| Original author(s) | Jack Eastman[1] Patrick Beard |
|---|---|
| Developer(s) | Berkeley Systems |
| Initial release | 1989; 31 years ago |
| Stable release | 4.0 / 1996; 24 years ago |
| Written in | assembly language, C |
| Operating system | Apple Macintosh, Microsoft Windows, DOS[2] |
| Type | screensaver |
| Website | en.infinisys.co.jp/product/adx/ |
May 24, 2013 Flying Toasters! Can of Worms! After Dark was unavoidable and awesome in its day, and this video explores the original releases, released on both the M.
After Dark is a series of computerscreensaversoftware introduced by Berkeley Systems in 1989 for the Apple Macintosh, and in 1991 for Microsoft Windows.[3][4]
Following the original, additional editions included More After Dark, Before Dark, and editions themed around licensed properties such as Star Trek, The Simpsons, Looney Tunes, Marvel, and Disney characters.[4]
On top of the included animated screensavers, the program allowed for the development and use of third-party modules, many hundreds of which were created by the height of After Dark's popularity,[5] including Star Wars Screen Entertainment by LucasArts and Presage Software development, Inc.
Flying Toasters[edit]
The most famous of the included screensaver modules is the iconic Flying Toasters which featured 1940s-style chrome toasters sporting bird-like wings, flying across the screen with pieces of toast. Engineer Jack Eastman came up with the display after seeing a toaster in the kitchen during a late night programming session and imagining the addition of wings.[6] A slider in the Flying Toasters module enabled users to adjust the toast's darkness and an updated Flying Toasters Pro module added a choice of music—Richard Wagner's Ride of the Valkyries or a flying toaster anthem with optional karaoke lyrics.[7] Yet another version called Flying Toasters! added bagels and pastries, baby toasters, and more elaborate toaster animation. The Flying Toasters were one of the key reasons that After Dark became popular, and Berkeley began to produce other merchandising products such as T-shirts, with the Flying Toaster image and slogans such as 'The 51st Flying Toaster Squadron: On a mission to save your screen!'
The toasters were the subject of two lawsuits, the first in 1993, Berkeley Systems vs Delrina Corporation, over a module of Delrina's Opus 'N Bill screensaver in which Opus the penguin shoots down the toasters.[8] After a U.S. District judge ruled that Delrina's 'Death Toasters' was infringing, Delrina later changed the wings of the toasters to propellers.[8] The second case was brought in 1994 by 1960s rock groupJefferson Airplane who claimed that the toasters were a copy of the winged toasters featured on the cover of their 1973 album Thirty Seconds Over Winterland.[9] The case was dismissed because the cover art had not been registered as a trademark by the group prior to Berkeley Systems' release of the screensaver.[6]
A 3D version of the toasters featuring swarms of toasters with airplane wings, rather than bird wings, is available for XScreenSaver.
A flying toaster was used as a logo of the club called Peach Pit After Dark in the TV series Beverly Hills 90210.
History[edit]
In 1997, Berkeley Systems was acquired by the Sierra On-Line division of CUC International.[10]Joan Blades and Wes Boyd, the founders of Berkeley Systems, went on to create MoveOn.org.
