Now that’s a challenge! Might leave that to someone else, mind you. 😀
Writer, coder, walker, Acorn nut. Back in the day: Editor of Acorn User, Editor of h2g2. I love analysing old code, and my aim is to create the best code disassemblies you have ever seen. Purveyor of Elite/Lander/Revs hacks. https://www.markmoxon.com
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Now that’s a challenge! Might leave that to someone else, mind you. 😀
I've just released the Elite Compendium Addendum for the BBC Micro B+. It contains two bonus versions of Elite for lucky owners of the B+, including musical BBC Master Elite for the B+128. See elite.bbcelite.com/hacks/elite_... for details. #retrogaming #retrocomputing #bbcmicro #8bit #elite
Been a while since I looked at this bit of code, but Elite does the whole division thing. Not surprising really - the authors were super-proud of their maths routines, so they used them! Deepish dive: elite.bbcelite.com/deep_dives/l... The clipping code: elite.bbcelite.com/cassette/mai...
Ha, I did briefly consider hacking Lander to run on the ARM1 co-pro, and send graphics commands over the Tube to a BBC Micro to display something similar. Might still be possible! But then someone actually wrote a BBC version of Lander. And that’s really amazing! www.stardot.org.uk/forums/viewt...
And a shout out to @negativecharge.bsky.social for the Electron version of the Elite music, which I incorporated to make the Compendium. Amazing work!
If you want to play the Electron version of the Elite Compendium in your browser, here's a link: 0xc0de6502.github.io/electroniq/?... Fair warning - the title music in Electron Elite kicks in suddenly, so watch your volume settings!
I'm pleased to announce the #Elite Compendium for the #Acorn #Electron, containing three amazing hacked versions of Elite on one disc. It includes a brand new version: musical Elite. On the Electron! Lots of details here: elite.bbcelite.com/hacks/elite_... #retrogaming #retrocomputing #bbcmicro
The driver was great, thanks! I had to move a few variables out of zero page as Elite is really greedy that way, and I had to muck about a bit with the repeat code, as that seemed to be unhappy when run in the interrupt handler, but none of that took long. The Huffman version fits very nicely! 👍
Ha, well, if it were to remain faithful to the original Bell and Braben code, it would have to have a potty mouth. 🤣 elite.bbcelite.com/deep_dives/s...
Thank you! I’m glad you like it, it’s such a fun project, and it just keeps on giving. 😀 I don’t know what the authors of Elite think, but I do hope they approve… after all, all my hacks involve code and content from the other versions that they wrote, so it’s all their work in the first place! 🫡
The incomparable @negativecharge.bsky.social recently converted the Commodore 64 Elite music to the Electron. I've finally found time to add it to Electron Elite. Here's the docking computer in all its one-channel glory. Turn your sound on! #retrocomputing #retrogaming #electron #bbcmicro #8bit
That would have been epic! But the provenance is that it was left over from the Kickstarter for the Bedroom to Billions documentary: www.kickstarter.com/projects/gam... I am so delighted to have given it a good home (and a good scrub!). And its own handcrafted version of Elite, of course. 😀
Thank you! I must say I do enjoy hacking Elite, and it’s always fun to push the game to its limit on machines that missed out first time around. 😀 I got the B+ from eBay, so not sure it’s a gesture as such, but I like to think that DB would approve of all this careful curation of his co-creation!
And I'm not backporting Elite to any of them! 😆
Thank you! It was a bit of a mess when I got it, with broken keys and layers of dust, but after a proper service and a big hug, it's looking pretty great. Such a lovely machine deserves to be treated with respect, I reckon. 😍
* About this project: elite.bbcelite.com/hacks/bbc_mi... * Download the disc image: elite.bbcelite.com/hacks/bbc_mi... * How I did it: elite.bbcelite.com/hacks/bbc_mi... JSBeeb doesn't emulate the B+, so no browser link I'm afraid. This one’s for the B+ owners out there! Right on, Commanders!
