Elite FAQ

Elite FAQ Ian Bell Autumn 1999

Contents
Where can I get a copy of PC Elite?
What are you working on now?
Who wrote what in the original Elite?
How many kills for each rating?
Exactly where, when, and how are the missions triggered?
How do I force a mis-jump/entry to "witch space"?
How do I escape from "witch space"?
How do you get rid of the Trumbles/Squeakies?
Why can't I get scooping up cargo cannisters to work?
How do I launch from space station when emulating BBC Elite?
How do I save my position?
Where are the Space Dredgers and Generation Ships?
Why don't you and David Braben settle your differences and write a proper sequel?
Dum De Dum De Dum... Frontier:Elite 2 / Frontier First Encounters.
Will you send me the source code for Elite?
How old were you when you wrote Elite?
What language was Elite written in?
Where can I get a copy of the manual for such-and-such a version?
What happened to the CIX site?
Is there a Mac version?
What Space-based SciFi do you like and which do you consider to be most like "Elite"?
How can I thank you for my childhood pleasure/the influence "Elite" had on my life?
What is the final Elite mission?
What is are the criteria/specifics of the missions in a specific version?

1. Where can I get a copy of PC Elite?

Right Here. For recent hobbyist versions see links page.

2. What are you working on now?

I am working on a new computer game but i am keeping the details secret for the moment.

3. Who wrote what in the original Elite?

Elite Programing
Ian Bell	David Braben
Sun & planet plotting	Ship plotting
3D movement, ship rotations	Trading screens
Stars/Dust Particles,Explosions	Equip ship screen
Hyperspace effect, Weapon Effects	Navigational charts
Solar system maintainance	Galaxy generation
"Goat Soup" string	"Furry Felines" string
Scanner coding	Scanner concept
Graphics primitives	Sound effects
Enemy tactics, Docking, Missiles	Dial bars
Secret Missions,Trumbles

Elite Ship Design
Ian Bell	David Braben
Adder, Anaconda, Asp, Boa, Boulder,Cobra I, Cougar,Fer-de-Lance,Gecko, Krait, Moray, Orbit shuttle, Tharglet, Transporter, Worm,Dodecahedral Station	Asteroid, Cobra III, Constrictor, Mamba, Missile,Python, Sidewinder, Thargoid, Viper,Coriolis Station

4. How many kills for each rating?

6502 kill thresholds (in hex):		Arc kill thresholds (in decimal):
BBC,C64,AppleII	NES
0x0000 - Harmless 0x0008 - Mostly Harmless 0x0010 - Poor 0x0020 - Average 0x0040 - Above Average 0x0080 - Competent 0x0200 - Dangerous 0x0A00 - Deadly 0x1900 - Elite	0x0000 - Harmless 0x0002 - Mostly Harmless 0x0008 - Poor 0x0018 - Average 0x002C - Above Average 0x0082 - Competent 0x0200 - Dangerous 0x0A00 - Deadly 0x1900 - Elite	0000 - Harmless 0049 - Mostly Harmless 0401 - Poor 1009 - Average 1501 - Above Average 2501 - Competent 4501 - Dangerous 3000 - Deadly 8000 - Very Deadly 9801 - Elite
All ships constituted 1.0 kills in BBC Elite. In C64 Elite, a third ("fractional") byte was added to the kill total, and each ship had a seperate kill value one third that in the table below.		This data taken from Jades' FFE site.

C64 Elite Ship Specs
Ship	Size	Energy	Speed	Max Missiles Carried	Max Loot	Bounty CR	NES Kill Value (Hex)
CORIOLIS STN	160	240	0	6m	0t	0.0	0.00
DODEC STATION	180	240	0	0m	0t	0.0	0.00
MISSILE	40	2	44	0m	0t	0.0	1.C0
THARGLET	40	20	30	0m	0t	5.0	0.64
Space Junk
ESCAPE CAPSULE	16	17	8	0m	0t	0.0	0.32
PLATELET	10	16	16	0m	0t	0.0	0.20
CARGO CANNISTER	20	17	15	0m	0t	0.0	0.1F
BOULDER	30	20	30	0m	0t	0.1	0.14
ASTROID	80	60	30	0m	0t	0.5	0.19
ROCK SPLINTER	16	20	10	0m	0t	0.0	0.1E
SHUTTLE	50	32	8	0m	15t	0.0	0.32
TRANSPORTER	50	32	10	0m	0t	0.0	0.33
ROCK HERMIT	80	180	30	2m	7t	0.0	1.00
Police
VIPER	75	140	32	1m	0t	0.0	0.50
Traders
COBRA III	95	150	28	3m	3t	0.0	2.C0
PYTHON	80	250	20	3m	5t	0.0	2.00
BOA	70	250	24	4m	5t	0.0	2.80
ANACON	100	252	14	7m	7t	0.0	3.00
Pack Hunters
SIDEWND	65	70	37	0m	0t	5.0	1.00
MAMBA	70	90	30	2m	1t	15.0	1.80
TIKRAIT	60	80	30	0m	1t	10.0	1.00
ADDER	50	85	24	0m	0t	4.0	1.10
GECKO	99	70	30	0m	0t	5.5	1.00
COBRA I	99	90	26	2m	3t	7.5	2.00
WORM	99	30	23	0m	0t	0.0	0.96
Lone Wolves
COBRA III	95	150	28	2m	1t	17.5	3.80
ASP II	60	150	40	1m	0t	20.0	3.40
PYTHON	80	250	20	3m	2t	20.0	3.80
FER DE LANCE	40	160	30	2m	0t	0.0	3.C0
MORAY	30	100	25	0m	1t	5.0	2.40
THARGOID	99	240	39	6m	0t	50.0	8.00
CONSTRICTOR	65	252	36	4m	3t	0.0	10.00
COUGAR	70	252	40	4m	3t	0.0	10.00

