Moondust

Moondust
Title screen of the game
Game No.	527
Voting	7.50 points, 2 votes
Developer	Jaron Lanier
Company	Creative Software
Release	1983
Platform	C64
Genre	Arcade, Miscellaneous
Gamemode	Single player
Operation
Media
Language
Information	aka Moon Dust

Description

Astronaut in space

Spinning spaceship

In the game "Moondust", also known as "Moon Dust" in some publications, the player simultaneously controls an astronaut and six spaceships moving together in zero gravity. In each round, the astronaut must release a "seed" some distance from the center of the screen and then "smear" it towards the center using the spaceships. The farther the seed was originally from the center and the closer the smear eventually gets to the center of the screen, the higher the score.

There is no story or introductory sequence. The game begins immediately with the astronaut and all six spaceships flying off in all directions from a common starting point in the center of the screen, each time being reflected back at the edge of the screen.

Design

The entire game takes place on a single screen. The astronaut in a white spacesuit and six differently colored spaceships move against a black background. When one of the objects reaches the edge of the screen, it bounces back and makes its way back to the center of the playing field. Since each of the colorful spaceships leaves a colored trail behind it that fades slowly, the game appears fascinating and very colorful.

Even selecting the game mode using joystick movements is worth seeing.

At the start of the game, the astronaut and the rockets fly off in all directions.

Graphics

The screen display is exclusively in multicolor bitmap mode (bitmap at address $2000, video RAM with color information at $0400). Both the video RAM and the color RAM are initially filled with a uniform value, so the background graphics initially consist of only four different colors. Interestingly, the black background color is encoded by the bit combination 11, so that the seeding and smearing can later be easily visualized by manipulating the color RAM.

Both the astronaut and the spaceships are represented by single-color sprites of a single size (sprite 0 for the astronaut's head and sprite 1 for the body, the remaining sprites 2-7 for each spaceship). To detect collisions between the astronaut and the rockets, the program relies on the collision detection of the VIC (register at address $D01E).

Sound

The atmosphere during the game is significantly shaped by the three-part, continuous musical accompaniment, which the player influences through joystick movements while controlling the astronaut and the spaceships. The authors of the book "Rombach's C64-Spieleführer" evidently found this accompanying melody so fascinating that they described it in their review as the main purpose of the game, completely ignoring its actual meaning — the sowing and spreading of seeds.

The following gallery shows an example of an excerpt from such program-generated accompaniment. For creative reuse, the sheet music for this melody is also available as a PDF document (File:Moondust Theme PDF.pdf) and in ABC musical notation (File:Moondust Theme.abc.txt).

Musical notation of a section of the accompaniment melody, reconstructed by logging all write accesses to the SID

Continuation of the accompaniment melody

Hints

In the game "Moondust", the player simultaneously controls an astronaut (referred to in the instructions as a "Spacewalker") and six spaceships ("Moondrops"). Each round of the game consists of two phases: First, the astronaut searches for a suitable location on the screen to place a seed, while also considering a favorable arrangement of the spaceships. This phase can be extended indefinitely. The seed must not be placed too close to the center of the screen; therefore, placement in this area will fail and only create a trail of sparks behind the astronaut if he attempts it anyway.

With the successful deployment of the seed, the second phase of the game begins: The seed appears in the middle of a swirl as a brightly sparkling square. The closer the seed is placed to the edge of the screen, the higher the potential winnings for that round, and the maximum possible value is briefly displayed. From this point on, all objects move more slowly and are therefore more precisely controllable — especially since the astronaut must now be very careful not to collide with the spaceships, as even a few collisions will result in the round ending without any points being scored. Fortunately, not every slight touch between the astronaut and a spaceship counts as a collision; rather, it requires multiple overlaps of a spaceship sprite with the astronaut's head, but not their body.

Once a seed has been laid out, the astronaut must now be careful to avoid collisions with rockets...

...because after too many collisions, the round ends with a knockout and no points awarded.

