One of the most criminally underrated games of all time (and not just on the 64). Back in the day I didn't appreciate the game, it wasn't until I started playing it on Vice, and realized who actually wrote the game, that the game now makes perfectly good sense to me.
This is a great game. I had it on cartridge as a kid, I remember going to sleep with the strange music and swirling patterns from the game in my head. I've gone back and played it on an emulator and it's just as good as I remember. Tips: Just plant the seed outside the bullseye area after synchronizing the movement of the spaceships to your spaceman. Then use the synchronized spaceship closest to the seed to smear the spreading seed to the center of the bullseye. Simple eh? hahaha
From wikipedia... Moondust's gameplay is characterized by graphical complexity,[20] and the game features an abstract ambient score.[21] The goal of the game is to cover the bullseye at the center of the screen with "moonjuice." To do this, the player controls spaceman Jose Scriabin (named in honor of synaesthetic composer Alexander Scriabin)[22] as he drops a seed square and then moves around the screen in arcing paths to run over the seed, smearing it to cover the bullseye. As Jose travels, flight patterns of he and the bullet-shaped spaceships he must avoid are created and as they pass through the trails that are created, and as the moonjuice spreads and smears, the musical score is modified according to a generative algorithm.[23] In-game scoring system assigns point-values according to an algorithm when the level is completed. Players start with three seeds but may acquire more if they have scored highly enough.[22] The game has been compared to the works of Jeff Minter.[24] The game features 4 modes: Beginner, Evasive, Freestyle, and Spinsanity. In Beginner mode, the seeds that Jose must smear remain in one position wherever they had been dropped. In Evasive mode, however, the seeds seek to evade Jose by rushing to the edge of the screen. Freestyle mode greatly increases the players control over Jose, removing the physical element of momentum to connect Jose's motions directly to the joystick controller's. In Spinsanity mode, the spaceships travel in a spiral pattern making smearing of the seed more difficult for the player. It was a music game which meant that the "enemies" went along to the beat of the music. The game was created by Jaron Lanier so it does kind of make sense, as Lanier was one of the pioneers of virtual reality.
It's 32 years later and I still have no idea what's going on in this game.
Brought here by the author jaron Lanier. And he was right! It is a mad game. Love the title sequence. Phillip glass would be proud.
One of the most criminally underrated games of all time (and not just on the 64). Back in the day I didn't appreciate the game, it wasn't until I started playing it on Vice, and realized who actually wrote the game, that the game now makes perfectly good sense to me.
What other C64 games did he make?
This is a great game. I had it on cartridge as a kid, I remember going to sleep with the strange music and swirling patterns from the game in my head. I've gone back and played it on an emulator and it's just as good as I remember.
Tips: Just plant the seed outside the bullseye area after synchronizing the movement of the spaceships to your spaceman. Then use the synchronized spaceship closest to the seed to smear the spreading seed to the center of the bullseye. Simple eh? hahaha
For a second there, I thought the music was going to break into Reading Rainbow.
lmao
holy smokes!!! this could pass for a track by autechre without raising an eye-brow or both
gaming historian brought med here
This was the weirdest game I ever played...
funky
try playing at 0.75 speed!
What is going on here? :D
From wikipedia...
Moondust's gameplay is characterized by graphical complexity,[20] and the game features an abstract ambient score.[21] The goal of the game is to cover the bullseye at the center of the screen with "moonjuice." To do this, the player controls spaceman Jose Scriabin (named in honor of synaesthetic composer Alexander Scriabin)[22]
as he drops a seed square and then moves around the screen in arcing paths to run over the seed, smearing it to cover the bullseye. As Jose travels, flight patterns of he and the bullet-shaped spaceships he must avoid are created and as they pass through the trails that are created, and as the moonjuice spreads and smears, the musical score is modified according to a generative algorithm.[23]
In-game scoring system assigns point-values according to an algorithm when the level is completed. Players start with three seeds but may acquire more if they have scored highly enough.[22] The game has been compared to the works of Jeff Minter.[24]
The game features 4 modes: Beginner, Evasive, Freestyle, and Spinsanity. In Beginner mode, the seeds that Jose must smear remain in one position wherever they had been dropped. In Evasive mode, however, the seeds seek to evade Jose by rushing to the edge of the screen. Freestyle mode greatly increases the players control over Jose, removing the physical element of momentum to connect Jose's motions directly to the joystick controller's. In Spinsanity mode, the spaceships travel in a spiral pattern making smearing of the seed more difficult for the
player.
It was a music game which meant that the "enemies" went along to the beat of the music. The game was created by Jaron Lanier so it does kind of make sense, as Lanier was one of the pioneers of virtual reality.