An official version of After Dark was released for Mac OS X (running on PowerPC) by Infinisys Ltd (of Japan) in May 2003.[11] For Intel Macs, three of the most popular modules—Flying Toasters, Mowing Man and Boris—are being sold as standalone screensavers.[12]
Sierra released a Flying Toaster video game for cell phones in 2006.[13]
After Dark Games[edit]
Sierra Interactive and Berkeley Systems released After Dark Games in 1998 for the Macintosh and Windows platforms, which contained several games modeled after their previously released screensavers.[14][15] These games included Mowin' Maniac (a Pac-Man clone based on the 'Mowin' Man' and 'Mowin' Boris' modules); Roof Rats (similar to SameGame and variants); Solitaire (After Dark themed); Toaster Run (an isometric Glider clone featuring several After Dark characters, including a Flying Toaster); Zapper (a trivia game); Hula Girl (an endless 2D platforming game based on the 'Hula Twins' module from After Dark 4.0); two word scramble games – Bad Dog 911 (based on the 'Bad Dog' modules) and Fish Shtix (based on the 'Fish' modules, mainly 'Fish World'); Foggy Boxes (a Dots and Boxes game based on the 'Messages 4.0' module); MooShu Tiles (a Mahjong-like game featuring many After Dark characters throughout the years); and Rodger Dodger.[16]
J.C. Herz of The New York Times wrote that the 'sheer simplicity' of these games helped make them as 'engaging and addictive as the mega-selling 40-hour sagas with souped-up 3-D sound and state-of-the-art computer graphics.'[17] A review in Computer Gaming World stated that, 'If nothing else, it makes for a good time-killer.'[18]
Mac Screensaver Best
Modules[edit]
| Module Name | Description |
|---|---|
| Starry Night | The original After Dark screen saver, featuring a pixelated city skyline under a night sky |
| Aquatic Realm (Fish!) | Underwater world of fish with a black background |
| Artist | A digital artist applies artistic touches to images in a slow manner so one can see the artist work |
| Bad Dog | Popular module featuring a white dog with a black ring around one of his eyes, causing trouble on the desktop (the animated series Bad Dog was inspired by the eponymous screensaver)[19] |
| Bad Dog! | A sequel to Bad Dog with new animations and sequences |
| Bogglins | Green slime creatures are formed and make obnoxious noises |
| Boris | The opposite of Bad Dog, a good cat plays on the desktop and chases butterflies |
| Bouncing Ball | A ball bounces around the screen, including bouncing off the edges |
| Bugs | Digital bugs crawl across the screen |
| Bulge | Expands portions of the screen, making the screen appear to have a 'bulge' |
| Bungee Roulette[i] | Various characters bungee-jump from the top of the screen, but occasionally the bungee cord breaks |
| Can of Worms | 'Worms' emerge from the screen, crawl around, and 'eat' the screen content |
| Chameleon[i] | Chameleons walk across the screen, changing colors and eating icons |
| Clocks | Different objects appear as a clock and move around |
| Coming Soon![i] | A salesperson pitches fictitious 'products' |
| Confetti Factory | Confetti falls from the top of the screen and onto conveyor belts below |
| Daredevil Dan | A daredevil motorcyclist attempts dangerous jumps over school buses, flames, and piranha tanks |
| Dominoes | A game of dominoes is played on the screen |
| Doodles | Draws doodle-like images |
| DOS Shell | A mock DOS shell is run on the screen, reliving earlier days of computing |
| Dots | A game of 'dots' is played on the screen |
| Down the Drain | The desktop appears to spiral down a drain |
| Einstein | Complex mathematical and scientific equations are performed on the screen |
| Fade Away | The desktop fades away in different ways |
| Fish Pro | Fish module similar to Aquatic Realm |
| Fish World | The third iteration of the concept introduced in Aquatic Realm with prerendered 3D models |
| Floating Suns[ii] | Displays the Phoenix Suns basketball team's logos floating around the screen |
| Flocks | Displays flocks of various creatures on the screen |
| Flying Toasters | Classic module featuring flying toasters |
| Flying Toasters Pro | Updated version that allows one to select more than flying toasters and also has music |
| Flying Toasters! | 4.0 iteration of the flying toasters with updated graphics and music — introduces baby toasters |
| Flying Toilets[i] | Parody of Flying Toasters with toilets replacing the toasters |
