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Marine
Aquarium 2.0 OSX
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Top Questions
Trouble with OS10.3 Panther
I can't remember/find my keycode OR
I made my purchase but have not received my keycode.
How do I upgrade to the newest version
of Marine Aquarium?
How do I install the Marine Aquarium
from the CD?
The Marine Aquarium is slow or freezes.
Will the Marine Aquarium run on the
iMac DV model?
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Before You Buy
Basic Information - PLEASE READ
What are the Marine Aquarium system
requirements?
How do I upgrade to the newest version
of Marine Aquarium?
Will the Marine Aquarium run on the
iMac DV model?
Will the Marine Aquarium run on Apple
Macintosh OS 9 (or earlier versions)?
Do I have to purchase the Marine Aquarium
for OSX and OS9 separately?
Will the Marine Aquarium run on multiple
Monitors?
Can I use Marine Aquarium as my active
desktop?
Is there a widescreen version of the
Marine Aquarium?
Will the Marine Aquarium run on a PC?
Keycodes
I enter my keycode but the "OK"
button does not activate.
I can't remember/find my keycode OR
I made my purchase but have not received my keycode.
I have a new keycode and it worked with
the previous version, but it no longer works in the
newer versions of the program.
I have the Marine Aquarium CD-ROM, but
the program still requests a keycode.
How do I copy and paste my keycode?
Installation
I cannot get the Marine Aquarium
to install across a network.
How do I install the demo version
of the Marine Aquarium?
How do I install the Marine Aquarium
once I have purchased a keycode?
How do I install the Marine Aquarium
from the CD?
When I try to drag the Marine Aquarium
file to the Screen Savers folder I get the error "Could
not move..."
How do I uninstall SereneScreen
Marine Aquarium?
How do I reinstall Marine Aquarium?
Operation
Marine Aquarium Hotkeys.
Marine Aquarium Settings.
Where are the other Fish and how
do I choose them?
Troubleshooting
Trouble with OS10.3 Panther
The Marine Aquarium works perfectly
on my friend's computer, but not mine. Why?
The Marine Aquarium is slow or freezes.
The Marine Aquarium runs fine in
application mode, but slow as a screen saver.
I set Marine Aquarium as a screen
saver, but it does not come on when it should.
The Marine Aquarium does not fill
my whole monitor.
How do I get Marine Aquarium to
display on multiple monitors?
The Marine Aquarium has lines or
artifacts when it runs.
I cannot access the eighth Fish.
I have a very large screen. The
Marine Aquarium looks pixilated at higher resolutions.
Miscellaneous
What are the types of fish that come
with the Marine Aquarium?
Can I make my own Fish for the Marine
Aquarium?
Top Questions
Trouble with OS10.3 Panther
Marine Aquarium 1 and the Marine Aquarium 2 CD are
not fully compatible with the recent upgrade to Mac
OS10.3 Panther. Here are the two problems we have seen:
1. Keycode – If Marine Aquarium 2.0 is not accepting
your Keycode you will need to reinstall as outlined
HERE.
2. Graphics – If you see a white column where
the bubbles should be AND you have Marine Aquarium 2
you will need to reinstall as outlined HERE.
If you see a white column where the bubbles should
be AND you have Marine Aquarium 1 you will need to turn
off the bubble column. We will not be upgrading Marine
Aquarium 1 to be compatible with OS10.3 Panther. For
more information click HERE.
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I can't remember/find my keycode
OR I made my purchase but have not received my keycode.
Please go HERE
and enter your email to retrieve your keycode.
If this procedure does not work, Email us the following
information where applicable and we can retrieve your
information from our customer database:
The full name you registered under.
The Order Number from your confirmation e-mail.
Both the first four and last four numbers of the credit
card you used.
Your email at the time of purchase.
The date of your purchase.
[Back to top]
How do I upgrade to the newest
version of Marine Aquarium?
If you have purchased Marine Aquarium 2.0 you can simply
download the latest version from the product page and
use your keycode. This will only work with the Marine
Aquarium 2 line.
If your email has changed since your purchase or you
have lost you original keycode click HERE
for information on how to email Customer Support.
[Back to top]
How do I install the Marine Aquarium
from the CD?
