The Dark Side (TDS) BBS (1990-1993) |
Phone: +1-203-438-1955 |
FidoNet: 1:141/745 |
Location: Ridgefield, CT, US |
Sysop: John Maly |
Software: Maximus 1.02 |
The Dark Side BBS started out running Opus software on an IBM AT with a 40 MB hard drive. It was later upgraded to run on a 386-based system with total of 450 MB of disk space, switched to Maximus, and added a second phone line to enable online chat.
By 1993, its final year of operation, the Dark Side had over a thousand users, over a dozen Doors (online games) including FOSSIL-redirected access to Infocom games, hundreds of megs of files available for download, and carried hundreds of echoes including SigNet and EggNet feeds. The login screens featured dark-themed animated ANSI art custom-created by the same artist who did animations for the TradeWars 2002 game.
The Dark Side BBS was the originator of the Collector's Corner Echo, a FidoNet mailing list for collectors of "anything, ranging from coins to baseball cards to comic books to stamps to different types of art". It was also the first BBS to feature animated, pull-down menus within Maximus.