Frequently Asked Questions

Marine Aquarium is an aquarium simulation program. It can be assigned as a screen saver, but it was primarily designed to emulate the elegance and serenity of watching an aquarium.

To view your virtual aquarium effectively, your computer must have:

• Mac OS X 10.4.11 or later.
  
  
• Intel Pentium microprocessor 1GHz or faster. or Power PC processor 1.2 GHz or faster
  
  
  
• 1 GB RAM
  
  
• 6 MB hard disk space
  
• 3D Accelerator video card with 64 MB VRAM.
  
  
• CD-ROM drive.

Yes!

Marine Aquarium 3 is fully compatible with the Intel Mac and OS 10.6.

Yes!

Marine Aquarium 3.0 supports widescreen AND multiple monitor displays.!

We have heard of customers doing this successfully. We cannot guarantee that it will work on your system, but a simple search for "Screensaver as Desktop for OSX" should turn up some possible solutions:

Please Note: If you are upgrading from a CD, you will need to make sure that the CD is in the drive during this procedure.

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.

You may need to remove and reestablish the Marine Aquarium preference files to solve certain problems.

For users of OS 10.4 Tiger and before please do the following:

1. From the Finder, go to File and select "Find".
   
   
2. Use the following information:
   

   Search in: Local disks
   
   Search for items whose NAME CONTAINS: com.prolific.ScreenSaver.Aquarium2.plist

3. Click the Search button. Once you find the file, drag each one 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" option pops up.
   
   
4. Try to unlock the program again.

For users of OS 10.5 Leopard and later the procedure is somewhat changed:

1. Double Click on your Harddrive.
   
   
2. Double Click on the Library folder.
   
   
3. Use the following information:
   

   Type “com.prolific.ScreenSaver.Aquarium2.plist” into the search text field.
   
   In the area below the search text field, Select the buttons “Library” and “Filename” (not “This Mac” and “Contents”).

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. Try to unlock the program again.

Unfortunately, since our CDs are manufactured by another company, we cannot replace lost or damaged CDs with another CD or a keycode. Please e-mail our Technical Support department for other possible solutions to this issue.

Uninstalling Marine Aquarium is as simple as dragging the Marine Aquarium 3.0.saver file and Marine Aquarium 3.0 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.
   
   
10. This will clean your system of any Marine Aquarium data.

A copy of this list can be found under the Help tab in the settings menu.

Cmd-Q - Exit
? - Help
B - Bubble sound mute/unmute
F - Full screen/window mode
M - iTunes mute/unmute.
N - Next iTunes track
P - Previous iTunes track.
R - Restore Settings
S - Show frame rate
space - Settings
space space - Change the random fish

NOTE Some key controls are specific to the screen saver or application version of Marine Aquarium.

All of the options below are found in the Marine Aquarium settings menu under the Settings tab. To bring up the settings menu, press the spacebar on your keyboard while Marine Aquarium is running.

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Tank

Bubble Column - Turns the bubble column on/off.

Auto Pan - Turns the panning function on/off.

Panning slider bar - Controls the speed of the auto panning.

Frame rate

• Show FPS - Shows the frame rate and display resolution in the tank.
  

Limit frame rate (fps) - Limits the frame rate or animation speed to what you set on the slider bar below.

Frame rate slider bar - Allows you to set the frame rate or animation speed.

<

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Application

Exit full screen on mouse move - Toggles whether the program exits with mouse input.

The graphics used in the SereneScreen Marine Aquarium require a fairly up-to-date computer with a strong graphics card. Our realistic graphics use the same system resources as some video games. If you do not have your computer set up for this kind of activity, you may need to >adjust some of your settings< to get it to work correctly.

Because of this we encourage you to test the program before buying or upgrading to a new version of our program by installing the demo as described >here<.

If you are having problems with the program running slowly then please go >here<

Slow, jittery, 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. Start the program and hit the spacebar.
   
