After Dark (software)

{{redir|Flying Toasters|the video editing system|Video Toaster#Video Toaster Flyer}}

{{Infobox software

| name = After Dark

| logo =

| logo alt =

| screenshot = After Dark Flying Toasters.png

| caption = Flying Toasters screensaver in After Dark 2.0

| screenshot alt =

| collapsible =

| author = Jack Eastman{{cite web |url=http://mashable.com/2012/03/16/90s-tech-icons-where-are-they-now |title='90s Tech Icons: Where Are They Now? |last=Lammle |first=Bob |publisher=Mashable |date=March 16, 2012 |access-date=October 15, 2016}}
Patrick Beard

| developer = Berkeley Systems

| released = {{Start date and age|1989}}

| discontinued =

| latest release version = 4.0

| latest release date = {{Start date and age|1996}}

| latest preview version =

| latest preview date =

| programming language = assembly language, C

| operating system = Apple Macintosh, Microsoft Windows, DOS{{cite magazine |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7k7q-wS0t00C&pg=PA59 |title=DOS user Need No Longer Covet After Dark for Windows |magazine=PC Magazine |date=7 Dec 1993 |page=59 |volume=12 |issue=21}}

| platform =

| size =

| language =

| language count =

| language footnote =

| genre = screensaver

| license =

| alexa =

| website =

| standard =

| AsOf =

}}

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.{{cite web|url=http://www.techrepublic.com/pictures/flying-toasters-a-look-back-at-after-dark-for-windows-10/1/|title=Flying Toasters - A look back at After Dark for Windows 1.0|author=Greg Shultz|date=April 14, 2011|work=TechRepublic}}{{cite web|url=https://lowendmac.com/2007/aggressively-stupid-the-story-behind-after-dark/ |title=Aggressively Stupid: The Story Behind After Dark |publisher=Lowendmac.com |access-date=2010-03-18| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20100211150233/http://lowendmac.com/thomas/07/0209.html| archive-date= 11 February 2010 | url-status= live}}

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.

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 at the height of its popularity.{{cite web|url=http://lowendmac.com/thomas/07/0212.html |title=On Mighty Toaster Wings: More After Dark History |publisher=Lowendmac.com |access-date=2010-03-18| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20100211150058/http://lowendmac.com/thomas/07/0212.html| archive-date= 11 February 2010 | url-status= live}}

Flying Toasters

image:After Dark 3 CDROM.jpg]]

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 claims he came up with the display after seeing a toaster in the kitchen during a late-night programming session and imagining the addition of wings, although the winged toasters bear a strong resemblance to those on the cover of Jefferson Airplane’s 1973 album Thirty Seconds Over Winterland.{{cite magazine |title=Think Retro: Bring back the Flying Toasters |author=Phin, Christopher |magazine=Macworld |date=2015-02-03 |access-date=2016-03-02 |url=https://www.macworld.com/article/2879119/think-retro-bring-back-the-flying-toasters.html }} 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.{{cite web|url=http://www.mymac.com/showarticle.php?id=1363|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100107035003/http://www.mymac.com/showarticle.php?id=1363|archive-date=2010-01-07 |title=AfterDark Deluxe — Review |publisher=Mymac.com |access-date=2010-03-18}} 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.{{cite news |author= |author-link= |date=1993-10-11 |title=Software Parody Is Toast After Court Ruling |newspaper=Bloomberg Business News |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1993-10-11-fi-44741-story.html |url-access= |access-date=2016-03-03 |via=Los Angeles Times}} After a U.S. District judge ruled that Delrina's "Death Toasters" was infringing, Delrina later changed the wings of the toasters to propellers. 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.{{cite magazine |title=Another Poppin' Fresh Lawsuit |date=1994-10-01 |author=Rose, Lance |magazine=Wired |url=https://www.wired.com/1994/10/another-poppin-fresh-lawsuit/ |access-date=2016-03-03}} 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.

A 3D version of the toasters featuring swarms of toasters with airplane wings, rather than bird wings, is available for XScreenSaver.

