After Dark (software)

"Flying Toasters" redirects here. For the video editing system, see Video Toaster § Video Toaster Flyer.
After Dark

The Flying Toasters screensaver in After Dark 2.0
Original author(s) Jack Eastman[1]
Patrick Beard
Developer(s) Berkeley Systems
Initial release 1989 (1989)
Stable release
4.0 / 1996 (1996)
Written in assembly language, C
Operating system Apple Macintosh, Microsoft Windows, DOS[2]
Type screensaver

After Dark is a series of computer screensaver software 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," and Walt Disney Company 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]

Flying Toasters

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 why 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 Starship Enterprise cover art was produced by Marc Ericksen, a well known San Francisco Bay area illustrator, fresh off his prior year renderings for Capcom's MegaMan 2, and Tengen's Tetris, and Berkeley Systems pulled out all the stops with a mirrored metallic embossed Star Trek logo.

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 US 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 group Jefferson 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.[10]

After Dark Games and onward

An After Dark CD-ROM

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.[11][12] These games included Mowin' Maniac (a Pac-Man clone based on the "Mowin' Man"/"Mowin' Boris" modules), Roof Rats (similar to SameGame and variants), "Solitaire" (After Dark themed), Toaster Run (a 3D adventure game featuring several After Dark Characters, more notably the Flying Toaster), Zapper (a trivia game), Hula Girl (another 3D adventure 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 connect the boxes type 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.[13] "Rodger Dodger" had been a module several years earlier, but also a playable game inside the module. Not much was changed from the module, except some of the music and most of the level set-ups. Many fans liked the games, but some felt it lacked games based on more fitting modules, such as "Daredevil Dan", "Lunatic Fringe" (which was a game inside its module, like "Rodger Dodger"), and the After Dark re-working of "Rock, Paper Scissors" (also a game inside its module).

In 1997, Berkeley Systems was acquired by the Sierra On-Line division of CUC International.[14] Joan Blades and Wes Boyd, the founders of Berkeley Systems, went on to create MoveOn.org.

Fans have made modern versions of several of the screensavers in the years since.

An official version of After Dark was released for Mac OS X (running on PowerPC) by Infinisys Ltd (of Japan) in May 2003.[15] For Intel Macs, three of the most popular modules—Flying Toasters, Mowing Man and Boris—are being sold as standalone screensavers.[16]

Sierra released a Flying Toaster video game for cell phones in 2006.[17]

The animated series Bad Dog was inspired by the eponymous screensaver.[18]

Modules

Module Name Description
Starry Night The original After Dark screen saver, featuring a pixelated city skyline under a night sky
Aquatic Realm 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
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 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 Chameleons walk across the screen, changing colors and eating icons
Clocks Different objects appear as a clock and move around
Coming Soon! 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
Floating Suns ** 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 Toilets Like Flying Toasters, but with toilets
Fractal Forest A forest of trees is generated on the screen
FrankenScreen 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
Graph Stat Draws scientific and mathematical graphs on the screen
Gravity Circles bounce around the screen
Guts Gravity simulation
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 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 Features a man named Mike, living in his apartment and doing nothing exciting
Mime Hunt 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 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 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 ** 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 ** Displays multiple Scrubbing Bubbles (Dow Brands) floating around the screen
Scrubbing Bubbles 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 Scary creatures are turned into clocks
Shooting Spree ** The desktop appears to be shot up by a gun. User can select which gun to use.
Sinkhole ** 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' ** 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 ** Someone appears to be working on the desktop from the other side with power saws
Toxic Swamp Like 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! ** 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.[19]
Voyeur 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 ** Desktop is separated into columns and then each one turns like a window blind
Wrap Around Draws three-dimensional loops
Wrecking Ball ** 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

Release history

References

  1. ↑ Lammle, Bob (March 16, 2012). "'90s Tech Icons: Where Are They Now?". Mashable. Retrieved October 15, 2016.
  2. ↑ DOS user Need No Longer Covert After Dark for Windows, PC Mag, 7 Dec 1993, Page 59
  3. ↑ Greg Shultz (April 14, 2011). "Flying Toasters - A look back at After Dark for Windows 1.0". TechRepublic.
  4. 1 2 "Aggressively Stupid: The Story Behind After Dark". Lowendmac.com. Archived from the original on 11 February 2010. Retrieved 2010-03-18.
  5. ↑ "On Mighty Toaster Wings: More After Dark History". Lowendmac.com. Archived from the original on 11 February 2010. Retrieved 2010-03-18.
  6. 1 2 Phin, Christopher (2015-02-03). "Think Retro: Bring back the Flying Toasters". Macworld. Retrieved 2016-03-02.
  7. ↑ "AfterDark Deluxe — Review". Mymac.com. Archived from the original on 2010-01-07. Retrieved 2010-03-18.
  8. 1 2 Bloomberg Business News (1993-10-11). "Software Parody Is Toast After Court Ruling". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2016-03-03.
  9. ↑ Rose, Lance (1994-10-01). "Another Poppin' Fresh Lawsuit". Wired. Retrieved 2016-03-03.
  10. ↑ "Beverly Hills 90210 article – example of product placement". TVtropes.org. Archived from the original on 2014-07-05. Retrieved 2014-09-01.
  11. ↑ After Dark Games, by Berkeley Systems, Published 1998, Internet Archive
  12. ↑ Advertisement Video:After Dark Games, by Sierra Entertainment, Published 1998, Internet Archive
  13. ↑ After Dark Games MobyGames
  14. ↑ Berkeley Systems Acquired by CUC Archived June 15, 2010, at the Wayback Machine. Wired.com
  15. ↑ "Press Release : Infinisys Releases After Dark X+Fish for Mac OS X". Infinysys. Retrieved 2010-03-18.
  16. ↑ "After Dark Screensavers : Classic Set (Macintosh)". Infinysys. Retrieved 2014-08-05.
  17. ↑ GameSpot (2006-05-19). "Vivendi Universal Games Mobile Announces Six New Titles". Gamespot.com. Retrieved 2010-03-18.
  18. ↑ Kidscreen » Archive » Bonneau names that toon, By Virginia Robertson, May 1, 1999
  19. ↑ TidBITS Electronic Publishing (1991-08-12). "TidBITS#76/12-Aug-91" (76). TidBITS. Retrieved 2015-10-22.
  20. ↑ First Looks: Windows Screen Blanders: Blanking Your Screen Is Only the Beginning, By Barry Simon, PC Mag, 14 May 1991
  21. ↑ Announced, InfoWorld, 17 Feb 1992, Page 18, ...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...
  22. ↑ Swans! Mirrors! More Fish!, PC Mag, 26 May 1992, Page 64, ... Berkeley Systems, maker of the popular screen saver After Dark for Windows, is now shipping a new ...Version 2.0..
  23. ↑ Review/Test Drives:Screen Saver: After Dark joins rat race, By Patrick Marshall, InfoWorld, 5 Sep 1994, Page 95
  24. ↑ After Dark 3.0, by Berkeley Systems, Published 1994, Internet Archive
  25. ↑ After Dark 3.2, by Berkeley Systems, Published 1995, Internet Archive
  26. ↑ After Dark 4.0 Deluxe, by Berkeley Systems, Published 1996, Internet Archive

Further reading

External links

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