15-Minute Reviews :: Fireplace 3D Screensaver
Hello everybody and welcome to another 15-Minute Review – Screensaver Edition! Today’s screensaver is Fireplace 3D Screensaver by 3Planesoft
Software Description
As Giveaway of the Day states:
“Turn your computer into a realistic fireplace with the help of the Fireplace screensaver. We have tried to make it as realistic as possible. The fireplace warms your body and comforts your heart. You may even feel the heat like that of a real fire.
Fireplace screensaver imitates the real world completely. Every small detail is considered by developers and successfully realized in Fireplace screensaver. This screensaver helps people to relax after a hard days work, and releases them from their daily routine for a moment.”
Quick Pros
- Heat ripple effect looks nice (Could use more distortion)
- Logs and scene looks nice
- Sparks flying up nice
Quick Cons
- Lighting could be improved (Flickering, a little lighter around mantle, etc.)
- Flames could have been more random
- Sound doesn’t vary (No pops or sizzles)
Expansion
The fireplace screensavers popped up last year all over North America’s stores during the winter holiday season. Their popularity may come from people trying to find a little holiday spirit from their high-speed lives on the computer. There appears to be a lot of market for these as well; Most place I went to I usually saw someone with a copy in their hand as well.
There is some nice portions of this screensaver that make it look nice. The heat ripples are a great idea – Could have done with a steeper ripple effect, but it is still really nice. The physical objects look nice in the scene as well – There was some effort put into this static scene to ensure it had a 3D feel to it. The sparks are nice as well to add a little liveliness.
On the flipside, the lighting could be improved. The portion of realism I feel is missing is the ‘flicker’ of the light across the objects, especially the mantle, the bricks in the back and the rod iron in the front. The bricks would then need some bump-mapping added for true realism. The flames could have been more random and the colors a little more bold (Add some blue at the base.) The sound doesn’t do much either – Could have ‘popped’ and sent some sparks skyward, or sizzled and left a small steam cloud.
A few other comments as well – There is no anti-aliasing and can’t specifically tell if there’s bump-mapping, but I would garner a guess there isn’t (Why would they if there is no lighting or camera changes?) Needs to be a little more advanced as well. For once, the installer followed my request for no desktop icons; That said, I still get one folder of icons on my main Start Menu.
Final Verdict
It is a nice ambiance and looks fairly good. If they added a few more realistic aspects, I feel that this could end up flying out the doors more this coming holiday season. For free, if you love fire and would like this, you should pick this up. For $14.95, if it matured a little more, it could be worth this to many. I likely wouldn’t pay $14.95 for it in this form, but may be an option down the road.
Posted by BladedThoth on Saturday, May 26, 2007