To properly install the MAC OSX Marine Aquarium from
the CD, follow the instructions below:
1. IMPORTANT: Before installing, be sure your anti-virus
software is deactivated for the duration of the installation.
Also, if your computer is a lower end machine, you may
optionally wish to set its color resolution to "thousands
of colors" to improve performance (See "Displays"
under System Preferences, in the Apple Menu).
2. Insert the Marine Aquarium CD into the computer.
3. Double-click the CD to open it and open the OSX
folder. In this folder is the Marine Aquarium 2.saver
file (folder icon) and the Marine Aquarium 2 application
file (fish icon).
4. Click and drag the Marine Aquarium 2 application
file to your desktop for easy use.
5. Double click on the "Hard Drive" icon
on the desktop.
6. Double click on the "Library" folder.
7. Click and drag the Marine Aquarium 2.saver file
into the "Screen Savers" folder.
8. Go to the Apple Menu and select "System Preferences".
9. Double click on the Screen Effects icon.
10. Select "Marine Aquarium 2" from the list
of screen savers.
11. Marine Aquarium can now be run either from the
desktop application or will come on as your screen saver.
12. The first time you run Aquarium the program will
read the CD and unlock the program.
13. Don't forget to reactivate your anti-virus software
when you are finished.
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The Marine Aquarium is slow or
freezes.
Slow or frozen graphics are most often caused by low
video resources. The best way to improve performance
is to complete ALL of the following steps:
1. First switch your color resolution from millions
to thousands of colors.
2. If your display colors are already set to thousands
of colors then check the "Economize video memory"
checkbox in the Marine Aquarium preferences. If you
are trying to drive multiple monitors from one video
card then both steps may be necessary.
3. Go to the Marine Aquarium Settings menu and reduce
the "Shimmer" setting.
4. Also, turn off the bubble column and reduce the
number of fish.
After finishing all of these steps, take each setting
back to default to see where the problem is solved.
Freezing problems have been known to occur on the iMac
DV. Our program does not cause this problem, it happens
to many 3D products. It appears to be a problem in the
Rage128VR chipset. Apple is researching the problem.
If none of the above fixes work for you, please email
us at service@serenscreen.com and include the Frames
Per Second that the Marine Aquarium is running at (This
can be found by pressing the "I" key while
the program is running.) and an Apple System Report
(ASP):
ASP for OS10.2 (Jaguar)
1. Choose the Apple Menu, "About this Mac"
item.
2. Click on the "More Info..." button in the
window that pops up. The Apple System Profiler will
launch.
3. From the "File" menu chose the "Save..."
item.
4. Name the file and Save it.
5. Compress it with stuffit or some other common compression
tool.
6. E-mail it to us with a description of your problem.
ASP for OS10.1.5 or Lower and OS9
1. Open Apple System Profiler, select File/New Report.
2. Select the standard System Profile, and "Devices
and Volumes" and "Extensions".
3. Save the report to a file.
4. Compress it with stuffit or some other common compression
tool.
5. E-mail it to us with a description of your problem.
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Will the Marine Aquarium run on
the iMac DV model?
No.
Freezing problems have been known to occur on the iMac
DV. Marine Aquarium does not cause this problem, it
happens to many 3D products. It appears to be a problem
in the Rage128VR chipset. Apple is researching the problem.
[Back to top]
Before You Buy
Basic Information - PLEASE READ
Before purchasing the SereneScreen Marine Aquarium we
strongly recommend you test the program to see if it
works on your computer. You can do this by downloading
the program and running the demo version as outlined
HERE
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What are the Marine Aquarium system
requirements?
To run SereneScreen Marine Aquarium, you will need:
CPU: G3, 350 MHz or higher
OS: OSX, 10.1.5 or higher
CD-ROM Drive
RAM: 128MB
HARD DRIVE: 3MB of available space
VIDEO: OpenGL accelerated drivers with 8MB VRAM (16MB
VRAM for larger than 1024x768) 640x480 color display
with 16-bit color or better. Updates can be obtained
at Apple.com
QuickTime 2.5 or later
[Back to top]
How do I upgrade to the newest
version of Marine Aquarium?
If you have purchased Marine Aquarium 2.0 you can
simply download the latest version from the product
page and use your keycode. This will only work with
the Marine Aquarium 2 line.
