This interesting project by Jeff Halter lets users run the original 68k After Dark screen saver modules on modern Macs. Here are the details
’Run classic After Dark screen savers on modern macOS’
Depending on how long ago you started using or getting interested in Macs, you likely remember After Dark, a collection of screen savers that became a fixture on Macintosh computers throughout the 1990s. At the very least, you’re possibly familiar with the famous Flying Toasters screen saver.
Over the years, running these classic screen savers has generally required vintage hardware or a classic Mac OS emulator, which can be finicky. However, a new project called Afterglow makes the process much easier on modern Macs.
As John Gruber noted on Daring Fireball, the project comes from Jeff Halter, who previously created Lunacy, a native Swift app that lets users play the classic Lunatic Fringe game from More After Dark on modern Macs.”
With Afterglow, the original After Dark modules run through an emulator built specifically for them, without requiring a complete classic Mac OS environment. Notably, Afterglow also includes a modern macOS screen saver module, allowing users to set any imported After Dark module as their Mac’s screen saver.
Here’s Halter on the motivation behind the project:
In the ’90s, Berkeley Systems’ After Dark screen savers brought Flying Toasters, Fish, and Starry Skylines to Macintosh screens everywhere. They served a practical purpose in preventing burn-in on CRT monitors, but also entertained, with animations that could be funny, surreal, beautiful — sometimes gross.
They are works of art worth preserving.
Running After Dark modules in the present day has involved fussy configuration of Mac OS emulators or vintage hardware. Even then, no single emulator or vintage computer can faithfully run every module: some animate too fast, some too slow.
Afterglow is an emulator built specifically for running After Dark modules — the original 68k module code, not a remake or port — with no dependencies on ROMs or classic Mac OS. Created in the spirit of software preservation, it makes After Dark easy to enjoy today and for years to come.
The project’s website notes that After Dark modules aren’t included, but provides instructions for finding and importing them into Afterglow.
Halter also notes that Afterglow includes features such as module controls, full-screen mode, a randomizer, multimodule support, 3D box art, a CRT shader, a resource inspector, and a DrawMorph editor.
To learn more about Afterglow, follow this link.
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