5. Exactly where, when, and how are the missions triggered?

6502 Elite Secret Missions

First Mission: Rating 0x0100 (competant twiceover). In Galaxy One or Two.
Second Mission: Rating 0x0500 (half way to Deadly). First Mission completed. In Galaxy Three.
Trumbles (C64,Apple II,NES): Cash > 6553.4CR.

MSX Elite Secret Missions

First Mission: Score 170000
Second Mission: Score 200000
Third Mission: Score 2300000
Fourth Mission: Score 2600000
Fifth Mission: Score 2900000

13. Why don't you and David Braben settle your differences and write a proper sequel?

   David Braben developed (with some assistance from me) "Frontier: Elite 2",and then (with no assistance from me) the notorious "Frontier: First Encounters". I stated my opinions on his conduct regarding these titles in an interview for gamesdomain [Aug 1995].
    I subsequently received a letter from Braben's solicitors objecting to three points in the interview including a statement the intended meaning of which was that I understood Chris Sawyer receieved no royalties on "Frontier:First Encounters" but which could be potentially misconstrued to imply that Braben had ceased paying Sawyer his royalties on sales of the PC version of "Frontier:Elite 2".
    The letter demanded a "full apology" and "your proposal for compensation and/or exemplary damages".
    I immediately requested Games Domain to add a clarification of the intended meaning of the Chris Sawyer remark to the interview. They promptly did so and it remained online till 2002.
    Despite the clarification, Braben still attempted to sue me for libel (High Court of Justice Queens Bench, Writ 1995 -B No 2536, 24 Nov 1995). This is indicative of his post-Elite attitude.

14. Dum De Dum De Dum... Frontier:Elite 2 / Frontier First Encounters.

Those titles are not my responsibility. I cannot provide copies, patches, or assistance getting them to work. See Jades' FFE Page for help with those.

15. Will you send me the source code for Elite?

The BBC Cassette Elite 6502 sources are now available on this site.

16. How old were you when you wrote Elite?

See personal details.

17. What language was Elite written in?

As regards the original 6502 Elites, assembly language. Initially using the tremendously powerful BBC BASIC assembler.

18. Where can I get a copy of the manual for such-and-such a version?

These are hard to come by. I personally do not have any surplus.

19. What happened to the CIX site?

See David Braben's Legal Threat to the Elite Home Page.

20. Is there a Mac version?

Not officially. But see links page.

21. What Space-based SciFi do you like and which do you consider to be most like "Elite"?

"Farscape", which i enjoy, is the most in keeping with Elite as i perceive it. I quite liked "Babylon 5"'s political intrigues for a while but its way too broad-canvas for Elite. "Blake's 7" was fun in its day. "ST:Voyager" is only occasionally interesting but has very nice title graphics. "ST:Next Generation" is pretty lame most of the time. "ST:DS9" is bellyup dire. "ST:Enterprise" has only two good points, both to be found on the chest of the science officer.

22. How can I thank you for my childhood pleasure/the influence "Elite" had on my life?

You can consider making a Paypal donation or visit my Amazon wish list

23. What is the final Elite mission?

    At an obscure Multi-Government/Coorporate State planet in the unfashionable end of the western spiral arm of Galaxy 23, Data_On_System reveals:
    This fabulous hoopy planet is allowing pirates to destroy the biosphere. Your mission is protect the planet from the pirates.
    Good Luck, Commander.

24. What is are the criteria/specifics of the missions in a specific version?

    I did start collating mission specifics for each version, and you can find some such info on other sites, but i decided i risked killing the romance. These are, after all, secret missions in that they were originally intended to be a complete surprise to the player just as they were beginning to think they had seen all the game had to offer and rekindle their involvement. With regard to the conversions done by others, the brief was basically to do their own thing missionwise and have fun with it. I wanted converters to be creatively involved in their labours and apply their own slant to an open formula rather than impliment further missions of my own devising. Partly to manipulate them into doing a better job and so make me more money, of course, but for other nobler reasons too. The only thing more rewarding than personal creativity is facilitating the creativity of others.
    The resultant lack of uniformity adds to the mythos and ruthless documentation would, i suggest, be a mistake. The "Long and Boring Waffle with Little Relief" on the "Princes of the Universe" site (see links page provides some of the best analysis of what Elite _EMPHASISE(is) (AFAIAC) that I am aware of.
    So i'm not going to tell you the answer to your mission question even if i knew it, which i probably don't. You'll have to keep on trading and shooting, Commander. Or start hanging out in seedy space rangers' bars and learn to tell the veterans from the braggarts.

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