If your email has changed since your purchase or you
have lost you original keycode click HERE
for information on how to email Customer Support.
[Back to top]
Will the Marine Aquarium run on the
iMac DV model?
No.
Freezing problems have been known to occur on the iMac
DV. Marine Aquarium does not cause this problem, it
happens to many 3D products. It appears to be a problem
in the Rage128VR chipset. Apple is researching the problem.
[Back to top]
Will the Marine Aquarium run on
Apple Macintosh OS 9 (or earlier versions)?
Yes. Click HERE for information
on the OS9 version.
The Marine Aquarium is mostly dependent on its compatibility
with OpenGL (version 1.2.), which allows the Apple Macintosh
to render 3D. Some older operating systems for the Apple
Macintosh are not compatible with OpenGL. However, all
Mac OS 9 systems should be compatible.
If you purchase either Macintosh version of the Marine
Aquarium, you will be able to unlock the other version
for free.
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Do I have to purchase the Marine
Aquarium for OSX and OS9 separately?
No.
If you are planning to, or have already purchased either
of the MAC versions of Marine Aquarium, then you can
download the other for free. The keycode for one is
good for both versions.
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Will the Marine Aquarium run on multiple
Monitors?
Yes.
Marine Aquarium does have dual monitor support for
the Macintosh. If the Aquarium is not displaying on
all of your monitors.
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Can I use Marine Aquarium as my
active desktop?
We have heard of a couple of folks doing this successfully.
We cannot guarantee that it will work on your system,
but you can check out the following links for more information:
http://www.stanford.edu/~keaka/desktopeffects.html
http://www.gideonsoftworks.com/xback.html
http://www.feldoncentral.com/Sachs/macintosh.html
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Is there a widescreen version of
the Marine Aquarium?
Yes.
All of the widescreen data is included with the regular
download. Marine Aquarium will automatically switch
between regular and widescreen mode depending on the
size ratio of the window or screen being used for display.
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Will the Marine Aquarium run
on a PC?
Yes.
We are proud to offer a version of the SereneScreen
Marine Aquarium for PCs using Windows 95, 98, 98SE,
ME, 2000, or XP. Click HERE for more information.
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Keycodes
I enter my keycode but the "OK"
button does not activate.
Some characters in the keycode can be easily confused
(i.e. O and zero, capitol I and the number one, etc.).
Try to copy and paste your keycode into the registration
space to avoid any possible input errors.
Also, your copy of Marine Aquarium may have been corrupted
during download or installation. Try downloading a new
copy of the program and reinstalling it. Be sure to
deactivate your anti-virus software for the duration
of the download and install. For full installation instructions,
click HERE.
[Back to top]
I can't remember/find my keycode
OR I made my purchase but have not received my keycode.
Please go HERE and enter
your email to retrieve your keycode.
If this procedure does not work, Email us the following
information where applicable and we can retrieve your
information from our customer database:
The full name you registered under.
The Order Number from your confirmation e-mail.
Both the first four and last four numbers of the credit
card you used.
Your email at the time of purchase.
The date of your purchase.
[Back to top]
I have a new keycode and it worked
with the previous version, but it no longer works in
the newer versions of the program.
In order to prevent piracy of our product, we have included
a way of disabling Keycodes that we see posted on the
Internet. You are urged to NEVER give out your Keycode
to anyone. If you do, they might post YOUR Keycode to
a website or forum. At that point we will be forced
to disable the Keycode in the next version of the software.
We ONLY disable Keycodes that are posted to the Internet,
or from customers that could not get the product to
work on their computer. UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES CAN WE
"RE-ACTIVATE" A KEYCODE. We apologize for
any inconvenience.
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I have the Marine Aquarium CD-ROM,
but the program still requests a keycode.
The CD you have acts as the keycode. After installing
the program from the CD, leave the CD in the CD-ROM
drive and start the Marine Aquarium. The program will
read the CD for authorization and you can now run the
full version of the Marine Aquarium. After the initial
authorization, the CD does not have to be in the CD-ROM
drive.
When you download newer versions of the Marine Aquarium,
repeat the process above to authorize the new version.
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How do I copy and paste my keycode?
