|
|
| Line 252: |
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| | | | |
| | 99.4) Disclaimer | | 99.4) Disclaimer |
| − |
| |
| − | == 2) Common Information ==
| |
| − |
| |
| − | This section contains information which either fails to fall into a
| |
| − | category elsewhere or applies to more than one game and so is located here
| |
| − | to refer back to.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | Note: In the descriptions of versions, they may be described as deriving
| |
| − | Elite ratings from kills, points or score, where the method is known. See
| |
| − | 99.1) How do the rankings go? for details.
| |
| − |
| |
| − |
| |
| − | 2.1) Ship Groupings
| |
| − | -------------------
| |
| − |
| |
| − | Different versions of Elite have had different sets of ships in the game,
| |
| − | both as opponents and, more rarely, available to fly. They can be split
| |
| − | into several groups. Datacards showing the ArcElite ships can be seen
| |
| − | here: http://www.jades.org/arc/elite/dcdex.htm
| |
| − | Note that there are some significant differences to earlier versions,
| |
| − | including that the Asp shown is completely new. For screenshots of both
| |
| − | the ArcElite Special Asp and the classic Asp MkII (also in ArcElite), see
| |
| − | the ArcElite picture gallery at http://www.randomword.demon.co.uk/rob/elite/arcelite.htm
| |
| − | Also, the ArcElite Boa II bears little resemblance to the Boa of earlier
| |
| − | games.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | Minimal list: Primarily for low-end machines where memory is a
| |
| − | major restriction. Consists of:
| |
| − | Asp Mk II, Asteroid, Boulder, Cobra MkI, Cobra MkIII, Escape Capsule,
| |
| − | Gecko, Krait, Python, Sidewinder, Thargoid, Thargon, Viper, Coriolis
| |
| − | Station. Note no boulders - no mining lasers.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | Standard list: Original BBC Elite and direct clones had all the
| |
| − | ships of the restricted list above, and also the following:
| |
| − |
| |
| − | Adder, Anaconda, Boa, Constrictor (mission target), Fer-de-Lance, Mamba,
| |
| − | Moray, Shuttle, Transporter, Worm, Dodecahedral Station.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | Elite A list: Elite A is a highly expanded version of BBC Elite and
| |
| − | contains all ships off the standard BBC list plus the following new and
| |
| − | unique ships created specially by the author:
| |
| − |
| |
| − | Bushmaster, Chameleon, Ghaival, Iguana, Monitor, Ophidian.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | Note the Bushmaster is not the same as the one in ArcElite. Documentation
| |
| − | also hints at the existence of a fast, heavily defended destroyer under
| |
| − | tests by the galactic navy (the Constrictor?) and a battle-carrier being
| |
| − | developed at a secret location to combat the thargoids. It also notes that
| |
| − | encounters with unknown ship types need not necessarily be uncommon and
| |
| − | that the encyclopedia may be incomplete.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | ArcElite list: ArcElite is a bottom-up rewrite of Elite for the
| |
| − | Acorn platform and features the following additional ships:
| |
| − |
| |
| − | Asp II custom edition - note the original Asp MkII is still in play,
| |
| − | Boa II - the original Boa has been removed,
| |
| − | Bushmaster, Caiman, Copperhead, Hognose,
| |
| − | Moccasin (2 clearly distinct variants exist),
| |
| − | Racer, Urutu.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | Note that because the missions are different, there is no Constrictor.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | Also look closely at the Copperhead. You've seen it before, haven't you?
| |
| − | To quote the datacard, "Due to it being equipped with a rejected precursor
| |
| − | of the Cobra MkIII Mous, this ship is often observed flying rather
| |
| − | erratically." Think of a game beginning with Z.... (PC users can now think
| |
| − | of one by David Braben beginning with a V...)
| |
| − |
| |
| − | There are two additional ships; the Cougar is found in Master and Tube
| |
| − | (and possibly Master Compact) versions of Elite as a very rare encounter,
| |
| − | and as a reinforcement for the cloaked Asp in the 16 bit mission set.
| |
| − | In most versions with the full shipset, the Wolf MkII can be occasionally
| |
| − | encountered. It is a lone trader with a very powerful weapon and shields
| |
| − | at least as strong as a thargoid's. Peaceful unless attacked, it is a
| |
| − | fearsome foe.