| Fractal Forest | A forest of trees is generated on the screen |
| FrankenScreen[i] | A digital Frankenstein creates creatures out of various parts |
| Frost and Fire | Produces patterns similar to splattering paint on paper |
| GeoBounce | A geometrical figure bounces around the screen |
| Globe | Takes an image and wraps it around a sphere, then spins like a globe |
| GraphStat | Draws scientific and mathematical graphs on the screen |
| Gravity | Circles bounce around the screen |
| Guts | Gravity simulation |
| Hall of Fame | 10th anniversary module featuring anime-style recreations of various After Dark characters |
| Hall of Mirrors | Reflects parts of the screen in an infinite mirror style |
| Hallucinations | The computer 'hallucinates' |
| Hard Rain | Rain falls onto the desktop |
| Hula Twins | Displays two animated figures who walk around and twirl hula hoops |
| Lasers | Lasers create patterns on the screen |
| Lissajous | Displays Lissajous designs |
| Logo | User-supplied image moves randomly on screen |
| Lunatic Fringe | A playable space shooter game within a module |
| Magic | Creates soothing patterns |
| Mandelbrot | Generates a mathematically created Mandelbrot set |
| Marbles | Marbles bounce around the screen |
| Meadow | A computer-generated meadow |
| Message Mayhem[i] | A figure on the screen scrawls out a message |
| Messages | Displays a crawling marquee message on the screen with selectable font and text colors |
| Mike's So-called Life[i] | Features a man named Mike, living in his apartment and doing nothing exciting |
| Mime Hunt[i] | A playable module that features a mime and cross-hairs |
| Modern Art | Modern Art displayed on the screen |
| Mondrian | Inverts parts of the screen |
| Mosaic | Creates a mosaic of the screen |
| Mountains | Generates 3-D mountains |
| Movies 'Til Dawn | Plays QuickTime movies |
| Mowin' Boris[i] | Mowin' Man mows a field with Boris the cat around. When Mowin' Man runs over Boris, blood and guts appear |
| Mowin' Man | A man mows a constantly growing field |
| MultiModule | Displays a user-selected combination of After Dark modules with the modules all displayed simultaneously and optionally overlaid over each other |
| NightLines | |
| Nirvana | Generates colorful textures |
| Nocturnes | Shows the eyes of various nocturnal creatures, such as bats |
| Nonsense | Nonsensical phrases are displayed on the screen |
| Om Appliances | Various appliances do weird things on the screen |
| Origami | Computer-generated origami appears on the screen |
| Out and About | A musician walks out with a chair and an instrument, sits down and begins to play while other people slowly appear and begin milling around while kids play |
| Pattern | Animated patterns appear on the screen |
| Pearl | An optical effect featuring squares |
| Penrose | Penrose tiling effect |
| Phlegm Boy[i] | An obnoxious slimy creature is disgusting and displays bad habits |
| Photon | Computer-generated particles of light are emitted from the darkness |
| PICS Player | Plays an animated sequence from a PICS file on the Mac platform |
| Plasma | Plasma-like image generated |
| Punch Out | Round holes appear to be punched out of the desktop |
| Puzzle | The desktop becomes a sliding puzzle |
| Rain | Colorful raindrops fall on the desktop |
| Rainstorm | Like the Rain module, but with wind and lightning |
| Rainy Day[ii] | Rain drops on your screen. User can select how fast they fall and how strong the wind is. |
| Randomizer | Randomly displays modules chosen from a user-generated list of modules |
| Rat Race | A race featuring three rats with names, mindlessly wandering around the track until there is a winner |
| Rebound | Balls rebound around the screen |
| Rose | Mathematical pattern based on trigonometry |
| Satori | Color animated light show |
| Say What? | Displays humorous phrases |
| Scrubbing Bubbles[ii] | Displays multiple Scrubbing Bubbles (Dow Brands) floating around the screen |
| Scrubbing Bubbles II[ii] | Displays multiple Scrubbing Bubbles (Dow Brands) 'scrubbing' the screen and going down the drain |
| Shapes | Fills the screen with colorful, geometric shapes |
| Shock Clocks[i] | Scary creatures are turned into clocks |
| Shooting Spree[ii] | The desktop appears to be shot up by a gun. User can select which gun to use. |
| Sinkhole[ii] | The desktop appears to fall into sinkholes |