To copy and paste the keycode, do the following:
1. Hold down the mouse button and pass the cursor over
the keycode. This will highlight the code. Be sure not
to grab any extra characters or leave any out.
2. Press the Command Key (Open Apple) and the "C"
key at the same time. This will COPY the keycode.
3. Start Marine Aquarium.
4. The first time you run Marine Aquarium the registration
window will appear. Copy and paste your keycode into
the registration space to avoid any possible input errors
(Some characters can be easily mixed up i.e. the letter
O and zero, capitol I and the number one, etc.) and
press enter. The registration window may not appear
if you have not quit (not just closed) the System Preferences
application.
5. Put the cursor in the registration window and click
the mouse button once Press Command Key and "V"
at the same time. This will PASTE the keycode. Be sure
to eliminate any spaces before or after the code so
you can have a clean paste.
6. Press the Enter key. The program should start right
up.
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Installation
I cannot get the Marine Aquarium
to install across a network.
To use the CD version of the program, the computer you
are installing to needs to have a CD-ROM drive. See
System Requirements When first activated the program
looks for the CD to unlock the full version of the program.
This is true of the free updates we offer on our site
as well. Networking or linking computers will not work
for this purpose, but a portable CD-ROM drive will suffice.
[Back to top]
How do I install the demo
version of the Marine Aquarium?
There is no separate "demo version" of Marine
Aquarium. We built the Marine Aquarium to act as a demo
unless you entered a valid keycode. To properly install
SereneScreen Marine Aquarium, and activate the demo
mode, follow the instructions below:
1. IMPORTANT: Before installing, be sure your anti-virus
software is deactivated for the duration of the installation.
Also, if your computer is a lower end machine, you may
optionally wish to set its color resolution to "thousands
of colors" to improve performance (See "Displays"
under System Preferences, in the Apple Menu).
2. Download a fresh copy of Marine Aquarium 2.0 from
HERE
3. When the download is finished, you will have a new
file on your desktop named MarineAquarium206_OSX.dmg.
Double-click this file.
4. When the file opens you will see the Marine Aquarium
2.saver file (Fish w/ screen effects icon) the Marine
Aquarium 2 application file (Fish icon) and a link to
our web site.
5. Click and drag the "Marine Aquarium" application
to your desktop for easy use.
6. Double click on the "Hard drive" icon
on the desktop.
7. Double click on the "Library" folder.
8. Click and drag the "Marine Aquarium.saver"
file (the screen effects icon) into the "Screen
Savers" folder.
9. Go to the Apple Menu and select "System Preferences".
10. Click on the Screen Effects (Desktop and Screen
Saver for Panther users) icon.
11. Select "Marine Aquarium" from the list
of screen savers. Use the "Activation" and
"Hot Corners" tabs to set activation conditions
for the screen saver.
12. Marine Aquarium can now be run either from the
desktop application or will come on as your screen saver.
13. The first time you run Marine Aquarium the registration
window will appear. Type TESTFISH into the registration
box. This will activate the demo version of the program.
The registration window may not appear if you have not
quit (not just closed) the System Preferences application.
You will have to enter the TESTFISH code each time you
start the program.
14. At this point you can try to switch your color
resolution to millions if that is what you are used
to. If there is no difference in the Marine Aquarium's
performance than you can leave the resolution as it
is.
15. Don't forget to reactivate your anti-virus software
when you are finished.
[Back to top]
How do I install the Marine
Aquarium once I have purchased a keycode?
To properly install SereneScreen Marine Aquarium, follow
the instructions below:
1. IMPORTANT: Before installing, be sure your anti-virus
software is deactivated for the duration of the installation.
Also, if your computer is a lower end machine, you may
optionally wish to set its color resolution to "thousands
of colors" to improve performance (See "Displays"
under System Preferences, in the Apple Menu).
2. Download a fresh copy of Marine Aquarium 2.0 from
HERE
3. When the download is finished, you will have a new
file on your desktop named MarineAquarium206_OSX.dmg.
Double-click this file.
4. When the file opens you will see the Marine Aquarium
2.saver file (Fish w/ screen effects icon) the Marine
Aquarium 2 application file (Fish icon) and a link to
our web site.
5. Click and drag the "Marine Aquarium" application
to your desktop for easy use.
6. Double click on the "Hard drive" icon
on the desktop.
