OpenGL code is platform-agnostic and works on 16, 32 and 64-bit systems. And because the OpenGL code was still working on newer operating systems like Windows 7, it didn’t take long before the project was completed. The screensaver even got a well-deserved remodeling by a dedicated Minecrafter after noticing that it would scale very well with higher-resolution bitmaps. I wonder if they ever thanked Microsoft for that idea? Because there were a myriad of ways in which the same maze could be navigated, using a similar design meant their work was made much easier. Although first based off the original Doom, the design team settled on Windows 95’s screensaver, owing to the fact that is was a simple design, could be emulated by rather weak hardware and had a start and finishing point. Maze in a Box was a Cornell University project started by students that were tasked with designing a 3D game that could be played with players physically moving their characters through a virtual environment. The maze was so popular that it was turned into games of their own.
“That thing is clearly Satanic, Johnny Jnr! Go clean up your room now while momma sorts out this devil…” Later versions of the screensaver would introduce new textures and colours, some of them wild enough to be a trip of their own even if you weren’t into drugs. The textures of the maze were, by default, a sandy floor, brick-faced calls and an asbestos roof. Microsoft shipped it as a standard item with Windows 95 and given that Direct X and OpenGL were still in a war of who would dominate the OS, Microsoft’s engineers developed the screensaver, driven by OpenGL, probably as a subtle way of showing them what the engine was capable of. Not much information is available on this timeless time-waster that we watched more often than we played Galaxian or Circus Charlie. While Windows 95 didn’t change things as much as Windows 2000 did (and still does, because it has the best network stack Microsoft has ever, or will ever, design), it did bring one thing that brought joy to everyone who followed it’s exploits (and no, it wasn’t the Start button)… “That’s right, boys and girls, I’m back to blow your minds again!” Some of the old folk here do, however, and more hours were spent staring at the screen when it came on than there were playing games, or watching the telly. So for those of you who were born from 1995 and onwards and never used Windows 95, you won’t remember this.
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