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Playing Dust: a walkthrough from the disc's own saves ​

Prerequisite: nothing. This page is for playing the game. Where it came from and how far it can be trusted is the golden thread.

gamefiles/save/ holds a continuous session saved about sixty times — CyberFlix's own playthrough, written by the shipped DF.EXE, running from the first night in Diamondback to the closing scene on day 5. Most steps below are a change those saves record, in the order they record it. The rest are read out of the game's own scripts, which is the stronger source where it exists.

How to read it:

  • What the saves know is the what, not always the how. They record that fearphase went 0 → 2 and that a Cigar arrived in your hand. They do not record which line of dialogue you picked. Where the how is not in the data, this page says so rather than inventing it.

  • Most steps end with a save name in brackets. [D2A_003] means the file D2A_003.RTD, in the play page's From the disc folder, is the game immediately after that step. Stuck, curious, or in a hurry — load it and carry on from there. The opening minutes have no save of their own — the collection begins at D1E_001, a few minutes in — so those steps are taken from the scripts. They are still checked: the playthrough plays them from a cold boot and has to arrive at D1E_001, which is the one rung of it with no save at its near end.

    To open the game already at one of them, in a real window:

    npm run dev -w dust                 # in one terminal
npm run play -w dust -- D2A_006    # in another
npm run play -w dust -- --list     # every rung, in the order they were made

    It boots (about three minutes), loads that save, leaves the window open, and prints the room and view to the terminal as you walk, so a step on this page can be checked against the game.

  • It is one route, not the only one. Dust is a town you wander, and much of what the original player did was optional. Treat the order as a thread to follow, not a combination to enter.

  • Puzzle answers are not from the saves at all — they are read out of the game's own scripts, and they are exact. They are collected at the bottom, so you can avoid them until you want them.

Before you start ​

From the disc's own release notes:

As the stranger who wanders in from the desert, you enter the gates of Diamondback possessing little more than your wits. … On the first day you'll need to find and procure a gun, bullets, and a new pair of boots. Survive that first day and things should begin to fall into place.

  • Arrow keys walk, up is forward, left and right turn. The mouse is your hand.
  • Click people to talk, click them again to hear it again. Click objects to look; some can be taken.
  • The cowboy at the lower right is your inventory. The cow skull is the control panel — save, load, sound, help.
  • Esc skips an animation or ends a conversation.
  • Read The Diamondback Rattler every day. Buy the town history at the Curiosity Shop.

Your money starts at $5, peaks at $800 on the afternoon of day 2, and finishes the game at $167 — with $587 left in the bank. The saloon is where all of it comes from; see Money below.

Day 1 — night ​

You arrive after dark. The whole first day is one long night, and it is the most tightly scripted stretch in the game.

The opening comes from HELP1.PUP rather than from a save, because the collection starts a few minutes after it, so it is the exact sequence rather than an inferred one.

  1. Walk up the street from the gate, into the dog. It is not a waiting game and there is nothing to time: NITE.SET/0135 keydown answers the FIRST uparrow you press facing north while the dog is visible on day 1, plays dog1.mov and brings the help character out (sendtoactor ("help", setupactor ("dog"))). The dog's growling and looking about is EXTRA.CST/0039's idle loop on a random () timer — flavour, not a gate.

  2. Talk to the help character, and let him help. He is the disc's built-in guide, he is rude about it, and the bone is three questions deep. HELP1.PUP/0033 opens on mainloop (), and only one of its three replies keeps the conversation going:

    • "What should I do?" (or "I don't need help.") → secondchance ()
    • "So I'll use my brain. Now what?" → thirdchance ()
    • "What should I look for?" (or "I give up.") → the bone: sendtoprop ("bone", setupprop ("street"))

    Do not pick "Who you calling stupid?" It is the reply that ends the conversation: it speaks three lines and sets helpphase = 2, which is the script's word for having brushed him off. There is no bone on that branch and there is no bone anywhere in mainloop ().

    You are not stuck if you did. Talk to him again and runyoself ()'s helpphase = 2 arm runs mustappologize (); apologise — "I'm sorry, what should I do?" — and it sets helpphase = 1 and falls straight into thirdchance () in the same conversation, where "What should I look for?" gives you the bone after all.