| |
| − |
| |
| − |
| |
| − | 2.2) Unusual denizens and the versions they inhabit
| |
| − | ---------------------------------------------------
| |
| − |
| |
| − | 2.2.1) The Cloak and Dagger Ship
| |
| − | --------------------------------
| |
| − | A ship of unusual design which does not appear on radar and is the target
| |
| − | of one of the later missions in some versions of Elite. When destroyed it
| |
| − | releases a cargo cannister containing the device, which can be triggered
| |
| − | (method depends on game version). It drains half a bank of energy but
| |
| − | makes enemy ships less successful at locating and shooting at you - very
| |
| − | useful against thargoids, I hear. See section 2.4 for more information on
| |
| − | this mission.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | 2.2.2) Dredgers
| |
| − | ---------------
| |
| − | No confirmed sightings of dredgers have ever been made and it is unlikely,
| |
| − | from examination of the code, that they were ever in any Acorn classical
| |
| − | Elites, and utterly certain that they are not in Frontier or First
| |
| − | Encounters. There is some doubt about ArcElite - there is a mystery ship,
| |
| − | but it is commonly held to be the Urutu. See section 3.20.3.2.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | 2.2.3) Generation Ships
| |
| − | -----------------------
| |
| − | These have never been implemented to the best of my knowledge - this is
| |
| − | nearly 100% certain for classical Acorn Elites and direct ports, Frontier,
| |
| − | First Encounters and ArcElite, all of which have been dissected in great
| |
| − | depth by fans with sufficient programming skill to extract the ship
| |
| − | models, and absolutely certain for PC Elite and Elite Plus, Amiga, Atari
| |
| − | ST, MSX and C64 Elites (all ship names are listed in the executable). It is
| |
| − | also rumoured that Ian Bell once stated in an interview that none of them
| |
| − | have ever been implemented in any version of Elite to date.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | Some claim to have found wandering space stations available on comms in
| |
| − | Frontier Elite II when mis-jumping. General opinion is that this is a bug.
| |
| − | No-one has ever tracked one down to dock at.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | 2.2.4) Rock Hermits
| |
| − | -------------------
| |
| − | These have been confirmed to exist on Spectrum Elite, PC Elite and PC
| |
| − | Elite +, 6502 Tube and Master Elites. They are superficially similar to
| |
| − | asteroids but (in some versions) do not spin. When shot they disgorge a
| |
| − | krait (verified for PC Elite+) or sidewinders (apparently; some versions)
| |
| − | which then attack the player. The failsafe ID technique in the PC Elites
| |
| − | is to missile-lock them and read whether it says "Asteroid [debris]" or
| |
| − | "Asteroid [hermit]".
| |
| − |
| |
| − | They also exist in ArcElite and are readily recognised because their
| |
| − | asteroids are painted bright yellow, blue and pink and a message flashes
| |
| − | up reading "Hermit beacon detected". Their proximity prevents jumping. No
| |
| − | ships emerge but a criminal record is gained for shooting one. No minerals
| |
| − | are released on mining.
| |
| − |
| |
| − |
| |
| − | 2.3) Hidden Features
| |
| − | --------------------
| |
| − |
| |
| − | 2.3.1) Initiative Save
| |
| − | ----------------------
| |
| − | This works on all Acorn platform implementations of Elite except ArcElite,
| |
| − | apparently. I've only tested it on BBC Disk Elite and Elite A. Press @ to
| |
| − | bring up the disk menu, select save commander, then press return for name
| |
| − | and drive. If you die you will return to this position. No need to
| |
| − | actually do all that slow disk accessing and _really_ saving until you
| |
| − | turn off. Remember to save every now and again though, in case you
| |
| − | accidentally hit break or something!
| |
| − |
| |
| − | 2.3.2) Forced Witch-Space
| |
| − | -------------------------
| |
| − | Again, one for the Acorn Elites (not ArcElite). When engaging hyperspace,
| |
| − | hold down X for maximum climb. You will get mobbed by thargoids every time.
| |
| − | Note this is impossible in Elite A because the ship becomes inoperable
| |
| − | while the computers dedicate themselves to the hyperspace calculations so
| |
| − | your climb gradually recenters before you jump. It also doesn't function
| |
| − | with the new emergency Hyperspace Unit.