7. Double click on the "Library" folder.
8. Click and drag the "Marine Aquarium.saver"
file (the screen effects icon) into the "Screen
Savers" folder.
9. Go to the Apple Menu and select "System Preferences".
10. Double click on the Screen Effects (Desktop and
Screen Saver for Panther users) icon.
11. Select "Marine Aquarium" from the list
of screen savers. Use the "Activation" and
"Hot Corners" tabs to set activation conditions
for the screen saver.
12. The Marine Aquarium can now be run either from
the desktop application or will come on as your screen
saver.
13. The first time you run Marine Aquarium the registration
window will appear. Copy and paste your keycode into
the registration space to avoid any possible input errors
(Some characters can be easily mixed up i.e. the letter
O and zero, capitol I and the number one, etc.) and
press enter. The registration window may not appear
if you have not quit (instead of just closed) the System
Preferences application.
14. At this point you can try to switch your color
resolution to millions if that is what you are used
to. If there is no difference in the Marine Aquarium's
performance than you can leave the resolution as it
is.
15. Don't forget to reactivate your anti-virus software
when you are finished.
[Back to top]
How do I install the Marine
Aquarium from the CD?
To properly install the MAC OSX Marine Aquarium from
the CD, follow the instructions below:
1. IMPORTANT: Before installing, be sure your anti-virus
software is deactivated for the duration of the installation.
Also, if your computer is a lower end machine, you may
optionally wish to set its color resolution to "thousands
of colors" to improve performance (See "Displays"
under System Preferences, in the Apple Menu).
2. Insert the Marine Aquarium CD into the computer.
3. Double-click the CD to open it and open the OSX
folder. In this folder is the Marine Aquarium 2.saver
file (folder icon) and the Marine Aquarium 2 application
file (fish icon).
4. Click and drag the Marine Aquarium 2 application
file to your desktop for easy use.
5. Double click on the "Hard Drive" icon
on the desktop.
6. Double click on the "Library" folder.
7. Click and drag the Marine Aquarium 2.saver file
into the "Screen Savers" folder.
8. Go to the Apple Menu and select "System Preferences".
9. Double click on the Screen Effects icon.
10. Select "Marine Aquarium 2" from the list
of screen savers.
11. Marine Aquarium can now be run either from the
desktop application or will come on as your screen saver.
12. The first time you run Aquarium the program will
read the CD and unlock the program.
13. Don't forget to reactivate your anti-virus software
when you are finished.
[Back to top]
When I try to drag the Marine
Aquarium file to the Screen Savers folder I get the
error "Could not move..."
The Marine Aquarium.saver file should be placed into
the Hard Drive/Library/Screen Savers folder. This error
occurs when you try to place the Marine Aquarium into
the Hard Drive/System/Library/Screen Savers.
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How do I uninstall SereneScreen
Marine Aquarium?
Uninstalling Marine Aquarium is as simple as dragging
the MarineMarine Aquarium.Saver file and the Marine
Aquarium application into the trash. If you would like
a more thorough uninstall procedure, carefully follow
the instructions below:
1. From the Finder, go to File and select "Find"
2. Search in "Local disks" and type "com.prolific"
into the text field of (not the quotes, just what is
inside them).
3. Click the Search button.
4. Drag each file that you find into the Trash and
empty it. Empty the trash by holding down the mouse
button on the trash in the dock for a few seconds until
the "Empty Trash" menu pops up.
5. Close the Search Results window.
6. From the Finder, go to File and select "Find"
again.
7. Search in "Local disks" and type "Marine
Aquarium" into the text field of (not the quotes,
just what is inside them).
8. Click the Search button.
9. Drag each file you find into the trash and empty
it (should be three of them - Marine Aquarium.saver,
Marine Aquarium (folder), and Marine Aquarium (application
with the clown fish icon).
10. This will clean your system of any Marine Aquarium
data.
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How
do I reinstall Marine Aquarium?
To do a FULL reinstall of the Marine Aquarium, please
follow the instructions below. If you have recently
upgraded to Mac OS10.3 Panther, you will need to download
the new version under step #11.
1. From the Finder, go to File and select "Find"
2. Search in "Local disks" and type "com.prolific"
into the text field of (not the quotes, just what is
inside them).