  3. Pick up the Bone, and give it to the dog. The dog goes away.

  4. Talk to the help character again. His script opens with if actorvisible("dog") = false → givesring(): with the dog gone he hands you the Ring (addinven("ring")), takes his leave, and puts Jones at the bar (sendtoactor("jones", setupactor("bar"))). helpphase reaches 3 and the game proper starts.

    The two replies he offers here — I want to learn how to play / I already know how to play — both end at ringer(), so the Ring is not at risk.

    Safety net: the first thing his script checks is if playercash <= 0, and if you are broke he gives you $5. You cannot be stranded penniless.

  5. Into town, and talk to Jones and Leroy. Pick up the Cards and the Jug. This is where the disc's own saves begin. [D1E_001]

  6. Into the Hard Drive Saloon, ground floor, and play. Seven minutes of cards turn $5 into $400. Trotter is behind the bar; the bouncer is now watching you. [D1E_002]

  7. Keep playing — a second hand takes you to $791 — and talk to Trotter and Gus. The Jug fills up. [D1E_003]

  8. Upstairs in the saloon, talk to Oona. Something costs $10. Trotter's thread moves again. [D1E_004]

  9. Give the Ring to Ruby in the saloon's back room — this is what her whole thread hangs off. Then over to the hotel, where you meet Fear and come away with a Cigar and the HHKey. [D1E_005]

  10. Give the Cigar to Laurel. You get a BKnife. Buick's thread opens and Laurel is now on your side (laurelgood). [D1E_006]

  11. To the Mayor's house — the hall and the study. His wife talks to you. [D1E_007]

  12. Take the Postcards, and talk to Marie. [D1E_008]

  13. Take the HRKey — your hotel room key. phase 6 → 8, which is the game saying day 1's business is done. [D1E_008B]

  14. Back out into the night. There is a fight — the original player came out of it with playerpower at 24 and fightover set — and a conversation with Jenix. It costs $15. [D1E_009]

  15. Sleep. Every character's thread resets to 0 and the clock rolls to morning. [D2M_001]

What the saves don't say: which answers you give anybody. The opening above is the exception, because it is read out of the script. The saves alone show the Bone leaving and the Ring arriving across one gap, which reads as a trade with the dog; the script says the dog only has to be gone, and the Ring is the help character's parting gift. The saves record what changed, not what caused it.

Day 2 — morning ​

You wake in the hotel room with $760. This is the day the release notes are talking about: gun, bullets, boots.

  1. Shopping. Six minutes and $750 buys you Sugarcubes, Flowers, a Pie, Biscuits and Boots. Give Laurel the Cigar. You end the run at the courthouse with $10. Along the way Jones, Fear, Buick, Laurel and Quist all open, the robber appears (dayrobber), and you learn Oona's story about the kid (oonakidstory). [D2M_002]
  2. The general store. Bolivar. Something costs $3 and you play the slots. You are holding the HHKey. [D2M_003]
  3. Take the Mask. The Apple goes into the birdcage. The Mayor's wife is annoyed with you (mwifelike 0 → −3), which is worth avoiding. [D2M_004]
  4. Take the Bullets, and let the Postcards go. The clock rolls to afternoon. [D2A_001]

