Top Questions
1. I lost my Keycode OR I made my purchase but have not received my keycode.
2. I have an old Keycode and it does not work with the new version of the Marine Aquarium.
3. My Marine Aquarium CD stops installing at 99%
4. How do I upgrade to the newest version of Marine Aquarium?
Before You Buy
1. Does Marine Aquarium the Fish include spyware or viruses?
2. Will the Marine Aquarium work with Windows NT 4.0?
3. Will the Marine Aquarium run on my notebook computer?
4. Will Marine Aquarium run on widescreen and/or multiple monitors?
5. Will the Marine Aquarium run on a Mac?
6. Where can I talk to real people who have used this product?
7. Basic Information - Please Read.
Accounts & Keycodes
1. I lost my Keycode OR I made my purchase but have not received my keycode.
2. I enter my Keycode and nothing happens OR I am told to place the CD in the drive.
3. How do I copy and paste my Keycode?
4. I have an old Keycode and it does not work with the new version of the Marine Aquarium.
5. I have an old BASIC version Keycode. How can I upgrade?
6. I have the Marine Aquarium 1.0 CD, but the program still requests a Keycode.
Installation
1. My Marine Aquarium CD stops installing at 99%
2. I cannot get the Marine Aquarium CD to install across a network.
3. How do I make the Marine Aquarium my Login screen saver in Windows 2000 or XP?
4. How do I upgrade to the newest version of Marine Aquarium?
5. How do I set Marine Aquarium as my default screen saver?
Operation
1. Marine Aquarium Settings.
2. Additional settings for Marine Aquarium 2 MD.
Troubleshooting
1. My fish are plain white (no textures).
2. My computer does not hibernate/sleep when Marine Aquarium is running.
Screen Savers & Burn-in
1. What is burn-in?
2. Screen savers
3. How can I prevent burn-in?
4. How do I fix burn-in?
Miscellaneous
1. What are the types of fish that come with the Aquarium?
2. How do I register my SereneScreen Product?
3. Why is there a limit of seven fish for Marine Aquarium?
4. Can I make my own Fish for the Marine Aquarium?
Before You Buy
1. Does Marine Aquarium the Fish include spyware or viruses?
None what so ever.
We do not send out any product or support spamming in any manner. Just a clean download of our program.
However, there are a companies and software pirates that grab popular online products and alter them to include invasive spyware and even viruses.
If this has happened to you, please let us know the address of the web site that sold your offered you our product. You can contact us by e-mail.
Also, there is a free product called AdAware, that we ourselves use. This program gets rid of all sorts of spyware, etc. on your machine you might not know about. AdAware can be downloaded from:
LavaSoft
Afterwards, if you are still interested in Marine Aquarium Crystal - The Fish, please download it from our site where we guarantee a download free of any other annoying ads or programs.
2. Will the Marine Aquarium work with Windows NT 4.0?
No.
Marine Aquarium will not work on Windows NT 4.0. Marine Aquarium requires DirectX 6 or better to run and Windows NT 4.0 does not support DirectX.
3. Will the Marine Aquarium run on my notebook computer?
Only notebooks with a GeForce2Go, Rage Mobility or S3 Savage chip will run the Marine Aquarium. The NeoMagic chip will not work.
4. Will Marine Aquarium run on widescreen and/or multiple monitors?
Yes!
We have a special version of Marine Aquarium 2 that supports both widescreen and multiple monitors. Marine Aquarium 2 MD can be downloaded from the following link:
Marine Aquarium 2 MD
If you have an old version 1 Keycode and would like the old widescreen version, click HERE to download it.
The installation instructions for both versions is the same as Marine Aquarium 2 and can be found HERE
5. Will the Marine Aquarium run on a Mac?
Yes.
We are proud to offer a version of the SereneScreen Marine Aquarium for both MAC OSX and OS9. Click HERE for more information.
6. Where can I talk to real people who have used this product?
Check out the Fan Site, complete with wish lists and discussion forums. SereneScreen fan site.