| |
| − |
| |
| − |
| |
| − | 2.4) Missions
| |
| − | -------------
| |
| − | The following list includes all missions in all versions of Elite, of which
| |
| − | I am aware. In sections on individual Elites, they shall be referred to by
| |
| − | name.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | 1) Tribble
| |
| − | -------
| |
| − | At 6553.6cr, you are offered a Tribble / Trumble for sale. If you buy it
| |
| − | it sits in your hold eating cargo and multiplying. If you get enough,
| |
| − | you may see one crawling across the screen! They are useless and can
| |
| − | be destroyed by flying close to the sun. If you escapsule, one comes
| |
| − | with you to start the whole cycle again.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | 2) Supernova
| |
| − | ---------
| |
| − | You enter a system and all your fuel drains away in a leak.
| |
| − | When you dock, you are told the sun is going nova and are asked if you
| |
| − | will take refugees. Accept, and all your cargo is dumped to make
| |
| − | space and you have to launch immediately. Refuse, and you are kicked
| |
| − | out anyhow. You now have to use a galactic hyperspace or scoop the
| |
| − | star for fuel. Your reward: Some gem stones, or 1000CR (varied with
| |
| − | version).
| |
| − |
| |
| − | 3) Stolen Police Ship
| |
| − | ------------------
| |
| − | You are asked to help the military track down and destroy a stolen
| |
| − | police ship - it's quite obvious; it's been given a new paint job.
| |
| − | Reward: 4000CR
| |
| − |
| |
| − | 4) Thargoid Documents
| |
| − | ------------------
| |
| − | You are asked to pick up the captured designs of a thargoid
| |
| − | battleship from site A and take them to site B (usually a very long
| |
| − | journey) and are hassled by thargoids all along the way. In some
| |
| − | versions you may even find out that you were only a decoy, after all!
| |
| − | Reward: Naval Energy Unit (better than standard model) or 5000CR
| |
| − | depending on version.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | 5) Asteroid Bombardment
| |
| − | --------------------
| |
| − | A planet is under threat of collision with an asteroid shower. All
| |
| − | the system's ships have been destroyed trying to fragment them. You
| |
| − | must save the day! Reward: 6000CR
| |
| − |
| |
| − | 6) Cloaking / Masking Device
| |
| − | -------------------------
| |
| − | Reports of a ship in a nearby sector which is fitted with some sort
| |
| − | of a masking device. Destroy it. It is intermittently invisible to
| |
| − | both radar and sight and cannot be missile targetted. It is one of
| |
| − | the 3 Asps you encounter on first entering the system, and when you
| |
| − | engage, Constrictors (fawn, blunt) and Cougars (red, blue and black,
| |
| − | with rectangular wings) come to its aid. Novel, eh?
| |
| − | Believed variant: Master & Tube Elites: Cloaked ship is a Cougar.
| |
| − | No Constrictors present.
| |
| − | Reward: A masking device (so long as you manage to retrieve it!)
| |
| − |
| |
| − | 7) Thargoid Invasion
| |
| − | -----------------
| |
| − | A nearby space station has been taken over by thargoids. They
| |
| − | apparently also possess a hyperdrive jammer. If you destroy the
| |
| − | station (which is guarded by a swarm of thargs) you receive a
| |
| − | hyperspace jammer as a reward. You also receive the rank "Archangel".
| |
| − | It is impossible to dock at this station.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | 8) Constrictor
| |
| − | -----------
| |
| − | A top secret naval ship prototype has been stolen - the Constrictor.
| |
| − | You must track it down and destroy it. If in galaxy 1, you are told
| |
| − | where it was last sighted, and follow the trail (in the Data on
| |
| − | System screens) to where it galactic-hyperspaces. If in galaxy 2,
| |
| − | you are just told that it has entered this galaxy and must try and
| |
| − | remember the site of galactic hyperspace entry. Note down all systems
| |
| − | in 7ly of your entry to galaxy 2: These are where it may have jumped
| |
| − | to. Explore each in turn (include the one you arrive at - this is the
| |
| − | correct next stop in some versions) until you pick up the trail
| |
| − | again. When you find it, it is tougher than any other ship, including
| |
| − | Constrictors in the Masking Device mission, and is energy bomb proof.
| |
| − | A sly way to beat it is to missile at close range so it cannot ECM in
| |
| − | time.