| Slide Show | A basic slide show of user-supplied images |
| Snake | A pixelated snake tries to find its way through a maze |
| Spheres | A number of spheres fill the screen |
| Spin Brush | Smears points on the screen like wet paper |
| Spiral Gyro | Vector module that twists lines |
| Spotlight | The desktop becomes black and parts are 'illuminated' by a randomly moving light spot |
| Squigwig | Generates mathematical circles |
| Stained Glass | Produces quilt-like patterns |
| Steam Rollin'[ii] | Displays a guy driving around squishing toys, snakes and babies (a take-off on the Mowin' Man module) |
| Stormy Night | Random lightning bolts, with thunderclap sounds |
| Strange Attractor | Computer-generated color image |
| String Theory | Moire patterns |
| Sunburst | Color pattern that appears to come from the Sun |
| Supernova | Displays an exploding supernova |
| Swan Lake | Swans swim around the desktop |
| This Ol' House[ii] | Someone appears to be working on the desktop from the other side with power saws |
| Toaster 2K | 10th anniversary module featuring futuristic and mecha versions of the flying toasters |
| Toxic Swamp[i] | Parody of Aquatic Realm, but in a toxic polluted swamp with mutated fish and a mob boss |
| Tunnel | Makes the screen appear to be a tunnel |
| Use Your Own![ii] | Displays multiple images of the users choice moving around the screen |
| Vertigo | Colorful rainbow spirals drawn on the screen |
| Virex-D | An implementation of the Virex anti-virus utility. Scans for viruses and displays icons in 3D form[20] |
| Voyeur[i] | One appears to be spying on an apartment complex with a big city skyline in the background |
| Warp | One appears to be traveling among stars at high speed |
| Window Blinds[ii] | Desktop is separated into columns and then each one turns like a window blind |
| Wrap Around | Draws three-dimensional loops |
| Wrecking Ball[ii] | A wrecking ball appears to demolish the desktop |
| You Bet Your Head | Playable quiz game featuring three colored 'heads' that are smashed by a hammer if one supplies the wrong answer to a question |
| Zoom! | Creates colorful triangular tubes |
| Zot | Attempts to generate lightning |
Word Connect
- ^ abcdefghijklmAn edition called After Dark Totally Twisted includes the more macabre modules, namely Bungee Roulette, Chameleon, Coming Soon!, Flying Toilets, FrankenScreen, Message Mayhem, Mike's So-called Life, Mime Hunt, Mowin' Boris, Phlegm Boy, Shock Clocks, Toxic Swamp, and Voyeur.
- ^ abcdefghijkModules from the Still in the Dark collection of 11 modules by Bob Loeffler.
Release history[edit]
- version 1.0 - 1989[21]
- version 2.0 - 1992 - The first official release for Windows.[22][23]
- version 3.0 - 1994[24][25]
- version 3.2 - 1995[26]
- version 4.0 - 1996[27]
Licensed Products[edit]
- The Disney Collection Screen Saver - 1990-1993
- Star Trek: The Screen Saver[28]
- Marvel Comics Screen Posters - 1993[29]
- X-Men Screen Saver[30]
- The Simpsons Screen Saver - 1994[31]
- Star Trek: The Next Generation Screen Saver - 1994[32]
- Star Wars: Screen Entertainment - 1994 (unlicensed clone by LucasArts built on the After Dark software)[33]
- Looney Tunes Screen Saver - 1995[34][35]
- Toy Story - 1995[36]
- Myst Screen Saver[37]
- Chex Quest Screen Saver - 1997 (unlicensed module built on the After Dark software)[38]
References[edit]
- ^Lammle, Bob (March 16, 2012). ''90s Tech Icons: Where Are They Now?'. Mashable. Retrieved October 15, 2016.
- ^DOS user Need No Longer Covert After Dark for Windows, PC Mag, 7 Dec 1993, Page 59
- ^Greg Shultz (April 14, 2011). 'Flying Toasters - A look back at After Dark for Windows 1.0'. TechRepublic.
- ^ ab'Aggressively Stupid: The Story Behind After Dark'. Lowendmac.com. Archived from the original on 11 February 2010. Retrieved 2010-03-18.
- ^'On Mighty Toaster Wings: More After Dark History'. Lowendmac.com. Archived from the original on 11 February 2010. Retrieved 2010-03-18.
- ^ abPhin, Christopher (2015-02-03). 'Think Retro: Bring back the Flying Toasters'. Macworld. Retrieved 2016-03-02.
- ^'AfterDark Deluxe — Review'. Mymac.com. Archived from the original on 2010-01-07. Retrieved 2010-03-18.
- ^ abBloomberg Business News (1993-10-11). 'Software Parody Is Toast After Court Ruling'. Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2016-03-03.
- ^Rose, Lance (1994-10-01). 'Another Poppin' Fresh Lawsuit'. Wired. Retrieved 2016-03-03.
