Path: utzoo!mnetor!uunet!portal!cup.portal.com!Tim_M_Dierks
From: Tim_M_Dierks@cup.portal.com
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.programmer
Subject: Re: The Last Screensaver
Message-ID: <5241@cup.portal.com>
Date: 9 May 88 00:36:18 GMT
References: <900003@zaphod>
Organization: The Portal System (TM)
Lines: 54
XPortal-User-Id: 1.1001.2676


liberte@zaphod.ncsa.uiuc.edu writes:
>With all these screensavers in the works and coming out, I would like
>to see the screensaver to end all screensavers, at least under multifinder.
>
>- One screensaver could be customizable to launch a designated
>  application which would do the fancy graphics.
>- The screensaver could have an optional fade-to-black or let the application
>  do its own blackout.
>- The signal to quit the screensaver might be specified as
>  mouse-motion, mouse-button, any key, some particular key, etc.
>- If possible, the designated application could be preloaded at startup.

I'd really like to see this, too.  I know enough to write some really nifty
quickdraw screen-saving type code, but not enough to write a robust screen
backing init.  Here's what I'd like to see:

- Have the programmer interface work like this: The programmer writes a pascal-
  type function that accepts a big structure with all kinds of interesting info
  like most of the interesting quickdraw globals, etc, and a command code,
  which includes such commands as: black out the screen, drawing in the current
  port, continue drawing your screen-saving design, take a look at this event
  and tell me whether I should unblank the screen, etc, etc.  The programmer
  then compiles this function into some kind of code resource, then makes it
  available to the screensaver.
- This code resource should be loaded from a file at startup.  The file should
  have an icon that shows it to be a screensaver file.  The init file should
  also be a cdev that allows users to pick either a particular file to be
  loaded, or allow a random pick from a folder kind of thing.  By bundling the
  code resources into files, it makes it easier to distribute these things on
  the net, bbs's, CI$, etc.  No doubt a good number of them would be written
  and distributed.
- The blanking code and background task code should be _very_ robust.  I'd
  like to see the folks who wrote Pyro! write this one.  I'd just as soon not
  be stuck with glitches like Moire and Flex, both of which tend to erase all
  my disk icons if they switch in during a disk copy, then I switch them out
  [by moving the mouse or whatever] before it ends.  Seems the Finder's copy
  window just throws update events away.

Anyway, I've been thinking about this for a while, and I think it's a great
idea.  If anyone knows a real great programmer who could write this well,
please talk them into it.... [Oster, CE Software, etc, etc, you listening?]

I know I'd pay $50 or so for a really good screensaver I could write my own
code for.

Imagine... Stars in an auto-blanking screensaver!

+---------------------------------------------------+-------------------------+
| Tim Dierks            Tim_M_Dierks@cup.portal.com |  C4TKG3@IRISHMVS.BITNET |
| {backbone}!sun!portal!cup.portal.com!Tim_M_Dierks |  dierks@ndmath.UUCP     |
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