1984 · Commodore 64 · preservation workspace
recorded evidence indexA source-backed atlas for turning a 38,913-byte game into something you can inspect, question, and safely reshape.
Gnome_English.prgdecode → correlate → boundevery edit has a receiptThe workbench workflow
Explore the moves behind the interface. Each lens is a different way of making a messy artifact useful without pretending certainty.
Start with the artifact itself. Map address ranges, decode visible assets, then keep every inference close to the bytes that support it.
$0801 → $9FFFThe first useful move is not to guess what the program means. It is to make its observable shape explicit.
recorded / read-onlyThe rulebook
Movement and depth, the word task, every enemy and item, what changes by round, the second stage and scoring, each rule tagged with the evidence behind it.
The source contract
The safe boundary
The World lab separates complete runtime-observed frames from the partial constructor model at $0E0B–$1016. Collision, depth, and remaining structured blocks stay visibly labelled rather than being smoothed into a false certainty.
Screen construction · $0E0B–$1016
Compare complete runtime-captured VIC-II frames with the partial constructor model and native VICE-proven depth geometry.
VIC-II graphics · $4800–$5FFF
Every preview is decoded directly from a 64-byte slot. The catalogue uses multicolor previews while reporting runtime-observed modes per slot. Exact title-table timing, controlled gameplay captures, and visually scored candidate families are separated by evidence level. Animated previews preserve repeated timing frames.
Green groups are code- or runtime-backed. Amber candidates are visual research leads.
Unproven · visual adjacency only
These reels compare neighbouring, silhouette-similar slots. They are not promoted to canonical groups until a runtime reader or table link is found.
Canonical bank · nothing hidden
Every original slot remains visible here as a static frame, whether animated, provisional, or currently unclassified.
Paint the selected hardware colour · Shift-click or right-click erases · arrow keys change slot
Custom charset · $6400–$67FF
Codes $80–$FF are program-resident glyphs. The lower half is copied from character ROM during startup.
Hardware constraint: exactly 8 rows × 8 one-bit pixels.
Rules recovered from code and controlled runtime states
Primary objectives and actors, scoring paths, the two-stage state flow, and evidence-backed enemy parameters.
Primary state · $27D8–$2838
VIC collision chain · $733C–$7C5C
Second stage · $7DF2–$91B4
SID writers · $D400–$D418
C64 screen-code records · $986D–$995A
Fields are fixed in place. The builder pads safely and rejects overflow or unsupported characters.
Evidence browser
Memory classifications, raw bytes, and recursively discovered code paths remain linked to C64 addresses.
Deterministic binary compiler
Every output derives from the canonical image. Unknown bytes and original load address are preserved exactly.
Build to inspect exact changes.
VirtualC64web · local pinned runtime
Builds load directly into a same-origin browser C64. Cursor keys move the joystick; Space is fire.
Your project is built and validated before the C64 starts.
Rulebook · docs/GAME_RULES.md
Every rule the research has established, in the order a player meets them. Each carries its evidence: N natural native run, C controlled native run, D read from code only.
Technical record
The repository holds the long-form evidence, formats, deployment notes, and unresolved questions. Documents open here; each also links to its raw Markdown.