1 line
6.1 KiB
Plaintext
1 line
6.1 KiB
Plaintext
Twilight II v1.1
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reviewed by Ronald A. Leroux
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What is....
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Twilight II is a modular screen-saver, similar to Pyro!ª and After Darkª on Macintosh, for the Apple IIgs. It features great animations like Universe (a Star Trekª-like space warping effect, tornadoes, pyrotechnic effects, and much more.
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Installation
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Twilight II comes on two full 800K disks. One of the modules is stored in a self-extracting archive. Installation of this modular screen-saver is accomplished easily through Apple's latest installer. DigiSoft Innovations provides installation scripts that either install everything or only the strict minimum.
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To use Twilight II, the computer needs at least one 100k of free RAM and and enough disk space to install all the desired modules. The complete set of modules requires about 1.3 meg of disk space.
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The Twilight II control panel itself takes 53K of space on disk. The modules are stored in the Twilight folder inside the CDev folder. Theoretically, Twilight II can have as many savers as memory or disk space allows. An incredible forty screen saver modules are included: they take as little as 3K to a whopping 100K of space, the average ones being about 11k in size. Some of them, the largest ones, even have sounds effects.
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In the Field
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Access to Twilight II is, of course, made through the control panel. The main window of the Twilight II CDev displays, in a list box, the list of all the screen saver modules currently copied to the Twilight folder. Each module can be set-up independently using the ÒSetup...Ó button and information about the module may be read by clicking on the ÒAbout Module...Ó button.
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The Setup window controls a pop-up menu with three items: the setup of the currently selected saver, the screen corners when the arrow cursor will or will not activate the saver, and Twilight II's options that control features like an optional NDA to get to Twilight II more easily, warning alerts, text screen blacks, and even more functions that I do not have the space to cover. All the windows are well-designed and easy to use. Most of the buttons or check boxes also have a keyboard command.
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Twilight II has a special module called Phantom that allows to use screen saver modules created for the Phantasm screen saver control panel that is of the Signature utility set. Nine modules, on the second disk, are designed to work with the Phantom module.
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If you grow tired of the modules provided, original screen saver modules may be created using the YouDrawIt module. These modules may drawn using paint programs that save in the Apple Preferred Format (AFP) (Filetype $C0, auxiliary type $0002).
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Twilight II can be disabled, if necessary, using one of five ways: some ways are useful, some a little less.
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The Sound control panel may even be modified, so that the computer will play a sound when the screen blanks or unblanks.
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Screen saver, space saver
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Twilight II's creator Jim Maricondo thought of the many users who do not have a hard drive or are running out of space on their startup partition by providing built-in background and foreground faders. This way, the computer's screen is always protected.
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Eventhought, Twilight II seems large, it is actually pretty small. Its distant cousins on the Macintosh, Pyro!ª and After Darkª take at least 1 to 2 meg of disk space. And, you do not even have as many modules to choose from in the basic package.
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Apple II compatibility
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This screen blanker also works with ProDOS 8 text-based programs like InTrec's ProTerm, and the low-res, high-res, and double high resolution modes mainly used on the Apple IIe and IIc. Very useful if you have a lot pre-Apple IIgs programs. It is also AppleShare compatible, althought this could not be tested.
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Pro and Cons
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Twilight II has been completely re-designed and re-coded from the ground up. Wheareas the original shareware version was crashing my system, this version feels very solid. Twilight II has a lot going for it: Apple II and network compatibility, a wide choice of modules, and a bevy of easy-to-use features in well-designed windows. (It is so well designed that I did not even read the manual before installation as I normally do.)
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Some minor incompatibilities with the Menu Bar Box were found while using some shareware programs. (This feaure may be turned off if you like.) Fortunately, it was not too difficult to find the culprits. Most of the time, the problems were caused by programs which were not revised to make sure they work correctly with System 6 or are not following the rules. (The author knows about the problem. But, do report any incompatibility you might find.)
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The number of ways Twilight II may be turned off should be reduced to the most useful ones.
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Documentation
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The manual is reminescent of those produced by Seven Hills Software. The forty page, half-sized booket is well-written and illustrated. The installation and reference sections are supported with detailed table of contents and index. An addendum sheet describes some of the changes that were made and dispells concerns about using an animated screen blanker such as Twilight II.
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Technical Support
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The program's author answered my questions with enthusiasm and precision. He is also looking for ways of improving Twilight II further. DigiSoft Innovations may be reached by telephone, regular mail, and e-mail on America Online, Delphi, GEnie, and Internet.
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The bottom Line
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Twilight II is a well-designed screen saver. The sheer quantity of saver modules and the high usability factor of Twilight II makes this utility an excellent choice for somebody looking for a System 6 compatible screen saver program.
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Product Information
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Twilight II v1.1
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The ultimate screen-saver for the Apple IIgs.
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DigiSoft Innovations
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Post Office Box 380
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Trunbull, Connecticut 06611
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United States of America
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(203) 375-0837
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Suggested retail price: $39.95
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Twilight II v1.1 requires a minimum of 55K of disk space and of 100 RAM. More space (memory and disk) is required for each additional screen saver module used.
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An Apple IIgs running under System 6 with at least 1.25 meg of RAM, more is strongly recommended especially if you would like to use different screen saver modules.
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One 3.5 inch drive, a colour monitor. A hard drive is recommended.
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