So awhile back I was thinking, “You know what would be funny? A screen saver that fakes a kernel panic!”
For those of you who might never have seen one, a kernel panic is basically the most shocking crash that you can get on a Mac. It’s Apple’s equivalent to the famed Blue Screen of Death.
What a great way to play a prank on someone, or frighten yourself.
So here is the end result, a harmless screen saver that faithfully emulates the horrifying experience of a kernel panic. It comes complete with a misleading Quartz Composer Preview so that the effect is all the more terrifying.
Update: KPSaver is now 64-bit and compatible with Mac OS X 10.6 and above. Legacy users can download the old version here.
Originally, everything was made by me, Mark Johns, but things shifted when Kevin Coulton joined the team, and together, we created Space Barnacle, our first totally original game, for the TIGSource B-Game contest.
Since then, we’ve ventured into more ambitious projects, and the scope of our work has grown significantly, but we strive to remain at or beyond the cutting edge.
But wait a minute, who are you?
My name is Mark Johns. I’m a game developer and freelance software engineer.