Subj : Darkstar/Darknet To : alt.bbs,alt.bbs.allsysop,alt.bbs.internet,comp.bbs.misc From : nathan_at_work@hotmail.com (No spam) Date : Sat May 24 2003 11:25 pm About 1994/1995 there was a Fido Style BBS network called Darknet. It was the support group for the Darkstar BBS platform. Darkstar 1.02a never made it out to the public and the author , J. Thomas Hunter , kinda took off. Back then I was on the Beta team for the Darkstar BBS. Anyway Hunter has been found. ( http://www.maxxchat.com/AuthorBio.html ) I was just wanting to find an archive of the Darknet postings for old time's sake. I found the following article and it got me wondering if I could track down anything else...: Found via a google search: Telebits by Brian Gallagher -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- MULTIMEDIA BBS Paragon Technologies is slated to debut the much ballyhooed DOS-based DarkStar v.1.02a multimedia BBS software on December 24 on over 400 systems around the world. The software made a very impressionable and audible display at the ONE BBSCON show this last August, with a pair of not-so-standard speakers and a video clip of a spaceship flying around the screen. Incorporating full-motion video, digital audio and an online database facility into the system, the new version represents a "ground-up" rewrite from previous versions according to a press release from Paragon. Besides the multi-media interface, described as having a "Mosaic feel," the software also opens up a new era in sysop control. Under the v.1.02a release, a sysop sees what a user sees - including their mouse pointer and its movements, and they can even seize control of the mouse and walk users through various areas of the system. Version 1.02a revolves around the definition of hot-keys much like other ANSI based systems. The hot-keys are invoked by pressing a hyper-button, icon-button, pull-down menu or a touch- zone. Supporting PCX, GIF and BMP images, MOD, WAV, VOC, MID and CMF audio formats, the windows font standard FON and the FLI full-motion video standard, the system is capable of playing an FLI video and running a WAV or VOC audio file simultaneously. The price for the beta version is $149, purportedly able to support 9,999 users, after the December 24 release date however, the pricing structure will take on a more "competitive" air - 4 nodes for $149, 16 nodes for $249, 64 nodes for $449 and 256 nodes for $999. For your money you will get DarkStar v.1.02a, which includes a graphic editor, icon editor, mouse pointer editor, full database compatibility, (supporting DBase II, III, III+, IV and FoxPro with options for photo and audio fields), a graphic configuration facility, the freely distributable StarLink terminal package, a media player and support for Hudson, JAM, MSG and SQUISH format message bases. Like many GUI (graphical user interface) systems, DarkStar does require its own terminal package (StarLink) to get the full effect of what it can do. At 14.4 kbps, the DOS-based StarLink takes around three minutes to download and will occupy 313 K of hard drive space. Unlike some of the other GUI systems, however, DarkStar does support ASCII, ANSI and AVATAR non- graphic modes. The sole author of DarkStar is Jerry Hunter, who has been running a BBS since 1982 when he also wrote and released CB-SIM, an ANSI door for RBBS - the first multi-node chat facility available for any BBS. In fact, the forward slash hot-keys prevalent on many BBS chat systems originally appeared in CB-SIM. As would be expected, DarkStar will support multi-node chat. A thing or two about multi-nodes, there is not a built-in multi-tasker in the DarkStar software package. To run multiple nodes, sysops will need to be running some other multi-tasker such as Desqview X or OS/2 - it will not work with windows. Tony McDougle, CEO of Houston-based DarkStar Publishing said, eight nodes have been tested running with Desqview X and 16 nodes have been tested running OS/2 Warp. A notable omission in the software is the absence of Internet compatibility. There is, however, support for DarkNet, a Fido compatible network which should help to fill the void until Internet compatibility is established, projected to be completed in the first quarter of 1995. Also in the works are a QWK compatible offline mail reader, a front-end mailer and an ANSI editor. McDougle said there are number of third party developers working on several option modules for the open-architecture of the system. By the December 24 debut, he said, there should be 15 games ready to go. Reality Check, is an arcade quality game which will support 10 simultaneous nodes in a starship setting. It is reported to emulate the carnage found on the popular bang-bang- shoot-'em-up games Wolfenstein and Doom, by id software. Das PanzerFuehrer is an eight node tank game also reported to have arcade quality VGA graphics. Paragon Technologies, Team DarkStar; 10601 Grant, Suite 102, Houston, TX 77070; (713)894-8555 voice; (501)631-5976 BBS. .