Look at this little beauty! It's my new BBC Micro B+, signed by David Braben himself, and it’s the inspiration for my latest project: "BBC Master Elite, backported to run on the unexpanded B+, and with lots of extra features" Links in thread. #retrocomputing #retrogaming #bbcmicro #8bit #elite
To explain further: The B+ is a Model B with an extra 32K of RAM, split into 20K of shadow RAM and 12K of very bizarre and hard-to-use "private RAM". But it turns out this is just enough to contain the BBC Master version of Elite, with all its colours and extra ships and whatnot. So I just had to!
We have a winner! This is the BBC Master version of Elite backported to work on the unexpanded BBC Micro B+. The B+ was almost totally ignored back in the day and was swiftly replaced by the Master, so for the B+ to have its own enhanced version of Elite is a pretty big deal. For B+ fans, anyway. 🙂
Already (kind of) did that with the Elite Compendium. 😀 elite.bbcelite.com/hacks/elite_...
Ha! That would be awesome. But sadly that’s not it. 😀
Nice idea! But that’s not it.
My new project is a version of BBC Master Elite, but with a twist. Sure, it’s pretty niche, but this has never been done before, which is always fun. Can you tell what it is yet? The clue's in the clip... #retrocomputing #retrogaming #bbcmicro #8bit #elite
Gosh, it runs C64 software! I hadn't realised. That's pretty interesting.
Two ways. Either temporarily move the problem code into main memory for debugging and move it back when I’d fixed it, or switch to Elkulator as a last resort (the monitor in Elkulator is really primitive but at least it works with SRAM). Really looking forward to SRAM support in your debugger!
Well, I did have a rather excellent development environment! I’m a big fan of your VSCode/max65/Electroniq setup, it’s great. 😀
Thanks Rob! Always happy to see the Elk get a bit more love. It’s clearly the place to be. 😀
Flicker-free JCB Digger? What wizardry is this? 🤣
Exactly. And the Cougar. I mean, it has a cloaking device! Sounds like it would be fun in E:D.
Yeah, Elkulator crashed when I tried to save the screenshots for my site. Had to grab the whole screen when it was running instead. Still, worked OK in the end. 😀 Anyway, really glad the game itself is working! That’s the important part. 🚀
Elkulator and Clock signal both have sideways RAM, though neither of them mention that fact. Both work well with the Compendium version. And Electroniq in the browser does too. Not sure which OS you’re on, but these have pretty good coverage?
Ha, excellent! My work here is done… 🫡
Thank you! I clearly like to type. 😀 Rock hermits are asteroids that dispatch defence ships when you attack them. And the Cougar is a ship with a clocking device, so it’s hidden from the scanner. Nice features, but for the advanced versions of Elite only…
Hope it goes well. 😀 I’m sure there will be some pesky bugs in there as it’s been a pretty complicated project, but hopefully it’ll hit the spot. Let me know if you do spot any issues and I’ll do my best to fix them!
Clean the house. Do the gardening. Sleep. Drink a cold beer under the parasol. And dream of Thargoids silhouetted against the glimmering sun...
* Play in your browser: 0xc0de6502.github.io/electroniq/?... * More info about the Electron version: elite.bbcelite.com/hacks/elite_... * Download links: elite.bbcelite.com/hacks/elite_... * All about the Compendium: elite.bbcelite.com/hacks/elite_... Right on, Commanders!
It's done! I have just released the Compendium version of #Elite for the #Acorn #Electron. This massively enhanced version of the original game contains pretty much every feature of #BBCMicro Elite, but on the Electron. Just add 16K of sideways RAM. Links in thread. #retrocomputing #retrogaming
Yes. Electron Elite is essentially BBC Micro Elite with features removed and slightly different graphics and sound routines, so data like the text tokenisation system and ship blueprints are identical.
