Messages has empty horisontal lines (didn't notice when they appeared).
I think the source of the problem of the garbage problem, since the message text is XORed to the screen for display and disappear also, i just checked your demo snapshots, and thx, i think they will give a very good chance to find the main problem. I think you played less than me, and i even found and corrected some problems, but i have never met with the problems you found
, except the player disappear at the bottom and appear on the top (which i did not thought as a problem )