3. Click the Search button.
4. Drag each file that you find into the Trash and
empty it. Empty the trash by holding down the mouse
button on the trash in the dock for a few seconds until
the "Empty Trash" menu pops up.
6. Close the Search Results window.
7. From the Finder, go to File and select "Find"
again.
8. Search in "Local disks" and type "Marine
Aquarium" into the text field of (not the quotes,
just what is inside them).
9. Click the Search button.
10. Drag each file you find into the trash and empty.
11. Download a fresh copy of Marine Aquarium 2.0 from
HERE
Or you can download from our website's Products page
using the "Download" button.
IMPORTANT - If you have any antivirus programs, be
sure to deactivate them before downloading.
12. When the download is finished, you will have a
new file on your desktop named MarineAquarium206_OSX.dmg.
Double-click this file.
13. When the file opens you will see the Marine Aquarium
2.saver file (Fish w/ screen effects icon) the Marine
Aquarium 2 application file (Fish icon) and a link to
our web site.
14. Click and drag the Marine Aquarium 2 application
file to your desktop for easy use.
15. Double click on the "Hard drive" icon
on the desktop.
16. Double click on the "Library" folder.
17. Click and drag the Marine Aquarium 2.saver file
(the screen effects icon) into the "Screen Savers"
folder.
18. Go to the Apple Menu and select "System Preferences".
19. Click on the Desktop and Screen Saver icon.
20. Select "Marine Aquarium 2" from the list
of screen savers.
21. Marine Aquarium 2 can now be run from either the
desktop application or will come on as your screen saver.
22. The first time you run Aquarium you will see the
registration window. Copy and paste your keycode into
the registration space to avoid any possible input errors
(Some characters can be easily mixed up i.e. the letter
O and zero, capitol I and the number one, etc.) and
press enter.
After entering the code the first time, pressing the
space bar will bring up the Settings menu.
23. Don't forget to reactivate your anti-virus software
when you are finished.
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Operation
Marine Aquarium Hotkeys.
Cmd-'Q' - Exit program.
? - Help window.
B - Bubble sound on/off.
F - Full screen/window mode.*
D - Enable/Disable multiple displays.*
M - Enable/Disable exit full screen on mouse move.*
S - Show frame rate information.
W - Wireframe/normal mode.
'Space' - Settings menu.*
'Space''Space' - Change Random Fish.
Up/Down Arrow - Main Lights up/down.
Right/Left Arrow - Background lights up/down.
L - Automatic light changes on/off.
R - Restore default settings.
*Some key controls are specific to the screen saver
or application versions of Marine Aquarium.
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Marine Aquarium Settings.
Performance
Frames Per Second
Limit Frame Rate (FPS) - Forces the frame rate (animation
speed) of the Marine Aquarium to the frequency you select.
If your the Marine Aquarium is jerking, or running slowly,
you may need to reduce the frame rate below the default
62 by using the slider bar.
Show FPS - Displays Frames Per Second (animation speed)
in the Marine Aquarium tank.
Shimmer - Controls some of the animation procedure
regarding light. Should be reduced or turned off if
the animation is slow or jerky. The highest setting
causes the reflections off the Fish's bodies to be calculated
every frame, the middle setting causes them to be split
across frames, and the lowest value causes them to be
calculated only once.
Economize Video Memory - Controls some video memory
requirements. It should be used when frame rates are
well below 30 fps. Reduces hardware support for depth
sorting (distance from the screen) and thereby reduces
the amount of video memory required.
Full Screen Resolution - Controls the Desktop resolution
and Color depth settings that Marine Aquarium uses when
it runs full screen.
Resolution Dropdown menu - "Desktop Resolution"
will match the Marine Aquarium display to your current
desktop settings. 800x600 and 1024x768 will display
Marine Aquarium at these resolutions regardless of your
desktop settings.
Exit Full Screen on Mouse Move - If this is checked;
you can exit Marine Aquarium's full screen mode by moving
your mouse or pressing a non-hotkey (see above) on your
keyboard. If this option is not checked, you can only
exit full screen mode by pressing the ESC key.
Starfish Allowed on Glass - If this box is checked
and the automatic lighting is on (see below) the starfish
will climb onto the "glass" of your monitor
and show off its belly.
