The full version of Aquatica
3D has over 80 fish that can be installed. Each fish
has various properties that can be configured. Below
is a list of the properties that can be changed for
each of the fish. Click on a link for a description
and usage instructions. |
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| Scaling fish |
Talking fish |
| Stretching fish |
Creating fish
with 3D Fish Creator |
| Fish speed |
Sharing fish and scenery with
the Club Aquatica community |
| Animation rate |
Off screen pause for fish |
| Sociability |
Resetting defaults |
| Changing and creating
fish textures |
Installing new fish |
| Changing fish glow maps
(brightness level) |
Setting number of fish |
| Animated fish textures |
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| Scaling fish |
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The fish
can be scaled relative to other fish. Increasing the
size of a fish actually decreases the size of the other
fish on the screen. To make all the fish appear larger
you must decrease the scenery
scale and adjust the perspective
(Zoom) parameter located in the scenery menu.
Hint: Making the background smaller will
make the fish appear larger in size. If the background
is increased too much the fish will swim through objects
and not around them. Try to create an even balance between
the two. |
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To change the relative
size of a fish:
- Press the Fish
button and select
the fish you would like
to change
- Press the properties
button, select Scale
and adjust the slider
up or down
- Press OK
to save your changes.
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| Stretching fish |
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The fish can be stretched
in 3 dimensions by using the Scale Length, Scale Height
and Scale Width options located in the fish property
panel. These will make the fish appear longer, taller
or with a greater body mass.
Hint: Stretching fish too much also
stretches the size of the image making the fish look
distorted |
| |
To stretch a fish:
- Press the Fish
button and select
the fish you would like
to change
- Press the properties
button, select Scale
Length, height or width
and adjust the slider
up or down
- Press OK
to save your changes.
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| Fish speed |
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| The speed of the fish can be
increased or decreased using the fish property panel |
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To increase or
decrease the speed of a fish:
- Press the Fish
button and select
the fish you would like
to change
- Press the properties
button, select speed
and adjust the slider
up or down
- Press OK
to save your changes.
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| Animation rate |
| |
| The animation rate is the frames
per second that the fish animation plays back. Increasing
the animation rate will increase the speed of the head
body and tail movement (the frame rate) |
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To increase or
decrease the animation rate (frame rate) of a fish:
- Press the Fish
button and select
the fish you would like
to change
- Press the properties
button, select animation
rate and adjust
the slider up or down
- Press OK
to save your changes.
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| Sociability |
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| Sociability determines the
number of fish of the same species that will appear on
screen. Sociable fish like to swim in groups. Unsociable
fish swim appear by themselves. |
| |
To change the
sociability of a fish:
- Press the Fish
button and select
the fish you would like
to change
- Press the properties
button, select sociability
and adjust the slider
up or down
- Press OK
to save your changes.
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| Changing fish textures |
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You can change the
texture of a fish by creating a new texture or editing
and renaming an existing texture in an image editing
program. If the texture of a fish is changed you will
also have to change the glow map of the fish. If the
glow map (brightness) of a fish is not changed to correspond
with the new texture the fish may experience mismatched
colors.
Hint: Before directly editing the
texture of a fish from within an image editor, always
make a copy of the original texture. If you do not make
a copy and want to revert to the original, you will
have to download and install the fish again from the
web site. |
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| To import an edited texture |
| |
- Press the Fish
button and select
the fish you would like
to change
- Press the properties
button, select Texture
map
- Press the browse
button indicated with (...) select
the edited texture
and press Open
- Press OK
to save your changes.
Hint: If you are editing a texture that
you wish to import, then the first part of the file
name must be the same
Example: if the original was called cardinalfish_texture.bmp
rename your new texture to cardinalfish_texture_01.bmp
To create a new fish texture:
A detailed tutorial for creating fish
textures is available from the Club Aquatica download library.
Login
to the Club Aquatica download library select the Fish
menu then select the 'How to create your own fish' |
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| Changing fish Glow map
(brightness level) |
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The brightness level
for a fish is determined by it's glow map image. A glow
map image is a copy of the original texture image located
in the fish folder for a particular fish and it's file
name ends with glow or glow map. For example the glow
map for cardinal fish is called cardinalfish_textureGlow.bmp
. To change the brightness of the fish open the image
in an image editor and make it lighter or darker, then
save the image.