Day 2 — afternoon ​

  1. Talk to the Mayor's wife again and mend it — mwifelike goes −3 → +3. [D2A_002]
  2. The newspaper office, then the undertaker's. Take the Jug in hand first: a gift is offered inside a conversation, from the plaque that names what you are carrying. Flippo drinks it (the jug has to be at least half full) and talks. Then the undertaker's, and the Pie to Side — he gives you the Boots for it. [D2A_003]
  3. The shooting range at the edge of town. Say yes when Leroy offers to lend you a gun; he takes whatever is in your hand and hands you his. Six shots, reload, five more: three bottles, three cans, four pop-up targets and one shot at nothing — ten hits out of eleven scores "good", and Leroy pays for good with the Harmonica. Click the gun itself to break it open, the cylinder to load it, and the gun again to close it. [D2A_004]
  4. Take the Apple back out of the birdcage. Marie is standing at the Mayor's gate this afternoon, and clicking the gate is talking to her: ask "Will you let me in your house?" and answer her quiz — her favourite colour is yellow, her father calls her Black Marie, and her horse is Cosimo. One right answer and she steps aside; two wrong and she is done with you for the day. Inside, you do not reach into the cage: walking back into the dining room puts the apple back on the table. Then look in at the courthouse on your way down the street, and wait outside the saloon — the Mayor comes over on his own. [D2A_005]
  5. Finish with the Mayor — "Time to go." is the only way out of his shop talk — then Jones. Take the Flowers in hand before you go in — a gift is offered from the plaque that names what you are carrying. Into the saloon and up: Ruby's door on day 2 is Trotter's, and the Flowers are for Sophie, who lays them back on the grave. Come back down for Oona, then step out into the street and back in — that is what moves Trotter downstairs to the bar. Sit down at the blackjack table and play: $7 → $800, and an account at the bank ($22). [D2A_006]
  6. Give the Sugarcubes to Trotter at the bar, then knock on Ruby's door upstairs — with Trotter dealt with, this time it really is Ruby. Out and down the street to the Curiosity Shop (chin): buy the town History for $35. [D2A_007]
  7. Get the Gun. Ruby will not talk to you empty-handed: her afternoon opens if propowner ("flowers") = "stranger" & rubyphase = 1 → rubyphase = 0, so take the Flowers back off the grave first — the graves themselves are not walkable, so reach them from Scene C5, the cell the street does reach — and give them to her. Then her door is left open on purpose, and the gun is on the wall in the room beyond — turn south. It is a story beat of its own (rubygunstory). [D2ARUBY]
  8. Talk to Cobb in the saloon. [D2A_008]
  9. The bank. Your account goes to $587 and your cash to $200; Jones's thread jumps to 999, which is the game marking that strand finished for the day. [D2A_009]

Day 2 — night ​

  1. The jail. Take the Badge. You are carrying five bullets again and the Mayor is talking to you. [D2E_001]
  2. The saloon, upstairs. Buick, Dell, the help character, Jones, Marie, Oona and Sonoma all open — this is an "ask everyone everything" evening. [D2E_002]
  3. Take the Hairpin in Ruby's room; talk to Sophie. [D2E_003]
  4. Take the Yunnibook — this is the one that matters four days later. Then the hotel; $50 goes somewhere. [D2E_004]
  5. Sleep. [D3M_001]

Day 3 — morning ​

You wake with $150. This is the longest single gap on the whole thread: twenty-two minutes of play between waking and the next save.

  1. Get the Sugarcubes back from Trotter, and learn the story of the Ring (jonesringstory) — Jones, Buick, Fear and the Mayor's wife are all part of that morning. [D3M_002]
  2. Take the Matchbox. Another trip to the range (three shots, three cans, three bottles, three targets — this time you only score "fair"), and the Curiosity Shop again. [D3M_003]
  3. The schoolhouse. Laurel and Sonoma. [D3M_CLAS]
  4. Give the Matchbox to the scorpion. [D3M_004]
  5. Take the Pages — and the Matchbox back. Meanwhile the Ring passes from Ruby to Jones, which is the payoff of the story you learned this morning. [D3M_005]

Day 3 — afternoon ​

  1. Take the RX — the prescription — and go to the doctor's. [D3A_002]
  2. The bottle puzzle, in the doctor's dispensary. The answer is in the puzzles section. [D3A_003]
  3. Hand over the RX and take the Flute. Half the town's threads move on this one step. [D3A_004]

Day 3 — night ​

  1. The saloon. [D3E_001, D3E_002]
  2. Win the Tbird stone at poker. This is a real hand: three rounds, the bet order was mez, zeb, pete, and winner came out "player". You end $18 up. [D3E_003]
  3. Crack the safe. The combination is in the puzzles section — the save is the moment it opens, and what comes out is the Tstone and the five bounty numbers. [D3E_004]
  4. Blood's thread opens (bloodphase), and phase reaches 4. [D3E_005]
  5. Sleep. [D4M_001]

Day 4 — the day it all happens ​

Day 4 is short above ground and enormous below it.

