tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-65221699282182556242024-10-24T20:32:31.301-07:00A module by module detail of the After Dark screen saver collections.David Donarumohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00705914107341178826noreply@blogger.comBlogger36125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6522169928218255624.post-43995989018992382262008-02-20T08:34:00.000-08:002008-12-10T10:02:24.165-08:00

Flocks by L Wennerstrom, D. Johnson.©1992-93 Berkeley Systems Inc.Part of the More After Dark collection.I have always loved this module. This was released back when the idea of AI on your home computer was still new. It felt like the module was actually doing something other than placing random images or animations on the screen. The idea that these object on the screen were following some

David Donarumohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00705914107341178826noreply@blogger.com20tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6522169928218255624.post-79749707170811612182008-02-18T06:21:00.000-08:002008-02-18T06:32:28.593-08:00

Einstein by Mark Malamud & Susan Hautala.©1992-93 Berkeley Systems Inc.Part of the More After Dark collection.I have no idea if these calculations are correct. But I like seeing them fly by my screen in some Beautiful Mind like fit of math evisceration. I feel smarter when this screen saver kicks in. Maybe someone will walk by my screen and maybe they will think I know what I'm doing.The

David Donarumohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00705914107341178826noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6522169928218255624.post-52075356692726555902008-01-10T07:48:00.000-08:002008-01-10T07:58:39.605-08:00

Dominoes by M. Overlin, P. Beard, I. Gasowski.©1991-93 Berkeley Systems Inc.Part of the More After Dark collection.I've always really liked the Dominoes module. At the time, it was a unique idea to create a screensaver out of game and there was something slightly fascinating about watching a game play out automatically on your screen. Okay, maybe I was easily entertained back then.A small

David Donarumohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00705914107341178826noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6522169928218255624.post-6656800819271986052008-01-07T11:52:00.000-08:002008-01-07T12:02:21.626-08:00

Confetti Factory by P. Lamoreux, P. Young.©1990-93 Berkeley Systems Inc.Part of the More After Dark collection.I love this module and I have absolutely no idea why. Perhaps it's the ducks. Perhaps it's always the ducks. The random nature of the conveyor layout lends itself to that "anything can happen" After Dark module mentality. Of course, "anything" in this case meaning what can happen

David Donarumohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00705914107341178826noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6522169928218255624.post-9368196771705441062008-01-04T09:26:00.000-08:002008-01-04T09:40:18.924-08:00

Bogglins by M. Overlin, R. Vaterlaus, I. Gasowski.©1991-93 Berkeley Systems Inc.Part of the More After Dark collection.Boris is perhaps the exact opposite of Bogglins. The animation is nicely done, the subject matter is cute, and you can have more than one sprite on the screen at the same time. Boris really represents the direct After Dark was heading after their initial release. The quality

David Donarumohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00705914107341178826noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6522169928218255624.post-28796041407942094692008-01-02T13:33:00.000-08:002008-01-02T13:59:29.543-08:00

Bogglins by P. Sasse, D. Auld, A. Karn.©1992-93 Berkeley Systems Inc.Part of the More After Dark collection.Other than "What the heck?" I'm not sure what to think about Bogglins. I mean, it works great under modern Windows and that's wonderful and all but what purpose does this module serve? (I know, it's a screen saver, what is this talk of purpose.)Perhaps as a precursor to "Totally Twisted",

David Donarumohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00705914107341178826noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6522169928218255624.post-89491726531970031282007-12-14T08:58:00.000-08:002008-12-10T10:02:24.234-08:00

Zot! by Bill Stewart & Jim Stewart.©1990-92 Berkeley Systems Inc.Part of the After Dark 2.0 collection.So we come to the last module in the original Windows release. There was a DOS version of After Dark but it seems those modules exclusive to the DOS release are currently lost to history.I think Zot! works best when combined with one of the rain modules. By itself, this module runs too

David Donarumohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00705914107341178826noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6522169928218255624.post-64431863592278806422007-12-14T08:48:00.000-08:002008-12-10T10:02:24.244-08:00

Wrap Around by Richard Lesh.©1990-92 Berkeley Systems Inc.Part of the After Dark 2.0 collection.To be honest, before starting this web site, I don't believe I spent more than two second thinking about or examining this module. Maybe it was because Wrap Around was near the end of the list alphabetically, maybe it was because this module lacks some of the flash seen in others.But I've come around

David Donarumohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00705914107341178826noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6522169928218255624.post-42112559497136581202007-12-13T14:01:00.000-08:002008-12-10T10:02:24.254-08:00

Vertigo by J. Eastman & T. Elmore.©1990-92 Berkeley Systems Inc.Part of the After Dark 2.0 collection.This is an interesting module in that it still runs on modern systems with modern color counts but because the palette cycling of the module, it is much less entertaining on modern systems. Still, some of the palette choices are pretty interesting and the shapes generated can add some

David Donarumohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00705914107341178826noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6522169928218255624.post-57165126463396997462007-12-13T12:25:00.000-08:002008-12-10T10:02:24.267-08:00

Swan Lake by B. Resner & M. Overlin.©1992 Berkeley Systems Inc.Part of the After Dark 2.0 collection.My old roommate once described the Swan Lake module as Flying Toasters for girls. Actually, that never happened but it felt like a good story and I can certainly see him saying something like that. That's just the kind of guy he was.Swan Lake was a bit of an oddity when it was released as it

David Donarumohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00705914107341178826noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6522169928218255624.post-62501617584189862142007-12-11T13:55:00.000-08:002008-12-10T10:02:24.279-08:00

String Theory by Bill Stewart.©1990-92 Berkeley Systems Inc.Part of the After Dark 2.0 collection.Another (but not the last!) module consisting of a line bouncing around the screen. I always liked this one specifically because it doesn't pretend to be anything it's not.I'm probably thinking too much into it but String Theory was always simple to understand and gave you on screen exactly what you

David Donarumohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00705914107341178826noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6522169928218255624.post-36356022133232133162007-12-10T09:43:00.000-08:002008-12-10T10:02:24.289-08:00

Stained Glass by J. Tantra and W. Boyd.©1990-92 Berkeley Systems Inc.Part of the After Dark 2.0 collection.When I first installed After Dark, I didn't like Stained Glass. I felt it looked like a module that was broken and the developers kind of liked it broken and left it that way. Over the years though, it has grown on me and is now one of my favorite random design modules.Whatever options you

David Donarumohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00705914107341178826noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6522169928218255624.post-51177789765249901432007-12-10T09:33:00.000-08:002008-12-10T10:02:24.300-08:00

Spiral Gyra by K. Alphonso & J. Casey.©1990-92 Berkeley Systems Inc.Part of the After Dark 2.0 collection.This module runs too fast on modern systems to be watchable. Even when it did run at a more normal speed, it wasn't the most entertaining of savers.Based on the "in-program" text given below, I don't think the makers of this module were that excited about it either.SPIRAL GYRA(tm) is

David Donarumohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00705914107341178826noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6522169928218255624.post-24387966998948820042007-12-06T08:51:00.000-08:002008-12-10T10:02:24.311-08:00

Shapes by Rob Gale.©1992 Berkeley Systems Inc.Part of the After Dark 2.0 collection.Oh wave files, with your large size and your .wav extension. Perhaps it's a testament to Windows that this module still works absolutely fine. Granted, many people no longer have a large cache of wave file lying around but Windows still installs a bunch so there's always some to pick through if needed.Of course,

David Donarumohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00705914107341178826noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6522169928218255624.post-74214452645225954052007-12-05T09:13:00.000-08:002008-12-10T10:02:24.320-08:00

Shapes by Bill Stewart.©1990-92 Berkeley Systems Inc.Part of the After Dark 2.0 collection.Again, this isn't one of those really exciting modules that makes you laugh and cry or makes you day dream about all the exciting and wondrous things you will see and options you want to try.What, that's not what you day dream about?This seems like one of those modules that kind of had to be included

David Donarumohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00705914107341178826noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6522169928218255624.post-16663965205739544212007-12-03T13:14:00.000-08:002008-12-10T10:02:24.330-08:00

Rainstorm by P. Beard & T. Elmore.©1990-92 Berkeley Systems Inc.Part of the After Dark 2.0 collection.Not much to say here other than this is a very mundane module with a very exciting name. The lightening effect was cool back in the day but as this module now runs a little too fast the lightening flash is too frequent and annoying.Okay, I have to say something nice. Well, the module does

David Donarumohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00705914107341178826noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6522169928218255624.post-12789357447386390662007-11-28T08:02:00.000-08:002008-12-10T10:02:24.340-08:00

