Loadstar: The Legend of Tully Bodine
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
BMG Interactive (DOS)
| Loadstar: The Legend of Tully Bodine | |
|---|---|
 MS-DOS cover art | |
| Developer(s) | Rocket Science Games |
| Publisher(s) | Rocket Science Games (Sega CD) BMG Interactive (DOS) |
| Producer(s) | Matthew Fassberg |
| Designer(s) | Brian Moriarty |
| Writer(s) | Ron Cobb |
| Platform(s) | Sega CD, MS-DOS |
| Release | 1994: Sega CD 1995: MS-DOS |
| Genre(s) | Interactive movie, shooter |
| Mode(s) | Single-player |
Loadstar: The Legend of Tully Bodine is a video game developed and published by Rocket Science Games for the Sega CD in 1994 and MS-DOS compatible operating systems in 1995.
The main character, Tully Bodine, has agreed to convoy contraband camels for big cash. However, he has to steer clear of the police in the process.
Gameplay
Designed by Brian Moriarty and based on a Ron Cobb script, Loadstar is an interactive movie. Ninety minutes of video footage appear during the game.[1] The player must steer clear of accidents and the police, and shoot down enemies and creatures, like in Sewer Shark. The goal is to get the camels to their destination, deflecting attacks with the shield along the way.
Development
Sega had invested heavily in Rocket Science Games, and used this as leverage to get the developer to use the Sega CD console as the lead platform for Loadstar.[2]
Entrepreneur Elon Musk, at the time an employee of Rocket Science Games, worked as a programmer on Loadstar.[3] He is credited as part of the "Ground Control" team.
Designer Brian Moriarty, in a 1998 interview, complained that there was almost no quality control on Loadstar, and that they shipped the game as soon as it could pass the test for any game to be released for a Sega platform, which was simply to play for a certain amount of hours without crashing.[2] Moreover, though he felt honored to work with Ron Cobb, he said that most of the higher-level staff at Rocket Science Games were overly fixated on the movie aspects of the game, recounting, "They had people from ILM [Industrial Light & Magic], and the quality they worked to went far beyond that which was actually needed. The gameplay was viewed as almost irrelevant."[2]
The game was intended to be the first installment of a three-part series, with the second and third entries planned for release in 1995.[4]