7. 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
Accounts & Keycodes
1. I lost my Keycode OR I made my purchase but have not received my keycode.
If you purchased the Marine Aquarium CD, you will not need a keycode. After installing the program from the CD, leave the CD in the CD-ROM drive and start the Aquarium. The program will read the CD for authorization and you can now run the full version of the Aquarium. After the initial authorization, the CD does not have to be in the CD-ROM drive. Keep in mind that this will not work between the separate Marine Aquarium program series (.99, 1.0, 2.0, etc.).
PLEASE NOTE - This process will NOT work with the Microsoft Plus! CD or other demo CDs.
If you purchased the download version, please go HERE and enter your email to retrieve your keycode.
If this procedure does not work, e-mail 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 address at the time of purchase.
- Your old Keycode. (If you are upgrading from an older code)
- The store or website you purchased the product from.
- The date of your purchase.
2. I enter my Keycode and nothing happens OR I am told to place the CD in the drive.
There are three things that can cause this error.
1. Some characters in the Keycode can be easily confused (i.e. O and zero, capitol I and the number one, etc.). We recommend that you copy and paste your Keycode into the registration space to avoid any possible input errors. For more information on the copy and paste procedure see HERE
2. You may be attempting to use your Keycode in another version of the Marine Aquarium. Check your confirmation e-mail to see which version you purchased and make sure this is the version you downloaded.
3. 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
3. How do I copy and paste my Keycode?
To copy and paste your Keycode, do the following:
1. Hold down the left mouse button and pass the cursor over the Keycode. This will highlight the code in black.
2. Let go of the mouse button and move the cursor to the center of the highlight without pressing any buttons.
3. Press the right-most mouse button and select "Copy" from the pop-up menu.
4. Start Marine Aquarium.
5. After the program start up, press the space bar. This will bring up the registration window.
6. Put the cursor in the registration window, press the right-most mouse button again and select "Paste" from the pop-up menu. The Keycode should appear in the registration box. Be sure to eliminate any spaces before or after the code so you can have a clean paste.
7. Press the Enter key. The program should start right up.
4. I have an old Keycode and it does not work with the new version of the Marine Aquarium.
Old Keycodes will not work between the separate Marine Aquarium program series (.99, 1.0, 2.0, etc.). In order to prevent piracy, we modified the Keycode system for the release of Marine Aquarium version 1.0 and again with version 2.0. If you wish to use a new version of Marine Aquarium, and you have an old code, you will have to aquire an upgraded Keycode.
For more information on upgrading, please click HERE
Lastly, Keycodes that we see posted on the Internet are automatically deactivated in our database. 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. 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.
5. I have an old BASIC version Keycode. How can I upgrade?
Before the new Keycode system, we allowed customers to purchase a BASIC version of the Marine Aquarium that included only three Fish and some limited settings. For marketing reasons we no longer offer this as an option. Also, only the old DELUXE users were given the opportunity to upgrade for free. If you would like to upgrade please send US$10.00 in the form of a personal check or money order to:
Prolific Publishing, Inc.
SereneScreen Sales
3100 W. Burbank Blvd.
Suite 101
Burbank, CA 91505-1308
If this is an international order it must be an International Postal Money Order.
IMPORTANT - Be sure to include your e-mail address as well as your full name. We will e-mail your code to you as soon as we receive your payment.
Just a reminder, before you send money, the new Marine Aquarium is much improved over the old .99 series, requiring more from your computer. We suggest you download the program and run the demo version as outlined HERE
Thank you for your continued support.
6. I have the Marine Aquarium 1.0 CD, but the program still requests a Keycode.
The CD you have acts as the Keycode. However, it will not work between the separate Marine Aquarium program series (.99, 1.0, 2.0, etc.).
We still honor the free upgrade from the 1.0 CD to Marine Aquarium 1.1. If you would like to download and install version 1.1 click HERE
After installing the program from the CD or the download file, 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.
PLEASE NOTE - This process will NOT work with the Microsoft Plus! CD or other demo CDs. For more information click HERE
For information on upgrading to Marine Aquarium 2.0 click HERE.
Installation
1. My Marine Aquarium CD stops installing at 99%
This is a problem with InstallShield, a utility that guides software installation on Windows machines. The folks at InstallShield have identified this problem and offer a solution on their website HERE:
InstallShield fix
We recommend changing BOTH the TEMP and TMP variables as outlined in their fix.