Well, it’s a bit of a cheat. I calculated that the humble Cobra Mk III can house an energy bomb for just 900 credits that’s capable of destroying an entire planet and pretty much everything in low-to-medium orbit around it. Ouch! See elite.bbcelite.com/deep_dives/a... for more nonsense like this. 😀
Thank you! I’ve found a few bugs that I need to fix first, but hopefully this will be ready towards the end of this week for everyone to try. Fingers crossed… 🚀
Today's addition to #Acorn #Electron #Elite is the energy bomb animation from the Apple II, BBC Master and NES. In the original Electron version, the energy bomb did little more than beep gently. Now it rages with lightning bolts! That's much better. #retrogaming #retrocomputing #8bit #bbcmicro
I don't know much about the non-6502 versions of Elite, but for the 6502 versions, the Commodore 64 and NES versions have all three missions. Then again, so does the Elite Compendium, which is my recommended way to play the game these days: elite.bbcelite.com/playing_elite/
The Compendium version of #Acorn #Electron #Elite now has missions - three of them, in fact. Here's the briefing for the Constrictor mission, backported from the #BBCMicro; I've also ported the Thargoid plans mission, and the Trumbles from the #C64 and #NES. 🫡 #retrocomputing #retrogaming #8bit
That’s great news. 👏 Looking forward to the next Electroniq repository update!
I still can’t believe it was 41 years ago! Time flies. 😳 I really regret selling my Archimedes A410/1 (luckily I held on to my Beeb). I loved that machine so much. I’ve since picked one up secondhand, but I still regret selling my original. I guess everyone has a retro-related regret somewhere…
The Compendium version works out-of-the-box on the emulators that I’ve tried: Elkulator and Electroniq. Elkulator is for Windows and Linux. It even emulates joysticks, so you can use a game controller if you want. Electroniq runs in a web browser, so it works pretty much everywhere. It’s great!
It’s taken about 5 weeks of spare-time coding to produce both the Econet version and the Compendium version of Electron Elite (they’re forks of the same sideways RAM game core). It’s been a busy summer!
Great! It’s very playable with digital sticks - you don’t get the subtlety of movement that you get with the analogue joysticks, of course, but that doesn’t matter at all. Though it’s made me realise my ancient Atari 2600 joystick needs a bit of a service. Fair enough, it’s getting old too! 🕹️
I can confirm that Atari-style joysticks work fine with enhanced Elite on the Plus 1 Mini, so coding for Plus 1 analogue sticks means you’ll automatically support digital sticks via @ramtopretro.bsky.social’s other joystick products. They’re pretty popular, so that’s good to know.
I’m not using page &D00 at all, as I need to support disc access, so that whole page is left alone for the Plus 1, Plus 3 and ADFS/DFS/MMFS to use. The original tape version does use page &D00, so I had to vacate it for the Compendium version.
Not as bad as Riedquat. Still got the mental scars from that place! 🤣
It will also work with Acorn’s Plus 1 expansion system with a sideways RAM cartridge, and with the Plus 3 disc drive. All these could be bought back in the 1980s, so you don’t need to go modern. It should work with most other storage and SRAM expansion options too. So, lots of choices there!
It needs 16K of sideways RAM and a proper storage system (i.e. floppy disc, SD card or similar). There are lots of modern options. My favourites are from @ramtopretro.bsky.social - I really love my Plus 1 Mini, and it works on the ElkSD64 and ElkSD128 too - see ramtop-retro.uk for the full range.
My new version of #Acorn #Electron #Elite is feature-complete! Now for some testing. Here's the feature list. It’s big! Big enough that this is effectively a Compendium version of Electron Elite; to sit proudly alongside the #BBCMicro Compendia. 🫡 Not long now! #retrogaming #retrocomputing #8bit
I just checked the HFE images for the first few releases of the disc version, as archived by the Acorn community, and they all contain the ship hangar. So this is a mystery! It’s possible that not every variant has been found and archived, of course, but the ship hangar should be in all of them. 🤔
Sounds legit. Don't suppose you still have that disc, do you? As I've never come across a version without the ship hangar - even the pre-release versions have it, and so did the first version with the asteroid bug. Most odd! Lenslok was on the ZX Spectrum version, nothing to do with the Beeb.
Then I guess your version of Elite wasn't the official Acornsoft BBC Micro disc version, then, as that one has always had the ship hangar. Was your version legit? Could it have been the cassette version, just on floppy disc?
Yes it was. It was in the 1984 BBC Micro disc version, the 1985 6502 Second Processor version and the 1986 BBC Master version. It wasn't in the 1984 BBC Micro cassette version, so is that what you're thinking of? The 1991 NES contains the exact same code, some 7 years later. From the BBC version...