Lights
Automatic Lights - To prevent your monitor from burning
in, the Marine Aquarium will cycle the lighting from
light to dark across the tank. Un-checking this box
will give you full control of the lighting using the
Lights Slider below.
Lights Sliders - Manual settings for the lighting, Foreground
and Background, when Automatic lighting is off.
Delay Slider - Determines the length, from light to
dark, of the lighting cycle when Automatic lighting
is on. Can be set from 3 minutes to 30 minutes.
Bubbles
Column - Activates/Deactivates bubble column. Bubble
sound will still be present and is controlled by the
sound settings below.
Volume Slider - Controls bubble volume.
Always On - Bubble sound will always be heard when
the Aquarium is running.
When Active - Bubble sound will only be heard when
the Aquarium window is visible. Helpful when Goldfish
Aquarium is in Windowed mode (see "F" hotkey
above.)
Off - Turns off bubble sound entirely.
[Back to top]
Where are the other Fish
and how do I choose them?
The Marine Aquarium can display up to seven fish at
a time, from a library of colorful exotic breeds. To
access and use this library, please follow the instructions
below:
1. Press the space bar while the program is running.
This will bring up the Settings window where you will
find seven slots for fish, in the upper left-hand corner,
under the heading Livestock.
2. To access the library, click on the small black
triangle to the right of each slot and scroll up and
down through the menu. Here there are over twenty Fish
to choose from. Select a Fish by clicking on the name
you would like.
3. Selecting OFF will leave that slot blank and the
Marine Aquarium will have one less fish on the screen.
Select RANDOM and the Marine Aquarium will pick a fish
for you at random, every time you open the program.
Checking the option "Don't Duplicate Random Choices"
will make sure that no random choices are the same.
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Troubleshooting
Trouble with OS10.3 Panther
Marine Aquarium 1 and the Marine Aquarium 2 CD are not
fully compatible with the recent upgrade to Mac OS10.3
Panther. Here are the two problems we have seen:
1. Keycode – If Marine Aquarium 2.0 is not accepting
your Keycode you will need to reinstall as outlined
HERE.
2. Graphics – If you see a white column where
the bubbles should be AND you have Marine Aquarium 2
you will need to reinstall as outlined HERE.
If you see a white column where the bubbles should
be AND you have Marine Aquarium 1 you will need to turn
off the bubble column. We will not be upgrading Marine
Aquarium 1 to be compatible with OS10.3 Panther.
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The Marine Aquarium works
perfectly on my friend's computer, but not mine. Why?
We are sorry, but without knowing the exact specifications
of both computers, this is impossible to answer.
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The Marine Aquarium is slow
or freezes.
Slow or frozen graphics are most often caused by low
video resources. The best way to improve performance
is to complete ALL of the following steps:
1. First switch your color resolution from millions
to thousands of colors.
2. If your display colors are already set to thousands
of colors then check the "Economize video memory"
checkbox in the Marine Aquarium preferences. If you
are trying to drive multiple monitors from one video
card then both steps may be necessary.
3. Go to the Marine Aquarium Settings menu and reduce
the "Shimmer" setting.
4. Also, turn off the bubble column and reduce the
number of fish.
After finishing all of these steps, take each setting
back to default to see where the problem is solved.
Freezing problems have been known to occur on the iMac
DV. Our program does not cause this problem, it happens
to many 3D products. It appears to be a problem in the
Rage128VR chipset. Apple is researching the problem.
If none of the above fixes work for you, please email
us at service@serenscreen.com and include the Frames
Per Second that the Marine Aquarium is running at (This
can be found by pressing the "I" key while
the program is running.) and an Apple System Report
(ASP):
ASP for OS10.2 (Jaguar)
1. Choose the Apple Menu, "About this Mac"
item.
2. Click on the "More Info..." button in the
window that pops up. The Apple System Profiler will
launch.
3. From the "File" menu chose the "Save..."
item.
4. Name the file and Save it.
5. Compress it with stuffit or some other common compression
tool.
6. E-mail it to us with a description of your problem.
ASP for OS10.1.5 or Lower and OS9
1. Open Apple System Profiler, select File/New Report.
2. Select the standard System Profile, and "Devices
and Volumes" and "Extensions".