A force field of concentric circles then forms in the center of the screen. The goal is to steer the spaceships over the seed in such a way that they "smear" it towards the force field and ideally hit the center of the force field (referred to as the "bullseye" in the game, see the left animation in the gallery below) with this brightly sparkling smear. The distance a single spaceship can smear the seed is limited, so several attempts are usually necessary — possibly with different spaceships — to extend the sparkling area as close as possible to the center of the force field. The time available for this is limited, so you should work quickly. If the center of the force field is actually reached, this is rewarded not only with the maximum score announced during the seeding process, but also with a bonus seed (right animation) — which in turn represents another chance at a bullseye. Otherwise, the score is reduced depending on how close the smear marks came to the center of the screen.

In two steps, the blue spaceship smears the seed to the center of the screen...

...whereupon the force field begins to dance and the player receives the maximum score.

A bullseye is awarded for a bonus seed... and a chance at another bullseye.

A unique gameplay mode is available if you hold down the fire button while the title screen is displayed and simultaneously press the C=  key: The game then switches to "Purist" mode, in which no message text or scores are displayed. Instead, the player can blindly select one of the four game modes and revel in the graphics and sound effects without the tedious pursuit of scores. Furthermore, if they select the top game mode, "Beginner", they don't have to worry about collisions with spaceships during the game.

If you hold down the fire button while the title screen is displayed and press the C=  key...

...Moondust switches to "Purist" mode for the duration of a game, in which no message text is displayed.

During gameplay, you can use the C=  key to pause the game; however, the background music continues to play. Pressing the C=  key again resumes the game.

Screen Layout

Typical scene from the game. The trail of sparks is from an attempt to plant the seed, which was made inside the force field and therefore failed. The swirl around the seed fades within a short time.

Controls

The game "Moondust" is controlled exclusively with the joystick. The actions performed here not only control the game but also permanently affect the background music, so that each game has its own unique melody.

From the title screen, pressing the fire button opens a selection menu where you choose one of four game modes. To select the mode (see the left animation in the section "Design"), move the joystick up or down; pressing the fire button then starts the game. The effect of the joystick movements then depends on the selected game mode:

• "BEGINNER": Moving the joystick in a specific direction causes all objects to move in that direction. The astronaut's head immediately begins moving, while his body and all spaceships slowly turn. The player determines the direction of rotation with the fire button: holding the fire button makes the objects rotate clockwise, otherwise counterclockwise. If an object is moved towards the edge of the screen, it begins to spin there. In this mode, the seed must not be placed within the force field, i.e., the circular, central marker.
• "EVASIVE": The controls are identical to "BEGINNER" mode; however, after being placed, the seed does not remain in its position but quickly flees towards the edge of the screen. Therefore, seeds should only be sown when it is certain that a spaceship will cross the seed's trajectory in time, before it can disappear into the vastness of space.
  Only in "EVASIVE" mode may the seed be placed between the outermost and second-outermost rings of the force field.

The seed quickly disappears, and the round ends without any points being scored...

...unless a rescue spaceship (here, the purple one) is already on its way.

• "FREESTYLE": Only the astronaut can be directly controlled with the joystick. The turns he makes are transmitted to all spaceships. So, for example, if the astronaut changes his flight direction and no longer flies upwards but instead to the right, the necessary quarter turn clockwise is transmitted to all spaceships.
  In this game mode, the astronaut does not collide with the spaceships even after planting the seed.
• "SPINSANITY", a portmanteau of "spin" and "insanity": It is controlled exactly like in "FREESTYLE" mode; however, the spaceships also fly in spirals as soon as the player stops using the joystick. With a little practice, this behavior can be anticipated and used to smear the seeds.
  In "SPINSANITY" mode, the astronaut can also smear the seeds, but only over short distances. However, a round in this mode ends after only two (instead of the usual four) collisions between the astronaut and spaceships due to a "knockout".

Even the start of a new round in "Spinsanity" mode is worth watching...

...but that a "bullseye" can still be achieved in this chaotic flurry seems almost miraculous.

