Living Worlds - Mark Ferrari

In the early 1990’s, I got my hands on the original “Seize the Day” calendar program that the description describes. It was amazing. I don’t think I ever made an actual calendar entry, but thoroughly enjoyed watch the scenes change throughout the day. I’d set up my computer with the program running in the back and take breaks watching the sunrises and sunsets change the scene’s palette, the clouds pass, the watchmen carrying their lanterns over the bridges, the desert fireworks, the eerie glows in the ruins and the caves, and the spectral sword above the mountain lake. The scenes themselves evoke such rich stories that have just happened or are just about to, and the art has just enough fantasy elements that the wordlessness lends itself to wonder. The ability to scroll through and fast forward for rewind the scene’s day is a wonderful feature; it can occupy me for longer than I ought to admit. I loved that program and when system softwares made it obsolete, I mourned (just as I did the demise of After Dark and the Far Side screensavers). Such creativity and beauty gone forever, I thought. And then this app came online and I snapped it up (and gifted it to many, many people). It is a fine adaptation; not quite as high in resolution and more narrow in scope, but it uses its platform to the best and I’m sincerely grateful it’s here to enjoy longer. I look forward to any innovation that these fine developers can devise, because I’m here to pay for them. Can’t wait!

The pixel art is absolutely phenomenal, especially with the little events going on throughout the day. I’m writing this just after waking up from the snowfall and ambient sounds playing from the app. This app transitioned from “oh pretty pixel art, too bad it’s not a live wallpaper” to something I regularly open just to stare at to ease my mind while listening to the sounds, and finally to my new sleeping partner. I’m really giving it 4.5 stars but will bump this up to five depending on Pixelfabrik’s upkeep on the the ambient sounds (though I understand that those are not the critical points of the app). If anything, my only slight annoyance is constantly readjusting the time when I swipe up or down (iphone XR user). A “lock time” option would be excellent. All around though, I do not regret spending the money on this lovely app. Thank you for the quality of work you put in so far Pixelfabrik. Never caught that shooting star either lol.

I never tried Seize the Day in its heyday, as I was more or less an oocyte at the time. However, I discovered the incredible palette-swapping animated pixel art of Mark Ferrari many years later, and fell in love immediately. It was not long after that I discovered Seize the Day, and even managed to get it running in an emulator! I think the whole concept is magical, and I endeavor to create something as beautiful in my time. I was overjoyed when I heard the artwork was being revived in modern form. The app is very relaxing, and the ability to swipe across the times of day and see weather and light fade in and out is absolutely beautiful. I think the added logbook and scavenger hunt ideas are a very nice touch too! They encourage me to check in often and become re-immersed in the scenes. As others have said though, I think the app would benefit *immensely* from the addition of the soundscapes that accompanied Mark Ferrari's artwork on whichever HTML5 website first revived it (or new soundscapes -- any fitting sounds really). The app would then become a nice white-noise/relaxation tool for sleeping, studying, working, etc. In this way, the app would then fill the same role that another wonderful site/app, AmbientMixer, fills for me. All in all, a wonderful app. Carpe diem!