- ^Berkeley Systems Acquired by CUCArchived June 15, 2010, at the Wayback Machine Wired.com
- ^'Press Release : Infinisys Releases After Dark X+Fish for Mac OS X'. Infinysys. Retrieved 2010-03-18.
- ^'After Dark Screensavers : Classic Set (Macintosh)'. Infinysys. Retrieved 2014-08-05.
- ^GameSpot (2006-05-19). 'Vivendi Universal Games Mobile Announces Six New Titles'. Gamespot.com. Archived from the original on 2013-01-24. Retrieved 2010-03-18.
- ^After Dark Games, by Berkeley Systems, Published 1998, Internet Archive
- ^Advertisement Video:After Dark Games, by Sierra Entertainment, Published 1998, Internet Archive
- ^After Dark Games MobyGames
- ^Herz, J. C. (29 April 1999). 'GAME THEORY; Flying Toasters That You Can Play With'. The New York Times. Retrieved 15 March 2020.
- ^Baker II, Samuel (1999). 'After Dark Games'. Computer Gaming World. Golden Empires Publication. 175: 217.
- ^Kidscreen » Archive » Bonneau names that toon, By Virginia Robertson, May 1, 1999
- ^TidBITS Electronic Publishing (1991-08-12). 'TidBITS#76/12-Aug-91' (76). TidBITS. Archived from the original on 2015-12-22. Retrieved 2015-10-22.Cite journal requires
|journal=(help) - ^Simon, Barry (14 May 1991). 'First Looks: Windows Screen Blanders: Blanking Your Screen Is Only the Beginning'. PC Mag. Vol. 10 no. 9. p. 48.
- ^'Announced'. InfoWorld. Vol. 14 no. 7. 17 Feb 1992. p. 18. ISSN0199-6649.
...After Dark 2.0 for Windows will add digitized sound and the capability to turn any After Dark display into wallpaper. Berkeley Systems Inc.'s screen-saver utility is due to ship this month for $49.95...
- ^'Swans! Mirrors! More Fish!'. PC Mag. Vol. 11 no. 10. 26 May 1992. p. 64.
...Berkeley Systems, maker of the popular screen saver After Dark for Windows, is now shipping a new ...Version 2.0.
- ^Marshall, Patrick (5 Sep 1994). 'Review/Test Drives: Screen Saver: After Dark joins rat race'. InfoWorld. Vol. 16 no. 36. p. 95. ISSN0199-6649.
- ^After Dark 3.0, by Berkeley Systems, Published 1994, Internet Archive
- ^After Dark 3.2, by Berkeley Systems, Published 1995, Internet Archive
- ^After Dark 4.0 Deluxe, by Berkeley Systems, Published 1996, Internet Archive
- ^http://macintoshgarden.org/apps/after-dark-star-trek
- ^After Hours: Windows Screen Savers: giving your PC a touch of panache, By Melisaa J. Perenson, PC Mag, 17 May 1994
- ^http://macintoshgarden.org/apps/after-dark-x-men-screen-saver
- ^https://sites.google.com/site/afterdarkscreensavers/
- ^http://macintoshgarden.org/apps/after-dark-star-trek-the-next-generation
- ^https://macintoshgarden.org/apps/star-wars-screen-entertainment
- ^Berkeley Systems After Dark Looney Tunes Screen Saver, by Berkeley Systems, Published 1995, Internet Archive
- ^After Dark Looney Tunes Collection, by Berkeley Systems, Internet Archive
- ^https://macintoshgarden.org/apps/after-dark-toy-story
- ^http://macintoshgarden.org/apps/after-dark-myst-screen-saver
- ^https://macintoshgarden.org/apps/chex-quest-screen-saver
Further reading[edit]
- Fenton, Erfert. Art of Darkness. Peachpit Press, 1992.
External links[edit]
- After Dark X — the official version for Mac OS X by Infinisys
- Aggressively Stupid: The Story Behind After Dark, By Tommy Thomas - 2007.02.09
- On Mighty Toaster Wings: More After Dark History, By Tommy Thomas - 2007.02.12
Flight simulators and aircraft combat games serve a solid niche for those of us that like to take to the skies when we're not doing other things with our computers. Here's a roundup of the top ones you can download today, with prices from free to reasonable and the focus from arcade-style action to ultra-realistic flight sim. They're not only great games, they're some of the best Mac games you can find.