Hint: Before directly editing the
texture glow map of a fish from with an image editor
always make a copy of the original texture. If you do
not make a copy and want to revert to the original you
will have to download and install the fish again from
the web site. |
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| To import an edited texture
glow map |
| |
- Press the Fish
button and select
the fish you would like
to change
- Press the properties
button, select Texture
glow map
- Press the browse
button indicated with (...) select
the edited texture glow map and press Open
- Press OK
to save your changes.
Hint: If you are editing a texture glow
map that you wish to import, then the first part of
the file name must be the same
Example: if the original was called cardinalfish_textureGlow.bmp
rename your new texture to cardinalfish_textureGlow_01.bmp |
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| Animated fish textures
(advanced feature) |
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| Each fish can have an animated
texture applied. This is an advanced feature that requires
using animation software such as Macromedia Director,
Flash or Adobe Premier or After Effect. For an example
of an animated texture download the DORF fish. If you
have purchased the full version of Aquatica 3D a tutorial
on how to created animated textures is available from
the Club Aquatica download library |
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| Talking Fish |
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Each fish can be assigned
multiple speech sounds that will randomly play when
the fish is active. You can import the following file
types: MP3 and WAV. Over 40 speech sounds are available
from the Club Aquatica web site or you can import your
own audio files.
You must have version
2 fish installed to enable talking fish |
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| To Add speech to a Talking
fish |
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- Press the Fish
button and select
the fish you would like
to change
- Press the properties
button, select speech
- Press the browse
button indicated with (...) select
the sound(s) to import and located the sound files
on your computer
- To select one sound just select the
one sound
- To select multiple sounds press Ctrl
and click select the other sounds using the mouse
- Or drag the mouse over multiple files to select
them
- Press Open
- Press OK
to save your changes
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| Creating fish with 3D Fish
Creator |
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| 3D Fish Creator combines various
fish parts to create a new species that can be used in
Aquatica 3D. Aquatica 3D Fish Creator is available free
for the full version only. If you have the full version
of Aquatica, login to the Club Aquatica download library and
download 3D Fish Creator. After Fish Creator has been
installed press the Launch Button from the Aquatica settings
box to open fish creator. |
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| How to create a new fish: |
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- Select one of the
fish swimming in the
pool, the fish will appear on the top right.
- Select a fish
part (for example the head) and the edited
fish with the new head will appear on the left.
- Now select another fish,
the fish will appear on the top right, and select
the body. The body on the edited fish on the left
will change
- To save the fish to appear in the main fish list
select File then Save
As and name your new fish.
- Return to Aquatica settings and the new fish is
available for selection.
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| Sharing fish and scenery
with the Club Aquatica community |
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You can share and upload you
fish and scenery to the Club Aquatica download library to
be made available for other Aquatica members.
A detailed tutorial for creating fish textures is available
from the Club Aquatica download library.
Login to the Club
Aquatica download library select the Fish menu then select
the 'How to create your own fish' link
To Upload a fish, login to the Club Aquatica download library
and click on the upload button. The fish will be processed
by our personnel and placed in the download library and
made available for other Club Aquatica members. |
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| Off screen pause |
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| Fish can be temporarily moved
off screen and a delay time can be set before the fish
is visible again |
| |
To change the
off screen pause time for a fish:
- Press the Fish
button and select the fish
you would like to change
- Press the properties
button, select pause
and adjust the slider
up or down
- Press OK
to save your changes.
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| Resetting default values |
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| Each fish property panel has
a reset button. The button will return the fish to it's
default value (to when the fish was first installed). |
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| Installing new fish |
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| The Aquatica download library
is constantly being updated, by the Club Aquatica personnel
and Club Aquatica Members. New fish can be downloaded
free (for the full version only) from the download library |
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| To download and install
new fish: |
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- Login to
the Club Aquatica download library
- Select the Fish menu
then select the fish
you would like to download.
- Download the fish
to your desktop.
- When the file has downloaded, double
click on the file to install the fish.
- The fish will appear in your list of installed fish
in the settings box.
Note: you must close the Aquatica settings box before
installing a new feature
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| Setting number of fish |
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| The number of fish that appear
on screen can be set. |
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| To set the number of fish: |
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- Open the Aquatica
settings box and click on the Settings
button
- Click on Performance settings,
select Number of fish and change
the value
- Then press OK
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Copyright
© 1997-2003 Primetime, Ltd. All Rights Reserved. |