  1. The saloon, with the HHKey. Jones and Trotter both jump straight to phase 2. [D4M_002]
  2. The fight. fighton, fightphase 4, wincount 3, five cutdowns, and your hit count doubles from 14 to 28. You take the Blade, and your bullets are back to six. It is night by the time it ends. [D4E_001]
  3. The Santa Marta Mission. Sonoma. You are carrying the Blade. [D4M_MISS]
  4. Put the Tstone in the box. The lights go out (blackout) and you are in the hub — the underground. [D4MINES]

Underground: the sundial hub ​

The hub is a room with three dials, and the dials are a destination selector, not a lock: you set them, you leave, and you arrive somewhere else. All four combinations are in the puzzles section, and the order the original player used was flute → snake → mine → thunderbird.

  1. Dial the flute room, and go. [FLUTEPZL]
  2. Give the Flute to the temple. The flute puzzle is done. Dial the snake room. [DAGRPZL]
  3. Give the Blade to the snake. [MSKPZL]
  4. Give the Mask to the skeleton — that is the mine. Dial the thunderbird room. [MESAPZL]
  5. Give the Tbird stone to the temple. Four for four. [ENDPZL]
  6. Take the Tbird back, and give up the Gun. [BLDSTPZ]
  7. Set the dials to 12 / 4 / 12 and leave. With all four puzzles done, this is the ending: the shaman puts something down, the chest appears, and chestapp.mov plays. [ENDING]

Day 5 — the end ​

You are back in town in the morning holding the chest, and the game plays out. That is where the disc's own saves stop.

The puzzles, solved ​

These come from the game's scripts, not the saves, so they are exact.

The safe ​

CRACK.FLT compares your dial against one hard-coded string:

if combo != "08,23,41,"

8, then 23, then 41. The save D3E_004 is the state with it open.

The eight bottles ​

DRUG.FLT checks the eight bottles against one pattern:

if bottles = "1,1,0,0,1,0,1,1,"

Take the 1st, 2nd, 5th, 7th and 8th; leave the 3rd, 4th and 6th.

The sundial ​

SUNDIAL.FLT's exitsundial() reads the three dials as you leave the hub and sends you where they point. It is large / medium / small:

largemediumsmallgoes to
4812the mine — give the Mask to the skeleton
8124the snake — give it the Blade
1248the thunderbird — give the temple the Tbird stone
008the flute room — give the temple the Flute
12412the ending — but only once the other four are done

A combination whose puzzle is already done is skipped, so you cannot go back round in circles.

The flute ​

Press the five buttons in the order they are numbered: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5.FLUTE.FLT/0001 evaluate () holds the phrase as a literal and compares it word for word:

answerstr = "1,2,3,4,5,"

The saves do not show the answer. FLUTE.FLT builds flutestr a note at a time and, on the far side of a completed phrase, resets it to 0,0,0,0,0, — so the save taken in the solved room carries the reset string rather than the answer. It is five presses and not six because FLUTE.SET/0041 mousedown seeds flutenum = 1 on the way in and each press writes word flutenum and then increments: the presses land on words 1 to 5, the fifth takes the counter to 6, and if flutenum > 5 is what runs evaluate ().

Money ​

The thread's own player was broke twice:

cashin the bank
you arrive$5—
after the saloon, night 1$791—
after day 2's shopping$7—
after the saloon, day 2$800$22
after the bank, day 2$200$587
the rest of the game$150 – $168$587

The saloon is where the money comes from, both times. The bank is where it survives the night.

Where this walkthrough is thin ​

  • The 22-minute morning of day 3 (D3M_001 → D3M_002) is one rung with seven changes in it; the saves do not record the steps in between.
  • Conversation choices are nowhere in the data. Every "talk to X" step is real — the save proves the conversation ran — but which reply advanced it is not recorded.
  • The fight on day 1 and the fight on day 4 are recorded as outcomes, not as tactics.
  • Day 5 is one save long.

A step that is wrong or missing is worth reporting; the fix is usually one grep away in the scripts.

Back to Dust, or on to the golden thread for how this was derived.

Docs licensed GPL-3.0 (the decoder is ported from DFET). Game data © CyberFlix — not included.

Reverse-engineering credit: M3tox (DFET) and MRXstudios.