Moondust

It has also been used by Lanier and others in papers and lectures as an example to demonstrate the unexpected ephemerality of digital data. Also considered to be the first interactive music publication, and it sold quite successfully.

• Title — Moondust • Publisher — Creative Software • Modes — Single player • Designer — Jaron Lanier • Released — 1983 • Genre — Music game, art game • Platforms — Commodore 64

• Illustration — Screenshot of gameplay Moondusts gameplay is characterized by graphical complexity, and the game features an abstract ambient score. 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) 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, his flight patterns and those of 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. 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. The game has been compared to the works of Jeff Minter. 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 player's 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.