After Dark (software)

After Dark was the world's first commercial and at the same time the most successful series of screensavers from 1989 by Berkeley Systems, Inc. was originally developed for Apple Macintosh computers. Meanwhile, there are also versions for Windows systems as well as numerous copycat products. After Dark is one of the most famous and influential screensavers. Cult won the Flying Toasters module ( "flying toaster " ), to which there is also a mobile game. It appeared more games under the name of After Dark Games; also the book Art of Darkness by Erfert Fenton was inspired by the program. The open modular technology allowed other manufacturers to integrate your own screensaver.

Is distributed by the software from Sierra Attractions in Germany of Vivendi Games Germany. The Mac OS X version has been licensed to the Japanese company Infinisys.

Versions

File extensions

• * AD -. - After Dark- (DLL) file
• . * ADM - After Dark Multi-Module
• . * ADR - After Dark Randomizer ( random mode )

Known modules

• Flying Toasters - Flying chrome toaster and toast
• Starry Night - Sternfeld over skyscrapers
• Warp - Wheeling Sternfeld
• Fish - Aquarium
• Mowing Man - Lawnmower Man
• Mandelbrot fractals

Influences

Individual elements, especially the flying toasters were transferred to various media, such as in television series such as The Simpsons, Futurama, Rugrats and Beverly Hills 90210th

Litigation

In connection with the flying toasters two legal cases were known: 1993 sued the manufacturer against the Canadian company Delrina that had used this proprietary module ( and it changed later). 1994 Berkeley Systems was accused by the band Jefferson Airplane, they 've taken this from the album cover Thirty Seconds Over Winterland. This action was also rejected, because the cover was not protected.