2. I cannot get the Marine Aquarium CD 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 the System Requirements HERE) When Marine Aquarium is first run the program looks for the CD to register the program. Using a network CD-ROM will not work for this purpose, but a portable CD-ROM drive will suffice.
3. How do I make the Marine Aquarium my Login screen saver in Windows 2000 or XP?
Microsoft has a specific procedure for changing the Windows Logon screen saver. It is outlined on the Microsoft Support website HERE.
4. How do I upgrade to the newest version of Marine Aquarium?
This depends on your purchase.
- 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.
- The price for upgrading from Marine Aquarium 1 to Marine Aquarium 2.0 is $5.95.
- Before making your purchase you may want to check to see if you have already been upgraded. Click HERE for information on how to retrieve your Keycodes.
- If you purchased Marine Aquarium 1.1 as an online download from this site, please click HERE for information on purchasing an Upgrade Keycode.
- If you have purchased the Marine Aquarium 1.0 CD (Not the XP Plus! CD), click HERE for information on purchasing a CD Upgrade Keycode.
- 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.
- If you do not wish to upgrade but would like the old Marine Aquarium 1, here is the link for downloading the program:
Marine Aquarium 1 for Windows
5. How do I set Marine Aquarium as my default screen saver?
To set Marine Aquarium as your screen saver follow the instructions below:
1. Right-click on your desktop. This will bring up a small menu window.
2. Select "Properties" from the menu. This will open the "Display Properties" window.
3. Click on the tab along the top marked "Screen Saver"
4. Using the scrolling menu, select Marine Aquarium. The Marine Aquarium logo should appear in the small computer monitor at the top of this window.
5. The length of time until the screen saver activates can be adjusted at the left.
Operation
1. Marine Aquarium Settings.
All of the options below are found under the Marine Aquarium 2.5 menu under the "Settings" tab. To bring up the menu, press the spacebar on your keyboard while Marine Aquarium 2.5 is running.
Exit on Mouse Move - If this is checked; you can exit Marine Aquarium by moving your mouse or pressing a non-hotkey (see above) on your keyboard. If this option is not checked, you can only exit the program by pressing the ESC key.
Disable Monitor Sleep Mode - Some monitors will shutdown after a period of time. This option allows the Marine Aquarium to override this shutdown and continue playing on your monitor.
Always on Top in Windowed Mode - When Marine Aquarium is in Windowed Mode (See "W" hot key above.) this option will place the program window over any other program you are running.
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.
Limit Frame Rate - 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.
Windows Resolution and Color Bit - Controls the Desktop resolution and Color depth settings that the Marine Aquarium uses when it runs full screen.
- Resolution Dropdown menu - "Default Desktop Resolution" will match the program display to your current desktop settings for color depth and resolution.
- 16/32 bit - Forces program to display at 16 or 32bit color depth regardless of desktop settings.
Automatic Lights - To prevent your monitor from burning in over long periods of use, 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.
- Delay Slider - Determines the length, from light to dark, of the lighting cycle when in Automatic lighting mode.
- Lights Slider - Manual setting for the lighting when not in Automatic lighting mode.
Bubbles - Controls the bubble column and sound.
- Column - Activates/Deactivates bubble column. Bubble sound will still be present and is controlled by the sound settings below.
Sound - Bubble column sound.
- 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 Aquarium is in Windowed mode (see "F" hotkey above.)
- Off - Turns off bubble sound entirely.
2. Additional settings for Marine Aquarium 2 MD.
There are some additional options in the Settings menu for Marine Aquarium 2 MD, our multimonitor and widescreen version of Marine Aquarium 2. For more information on this special version, click HERE.
Start Window Mode - This sets the windowed mode of Marine Aquarium 2 to a specific Anamamorphic setting. The Anamorphic settings are as follows, though they may require slightly different numbers on your specific monitor:
1.0 fills any screen. If the Aquarium is set to widescreen and you have a widscreen monitor, there will be no distortion.
0.8 will "Letterbox" the Aquarium image, placing a black bar at the top and bottom of the screen. This setting will allow the widescreen mode to appear without distortion on a normal ratio display.
