Flocks

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 sort of behavior pattern and "thinking" about where to move was fascinating to me.

Looking back, the model being used, isn't the most intelligent and many of the choices do not behave like their real life counterparts. And I always wished there were behavior options like being able to change the sensitivity areas or the randomness of movement changes. But this can all be forgiven. This saver brought randomness to new heights. Not only was every running of the module slightly different, where creatures moved was controlled by the creatures themselves.

Oh and yeah, sure, those are "polliwogs". Yeah, right.





FLOCKS (tm)

This module attempts to simulate the flocking of birds, or the schooling of fish, or other "group movement" behaviors. It's based on an algorithm developed by Craig Reynolds and outlined in his paper "Flocks, Herds, and Schools: A Distributed Behavioral Model" in the SIGGRAPH Computer Graphics Proceedings, 1987.

Concept and original Mac version by Dave Johnson.
Windows version by:
Leif Wennerstrom
SAPIEN Technologies, Inc.
Richmond, CA


Works under Windows XP & Vista in greater than 256 colors.

Einstein

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 neatness setting is a nice touch. The sound on the other hand did not age well and can be completely muted without detracting from the saver's effect in any way.

Also, this module seems to be based on the same code as the Simpsons "blackboard" module. The text from the later can be found in the .ad file of the former. Makes sense, I just thought that was interesting.


EINSTEIN (tm)

Late one night, in between swigs and swallows of the nectar of the gods (Yoo-hoo(tm)), I mumbled, "Who's at the blackboard?" Later, between bites and nibbles of Mallomars(tm), I muttered, "How many mistakes? A steady hand?" And look where it's got me.

Original Mac version by:
Mark Malamud and Susan Hautala

Windows version by:
Tracy Elmore
SAPIEN Technologies, Inc.
Richmond, CA


Works under Windows XP & Vista in greater than 256 colors.

Bogglins

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", the Bogglin itself is nice and disgusting and I can respect it on that level. But the animation consists of moving around the screen, jiggling, and then exploding.

Other modules in the More After Dark collection have more complex animations so I know the technology existed to make this more "fun". Still, I like that this won a contest. Power to the people and all that.


BOGGLINS (tm)

A Bogglin is sort of a cross between Santa Claus and a pickle. He has apparently just eaten several hundred pounds of something that doesn't agree with him.

This example of Manga (Japanese-style cartooning) was written by Andy Karn, based on animated art submitted by Dann Auld to the 1992 After Dark Contest.

Windows version by:
Paul Sasse
SAPIEN Technologies, Inc.
Richmond, CA

Original Mac version by:
Dann Auld and Andy Karn


Works under Windows XP & Vista in greater than 256 colors.

Zot!

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 fast on modern systems. I know, that's a weird thing to say about a screensaver that emulates lightening. Adding this to a MultiModule can get it to slow down just enough to feel right.

In the interest of full disclosure, I had to manually recreate the above screen as taking a shot of the actual module running proved impossible on a modern system.


ZOT! (tm)

Realistic lightning designed by Jim Stewart.

During the period when this module was being developed, the skies were filled with thunder and lightning each night. These flashes of reality greatly contributed to the realism of this effect.

Original version by Jack Eastman.


Works under Windows XP & Vista in greater than 256 colors but runs too fast.

Wrap Around

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 now. I really like the designs Wrap Around randomly creates. No, this is not the most entertaining screensaver in the world but for anyone who spent hours trying to get that "make a curve out of straight lines" thing working on paper, this automatic and enhanced version may find a special place in their tainted psyche.


WRAP AROUND (tm) draws closed three
dimensional loops in space.

You can choose how long each drawing
stays on the screen, the number of lines
in each drawing, and how fast the color
in the lines changes.


Works under Windows XP & Vista in greater than 256 colors.

Swan Lake

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 was one of the first "graphic" based modules along with Flying Toasters and Aquatic Realm but somehow was by itself, separated from the others. The graphics are well drawn and the little cygnets (I learned a new word today!) are a nice touch.

Also, the speed is completely fine on today's systems. So there must be something different about these swans as compared to the toasters and fish of the same era as those run too fast.




SWAN LAKE (tm) Swans and their cygnets swim gracefully across your screen.

Try a "Synchronized" swim to impose a little structure on the proceedings.

Swan artwork by Igor Gasowski.

Windows version by Mike Overlin, SAPIEN Technologies, Inc.


Works under Windows XP & Vista in greater than 256 colors.

Sounder

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, screensavers are all about watching something happen when you 1. just downloaded the saver, 2. are bored, or 3. leave your computer. It can be kind of annoying to just have some random sounds playing during any of these situations especially when the list of sounds is short and repeats a lot.

Then again, when After Dark first came out, if you were crazy enough to rip your favorites songs to .wav files and combine them with a bunch of cool movie quotes also in .wav format, this saver could be used as a neat little jukebox in the days before iTunes.

Not that I've done that.




SOUNDER (tm)

No graphics, just snazzy sound.
Plays sound files from the directory of your choice.

To specify the sequence that sounds are played
use the "sequence" control.

To control the delay between sounds use the "delay" slide bar control.

To select the directory to play sound files from, use the "sounds" button. The default directory is the SOUNDS sub-directory of your After Dark directory.

Note: Sound files must be in the WAVE sound format (with the WAV extension). And last but not least, you can control whether or not the screen is blanked before playing sounds. Don't blank the screen and make people wonder what's making those funny sounds!

Note: Sound files must be in the WAVE sound format (with the WAV extension).


Works under Windows XP & Vista in greater than 256 colors.