| |
| − | Reward: Money (varies with version, may be up to 10,000CR)
| |
| − |
| |
| − | ArcElite missions are covered in the section on ArcElite as they are
| |
| − | unique to it.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | Note: In Elite Plus, there is also a message in the code welcoming you
| |
| − | to the 9th Galaxy. No-one has yet found out how to get there. I have
| |
| − | some pet ideas:
| |
| − | 1) Galhyp from witchspace
| |
| − | 2) Something to do with your galhyp and the hyperspace jammer...
| |
| − |
| |
| − |
| |
| − |
| |
| − | 3) Versions of the Game
| |
| − | -----------------------
| |
| − |
| |
| − | 3.1) Electron Elite (Bell & Braben, 1984)
| |
| − | -------------------
| |
| − |
| |
| − | A version for the Acorn Electron, this is the simplest form of Elite. It
| |
| − | has the reduced ship selection, and no suns so the fuel scoop is only
| |
| − | useful for collecting cargo. The screen is monochrome, including the
| |
| − | console, and graphics are wireframe with hidden line removal. As on the
| |
| − | BBC version, this does not include suns, which can be seen through their
| |
| − | planets. All space stations are Coriolis model. There are no missions.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | Elite rating is based on number of kills.
| |
| − |
| |
| − |
| |
| − |
| |
| − | 3.2) BBC Tape Elite (Bell & Braben, 1984)
| |
| − | -------------------
| |
| − |
| |
| − | This version has the reduced ship set. The space view is monochrome with
| |
| − | wireframe ships, as above, but the console is 4-colour (red, green, and
| |
| − | yellow or white depending on whether you had an escape pod) due to a
| |
| − | cunning trick allowing it to be in Mode 5 while the main view was in Mode
| |
| − | 4. All space stations are Coriolis model. There are no missions. One
| |
| − | interesting feature of this and of Electron Elite is the inability to turn
| |
| − | off the docking computers(!).
| |
| − |
| |
| − | Elite rating is based on number of kills.
| |
| − |
| |
| − |
| |
| − |
| |
| − | 3.3) BBC Disk Elite (Bell & Braben, 1984, combined disk 1986 with
| |
| − | ------------------- Master and Tube Elite)
| |
| − |
| |
| − | Like BBC Tape Elite but with more ships, and when you dock on a
| |
| − | space station you get a brief view of other ships sitting around
| |
| − | on the ground.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | This is the archetypal classic Elite. Each sun has one planet and each
| |
| − | planet has one space station but this may be Coriolis or Dodec class.
| |
| − | Planets are occupied by a variety of races and have a variety of
| |
| − | governments which act as danger classifications, from the tame Corporate
| |
| − | States, through Democracies, Confederacies, Communist States,
| |
| − | Dictatorships, Multi-Governments and Feudal Systems, to Anarchies,
| |
| − | the worst of the worst.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | The ships flew using an inertialess engine - the player controls speed,
| |
| − | not thrust, and can change direction instantaneously.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | The game uses the standard ship set.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | The first batch of disks sold had a minor glitch which prevented
| |
| − | asteroids from ever appearing. Boulders never appeared either -
| |
| − | these are simply the fragments produced from shooting an asteroid
| |
| − | with a mining laser and can be sold as minerals.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | To display the authors' names on the spinning ship screen, pause the game,
| |
| − | press X, then unpause again.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | Missions: Constrictor (triggered at 256 kills, galaxy 1 or 2)
| |
| − | Thargoid Documents (triggered mid-dangerous, galaxy 3, maybe
| |
| − | other galaxies too)
| |
| − |
| |
| − | Elite rating is based on number of kills.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | Bug: As in 48K Spectrum Elite, if the hyperspace counter reaches 0 while
| |
| − | docking, you will dock in your destination system without having to fly
| |
| − | in.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | This may in fact be widespread among classic Elites.
| |
| − |
| |
| − |
| |
| − |
| |
| − | 3.4) Elite - The Executive Edition (Bell & Braben)
| |
| − | ----------------------------------
| |
| − |
| |
| − | A special BBC 6502SP version put together by Ian Bell and given to a few
| |
| − | people, but not published. The only differences I know between this and
| |
| − | normal Tube Coprocessor Elite are the presence of a StarWars-type
| |
| − | scrolltext which rolls up the screen when you start the game, and that
| |
| − | after this you get a mock-battle, in which you are scored for number of
| |
| − | enemies destroyed and penalised for usage of missiles.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | Missions: Unknown, probably as Master and Tube (see next section).
| |
| − |
| |
| − | Elite rating is based on number of kills.
