Page last updated: April 27, 2025.

PatchDance was a shareware 3D modeler for Power Macintosh (rendering and animation were planned but not completed.) It was vertex-oriented and spline based, and outperformed essentially everything else available on the Mac platform. At the time I was using Sculpt 4D, a powerful but now extinct Mac program. Its PowerPC version (for which I had bought a new 8100/80) was delayed. I was pretty good with computers in college. Could I write my own...?

After Mac Classic and the PowerPC went away, I thought of trying to move PatchDance to something newer. It wasn't easy: PatchDance started on a very early and limited version of Metrowerks Codewarrior C++, and some of the older code is crude because it had to be. It was very Mac Classic-specific (I was quite the Apple guy back then.) PatchDance was written before modern video cards: its speed came from custom PowerPC graphics code that had to be completely replaced. If they had provided Carbon for Intel with some assurance that it would last, maybe....

Not to mention, I got married in 1996, acquired a baby 😊 in 2000, turned 40 😢 and had to get a fulltime job 😒 in 2001. Distracting, to say the least. Plus, I didn't like what I saw Apple becoming and didn't want to work on OS X (this page was created on Linux; I don't use any Apple products now.)

After 30 years, I am simplifying. Web hosting is getting really expensive, and downloads are extremely rare nowadays (I quit charging many years ago.) If you'd like a copy of the last version of PatchDance or one of my 680x0 Mac Classic utilities, or just want to flame/discuss/reminisce, drop me a mail.

The era from 1994 to 2005, including my first professional job (on Stomp, Inc's ClickNDesign3D CD labeling program), was the high point of my professional life. Nothing after that was ever as much fun.

My thanks to everyone who has worked with me through this project;
Many thanks to Grant Adam of Uncommon Characters, who provided the neat banner artwork.

..."With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible." Matthew 19:26