Tips

• "Moondust" looks best when the color saturation of the television or monitor is set to maximum and the game is played in a darkened room. Those who appreciate the changing background music can also follow the advice in the instructions and play the sound through their stereo system.
• The seeds should not be placed too close to the edge of the screen: While this is where the highest scores can be achieved, spaceships often bounce back when trying to reach the seeds without actually reaching them.
• High overall scores can be achieved with some practice (and patience) by always placing the seed in a location easily accessible to spaceships and then smearing it precisely in the center — for example, in two steps, one horizontal and one vertical. Since you always receive a bonus seed for such a "bullseye", the final score is ultimately the sum of numerous, albeit not exceptionally high, individual scores.

Solution

In "Moondust", the journey is the destination, and the game doesn't need to be "solved." At most, once the player tires of the changing melodies, they can, following the advice given in the "Tips" section, specifically target points.

Cheats

None of the cracks of "Moondust" available on the internet offer a trainer or any other form of cheats.

In many cases, however, these cracks are software packages consisting only of a short loader and the cartridge image. The loader loads or moves the cartridge code to the address range $8000–$9FFF and then triggers a cold start of the C64, which, based on the "CBM80" identifier at address $8004–$8008, believes it has a cartridge and starts the game stored on it by jumping across the vector at address $8000.

However, if you instead load the cartridge code yourself — available, for example, as a file named "MOONDUST 64738" in the D64 image by Toni Martini in the CSDB — into the correct address range using the command LOAD"MOONDUST 64738",8,1, you can then add specific trainer functionalities using simple POKE commands before starting the game (with the command SYS64738 or by pressing the reset button):

POKE 40355,42 : REM 42 INSTEAD OF ONLY 3 SEEDS PER GAME
POKE 37403,96 : REM NO COLLISIONS BETWEEN ASTRONAUT AND MISSILES

Internal Data Structures

For developing your own trainer functions and for analyzing or manipulating the data used by the game, knowledge of the memory allocation and internal workings is helpful. The following table therefore compiles a range of information about "Moondust".

Address	Content	Comments
$0017	Last value of the random number generator	Range 0...255
$0082-$0083	Total score	Range 0...65535, least significant byte first
$0089	Number of seeds remaining	Range 0...3
$C00C	Last randomly selected color	Range $02-$0A,$0D-$0F
$C07F	Maximum score of the current round	Range 0...255
$C089	Number of collisions between astronaut and spaceships	Range 0...3
$C08C	Actual score of the current round	Range 0...255

The random number generator is used, for example, to determine the colors of the trails left by the spaceships. While other games often simply query the low byte of a counter for this purpose, the author of "Moondust" clearly makes an effort to avoid predictable or repetitive number sequences:

8541: LDA *$17  ; Retrieve previous value of the random number generator
8543: ROR A     ; shift right and move carry flag to most significant bit
8543: EOR *$17  ; XOR with the previous value of the random number generator
8546: EOR $DC04 ; XOR the low byte of timer A of CIA 1
8549: STA *$17  ; store as new value of the random number generator
854B: RTS       ; and return the new random number in accumulator

When choosing the colors for the tracks, three random numbers are drawn sequentially, none of which may represent black, white, dark gray, and gray (color codes $00, $01, $0B, $0C). Furthermore, two successively randomly selected colors must be different:

8738: JSR $8541 ; Retrieve random number
873B: AND #$0F  ; and limit to the value range $00...$0F
873D: CMP #$02  ; Code for "black" ($00) or "white" ($01)?
873F: BCC $8738 ; Return to the previous step and get a new random number if so
8741: CMP $C00C ; Identical to the previous color code?
8744: BEQ $8738 ; Return to the previous step and get a new random number if so
8746: CMP #$0B  ; Code for "Dark Gray" ($0B)?
8748: BEQ $8738 ; Return to the previous step and get a new random number if so
874A: CMP #$0C  ; Code for "Gray" ($0C)?
874C: BEQ $8738 ; Return to the previous step and get a new random number if so
874E: STA $C00C ; otherwise store code as new color code
8751: RTS       ; and return it in accumulator

In this way, a maximum of two of the three colors in the background graphic can be the same:

With a probability of approximately 8.33% (one-twelfth), two of the three colors in the background graphic are the same (here, turquoise).