| |
| − |
| |
| − |
| |
| − | 3.5) BBC Master Elite (Bell & Braben, 1984, 2nd release 1986, 3rd
| |
| − | --------------------- release 1986 on combination disk with Tube
| |
| − | and original BBC disk versions.)
| |
| − |
| |
| − | The first Elite to have colour in its main display. The console is drawn
| |
| − | in eight colours and the main display in four (including black). This
| |
| − | version uses the standard ship set but also sports a peculiar craft which
| |
| − | is the second one displayed during startup when creating a new pilot.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | According to Chris John Jordan, who was involved with the creation of
| |
| − | Acornsoft's editions of Elite, it is the Cougar, an initially peaceful
| |
| − | trader which fights very effectively when attacked and possesses
| |
| − | better-than-average shields and laser. This has since been verified by
| |
| − | visual and missile-radar ID of the ship in Elite Plus for the PC.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | Missions: Constrictor (256 kills, galaxy 1 or 2)
| |
| − | Thargoid Documents (mid-dangerous, galaxy 3, maybe others)
| |
| − | Others, details unknown. Cloaking device believed to be
| |
| − | among them.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | The odd ship seen on one of the startup screens is a Cougar, believed
| |
| − | to be the Cloak & Dagger Ship (ie with Masking Device) in this verison.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | Elite rating is based on number of kills.
| |
| − |
| |
| − |
| |
| − |
| |
| − | 3.6) BBC Tube Elite (Bell & Braben 1986, superseded by joint disk
| |
| − | ------------------- with Master and original BBC, also 1986)
| |
| − |
| |
| − |
| |
| − | Designed to run on a BBC B or Master with second processor, this game
| |
| − | appears identical to BBC Master Elite only faster. I would speculate that
| |
| − | it also has the same missions. Note that the Cougar does not appear on
| |
| − | the startup screens, however.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | Elite rating is based on number of kills.
| |
| − |
| |
| − |
| |
| − |
| |
| − | 3.7) Master Compact Elite (Bell & Braben, 1984)
| |
| − | -------------------------
| |
| − |
| |
| − | Existence of a special version designed for the Master Compact is rumoured
| |
| − | but has yet to be confirmed.
| |
| − |
| |
| − |
| |
| − |
| |
| − | 3.8) Elite A (Bell & Braben, highly modified by A.Duggan, allowed for
| |
| − | ------------ release 1997)
| |
| − |
| |
| − | 3.8.1) Description
| |
| − | ------------------
| |
| − |
| |
| − | Using the Elite A unique ship set, this game is a non-commercial
| |
| − | significantly altered version of BBC Disk Elite. While the graphics are
| |
| − | the same, many features have been altered: The player begins as pilot of
| |
| − | an Adder and can buy better ships (this is _very_ expensive and seems
| |
| − | likely to keep me in a job right up to Elitehood!) as he earns more money.
| |
| − | Ships have different speeds, turn rates, numbers of missile pylons, shield
| |
| − | and hull strengths, laser mounts, hyperspace ranges and cargo hold sizes.
| |
| − | Equipment now occupies space so it is essential to strike a balance
| |
| − | between weaponry and trading space.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | Other significant modifications include:
| |
| − | Special cargos, which must be delivered to a specific destination as
| |
| − | quickly as possible with payment depending on speed.
| |
| − | An online encyclopedia allowing access to ship statistics and pictures
| |
| − | (though I can't see how the value given as cargo space is derived - it
| |
| − | seems utterly erroneous on the Adder and Gecko, at least), equipment
| |
| − | information and keys.
| |
| − | An IFF device allowing identification of ships' intents at a distance.
| |
| − | Random ship appearance positions, so you can't tell whether they're
| |
| − | pirates by their start location.
| |
| − | Replacement of the vastly unfair energy bomb with an instant hyperspace
| |
| − | run away unit.
| |
| − | Many more less significant changes.
| |
| − | Note that there are also some new ships not in the encyclopedia! One can
| |
| − | be seen at Simon Challands' webpage.
| |
| − | http://www.cranfield.ac.uk/public/gfr/fr950671/elite.htm
| |
| − | There is another, but I know no more than that it exists.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | It runs in an enhanced mode with a Tube Coprocessor which is slightly
| |
| − | faster, accesses the disk less and has more varied ship encounter
| |
| − | combinations.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | Elite rating is based on number of kills.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | 3.8.2) Missions
| |
| − | ---------------
| |
| − | Because the game has only been made recently available to the public
| |
| − | full mission details are unknown until someone plays through them.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | However, it can be confirmed that the Constrictor and Thargoid Document
| |
| − | missions are present, at least, and possibly more.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | This version is available from Ian Bell's WWW page.