3. Save the report to a file.
4. Compress it with stuffit or some other common compression
tool.
5. E-mail it to us with a description of your problem.
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The Marine Aquarium runs fine
in application mode, but slow as a screen saver.
This is still an issue of resources.
The screen saver will not change the screen resolution
or bit depth in order to get a hardware renderer, as
this can cause compatibility problems for other applications
which may be running at the time. The application will
change screen resolution and/or bit depth to get the
hardware renderer because the user explicitly ran it
and is giving it permission to do so when going full
screen.
See the FAQ on Slow and Frozen Graphics for more details.
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I set Marine Aquarium as a
screen saver, but it does not come on when it should.
This can happen if your Energy Saver options are set
to put the computer or display to sleep at the same
time Marine Aquarium is set to activate. To check this,
do the following:
1. Click on the Apple Menu and select your System Preferences.
2. When the System Preferences window comes up, click
on the "Energy Saver" icon.
3. Check to be sure that the "Put computer to sleep..."
and "Use separate time to put monitor..."
options are set beyond the time that you have Marine
Aquarium active. In other words, if you have Marine
Aquarium set to come on in five minutes, the Energy
Saver settings will have to be longer than five. We
recommend at least fifteen minutes between the two settings.
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The Marine Aquarium does not
fill my whole monitor.
Pressing the "F" key will switch the Marine
Aquarium to full screen mode.
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How do I get Marine Aquarium
to display on multiple monitors?
The multiple monitor function on the Marine Aquarium
only works with the screen saver mode not the application.
You can change the multiple monitor settings by going
to System Preferences/Screen Effects and clicking on
the "Configure" button.
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The Marine Aquarium has lines
or artifacts when it runs.
White lines and "scuffs" are usually caused
by the renderer of OpenGL. The bug shows up on our products
because we allow people to select any resolution. Other
products (like games) have it too, but it is less noticeable
because they tend to take control of the screen. Changing
resolutions by resizing the aquarium window will fix
the problem almost every time. To do so drag the lower
right corner of the window to a different place.
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I cannot access the eighth
Fish.
There are always eight Fish slots in the Fish settings
screen, however the eighth Fish only appears in widescreen
mode (click HERE for more information on Marine Aqurium's
widescreen mode). The note at the bottom is simply an
explanation. Count the slots to be sure that you have
eight. Also, to be doubly sure you can set all but the
last slot to the same Fish then watch the Aquarium for
the lone eighth Fish.
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I have a very large screen.
The Marine Aquarium looks pixilated at higher resolutions.
A single image at the higher resolutions would be about
7 megs (for example 1920bits x 1200 bits x3). Our whole
program, with fish and code and art is about 3 megs.
About 95% of our current users do not have such an amazing
display. So sadly, as of yet, we're sorry to say that
the product will begin to show its resolution on such
high-end equipment.
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Miscellaneous
What are the types of fish that
come with the Marine Aquarium?
Marine Aquarium currently includes the following Fish:
Addis Butterflyfish
Blue Chromis Damselfish
Clown Triggerfish
Copper-Banded Butterflyfish
Flame Angelfish
Forceps Butterfly
French Angelfish (juvenile)
Koran Angel
Percula Clownfish (common)
Picasso Triggerfish
Powder Blue Tang
Purple Sailfin Tang (juvenile)
Queen Angelfish (teenager)
Red Volitan Lionfish
Regal Angelfish
Regal Tang
Royal Gramma Basselet
Threadfin Butterflyfish
Three Stripe Damselfish Wimplefish
Yellow Tang
Marine Aquarium also includes a starfish that crawls
along the bottom of the tank and on the "glass"
of your monitor!
A full color guide to the Fish can be found at the
SereneScreen fan site
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Can I make my own Fish for the
Marine Aquarium?
Currently we do not permit people to create or add custom
fish for Marine Aquarium. The reasons is multifold,
but the most important one is that while we trust an
artisan would be motivated, and even capable of creating
a truly wonderful masterpiece, there are others that
might not, and a version were to get out that was less
than the highest quality, it might reflect poorly on
us.
If you are interesting in creating fish or wildlife
for our company, we are always seeking talented artist.
Please send samples of your work to:
Service@SereneScreen.com
Thank you for your support.
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