2. Select the Settings Tab.
   
3. Turn off the Bubble Column .
   
4. Now select the Fish tab.
   
5. Reduce the number of fish to zero. For more information on fish settings go >here<
   
   After finishing all of these steps, take each setting back to default to see where the problem is solved.

Please make sure that you have installed the .saver file in your Harddrive/Library/Screensaver folder and not your User/Library/Screensaver folder. This is the most common reason for the problem you are describing.

However, if this still doesn't solve the problem please try the following.

1. Open System Preferences.
2. Click on Desktop and Screen-savers (make sure the Screen-savers tab is highlighted in blue)
3. Scroll down the list of screen-savers, past the �Pictures� section to the very bottom, which should be a section entitled �Other�.
4. Check this section for the Aquarium, if you don't see it make sure the list is fully expanded (click the carat next to the �Other� title heading).

Pressing the "F" key will switch the Marine Aquarium to full screen mode.

This can happen if your Energy Saver options are set to put the computer or monitor 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.

This was intentional, as we wanted to allow users to be able to have the program running on one monitor while working on another. Relax and listen to iTunes through our playlist manager and watch our fish swim while you work!

If you want the full multi-monitor experience simply wait for the Marine Aquarium to start as your screensaver or access it through your >System Preferences>Desktop and Screensaver and hit the Test button.

Burn-in is a generic term for a ghost-like image that appears on a monitor or television after displaying an image that does not change for a long period of time. Burn-in is also called ghosting or image persistence. While the exact cause is different for different types of monitors, the result is the same, a light or dark area of the screen where the non-moving image was displayed. Due to better technology, energy saver options, and screen savers, burn-in is much less of a problem than in the past. However, any program, even a screen saver, can cause burn-in if left running long enough.

Screen savers were originally designed to help avoid the effects of burn-in by automatically changing the images on the screen when the computer was not in use (thus "saving" the screen from burn-in). They are usually set up to launch automatically by the computer's operating system, waiting a specified amount of time after the last keystroke or the last mouse movement made by a user. The screen saver then blanks the screen, or more commonly produces animation effects, thus avoiding any "fixed" images.

Modern monitors are much less susceptible to burn-in than older models due to improvements in technology and the addition of energy saver options . For these reasons, screen savers today are primarily decorative or for entertainment, and usually feature moving images or patterns and sometimes sound effects.

Our LifeGlobe and SereneScreen products are hyper-realistic simulators. They model real creatures in real environments. They are completely unpredictable, and follow behaviors modeled after their real life counterparts.

As a result, the background can remain on screen for long periods of time without change.

By default our simulators ship in a mode that cycles the background and/or lighting. Changing these options can effect some monitors over a long period of time. If you are concerned about burn-in, do not turn off this cycle.

Most computers have several layers of protection against burn-in:

Better technology

Advancements in monitor hardware and software mean that todays monitors are less likely to burn-in.

Energy saver options

To save electricity, monitors will switch to an energy saving mode after a period of time, either reducing the brightness of the display or turning off the display entirely.

Screen savers

Finally, there are an incredible number of screen savers that display moving images to reduce the persistence of a single image on the screen helping to avoid burn-in.

However, even with these advancements and options, in rare cases, burn-in can still occur. To prevent burn-in, we recommend the following:

• Different monitors have different needs when it comes to burn-in. You should check the users manual for specific information, or even contact the manufacturer, just to be sure what steps you can take for your specific monitor.
  
  
• Set the energy saver options to turn off your monitor when not in use for a long period of time.
  
  
• With any of our products older products, the background and foreground lighting change constantly on an automatic cycle. If you are concerned about burn-in, do not turn off this cycle.
  
  MA3 is different than the MA1 or MA2 series of our products in that it does not have an automatic light cycle, instead the program pans from right to left which create a constantly moving background which should help your monitor prevent burn in. Changing this setting, or stopping it will increase the risk of burn in and should be done so with caution.