| |
| − |
| |
| − |
| |
| − |
| |
| − | 3.9) Amiga Elite (Telecomsoft, 1988
| |
| − | ---------------- & Firebird, date unknown)
| |
| − | Followed by Elite Plus (Amiga Empire Interactive, 1995) which was the
| |
| − | Elite files in a box with Elite Plus artwork, apparently.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | Available from Ian Bell's webpage.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | Solid colour graphics in bright colours. All stations are coriolis.
| |
| − | Standard ship list, but with the Wolf MkII (no description available).
| |
| − | In this version it is a tough pirate ship. Thargoids can mob you in
| |
| − | witch space or attack as (and sometimes _with_) normal pirates.
| |
| − | Asteroid pieces are called platelets, not boulders. Like the BBC
| |
| − | version, but unlike PC Elite and Elite+, there is no status/danger
| |
| − | warning light on the console. Thargoids _do_ release thargons,
| |
| − | contrary to some reports, but are apparently very reluctant to do so
| |
| − | even in prolonged battle. As in the Atari ST version, enemy ships fire
| |
| − | bullets, not lasers, and only when resolved from dots.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | There are 4 or 5 missions:
| |
| − | Supernova
| |
| − | Constrictor
| |
| − | Thargoid Documents
| |
| − | Thargoid Invasion
| |
| − |
| |
| − | There is also a cloaking device, activated by pressing Y, and which
| |
| − | may be obtained by destroying a special ship. The mission is slightly
| |
| − | atypical. You receive the following message:
| |
| − |
| |
| − | Warning to all Traders: Reports having been coming in from Traders in
| |
| − | this sector of an unknown hostile ship with awesome capabilities.
| |
| − | Rumours suggest that this ship is fitted with a device which causes
| |
| − | on-board computer systems to malfunction.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | The ship is a Cougar flanked by 2 Asp Mk IIs. It does not cloak but
| |
| − | releases the device in a cannister on destruction. When activated,
| |
| − | enemy ships will not shoot at you, though they will fly at you and
| |
| − | bank away as normal.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | Elite rating is based on score.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | This version also has the Wolf MkII ship.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | Undocumented features:
| |
| − | In early versions, enter "sara" as the protection code, followed by the
| |
| − | correct one. Then press * during play to bring up a hex editor.
| |
| − | The ships can be viewed using the following keys on the initial spinning
| |
| − | cobra screen:
| |
| − | F - change ship
| |
| − | A - stop spinning
| |
| − | D - restart spinning
| |
| − | O - zoom out
| |
| − | I - zoom in
| |
| − |
| |
| − | Pressing W during flight gives a score, game time, and the credits.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | On later versions, the initial protection code is "suzanne".
| |
| − |
| |
| − | This can also be used to create custom galaxies: See
| |
| − | http://www.netrover.com/~timt/amicheats.html
| |
| − | for more details.
| |
| − |
| |
| − |
| |
| − | 3.10) Spectrum Elite (Firebird/Torus 1985, followed by many enhanced
| |
| − | -------------------- versions and rereleases)
| |
| − |
| |
| − | First game ever to use the Lenslock anti-piracy system: You look at some
| |
| − | coloured squares on the screen through a special lens, and they reveal
| |
| − | themselves as a 2 digit code which you type in to get access.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | Ship set: Adder, Asp Mk II, Cobra Mk3, Fer-de-Lance, Krait, Python,
| |
| − | Sidewinder, Viper, Thargoid, Thargon.
| |
| − | All space stations Coriolis.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | Status display was white on red which became white on magenta with escape
| |
| − | capsule. Status indicator on scanner changed from green to yellow to red
| |
| − | to flashing red depending on degree of danger.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | Sometimes on docking, a message was produced:
| |
| − | "Pirates have taken over your ship - Game Over"
| |
| − | I doubt this did much for playability.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | Pausing then pressing a specific key then unpausing toggled forced
| |
| − | witchspace mode (witchspace every jump). The key may have been F.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | And a cheat: If your hyperspace countdown finishes just as you get the
| |
| − | docking tunnel, you will find yourself instantly docked in your
| |
| − | destination system. So launch, trigger hyperspace, and re-dock at the
| |
| − | station you just came to. Only tested on 48K version.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | Bug: If you destroy a ship you have fired a missile at, it will fly to
| |
| − | the last known position then stop. It cannot be shot or ECM'ed and can
| |
| − | be flown through. This is rumoured to also appear in a version of PC
| |
| − | Elite.