History

In 1997, Berkeley Systems was acquired by the Sierra On-Line division of CUC International.{{cite magazine|url=https://www.wired.com/techbiz/media/news/1997/04/2902 |title=Berkeley Systems Acquired by CUC |first=Kaitlin |last=Quistgaard |date=1 April 1997|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100615052153/http://www.wired.com/techbiz/media/news/1997/04/2902 |archive-date=June 15, 2010|magazine=Wired.com |url-status=dead}} Joan Blades and Wes Boyd, the founders of Berkeley Systems, went on to create MoveOn.org. Ed Fries, co-developer of the popular Fish! screensaver, became vice president of game publishing at Microsoft.

The Bad Dog (TV series) based on the "Bad Dog" screensaver{{cite book |last1=Perlmutter |first1=David |title=The Encyclopedia of American Animated Television Shows |date=2018 |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield |isbn=978-1538103739 |pages=57–58}} was produced by CinéGroupe and Saban Entertainment for the Teletoon and Fox Family Channel networks that first aired on Teletoon on March 1, 1999.

An official version of After Dark was released for Mac OS X running on PowerPC by Infinisys, Ltd. of Japan in May 2003.{{cite web|url=http://en.infinisys.co.jp/release/20030529_1.html |title=Press Release : Infinisys Releases After Dark X+Fish for Mac OS X |publisher=Infinysys |access-date=2010-03-18}} For Apple silicon and Intel Macs, remakes of three popular modules — Flying Toasters, Mowing Man and Boris — are being sold as standalone screensavers.{{cite web|url=http://en.infinisys.co.jp/product/afterdarkclassicset/index.shtml|title=After Dark Screensavers : Classic Set (Macintosh)|publisher=Infinysys|access-date=2014-08-05}}

Sierra released a Flying Toaster video game for cell phones in 2006.{{cite web|author=GameSpot|url=http://www.gamespot.com/news/vivendi-universal-games-mobile-announces-six-new-titles-6151587 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130124004522/http://www.gamespot.com/news/vivendi-universal-games-mobile-announces-six-new-titles-6151587 |url-status=dead |archive-date=2013-01-24 |title=Vivendi Universal Games Mobile Announces Six New Titles |publisher=Gamespot.com |date=2006-05-19 |access-date=2010-03-18}}

Sierra Entertainment was eventually acquired by Vivendi Games, which in turn was merged with Activision to form Activision Blizzard, and later acquired by Microsoft.

=''After Dark Games''=

Sierra Attractions 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.{{cite web| url=https://archive.org/details/after-dark-games |title=After Dark Games |publisher=Berkeley Systems |year=1998 |via=Internet Archive}}{{cite web|url=https://archive.org/details/archivistgamer_afterdarkgames |title=Advertisement Video:After Dark Games |publisher=Sierra Entertainment |year=1998 |via=Internet Archive}} 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 and Super Guy); 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 Shtick (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 (a Raimais clone that originated as an in-module game).{{cite web |url=http://www.mobygames.com/game/after-dark-games |title=After Dark Games |website=MobyGames}}

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."{{cite news |last1=Herz |first1=J. C. |title=GAME THEORY; Flying Toasters That You Can Play With |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1999/04/29/technology/game-theory-flying-toasters-that-you-can-play-with.html |access-date=15 March 2020 |work=The New York Times |date=29 April 1999 |url-access=limited}} A review in Computer Gaming World stated that, "If nothing else, it makes for a good time-killer."{{cite magazine |last1=Baker II |first1=Samuel |title=After Dark Games |magazine=Computer Gaming World |date=April 1999 |issue=177 |page=217 |url=https://archive.org/details/Computer_Gaming_World_Issue_177/page/n220/mode/1up?q=after+dark |publisher=Golden Empires Publication}}

