[AppleGirl1990]

I use to have a program on my computer. The object of the program was to torture and eventually kill a big yellow smiley face. There were many devices, i.e., you could shoot a gun and kill the smiley face. You could suffocate the smiley face. You could squeeze the smiley face to death.

What was this program called?
and do they still make it?

[Jacke]

I remember that. It could be that it was just named "Smile", I have a file in my disktracker called Smile.sit, gonna have a look at it next weekend.

[Jacke]

Yep, it was just Smile. Not much info about it on the net though, nor did I find any up-to-date info on the author of it. I could post the .sit file somewhere if you have a PPC computer to run it on.

Edit: The author's name was Greg Katsoulis, btw, email adress in the readme [email protected], though I doubt it's still active.

[katsoulis]

I am the author of "Smile." The full title of the program was "Smile: The Splattering"

It is no longer available - if you find a copy it might work but it's programming was dependent on the screen being set to 256 color. It was "coded" in 1994. When I say "coded" I mean it was a series of very simple lingo scripts with animations within a Macromedia Director projector. (The ancestor of shockwave and flash.)

The program was shareware, downloaded at least 80,000 times that I saw on various sites and services - and paid for by just over a dozen honest souls.

I did have the delicious experience of interviewing a job candidate when I was art director at an interactive firm and found he had a cracked copy of my program on his desktop. I let him show it to me and had him read the name and let that slowly sink in.

He did not get the job.

I did discontinue my AOL service quite some time ago, but I am not difficult to find.

I have an animated short on iTunes called "Same Difference." LINK

It's not violent, but its fun.

[katsoulis]

Oh, and I did begin work on a sequel way back when that would have been awesome, I had programmed a genetic sequencer so you could mess with the Smile's DNA, a dart-board and a few other treats before I got discouraged. (I actually lost money on the program because I paid someone to convert it to Windows thinking some percentage of people would be honest.)

[AppleGirl1990]

Well, i speak on behalf of many Mac users when i say "release a new version".

I loved that application. Please make a new one.

[Sherman Homan]

The program was shareware, downloaded at least 80,000 times that I saw on various sites and services - and paid for by just over a dozen honest souls.

God bless, ya man!

[voodoo]

Yes please, release a Mac OS X version!

The way I remember the program most features were disabled until you'd pay the fee so calling people dishonest if they didn't pay for it is a bit um.. dishonest.

One shouldn't pay for crippleware, should one?

[AppleGirl1990]

Well, i miss blowing up that yellow smiley face!

[katsoulis]

I'm not suggesting most people were dishonest. I'm sure most people downloaded, found the three free options fun and then tossed it — I would have. But some people cracked it... perhaps many (It wasn't a very sophisticated authorization).

I'm sure I'll never know the numbers, but I did receive thousands of requests for a sequel and yet only twelve paying customers.

My point was more that I spent a month or so animating, programing, and coming up with pithy and pitiable things for the Smiley face to say. Why would I continue to spend time on such a project when, as I mentioned, I lost money in the first place?

My point is not to complain. I learned my lesson and have moved on. But I don't see any incentive to resurrect the project.

AppleGirl1990 - were you one of the twelve?

[moonmonkey]

I'm sure people would pay for it on the iphone, I would give you 4.99 in a shot.
Damn, I would give you 4.99 just to be able to blend him.

[analogika]

Very true: I think the app market on the iPhone might work very differently.

Tens of thousands of people remember this application, and if you make a basic version for, say two or three dollars, with a little publicity, that might actually make up for your loss the first time around.

I think the reason there's not much of a market for an "advanced" version, is because it really is just a gimmick (excellently done and great fun, mind you, but completely gratuitous by its nature).

[AppleGirl1990]

I would pay for an iphone version. i bet you would sell tens of thousands of copies.
Since my iphone doesn't actually make phone calls (all it does is drop them), i would like this program as a stress reliever!

[Sherman Homan]

Since my iphone doesn't actually make phone calls (all it does is drop them),

Coffee + Funny = Snort + Ouch!

[- - e r i k - -]

I would pay for an iPhone version as well. This app would be perfect for it (I also remember it fondly).

Market it as a stress reliever (which was what it was marketed as back then if I remember correctly) and hopefully you'll get through Apple's stringent app store policy.

[- - e r i k - -]

Things are much different now then back in the nineties when this app came out. For one, when I had it, I was 12 and didn't have an internet connection. All my software I got from MacFormat and similar publications cover CDs! I didn't even have a CD-ROM, so I had to get my friend to copy it over to my measly 80MB external HD. Not even kidding.

Now the market is much bigger, and registering and paying for shareware much more convenient. I'm sure there are still lots of dishonest people out there, but from my own experience convenience helps me keep honest. If I can send a developer a few bucks and get my registration instantly that's what I'll do. It's much better than having to physically mail money internationally and then wait and pray for a registration code to get back to me within weeks, which was my only option back then.

I can't remember if I just used the crippleware version or if I ever came across a cracked version (seems unlikely back then), but it was surely one of my favourite apps to show off to friends.

[AppleGirl1990]

Are you officially denying your secret identity as ERIC from Hotline (king of illegal software downloads)?

[analogika]

Are you officially admitting tnat you frequented that server?

[- - e r i k - -]

Sorry. I was Grim on HL. I did know Eric The Red though

[P]

If you could do it in Director back in -94 (that would have been Director 3 or therabouts, no? The one with the arbitrary lines-of-code limit?) it could probably be done in Javascript today. Even better - Cocoa with some of the Core Image effects.

Note that I've never seen the app, so I can't tell exactly what it did and if you could replicate it easily today. I did have an app where you could shoot or mutilate whatever was on the screen at the time though, so you could shoot Word 6 for crashing on you and whatnot. Not having a credit card back then (in my early teens at the time) I only used the crippled version that only had a revolver, but the interface promised more esoteric effects if you paid up.

[analogika]

Originally Posted by - - e r i k - - 

Sorry. I was Grim on HL. I did know Eric The Red though

Carracho FTW ( gronk-o-matik.™ ).