Windows 11 x64 Professional

02-13-2010, 08:43 AM	#3
Arahanto Registered Join Date: Jan 2010 Posts: 15	Well, if he can't do one app for all DX versions, might he do separate versions for different platforms? Too much work? Am I talking about MA4?

02-13-2010, 09:22 AM	#5
Marian Nichols ~Author~ Join Date: Apr 2003 Location: Rocky Mount, NC Posts: 7,429	I am looking forward to the creature pack. A seahorse is planned isn't it? As well as a cuttlefish.

02-13-2010, 09:51 PM	#7
Arahanto Registered Join Date: Jan 2010 Posts: 15	Originally posted by Jim Sachs: I've been working on new (more realistic) fish models for some time, but have hit some major stumbling blocks. There won't be an MA4. There would be Creature Packs for MA3, then I would need to get on to the Freshwater Tank. is that definitive no, Jim? why not 4? are you moving on?

02-13-2010, 10:14 PM	#9
feldon34 Forum Administrator Join Date: Dec 2000 Location: Rock Hill, SC Posts: 10,939	Originally posted by Arahanto: is that definitive no, Jim? why not 4? are you moving on? Is Jim going to develop the Aquarium specifically for DirectX 11? I would take Jim's comments as a definitive No for that. Spending any time developing a feature that could only be used on Windows 7 and only on $200+ graphics cards (a market of less than 500,000 people) is not something Jim has any interest in doing. Marine Aquarium has always been designed to run on the maximum possible hardware. When everyone else was requiring Windows XP and high end graphics cards for their screen savers, Jim's ran on Windows 98 on a 16MB card. Marine Aquarium 3 will run on nearly any Mac or PC built in the last 5-6 years. Incidentally, the purpose of Marine Aquarium was to be part of a line of 4 products that would eventually finance a Movie. "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

02-13-2010, 11:33 PM	#10
Jim Sachs Developer Join Date: Dec 2000 Location: Southern Oregon Posts: 9,791	All correct. Jim Sachs Creator of SereneScreen Aquarium

02-15-2010, 05:11 AM	#11
Arahanto Registered Join Date: Jan 2010 Posts: 15	a movie? will it be called Marine Aquarium 4 - The Clownfish Strikes Back, maybe? what DX does MA3 run on?

02-15-2010, 08:23 AM	#12
JohnWho Registered Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: Tampa Bay Area, Florida Posts: 486	"Avaquarium"? "Lord of the Aquarium"? "Lion, Witch, and the Aquarium"? "The Love Aquarium"? "The Chronicles of the Aquarium"?

02-15-2010, 09:13 AM	#13
Dale Banned Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: Western Missouri Posts: 960	Originally posted by Arahanto: what DX does MA3 run on? (From the FAQ) DirectX 9.0c or later.

02-15-2010, 09:39 AM	#14
Jim Sachs Developer Join Date: Dec 2000 Location: Southern Oregon Posts: 9,791	Except for the fact that there's occasionally water involved, the movie has nothing to do with Marine Aquarium. There is an interesting thing about JohnWho's list, though. All the movies he alluded to are in the fantasy genre (Yes, including Avatar - mountains do not defy gravity). My movie will be hard-core Science-Fiction, a genre which seems almost dead these days. The only arguably Science-Fiction movie I can think of recently is District 9, and even that had some fantasy elements. The reason this is important to me is that I think movies should not just entertain, but educate. Hardly anybody reads any more, so the cinema seems like one of the last great forums for presenting information. In making my movie, I'll be consulting some of the top minds in physics, geology, biology, etc. While some of the story elements might be highly improbable, nothing will be impossible. Jim Sachs Creator of SereneScreen Aquarium

02-15-2010, 09:52 AM	#15
jleslie Engineer Join Date: Aug 2002 Location: London, UK Posts: 1,279	Since unobtanium is supposed to be a room-temperature superconductor I'll suspend disbelief enough for floating mountains. Magnetism will do that for you (okay, just - I doubt you could get that much distance). It'll also screw your instruments. John

02-15-2010, 03:57 PM	#16
Nicki Sugar Plum Fairy Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: Toronto Posts: 1,267	Originally posted by Jim Sachs: My movie will be hard-core Science-Fiction. Yes, yes, yes. I love science fiction. Not exactly a secret of course. And then when Jim is on Entertainment Tonight I can say "I know him" and nobody will believe me. Run you clever boy. And remember...

02-15-2010, 04:35 PM	#17
Dale Banned Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: Western Missouri Posts: 960	Originally posted by Jim Sachs: ... My movie will be hard-core Science-Fiction, a genre which seems almost dead these days. ... The reason this is important to me is that I think movies should not just entertain, but educate. Hardly anybody reads any more, ... Well, I read (and subscribe to Analog but not Asimov's). And still prefer "hard" SF. So, a good SF movie would be a joy. And my kids and grandkids read. And I'm encouraging my grandkids to read things as close to hard-core Science Fiction as I can find for them.

02-15-2010, 05:48 PM	#18
Wizwad Only me... Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: Essex, England Posts: 2,584	I'd be prepared to believe in floating mountains if they didn't have waterfalls cascading from them! Mark ----------- Intel i7 12700K \| Aorus Z690 Pro \| Corsair DDR5 5600 32GB \| Asus Dual RTX3060ti 6GB v2 Mini OC \| Corsair RM850 Gold PSU \| 1TB NVMe M.2 WD Black SN850 \| 4TB Seagate BarraCuda HDD \| Corsair Airflow 5000D Case \| HP 32QHD 4K Monitor \| Windows 11 x64 Professional

02-15-2010, 05:58 PM	#19
JohnWho Registered Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: Tampa Bay Area, Florida Posts: 486	Weren't the mountains supposed to have Unobtainium in them which is why they "floated"? The Unobtainium would not be in the water nor would it be in many of the objects that would fall from the mountain such as non-unobtainium based rocks, the water, tree branches, animals, etc.

02-15-2010, 06:31 PM	#20
Wizwad Only me... Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: Essex, England Posts: 2,584	My point is, where does all that water come from in the first place? Not from your standard mountain streams, that's for sure. Mark ----------- Intel i7 12700K \| Aorus Z690 Pro \| Corsair DDR5 5600 32GB \| Asus Dual RTX3060ti 6GB v2 Mini OC \| Corsair RM850 Gold PSU \| 1TB NVMe M.2 WD Black SN850 \| 4TB Seagate BarraCuda HDD \| Corsair Airflow 5000D Case \| HP 32QHD 4K Monitor \| Windows 11 x64 Professional