Modules

class="wikitable"
scope="col" style="background:#efefef;" \| Module Name ! scope="col" style="background:#efefef;" \| Description
Starry Night \| The default screen saver, featuring a pixelated city skyline under a night sky
Artist \| A digital artist applies artistic touches to images in a slow manner so one can see the artist's 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){{cite web \|url=http://kidscreen.com/1999/05/01/25309-19990501/ \|title=Kidscreen » Archive » Bonneau names that toon \|first=Virginia \|last=Robertson \|date=May 1, 1999}}
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{{efn-lr\|name=totally}} \| 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{{efn-lr\|name=totally}} \| Chameleons walk across the screen, changing colors and eating icons
Clocks \| Different objects appear as a clock and move around
Coming Soon!{{efn-lr\|name=totally}} \| 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! (Aquatic Realm) \| Underwater world of fish with a black background
Fish Pro \| An updated version of Fish!
Fish World \| The third iteration of Fish! with prerendered 3D models
Floating Suns{{efn-lr\|name=still}} \| 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{{efn-lr\|name=totally}} \| Parody of Flying Toasters with toilets replacing the toasters
Fractal Forest \| A forest of trees is generated on the screen
FrankenScreen{{efn-lr\|name=totally}} \| 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 the 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{{efn-lr\|name=totally}} \| 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{{efn-lr\|name=totally}} \| Features a man named Mike, living in his apartment and doing nothing exciting
Mime Hunt{{efn-lr\|name=totally}} \| 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{{efn-lr\|name=totally}} \| 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{{efn-lr\|name=totally}} \| 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{{efn-lr\|name=still}} \| Rain drops on the screen. Users 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{{efn-lr\|name=still}} \| Displays multiple Scrubbing Bubbles (Dow Brands) floating around the screen
Scrubbing Bubbles II{{efn-lr\|name=still}} \| Displays multiple Scrubbing Bubbles (Dow Brands) "scrubbing" the screen and going down the drain
Shapes \| Fills the screen with colorful, geometric shapes
Shock Clocks{{efn-lr\|name=totally}} \| Scary creatures are turned into clocks
Shooting Spree{{efn-lr\|name=still}} \| The desktop appears to be shot up by a gun. Users can select which gun to use.
Sinkhole{{efn-lr\|name=still}} \| 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'{{efn-lr\|name=still}} \| 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{{efn-lr\|name=still}} \| 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{{efn-lr\|name=totally}} \| Parody of Fish!, 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!{{efn-lr\|name=still}} \| 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{{cite web \|title=TidBITS#76/12-Aug-91 \|url=//tidbits.com/static/html/TidBITS-076.html#lnk2 \|publisher=TidBITS \|author=TidBITS Electronic Publishing \|issue=76 \|date=1991-08-12 \|access-date=2015-10-22 \|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151222020315/http://tidbits.com/static/html/TidBITS-076.html#lnk2 \|archive-date=2015-12-22 \|url-status=dead }}{{cite web\|url=https://tidbits.com/1991/08/12/the-highlights/\|date=12 August 1991\|website=TidBITS\|title=The Highlights\|first=Mark H\|last=Anbinder \|access-date=3 November 2021}}
Voyeur{{efn-lr\|name=totally}} \| One appears to be spying on an apartment complex with a big city skyline in the background
Warp \| One appears to be travelling among stars at high speed
Window Blinds{{efn-lr\|name=still}} \| Desktop is separated into columns, and then each one turns like a window blind
Wrap Around \| Draws three-dimensional loops
Wrecking Ball{{efn-lr\|name=still}} \| 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

class="wikitable"

scope="col" style="background:#efefef;" | Module Name

! scope="col" style="background:#efefef;" | Description

Starry Night

| The default screen saver, featuring a pixelated city skyline under a night sky

Artist

| A digital artist applies artistic touches to images in a slow manner so one can see the artist's 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){{cite web |url=http://kidscreen.com/1999/05/01/25309-19990501/ |title=Kidscreen » Archive » Bonneau names that toon |first=Virginia |last=Robertson |date=May 1, 1999}}

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{{efn-lr|name=totally}}

| 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{{efn-lr|name=totally}}

| Chameleons walk across the screen, changing colors and eating icons

Clocks

| Different objects appear as a clock and move around

Coming Soon!{{efn-lr|name=totally}}

| 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! (Aquatic Realm)

| Underwater world of fish with a black background

Fish Pro

| An updated version of Fish!

