STARS — JavaScript port of Noooon's 1995 MS-DOS demo
A reverse-engineered reimplementation of STARS: Wonders of the world (STARSv2.EXE, Noooon, 1995) in plain JavaScript: all effects redrawn in a 320×200 indexed-colour canvas, original music played through libopenmpt.
Run locally
python3 -m http.server -d web # then open http://localhost:8000/
Click once to start (audio needs a gesture). Keys: Space pause · ←/→ seek ±5 s · F fullscreen.
Layout
| Path | Content |
|---|
STARSv2.EXE | the original demo (target); STARS.EXE is an older version, ignored |
web/ | the site: index.html (landing), demo.html + main.js (runner), script.js (timeline), engine.js, lib3d.js, parts/*.js (one module per effect), assets/ (decompressed resources), stars.xm (music), timeline.json |
re/ | reverse-engineering: NOTES.md (process), emu_unpack.py, dlz.py, extract.py, images.py, mod2xm.py, ref/harness.py (Unicorn harness running the original code as ground truth), parts/*.md (per-effect notes) |
Method (short)
Self-decrypting stub (emulated with Unicorn) → PKLITE-style LZ → flat 32-bit image (PMODE 3.07) → resource container with a custom dlz compressor. Each effect was disassembled, ported to JS and compared pixel by pixel with frames produced by the original code in the harness. See re/NOTES.md.
Known gaps
- Part I's second half is not verified against the original; text-mode ending screen not ported.
- Parts assume one tick per frame (70 Hz); the original's animation speed may differ on slow frames.
- Random dots in the text part can't match the original exactly (seed depends on earlier parts).
- Seeking replays effects from the start of the current part, so a seeked frame can differ slightly from a normal run.
- Music is converted MOD → XM and played by libopenmpt, so mixing differs from the original LCA player.
Credits
Original demo by Noooon (Groo: music, Bartie: 3D motion, Karl: system and effects, Ra: script and pixels), 1995. Sound: LCA player by Cedric Bermond; protected mode: PMODE by Tran. Playback: libopenmpt via chiptune3. This port was produced by reverse engineering with AI assistance (Claude).
