LOADSTAR NEW!

LOADSTAR

THE RUN OF J-35661  ·  THE GAME ELON WORKED ON AS AN INTERN, REBUILT

THE LORE

In the mid-90s, a summer intern wrote game software at Rocket Science Games.

The game was LOADSTAR. His name is in the credits, under GROUND CONTROL.

His name was Elon Musk.

01 · THE STUDIO
★

Rocket Science Games. San Francisco Bay Area, the 1990s.

A studio literally named Rocket Science.

The CD-ROM boom: pre-rendered worlds, full-motion video, and games that came on more than one disc.

02 · THE GAME
◉

LOADSTAR: The Legend of Tully Bodine. 1994. Sega CD, 3DO, PC.

A space trucker on a rail line across the Moon.

An FMV-era rail shooter: haul the cargo, shoot the attackers, keep it on the tracks.

03 · THE BOX
▣

"BIG GAME. Three CDs included."

"Sci-fi, shoot-to-thrill action adventure!"

A big armored hauler, number J-35661, racing down a lunar rail with gunships firing at it. By Ron Cobb & Brian Moriarty.

04 · THE INTERN
⚙

A summer job. Software for video games.

This was long before SpaceX was even conceived.

His words, not ours. A summer intern at Rocket Science, many years ago.

05 · THE CREDITS
❖

Open the manual. Find the credits page.

GROUND CONTROL: ... Elon Musk ...

One name in a list of many. By his account, he didn't realize it was there until a friend gave him a copy.

06 · THE POST
𝕏

October 2, 2023. A friend hands him a copy.

He posts the box and the credits page.

"Didn't realize until a friend gave me a copy today that they included me in the credits." see the post »

INCOMING TRANSMISSION · X.COM/ELONMUSK · 02 OCT 2023
"As a summer intern many years ago, I wrote software for video games at a company called Rocket Science. This was long before SpaceX was even conceived. Didn't realize until a friend gave me a copy today that they included me in the credits"
— Elon Musk, on X. original post · photos in the archive
07 · SO WE REBUILT IT

We rebuilt LOADSTAR, the game Elon worked on as an intern, into an original version you can play.

Decades before SpaceX, Elon shipped a space game. Now you can drive the rail.

New code, new art, new characters, new music. Not a copy, not a port, not the original. Built from the idea: a hauler, a rail line, the Moon, and everybody shooting at you.

TIMELINE

  1. THE MID-90s
    A summer internship. A young programmer writes software for video games at a company called Rocket Science.
  2. 1994
    LOADSTAR ships. The Legend of Tully Bodine. Sega CD, 3DO and PC CD-ROM. Big box. Three discs. A hauler on the Moon.
  3. . . .
    the credits page sits in a manual, in a box, on a shelf.
  4. 2002
    SpaceX is founded. The space company. The one that came "long after."
  5. . . .
    rockets. lots of rockets.
  6. 02 OCT 2023
    The post. A friend gives him a copy. The box, the credits, and his name under GROUND CONTROL go up on X.
  7. TODAY
    LOADSTAR: The Run of J-35661. An original rebuild you can play in a browser. Get on the rail »

GROUND CONTROL

CREDITS
Ground Control
our redraw of the idea of that page. every other name blacked out on purpose; the real page is in the archive photos. one name, one section, one summer.

ARCHIVE PHOTOS

Photo of the LOADSTAR PC CD-ROM big box
EXHIBIT A. The PC CD-ROM big box. "BIG GAME, three CDs included." Hauler J-35661 on the lunar rail.
Photo of the LOADSTAR manual credits page
EXHIBIT B. The manual's credits page. Bottom right: Ground Control. Look for the name.
CHAIN OF CUSTODY

Both photos were posted by @elonmusk on X on October 2, 2023, with the post quoted above. Reproduced here as archive evidence, with attribution. All rights to the photos and the original box and manual belong to their owners.

original post on X »
photo 1 (box) »
photo 2 (credits) »

open the full archive

SCREENS

FEATURING
actual screens from the actual rebuild. it runs in this browser, in 216 glorious web-safe colors.
LOADSTAR title screen
The title. Chrome, a hauler, and two gunships that never miss a photo op.
On the rail
Sector 1. The Imbrium Freight Line. Three rails, one of them yours.
Gunship attack
Crater Rats inbound. Shoot what shoots you.
FMV dispatcher
Full motion video*. Dot, at Lunar Freight Dispatch. *4 fps
FMV pirate
Baron Skell. He would like his road back.
Boss fight
Sector bosses. Aim for the glowing bit. It's always the glowing bit.
  • 3 sectors on the lunar rail, 3 boss gunships
  • Pseudo-3D rail run with lane switching
  • "FMV" cutscenes on three (3) virtual discs
  • CD-quality-ish synth score, generated live
  • Mouse, keyboard and touch
  • There is a cheat. It is the job title.

ORDER NOW

DISC 1
DISC 2
DISC 3
✂ - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
YES! RUSH ME LOADSTAR!
PC CD-ROM big box (3 discs)FREE
Sega CD (please blow on the cartridge... wait)--
3DO (price: yes)--
Handbook with a credits pageFREE
Shipping & handling: by rail, across the Moon$0
TOTAL$0.00

Allow 0-0 weeks for delivery. Cargo is classified. Do not open the cargo. No CD-ROM drive required beyond the one you are pretending to have.

SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS
  • 486DX2/66 or faster (Pentium "recommended")
  • 8 MB RAM (16 MB if you like the FMV)
  • Double-speed CD-ROM drive, MPC Level 2
  • SVGA 640x480, 256 colors
  • Sound Blaster 16 or 100% compatible
  • Windows 3.1 or MS-DOS 5.0 with MSCDEX
  • Mouse required. Nerves of steel required.
ACTUAL REQUIREMENTS: any web browser made this century.
UNDER CONSTRUCTION
Sector 4: THE FAR SIDE is still being pre-rendered on a very slow workstation. Check back in a few years.
SIGN THE GUESTBOOK
leave your handle, hauler. ground control reads them all.
open guestbook
READ THE ARCHIVE
the post, the photos, the sources, and the honest disclaimer.
open archive
NEW!
FOLLOW US ON X
Ground Control transmissions, now on X. sector news, lore drops and dispatch chatter at 28.8 kbps.
𝕏 @playloadstar
NEW!
RUN SETUP.EXE
a faithful recreation of inserting three CDs in a row. no CDs required.
install