Votes

Voting of the C64-Wiki users (10=the best vote):
7.50 points at 2 votes. You need to be logged in to cast a vote.
C64Games	7	June 20, 2006 - "sehr gut" - 2989 downs
Lemon64	7.59	May 24, 2024 - 22 votes
Electronic Fun with Computers and Games	3/4	Vol. 2 No. 3 (January 1984)
Universal Videogame List	3.9/5	May 24, 2024
Rombachs C64-Spieleführer	10	September 1984 - "Verdict 1"

Critics

Rombachs C64-Spieleführer: "Moon Dust is a program that will certainly satisfy the needs of aesthetically inclined players. The game has an almost hypnotic effect due to its beautiful graphical presentation and the strangely ethereal sound sequences and can only be described as a success. If you want to get to know it better, it also demands concentrated thought and analysis (verdict 1)."

The C64 Home Companion: "Moondust is a computer game for people who don't like computer games."

Stephan64: "Both the novel gameplay and the graphic and musical design of 'Moondust' are fascinating... Hats off to the programmer Jaron Lanier, who conceived this game and squeezed it into a cartridge of only 8 KB. However, 'Moondust' lacks a backstory and a long-term, overarching goal, and the player-generated accompaniment melodies are mostly so, ahem, futuristic that they don't hold your attention for long. Therefore, I give it 7 points for a game that you have to see, but not necessarily play through."

Shakermaker303: "An innovative game concept, paired with wonderful ambient sound that adapts slightly to the gameplay. It's a great way to unwind. Of course, it's not a very versatile game with impressive graphics, but sometimes that's not so important."

Miscellaneous

Cover

An image of the cartridge packaging can be found at Wikipedia (see section "Weblinks"). Photos of the cartridge itself are not permanently available online, but occasionally appear at online auctions. The images in question show a light red plastic cartridge with a rough surface, on which a white sticker bears the following inscription in blue, partially reversed lettering:

Creative    presents
   Software

              MOONDUST
for the Commodore 64TM

(C) 1983 by Creative Software

Commodore 64TM is a trademark
of Commodore Electronics Ltd.

The cartridge comes with a [1] manual, which is strongly recommended to be read ("Yes, you DO want to read the instructions..."), as the game's purpose is difficult to grasp through trial and error.

Bugs

If you steer the astronaut toward the right edge of the screen, he will begin to spin there. The traces he leaves behind extend beyond the screen's boundaries and instead appear on the opposite, left edge:

If the astronaut moves along the right edge, his trail is partially displayed on the far left.

Video Recording

Short demonstration of the game

Trivia

• The game's author, Jaron Lanier, named the astronaut "Jose Scriabin" in honor of the Russian composer Alexander Nikolayevich Scriabin, who composed "music for all five senses."
• "Moondust" is considered the first artistic video game and the first interactive music release.

Highscore

The following list invites you to apply your highest score to Immortalize it. The choice of game mode is entirely up to you.

Topscore of Stephan64

1. Stephan64 - 1888 (07.06.2024)
2. Nini - 1029 (01.09.2024)
3. Shakermaker303 - 0219 (28.09.2024)

	#2 Nini		#3 Shakermaker303

Links

Wikipedia: Moondust_(video_game)

• Lemon64 - Game No. 1709
• Gamebase64.com - Game No. 4978
• C64Games.de - Game No. 3153
• CSDb - Release No. 174476
• CSDb
• ready64 - Game No. 681
• Moondust at MobyGames

• Universal Videogame List

---

• Brief biography of the program's author, Jaron Lanier
• CLSI Calendar of Public Events, Vol. 12, No. 28 (May 14, 1997) (Announcement of an event with Jaron Lanier at Stanford University, 15.05.1997)
• User manual

Magazines

• The Commodore 64 Home Companion test report (pp. 169)
• Video Games test report (p. 30)
• Electronic Fun with Computers and Games Review (p. 24), Review (p. 68)
• Ahoy! test report (p. 52)