1994 · Expanded edition · John Calhoun

Glider PRO

Expanded edition

The final release of the classic Glider game for the original Macintosh.

Released: 31 December 1994
Platforms: macOS
Genres: —
Developers: John Calhoun
Publishers: Casady & Greene

About

Glider is an action game written by John Calhoun for the Mac and published as shareware in 1988 under the company name Soft Dorothy Software. The object of the game is to fly a paper plane through the rooms of a house. Air currents from heat ducts and fans affect the plane's movement, while assorted household objects are usually deadly. Some rooms have special mechanics, such as the ability to slide along grease-covered surfaces. Each room is presented as a two-dimensional side view.

In 1991, a colorized version of Glider that included a level editor was published by Casady & Greene as Glider 4.0. A version of Glider 4 for Microsoft Windows was released around 1994. In 1994, Casady & Greene published a further enhanced version of the game, Glider PRO, for the Mac. When Casady & Greene went bankrupt in 2003, the rights to the series reverted to the author, who opted for a period of time to give the game away on his website.

Media

The articlegameplay, story, development, reception

Gameplay

The main challenge is to simply avoid collision with the floor, or obstacles such as furniture. Moving obstacles include bouncing basketballs, popping toast, and dripping water. Candles and other burning objects present both a handy updraft and a lethal flame. Collision with "enemy" paper planes and balloons is also fatal, but these can be shot down with the use of a bonus item: rubber bands.

The other bonus items are pieces of paper (extra lives), a variety of clocks (points), and batteries (temporary increased speed.) Glider PRO includes two new bonus items: aluminum foil (shielding against in-flight collisions) and helium tanks (mutually exclusive with regard to batteries, allows the glider to float upwards).

Reception

Inside Mac Games praised Glider PRO for its entertaining and non-violent gameplay, in addition to having a two-player mode that did not require modems or a network.

AllGame editor Lisa Karen Savignano described Glider 4.0 as "an interesting and fun game that will challenge people of all ages".

Legacy

Two monthly ezines, GliderTech and The Cockpit, were published between 1995 and 1997 following the release of Glider PRO. GliderTech published editorials, house reviews, house building tips and each issue was accompanied by a house or two with some examples of obstacles or techniques that could be used in house creation.

On 20 June 2014, a version of Glider for OS X 10.7 or later, was released on the Mac App Store. This version is also available for the iPhone and iPad as Glider Classic. Both are from Soft Dorothy LLC.