X-Plane is without peer on the Mac. Calling X-Plane a game isn't just wrong, but it's insulting: X-Plane is the definitive flight simulator for the platform. Intricately detailed, it's also incredibly scalable - X-Plane runs on mobile, oz77n home Macs and PCs, and also operates as a detailed professional-grade aviation simulator.
Scramble Word Game
More than 30 aircraft are available in the default installation: You can fly everything from a single-engine Cessna 172 — the most popular airplane in the world — to a B-2 bomber. The app models fixed and rotary wing aircraft both, along with tons of atmospheric conditions that affect flight. It even simulates what'd be like to fly the Space Shuttle. More than 1,400 additional aircraft models can be downloaded online. And you can fly almost anywhere: Land at more than 33,000 airports worldwide, touch down on an aircraft carrier and more.
A free demo is available, so don't let the price tag scare you off. Given the incredible level of detail and the huge ecosystem that supports X-Plane, it's well worth the money if you take your flight simulation seriously.
- $59.99 - Download now
FlightGear
An open source flight simulator, FlightGear is a bit more do-it-yourself than some of the other apps in this list, but it's still remarkable and definitely worth checking out. You download the central app, airplane models and scenery separately. Hundreds of aircraft models are available for download.
FlightGear's rough open source edges show, but if you're a developer or a code tinkerer, there's fun to be had here. And for everyone else, plenty of fun airplanes to fly and scenery to explore.
- Free - Download now
WarBirds
Total Sims' WarBirds flight combat game has going since 1995. Take to the skies behind the yoke of dozens of legendary World War II-era aircraft. Single player mode consists of 20 training modules, 12 instant missions, and five different Free Flight modes. What's more, you can play offline for free, for as long as you want.
But the real meat of this game is in online play, which does incur a monthly fee to continue to play. You go on raids with squadrons of other real-world players as you reenact many famous battles of World War II. Total Sims is a bit funky with their Mac support; their FAQs reference Apple's GameSprocket technology, which went out the door when Classic Mac OS gave way to OS X more than a decade ago. But it goes to show just how long WarBirds has been on the platform, too.
- $13.95 (monthly, free offline play) - Download now
Falcon 4.0: Allied Force
Graphic Simulations has been making flight sims for the Macintosh since the early 1990s. Falcon 4.0: Allied Force is the latest iteration of its classic F-16 Falcon flight simulator, taking you to the Balkans and the Korean peninsula for realistic combat missions.
Arm your aircraft with realistic weapons and ordnance, then fly missions deep into hostile territory with a dynamic campaign engine that changes things every time you play.
- $9.99 - Download now
Sky Gamblers: Storm Raiders
Atypical Games' entry is an absolute must if you want to dogfight World War II style. The game features terrific graphics and easy to understand gameplay. There are single-player missions here but where the game really shines is in multiplayer dogfighting combat, which has been the series' strength. A variety of different online game modes test your skill, like Capture The Flag and Last Man Standing.
Sky Gamblers supports iCloud and Game Center - any progress you make in game can be saved to the cloud. It also supports a joystick or gamepad, which is a must for any flight sim, as far as I'm concerned. $5 gets you plenty of game play, but there are in app purchases that let you unlock new customization features and new airplane models.
- $4.99 - Download now
F/18 Carrier Landing II Pro
It's obviously a port of a game that originated on iOS, but it's lots of fun regardless. Take off and land from aircraft carriers and airstrips in some of the most legendary combat aircraft flying: the F-A/18 Super Hornet, F-14 Super Tomcat, F-16 Fighting Falcon and MiG-29K are all represented, along with the Harrier, F35B Lightning II and more.
RORTOS calls itself maker of the most advanced flight sims for mobile, and they're pretty snazzy on the Mac too. More than thirty missions along with a half-dozen training missions and free flight so you can buzz around on your own with no agenda.
- $5.99 - Download now
Heads up, virtual pilots — what'd I leave out?
This is my list of favorites right now, but I'm sure I've left some off that you love too. Feel free to let me know in the comments!
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