Fish World

| The third iteration of Fish! with prerendered 3D models

Floating Suns{{efn-lr|name=still}}

| 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{{efn-lr|name=totally}}

| Parody of Flying Toasters with toilets replacing the toasters

Fractal Forest

| A forest of trees is generated on the screen

FrankenScreen{{efn-lr|name=totally}}

| 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 the 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{{efn-lr|name=totally}}

| 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{{efn-lr|name=totally}}

| Features a man named Mike, living in his apartment and doing nothing exciting

Mime Hunt{{efn-lr|name=totally}}

| 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{{efn-lr|name=totally}}

| 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{{efn-lr|name=totally}}

| 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{{efn-lr|name=still}}

| Rain drops on the screen. Users 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{{efn-lr|name=still}}

| Displays multiple Scrubbing Bubbles (Dow Brands) floating around the screen

Scrubbing Bubbles II{{efn-lr|name=still}}

| Displays multiple Scrubbing Bubbles (Dow Brands) "scrubbing" the screen and going down the drain

Shapes

| Fills the screen with colorful, geometric shapes

Shock Clocks{{efn-lr|name=totally}}

| Scary creatures are turned into clocks

Shooting Spree{{efn-lr|name=still}}

| The desktop appears to be shot up by a gun. Users can select which gun to use.

Sinkhole{{efn-lr|name=still}}

| 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'{{efn-lr|name=still}}

| 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{{efn-lr|name=still}}

| 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{{efn-lr|name=totally}}

| Parody of Fish!, 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!{{efn-lr|name=still}}

| 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{{cite web |title=TidBITS#76/12-Aug-91 |url=//tidbits.com/static/html/TidBITS-076.html#lnk2 |publisher=TidBITS |author=TidBITS Electronic Publishing |issue=76 |date=1991-08-12 |access-date=2015-10-22 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151222020315/http://tidbits.com/static/html/TidBITS-076.html#lnk2 |archive-date=2015-12-22 |url-status=dead }}{{cite web|url=https://tidbits.com/1991/08/12/the-highlights/|date=12 August 1991|website=TidBITS|title=The Highlights|first=Mark H|last=Anbinder |access-date=3 November 2021}}

Voyeur{{efn-lr|name=totally}}

| One appears to be spying on an apartment complex with a big city skyline in the background

Warp

| One appears to be travelling among stars at high speed

Window Blinds{{efn-lr|name=still}}

| Desktop is separated into columns, and then each one turns like a window blind

Wrap Around

| Draws three-dimensional loops

Wrecking Ball{{efn-lr|name=still}}

| 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

{{notelist-lr|refs=

{{efn-lr|name=totally|An 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.}}

{{efn-lr|name=still|Modules from the [http://www.peaktopeak.com/screensavers/index.htm Still in the Dark collection] of 11 modules by Bob Loeffler.}}

}}

Release history

version 1.0 - 1989{{cite magazine | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=1rsYJ8hu21kC&q=After+Dark+1.0+Berkeley+Systems&pg=PT49 | title = First Looks: Windows Screen Blanders: Blanking Your Screen Is Only the Beginning | first = Barry | last = Simon | magazine = PC Magazine | page = 48 | volume = 10 | number = 9 | date = 14 May 1991 }}
version 2.0 - 1992 - The first official release for Windows.{{cite magazine | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=_z0EAAAAMBAJ&q=%22After+Dark+2.0%22+Berkeley+Systems&pg=PA18 | title = Announced | magazine = InfoWorld | volume = 14 | number = 7 | issn = 0199-6649 | date = 17 Feb 1992 | page = 18 | quote = ...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... }}{{cite magazine | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=hnvCf6WlcYcC&q=swans%21+mirrors%21 | title = Swans! Mirrors! More Fish! | volume = 11 | number = 10 | magazine = PC Magazine | date = 26 May 1992 | page = 64 | quote = ...Berkeley Systems, maker of the popular screen saver After Dark for Windows, is now shipping a new ...Version 2.0. }}
version 3.0 - 1994{{cite magazine | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=XDgEAAAAMBAJ&q=After+Dark+Berkeley+Systems&pg=PA95 | title = Review/Test Drives: Screen Saver: After Dark joins rat race | first = Patrick | last = Marshall | magazine = InfoWorld | volume = 16 | number = 36 | issn = 0199-6649 | date = 5 Sep 1994 | page = 95 }}{{cite web|url=https://archive.org/details/AfterDark3.00 |title=After Dark 3.0 |publisher=Berkeley Systems |year= 1994 |via=Internet Archive}}
version 3.2 - 1995{{cite web|url=https://archive.org/details/after-dark-v3_2 |title=After Dark 3.2 |publisher= Berkeley Systems |year=1995 |via=Internet Archive}}
version 4.0 - 1996{{cite web| url=https://archive.org/details/after-dark-4-deluxe |title=After Dark 4.0 Deluxe |publisher=Berkeley Systems |date=1996 |via=Internet Archive}}