The enhanced version of #Acorn #Electron #Elite continues to grow. I've now added the ship hangar, which gets shown when you dock. This feature was only in the BBC and NES versions, and not the Commodore 64 or Apple II, so that's a one-up for the Elk. 🫡 #retrogaming #retrocomputing #8bit
I haven't added support for the other interfaces (First Byte, Slogger), but things like the Plus 1 Mini and ElkSD128 let digital joysticks emulate the Plus 1, so they should work too. Though all this is done using Elkulator's emulation, as I don't have an original Plus 1...
Yes, I added joystick support a couple of days ago (the hardest part was tracking down the code that disabled the Plus 1 in the original version!). It works well with analogue Plus 1 sticks; Elite uses the MOS for the stick and I've changed the BBC VIA code for the fire button to &FC72 instead.
It honestly feels a lot like the BBC Micro version, just with a monochrome dashboard. So that’s good. Though I've been careful to keep the original Electron code as the core and modify the new features into the game, so it's still definitely Electron Elite at heart, just with bells and whistles.
That looks quite a bit better to me! It has a widescreen and more filmic feeling to it. I wonder why they filled in the sides? Intriguing!
It will also work with Acorn’s Plus 1 expansion system with a sideways RAM cartridge and Plus 3 disc drive (all of which could be bought back in the 1980s). And it should work with all other modern expansion options too. So, lots of options there!
It needs 16K of sideways RAM and a proper storage system (i.e. floppy disc, SD card or similar). There are lots of options. My favourites are from @ramtopretro.bsky.social - I’ve got a Plus 1 Mini, and it works on the ElkSD64 and ElkSD128 too - see ramtop-retro.uk/Home.html for the full range.
Indeed, Exile is impressive - you can see how they got around the problem, by using the extra screen memory for storing code (hence all the "mess" surrounding the playing area).
Fewer stardust particles has the effect of speeding things up, too. So if witchspace feels a bit more frantic, this is all part of the reason... Gnarly is the right word! 😆
It's because the Electron doesn't have the 6845 CRTC chip, so you can't create custom screen modes. The Beeb version saves about 2K of RAM in this way, but the Electron just can't do this, so the authors had to cut out 2K's worth of features. See elite.bbcelite.com/deep_dives/t... for details.
I try not to change the original game in any way; there's a reason why it's a classic, and you don't need me adding my own take on things. So all my versions are cobbled together from the original Bell and Braben code - they're more like "greatest hits" compilations rather than cover versions. 😀
It's almost all backported "canon" Bell/Braben code from the other 6502 versions - in this case it's mainly from the BBC Micro disc version, but there's some code from the C64/Apple/Master/NES versions too. Flicker-free planets are the exception, but they're based on the Apple's flicker-free ships.
Witchspace always has three active stardust particles, compared to normal space which has 10, 12, 18 or 20 particles, depending on the version - see "Stardust particles" in elite.bbcelite.com/compare/feat... I'm, not sure how the non-6502 versions do it, though...
I'm hoping to release this in the next couple of weeks. Got some more traditional bugs to squash first... Coming soon: the ship hangar, missions and energy bombs.
It's #Thargoids Thursday in the enhanced version of #Acorn #Electron #Elite. Here's me misjumping into witchspace and being ambushed by Thargoid motherships and their Thargon drones. Electron commanders can now join in the bug-hunt - at last! #retrogaming #retrocomputing #bbcmicro #8bit
Ha, I missed on purpose so you could all see the beauty of a Krait banking across the laser sights. Or something like that. 🤣 Thargoids incoming… I’ll see if I can do better in the next video!
Enhanced #Elite on the #Acorn #Electron now has 31 different ship types (compared to just 11 in the original). Here's a little clip showing an encounter with a Krait and a Mamba on the way to the sun. Coming soon... Thargoids! #retrogaming #retrocomputing #bbcmicro #8bit
Not yet, but it’s on the list - I’d like to know whether they reused the automation code for the NES version, as that would nicely link the very first and very last versions of the game. 😀 Then again, there are lots of things on the list, so it might take a while!
There’s a demo mode in the 6502 Second Processor version: elite.bbcelite.com/deep_dives/6... And in the NES version: elite.bbcelite.com/deep_dives/a... And the original BBC Micro version had a self-playing demo that was sent to shops: m.youtube.com/watch?v=yOJp... So it could be one of these?
