Long before anyone was teetotaling screen time like it was some kind of vice, we once stared into our displays for no reason at all, as long as possible. Friends, I’m here to tell you that that dream is alive, and everything from your latest smartphone to computer to flat panel TV can again come to life as a virtual undersea world. And for aquarium love, no one compares to computer artist Jim Sachs.
Jim Sachs may not be a household name, but the one-time C-141 Starlifter pilot for the US Air Force put his signature on some of teh most legendary pixel-vaporwave creations of all time. That includes the iconic artwork “Amiga Lagoon,” a graphic so popular it helped boost the Amiga software used to produce it, Brilliance. Read up on that software here:
And in addition to being perhaps the best-known pixel artist for the Amiga, Sachs is also responsible for incredible lead artwork on games like Defender of the Crown and Ports of Call. If, like me, you never owned an Amiga, now is your time to appreciate these. Check 80s and 90s interviews and a dazzling set of artwork:
Amiga Graphics Archive – Artists – Jim Sachs, plus 1987 and 1994 interviews
But let’s talk aquariums and screensavers. A full screensaver history and a deep dive (sorry) into Berkeley Systems and After Dark will have to wait for another time. But suffice to say, the best-known screensaver software, After Dark, added fish to its iconic flying toasters and other modules with 1992’s After Dark 2.0, at least according to my notes. Here’s that version running on a Macintosh Quadra 950:
That’s “Fish!”; see also, for instance, After Dark’s “Fish World” module — related, but subtly different. (Also, “Fish Pro.”)
Microsoft’s somewhat crude built-in versions were built with photo imagery and some fairly charming, peak-90s Microsoft animation:
But back to Jim Sachs — he made marine aquariums like no other. I missed this when it came out, but just wound up lost in this wonderful history by the mighty LGR:
And here’s where I have to admit I really should have kept up with the 2000s tech. For all his pixel art chops, Sachs exquisitely rendered his fish using Direct3D models — a far cry from the simplistic Berkeley animations or Microsoft bitmaps. Sachs’ gorgeous creations are simply the best-looking virtual aquariums I’ve ever seen. They earned the attention of Microsoft for inclusion with the XP Plus! Pack and certain XP and Media Center editions. But check the video above to wade through (uh, I am really sorry) all the history.
Here’s that XP Plus! edition, for posterity:
Through his software house SereneScreen, Sachs continues to improve and iterate on render quality and add more fish options. There are Windows, macOS, iOS, and Android editions, so plenty of ways to transform screens into blood pressure-lowering aquariums. (Aquaria? Eesh.) Apple’s ongoing War on Joy means you can’t use the screensaver as a screensaver but you can just run it in fullscreen mode. (I expect you could even automate that. So same difference.)
An Android 10 edition just dropped this month, so you could almost say this is a timely story.
But even if you didn’t have this on your own screen, the screensaver has made its way into the background of Smallville, Law & Order, Bridget Jones’ Diary, and even on display at Cannes.
More/try/buy: https://www.serenescreen.com/
Yeah, see, this was probably not what you expected I’d assault your credit card account with today, and yet here we are.
But I love this. Maybe instead of complaining about screen culture or removing distractions, we just need to replace cortisol-generating apps with blood pressure-dropping fish. (Hey, if you ever wondered how Captain Picard kept so chill — fish tank. Kirk? No fish tank.)
Keeping with the sea theme, let’s sink into the waves with the Nautilus to wrap this up, back to the Amiga era:
* PS, back to the screen time point — you can make a shortcut to just mess with Amiga software on your iPhone or iPad rather than get into social media addiction or doomscrolling. (On Android, of course, it’s even easier with emulators more readily available.)
See: https://vamigaweb.github.io
And if that’s not realistic enough for you, you can always go this route. (Be careful about power discharge from CRTs so you don’t die.)
Oh plus if you’re into the above, you’re probably into this:
Disclosure: this all started because of Amalija Blurry’s wonderful event flyer artwork for Acid August at F8 @ 1192 Folsom. Look, I am … easily distracted. You might go to that event, though, if you can pry yourself away from your computer screen.