Licensed products

Star Trek: The Screen Saver - 1992{{Cite web |title=After Dark: Star Trek - Macintosh Garden |url=http://macintoshgarden.org/apps/after-dark-star-trek |website=macintoshgarden.org}}
The Disney Collection Screen Saver - 1993
Marvel Comics Screen Posters - 1993{{cite magazine| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=L39FUG-zDswC&pg=RA4-PA416 |title= After Hours: Windows Screen Savers: giving your PC a touch of panache |first=Melissa J. |last=Perenson |magazine=PC Magazine |date=17 May 1994 |volume=13 |issue=9 |pages=416–417}}
X-Men Screen Saver - 1994{{Cite web|url=http://macintoshgarden.org/apps/after-dark-x-men-screen-saver|title=After Dark: X-Men Screen Saver - Macintosh Garden|website=macintoshgarden.org}}
The Simpsons Screen Saver - 1994{{Cite web|url=https://sites.google.com/site/afterdarkscreensavers/|title=Afterdark Screen Savers|website=sites.google.com|access-date=September 11, 2019|archive-date=October 21, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201021124803/https://sites.google.com/site/afterdarkscreensavers/|url-status=dead}}
Star Trek: The Next Generation Screen Saver - 1994{{Cite web|url=http://macintoshgarden.org/apps/after-dark-star-trek-the-next-generation|title=After Dark - Star Trek: The Next Generation - Macintosh Garden|website=macintoshgarden.org}}
Looney Tunes Screen Saver - 1995[https://archive.org/details/berkeley_systems_looney_tunes Berkeley Systems After Dark Looney Tunes Screen Saver], by Berkeley Systems, Published 1995, Internet Archive{{cite web|url=https://archive.org/details/AfterDarkLooneyTunesCollection |title=After Dark Looney Tunes Collection |publisher=Berkeley Systems |via=Internet Archive}}
Toy Story - 1995{{Cite web|url=https://macintoshgarden.org/apps/after-dark-toy-story|title=After Dark - Toy Story - Macintosh Garden|website=macintoshgarden.org}}
Myst Screen Saver{{Cite web|url=http://macintoshgarden.org/apps/after-dark-myst-screen-saver|title=After Dark: Myst Screen Saver - Macintosh Garden|website=macintoshgarden.org}}
Chex Quest Screen Saver - 1997 (unlicensed module built on the After Dark software){{Cite web|url=https://macintoshgarden.org/apps/chex-quest-screen-saver|title=Chex Quest Screen Saver - Macintosh Garden|website=macintoshgarden.org}}

References

External links

[http://en.infinisys.co.jp/product/adx/ After Dark X] — the official version for Mac OS X by Infinisys
[http://lowendmac.com/thomas/07/0209.html Aggressively Stupid: The Story Behind After Dark], By Tommy Thomas - 2007.02.09
[http://lowendmac.com/thomas/07/0212.html On Mighty Toaster Wings: More After Dark History], By Tommy Thomas - 2007.02.12
[http://lowendmac.com/thomas/07/0213.html How After Dark Came to Windows]

Category:Screensavers

Category:Discontinued software

Category:Display technology

Category:Classic Mac OS software

Category:Utilities for macOS

Category:Utilities for Windows

Category:1989 software

Category:Sierra Entertainment

Category:1990s fads and trends