Thank you Rob! 😀
There's only one routine for displaying in-flight messages, so they all get shown at the same position. I guess they chose this position so that most messages would look OK, but it means that the short ones end up being to the left and the long ones end up being to the right. So it's a memory thing.
Ha, I thought of doing that, but that's how it is in the original BBC Micro version, so I thought I'd leave it that way. Here it is in the original - oof! I can't be going around changing the quirkiness of this classic. I could accidentally break the magic... 😀
The NES version (and Angus Duggan’s Elite-A) disable ship spawning if you have the docking computer activated, so you can’t get rammed by an NPC playing chicken out of the station slot. Very civilised! Unlike the other versions, where life is cheap…
Enhanced #Elite on the #Acorn #Electron now has proper docking computers. Good to see they're as nail-bitingly dodgy as all the other versions! Next on the list is to add 21 additional ship designs with spawning and tactic logic. That might take a while... #retrogaming #retrocomputing #bbcmicro
Great, that's good to hear! Thanks for checking it out, glad you like it. 😀
I know - I did wonder if the ol’ girl would be fast enough for suns, but she’s got a speedy heart and a fast upper brain, and the result is a genuinely playable game. I mean, all the 8-bits slow down when there’s a big sun on-screen, but the Elk definitely holds her own. Proper proud parent here! 😀
Thank you Roger! That means a lot. 🫡
Explosions slow all the 8-bit Elites down. Though comparing BBC Micro vs SRAM Electron Elite, all the code and variables are in 2MHz RAM for both of them, so the Electron only lags when drawing into screen RAM, and for explosions that’s not a huge amount. So they’re OK… i.e. slowish like the Beeb. 😀
Thank you! And there’s plenty more coming - I think it’s time for Electron Elite to shine. 😀
Yeah, this was a tricky one to get running quick enough - lots of optimisations! The other features on the to-do list aren’t so speed intensive, so they shouldn’t be so difficult. It’s going pretty well… 😀
It's never too late to get into Elite! It really is a quite amazing game; even all these years later, it feel fresh every time my trading ship slips its orbital berth above the planet Lave. And with a big thank you to haerfest for the first SRAM version (he's credited in the loading screen!). 🫡
Back to the Future! Sounds good to me. 😆
Yeah, it's a great effect - a genuinely shimmering sun! It's clever too, as the sun routines only redraw the left and right edge of each horizontal pixel line, randomly shimmering them while leaving the central part alone. So the sun doesn't get filled, it's all just lines with dancing edges. 🌞
I've also implemented fuel scooping, so those fuel scoops can finally be used for... well, scooping fuel, and not just cargo canisters. Don't leave home without them! (3/3)
Approaching the sun through a minor asteroid belt. I've always loved flying towards the sun in BBC Micro Elite, so it's good to see it on the Electron. That ball of flickering fire hanging in the blackness of space always has such a feeling of remoteness and grandeur. (2/3)
Goodness gracious, great balls of fire! (In enhanced #Acorn #Electron #Elite, that is.) The speed isn't bad, considering the sun is probably the most screen-memory-intensive (i.e. slow) feature of #BBCMicro Elite. More clips in thread. (1/3) #retrocomputing #retrogaming #8bit
That’s good to hear! Definitely going to have to give it a try, anyway. It’s not like Elite is a sound effects powerhouse…
Yeah, I think Elite would require RTC plus maybe three Rx full interrupts to get to scan line 192 for the dashboard change? With a little bit of cycle burning to make it accurate. I’m not quite sure exactly how many scan lines an Rx Full interrupt takes to trigger, so that would be good to know!
Credits went a lot further back in those days, though. Not like all your multi-billionaires in E:D… 🤣
On the left: original #Acorn #Electron #Elite. On the right: Electron Elite using the #BBCMicro sun code to show variable sized stars on the system chart. Now I just have to hook this up to the solar system, so Electron Elite can finally have suns and fuel scooping... #retrogaming #retrocomputing
Changing the gaming experience! Heresy! Nice idea, though. Hmm…
It does indeed - it feels very much like the BBC Micro cassette version, on which I honed my skills back in the day. It’s quite a shock going back to the original version…