1.2 will "Sidebox" box the Aquarium image, placing a black bar on the left and right of the screen. This setting will allow the normal mode to appear without distortion on a widescreen display.
Use Widescreen - Sets Marine Aquarium to widescreen mode, which uses an additional Fish (for a total of eight) and expanded background art.
Select Monitor - Use this scroll menu to specify which monitor you are changing the options for.
Anamorphic Factor - These settings can be different for each monitor and are the same as the “Start Window Mode” settings above.
Black - Blacks out the specified monitor. If you are seeing black on one monitor and not the others, most likely this option has been checked for one of your monitors.
Troubleshooting
1. My fish are plain white (no textures).
The first thing to try is to run the program. Then press the space bar to bring up the Settings menu. Make sure the option "Exit on Mouse Move" is NOT checked. Then click the "OK" button and press Ctrl and the "T" key at the same time. If it works, go back to the Settings menu and change a few of the fish selections to save the new graphic setting.
If this does not work, the problem may be your video card driver. Please see the driver update section.
2. My computer does not hibernate/sleep when Marine Aquarium is running.
This problem has been identified as a Windows XP issue. More information can be
found on the Microsoft support site HERE.
Screen Savers & Burn-in
1. What is burn-in?
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.
2. Screen savers
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 computers 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 better technology and 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.
3. How can I prevent burn-in?
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, the background and foreground lighting change constantly on an automatic cycle. If you are concerned about burn-in, do not turn off this cycle.
4. How do I fix burn-in?
This depends on the kind of monitor you have.
- CRT
- Unfortunately, once burn-in occurs on a CRT monitor, there is no fix as the actual process that produces the image has been damaged.
- LCD & Plasma monitors
- The approach to fixing burn-in on plasma and LCD monitors is the same: Display a white screen on the display for a length of time equal to the image that burned-in.
Apple has an excellent article on how to go about this:
Apple: Avoiding image persistence on Apple LCD displays
Miscellaneous
1. What are the types of fish that come with the Aquarium?
Marine Aquarium currently includes the following Fish:
Addis Butterflyfish
Blue Chromis Damselfish
Bluering Angelfish
Clown Triggerfish
Copper-Banded Butterflyfish
Emperor Angelfish
Flame Angelfish
Forceps Butterfly
French Angelfish (juvenile)
Koran Angel
Longfin Bannerfish (Wimplefish)
Percula Clownfish (common)
Picasso Triggerfish
Powder Blue Tang
Purple Sailfin Tang (juvenile)
Queen Angelfish (teenager)
Red Volitan Lionfish
Redfin Butterflyfish
Regal Angelfish
Regal Tang
Rock Beauty Angelfish
Royal Gramma Basselet
Squarespot Anthias (male)
Threadfin Butterflyfish
Three-Stripe Damselfish
Yellow Tang
Marine Aquarium also includes a starfish that crawls along the bottom of the tank and on the "glass" of your monitor!
More information and a full color guide to the Fish can be found at the SereneScreen fan site
2. How do I register my SereneScreen Product?
If you purchased a CD from a retail store or from Encore Software, you can register this product using the link below:
Encore Software Registration Page
Products purchased directly from our website as an electronic download do not need to be registered, all of your information was entered into our database at the time of purchase. However, if did not check the "I would like to receive email updates, notices, free offers and gifts." option when you made your purchase then you will receive none of these services.
3. Why is there a limit of seven fish for Marine Aquarium?
Several reasons.
A real saltwater aquarium of this size could not support more fish, and it also gets visually crowded. The second reason is the graphics overhead for more fish slows the system down too much. We know that many people have very powerful graphics cards, which are producing 100 frames per second, but most do not, and we want the Aquarium to be a satisfying experience for the largest possible audience.
4. Can I make my own Fish for the Marine Aquarium?
We do not permit people to create or add custom fish for Marine Aquarium at this time. There are many reasons for this, but the most important is that while we trust an artisan would be motivated, and capable of creating a truly wonderful masterpiece, there are others that might not, and if a version were to get out that was less than the highest quality, it would reflect poorly on us.
If you are interesting in creating fish or wildlife for our company, we are always seeking talented artists. Please e-mail us samples of your work.
Thank you for your support.
|
Categories
Special
Sign in
Your cart