Punch Out by Bill Stewart..©1990-92 Berkeley Systems Inc.Part of the After Dark 2.0 collection.It's not the most exciting of modules. It does (as they say) what it says on the tin. It does run a little too fast on modern systems but this is less of a detriment for Punch Out than for other modules like Aquatic Realm.I think this module is best used in conjunction with others in a randomizer as

David Donarumohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00705914107341178826noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6522169928218255624.post-78820357882578908532007-11-27T07:02:00.000-08:002008-12-10T10:02:24.352-08:00

Penrose by A. Karn and T DiZoglio..©1992 Berkeley Systems Inc.Part of the After Dark 2.0 collection.Penrose is capable of generating some really beautiful patterns. This was definitely one of the more professional looking savers included in the original Windows release. With the various color palettes and a nice collection of patterns, although nothing really moved, it was still one of the

David Donarumohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00705914107341178826noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6522169928218255624.post-13455450089951895902007-11-26T11:11:00.000-08:002008-12-10T10:02:24.363-08:00

Nocturnes by J. Steinmetz & R. Herrell.©1990-92 Berkeley Systems Inc.Part of the After Dark 2.0 collection.To be honest, I've never thought about Nocturnes much. It's not the most exciting of modules. It does what it does and it does it fine which I guess is saying enough.The title suggests this is a night scene. This means your screen stays mostly black and the saver only needs to draw

David Donarumohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00705914107341178826noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6522169928218255624.post-35294924699119778282007-11-20T06:48:00.000-08:002008-12-10T10:02:24.374-08:00

Mountains by B. Haller & T. Elmore.©1990-92 Berkeley Systems Inc.Part of the After Dark 2.0 collection.I've always like the Mountains module. When first released it was one of my first exposures to the complexity that is possible with a computer. This was like the random baby brother of VistaPro without any of the complexity.The mountains still look pretty cool today and thankfully, this is

David Donarumohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00705914107341178826noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6522169928218255624.post-14349119988684884582007-11-20T06:39:00.000-08:002008-12-10T10:02:24.384-08:00

Mondrian by Bill Stewart & Wes Boyd.©1990-92 Berkeley Systems Inc.Part of the After Dark 2.0 collection.To be honest, I'm not sure what to make of this module. It's always seemed to run a bit fast, even on much slower systems but I think that's part of the effect. The effect is kind of cool and a still image seems to look interesting and enough like modern art to qualify as a randomization

David Donarumohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00705914107341178826noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6522169928218255624.post-50310719758661896192007-11-07T08:38:00.000-08:002008-12-10T10:02:24.395-08:00

Marbles by M. Overlin & K. McLeod©1990-92 Berkeley Systems Inc.Part of the After Dark 2.0 collection.One of my favorite modules back in the day, Marbles was a fun module to watch and still holds up (for the most part) today. The physics are a little wonky and it has been replaced by a later version 4.0 module with better graphics, more accurate physics, and customizable options.This one

David Donarumohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00705914107341178826noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6522169928218255624.post-62401150054433366862007-11-06T07:38:00.000-08:002008-12-10T10:02:24.406-08:00

Magic by Bill Stewart and Ian MacDonald.©1990-92 Berkeley Systems Inc.Part of the After Dark 2.0 collection.Perhaps a little mundane and boring for the modern screen saver fan, Magic still works great on a modern computer. However, since the decedent of Magic is built into every version of Windows there is little this module can offer of which most users are not already tired.Still, it's a good

David Donarumohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00705914107341178826noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6522169928218255624.post-44686156309757528642007-11-05T12:36:00.000-08:002008-12-10T10:02:24.417-08:00

Hard Rain by Bill Stewart.©1990-92 Berkeley Systems Inc.Part of the After Dark 2.0 collection.I know it's just lines on a screen but like the Magic module and other similar savers, there's just something cool about the Lasers module. I do wish it worked a little slower on modern systems so as to approach what feels more like light show speed but the frenetic pace does give an exciting colorful

David Donarumohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00705914107341178826noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6522169928218255624.post-81440930863881723342007-11-02T08:32:00.000-07:002008-12-10T10:02:24.428-08:00

Hard Rain by W. Stewart & T. Elmore.©1990-92 Berkeley Systems Inc.Part of the After Dark 2.0 collection.One of the original line art modules, Hard Rain has not aged well. It runs too fast on modern systems so the ripple effect is lost. Instead of the almost calming image of growing circles lazily appearing on the screen, you get a rapid flash of circles all over the place.In addition, there

David Donarumohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00705914107341178826noreply@blogger.com1