Version 1.1 - 01/06/2005
By
Robert Bennett

Please note: NEVER link directly to the files listed below, always link to this page. These files will move due to bandwidth restrictions, but this page will always have the latest links.
Click here to download!
Click here to download from a Tucows mirror (bundle free)

No matter what version of Windows you are using it is recommended that you make sure you are using the latest drivers for your video card. If you have any problems (slow, jerky, crashing, freezing) they can almost always be fixed by simply replacing your outdated drivers.

The latest drivers for your card are available from the manufacturers website. They are always working on upgrading the drivers, so make sure you upgrade them!

Some common manufacturers websites are:
ATI
Matrox
nVidia
PowerVR

To get to the settings screen go to Display options in Control Panel and
in the Screen Saver section click on Settings. This brings up the UC3D settings screen where you can set the countdown and display settings. To get to the settings for this screen saver select it in the Installed Modules list and click the button.

The following configuration options are available. (It is recommended that you play with the options to find what runs best on your PC and what you think looks best):

Batman's Outfit: Use the drop down box to select how you want Batman to look. You can select Class Batman, 90s Batman (from the Michael Keaton movies), or Batman Begins (altho I'm yet to find a clear picture of the new Batman, so it's a close-enuff thing). You can also select Random which means you'll get a different one each time it runs.
Maximum Number Of Thugs: Select how many thugs are allowed to be on the rooftop at a time. If you find the screensaver slows down when there's a few thugs milling around, lower this and it should speed up a little.
Display Photos From Batman Begins: Turn this off if you don't want the screensaver to focus on the projection of images from the movie on the clouds..
Delay Between Pictures: With the above turned on, this lets you set how long of a delay there is between pictures being displayed.
Play Background Music: If you want to drive people nuts with the old Batman TV theme tune, or music from Batman Returns, then turn this on!
Selected Music: Here you can select which tune plays if the above is turned on. Choose between the old Batman TV theme, the Batman Returns music, or Random which means it'll switch back and forth.
Display POW! Sound Effect Balloons: With this turned on you'll get different POW! type things popping up when someone get's punched.

After all the requests I've had over the years for a Batman screensaver, I was surprised at how little response I've had from people about this one. What I have had tho has all been pretty positive, and I like it anyway.

Only complaint I had I think is that the music option didn't work properly, but I didn't like the music so it's taken me ages to bother to fix it. I've also added a heap of new pictures.

Enjoy!

Over the years I've had heaps of requests for a Batman screensaver. But the last movie was just so bad, that I couldn't bring myself to do it.

However, when I saw the trailer for the new one coming soon, Batman Begins, I was inspired to spend some time putting one together. Turns out that altho I couldn't include all the stuff I thought of, it still took weeks to get this thing to a level where I'm happy to release it. From behind the scenes, this is probably one of the best I've ever done, and I've found that I can sit and watch it for a long time, but I'm not sure it's as visually spectacular as some of the others I've done. Hopefully you guys appreciate the effort that went into making it anyway, and I'm just being too hard on myself.

This is actually a throw back to why I started making screensavers in the first place. I hate boring flash slideshow screensavers. So the first thing I thought for a Batman screensaver was projecting images onto the clouds like the Bat Symbol. The effect came out better than I expected, and I think it's really cool. But ofcourse then I thought it needed so much more than just pictures on clouds, and that's when this thing started to get a lot bigger - and better! - than I originally planned.

Batman is actually the first human male 3D model I've made myself from scratch, and I think he came out quite well. He walks around the rooftop beating up thugs. I mean, what else could he do? When I did the Spider-Man screensaver a few years back, I thought it was really cool that he swung around the city on his webs, but I got a heap of complaints that he never actually fought any bad guys. So I figured with Batman I'd try and make up for that.

One of the cool things is his cape. It's a simple cloth simulation, so instead of being pre-animated it flaps around depending on his movements. But it's not quite perfect, and it's a bug I'm aware of. There are times when it'll go thru him slightly or sometimes go a bit nuts. In general tho, I think it's way better than if I had just animated a cape because I'd never be able to get it to look anywhere near as good.

I have to say that I've become a bit jaded. Everytime I release a free screensaver I get complaints that it doesn't do this, or it doesn't do that. It's FREE dammit! Use it, or don't, but there's no need to complain about free stuff! So I just want to make something clear to those of you who feel the need to be nothing but negative: This is just a screensaver. A free screensaver. As far as screensaver's go, it does what I think is some very cool stuff, but it's just a screensaver. It's not a movie. It's not a game. It's just a FREE screensaver. Enjoy it. Enjoy the fact that I've spent weeks making it just for a bit of fun. Watch it and go "oooh nifty!". Or, if you don't like it, then don't use it at all. Delete it and forget about it. That's what's so great about the free world we all live in, no one is beating down our doors insisting we use a certain screesaver against our will!

Now that's out of the way, I do truly hope you guys enjoy this thing. If you spot any bugs, or have any suggestions or whatever, then drop me an email.

Enjoy!

v1.1 - 1st June, 2005 - Bugfix/update
Fixed the music option bug.
Added a heap of new pictures.

v1.0 - 1st April, 2005 - Original Release
Batman roams a rooftop beating up thugs.
Background music.
POW! Comic style sound effect balloons.
3 different Batman costumes.
Batman throws Baterangs.