Elite Space Trading Game

[thjxw05]

Good evening, Well I'm up and running

Have NES and Genesis working well.

I would like to get the old Elite game running on any platform really. I have tried a search and googled it.

There is a site maintained by the publisher that has a link to the software - The BBC one is not in the correct format to run (and my search here seems you cannot save your game either) There is an NES version on the site and the FPGA can see this but it just brings up a grey screen so clearly not correct.

I have downloaded the x86 files but I cannot get them working either.

Does anyone have this working - and if so could they help me?

Thanks

John

[RascalUK]

Think I played it on the Amstrad core briefly as that's where I grew up playing it.

[thjxw05]

I had both and Amstrad and BBC B and Electron as well as a few others growing up - Was very lucky my Dad worked for Thorn EMI and borough them all home to "evaluate" !!

[jca]

On my system I can load it and it seems to run but I have no idea how to play it. It is beeb.mmb v1.2 from Sep 2020 renamed to boot.vhd.
I think I got it from here:
viewtopic.php?t=1220

[jca]

On the mmb there are 2 versions of elite: the normal one and the one with co-processor.
When you start the core without enabling the co-processor you get a menu, using the down arrow you can reach the Elite programs but can only run the regular version. If you enable the co-processor it boots to a command prompt telling you you have a tube co-processor and a few other things. At the > prompt I have no idea what to do.

[MorkMikael]

the nes version need to be in pal and NES 2.0 headers format
more help in this thread viewtopic.php?t=4575

[_paul_]

With the computer cores it can be a bit involved getting stuff working. The BBC Micro core has a few complications and limitations.

There are a few solutions you can look at, depending on what you want and what you have.

Starting the second processor version
The games jukebox menu that you’re presented with as standard is practical for most games but does not work with the 6502 second processor active. So you get the Tube on! error.
If you get the Tube on! error use these commands to start the second processor version:

Code: Select all

*DIN 45
*TUBEELT

Variations
There are basically 3 versions to choose from:
1. BBC Model B version. Original and vanilla.
2. BBC Master version. Bit faster and more use of colour.
3. Second Processor version (with model B or Master). Even faster and more colours. Very similar to the Master version.

Saving games
If you have a secondary SD slot you can copy the boot.vhd to a secondary SD card, and rename it to beeb.mmb
The beeb.mmb on a secondary card is read/write so you’ll be able to save games.

If you don’t have a secondary SD card you can use an alternate core version that works with R/W disc images. See here: viewtopic.php?p=46443#p46443

There has been a bit of improvement on the code recently reducing the graphics flicker. See here for these disc images: https://www.bbcelite.com/compare/releases.html

Right on commander!

[akeley]

If you get the Tube on! error use these commands to start the second processor version:

Code: Select all

*DIN 45
*TUBEELT

Neat trick. Wish I knew it earlier, it would save me some time: viewtopic.php?p=43411#p43411

You can also play Elite on Amiga, ST, or ao486 cores. Though Ian Bell himself recommends the NES version as the best one.

[_paul_]

Another option is the Acorn Archimedes version on the Archie core, probably the best version.

http://www.iancgbell.clara.net/elite/arc/

Of course if you’re unfamiliar with the Acorn Archimedes it might be a bit tricky to get going.

[Chris23235]

There is also a nice improved ZX Spectrum 128 version called Elite Legend:

https://zx-pk.ru/threads/33861-elite-legend-128k.html

If you run this on the Spectrum core you can take advantage of the higher clockspeed the core supports.