| |
| − |
| |
| − |
| |
| − | Missions: Supernova, Cloaking Device, maybe others.
| |
| − |
| |
| − |
| |
| − |
| |
| − |
| |
| − | 3.11) MSX Elite (Tape: Mr. Micro ltd.
| |
| − | --------------- Cartridge: Japanese import.)
| |
| − |
| |
| − | Wireframe graphics, looks like 8 colours. Hideous music.
| |
| − | Four missions: Supernova
| |
| − | Constrictor
| |
| − | Thargoid Documents
| |
| − | Thargoid Invasion
| |
| − |
| |
| − |
| |
| − | 3.12) Tatsung Einstein Elite (Mr. Micro ltd., 3" disk)
| |
| − | ----------------------------
| |
| − | I now know what a Tatung Einstein looks like.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | A single-unit monitor and keyboard system with built in 3" disk drives. It
| |
| − | ran CP/M, so it was probably Z80 based. Very similar to the Amstard PCW
| |
| − | 8256/8512 but with a completely different case.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | Submissions to afefaq@randomword.demon.co.uk
| |
| − |
| |
| − |
| |
| − |
| |
| − | 3.13) NES Elite (Imagineer, 1991)
| |
| − | ---------------
| |
| − |
| |
| − | Ian recommends this as the version to play if you wish to re-experience
| |
| − | classic Elite. It certainly looks good but the emulator which he
| |
| − | recommends is highly restrictive unless you register for the full version,
| |
| − | and it runs slowly on a P133. Note that this game has a scrolltext and
| |
| − | practice combat at the beginning, like executive Elite.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | Wireframe graphics.
| |
| − | Missions unknown.
| |
| − |
| |
| − |
| |
| − |
| |
| − | 3.14) C64 Elite (Firebird Software, 1984)
| |
| − | ---------------
| |
| − |
| |
| − | As colourful as BBC Master Elite but with a smaller screensize leading to
| |
| − | a lower resolution.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | There are 3 missions: Trumbles (like Tribbles), Constrictor and Thargoid
| |
| − | Documents.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | Want to know what a trumble looks like as it crawls across your screen?
| |
| − | See Ian Bell's page (link at top of this section) - it's the blue bug-like
| |
| − | thingy used as the C64 Elite icon.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | Elite rating is based on kill-points.
| |
| − |
| |
| − |
| |
| − | 3.15) Apple II Elite (Firebird, 1985)
| |
| − | --------------------
| |
| − |
| |
| − | Limited colour - uses the funny Apple II system where by lowering the
| |
| − | screen resolution, black and white bars become colour...
| |
| − |
| |
| − | Mission details: Unknown.
| |
| − |
| |
| − |
| |
| − | 3.16) Amstrad CPC Elite (Firebird, 1985)
| |
| − | -----------------------
| |
| − |
| |
| − | This game allegedly has the reduced ship set, but apparently there are
| |
| − | Fer de Lances. The docking sequence is a simple tunnel, rock hermits
| |
| − | release kraits and sidewinders when attacked, and all stations are
| |
| − | Coriolis type. It occasionally produces a "Pirates have taken over your
| |
| − | ship - Game Over" message on docking.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | Mission details: Has Nova, Thargoid Base, Cloaking device, maybe more.
| |
| − |
| |
| − |
| |
| − | 3.17) Atari ST Elite (Firebird, 1988)
| |
| − | --------------------
| |
| − |
| |
| − |
| |
| − | Described as "Graphically very good", uses solid colour.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | Missions: Supernova, Constrictor, Thargoid Documents, Masking Device,
| |
| − | Thargoid Invasion
| |
| − |
| |
| − | Apparently, combat was a severe letdown: Enemies shot round red bullets at
| |
| − | you, not lasers, and at close range only. So buy a rear military laser and
| |
| − | you can rule the spacelanes.
| |
| − |
| |
| − |
| |
| − |
| |
| − | 3.18) PC Elite (Microprose Software, 1987, Andy Onions)
| |
| − | --------------
| |
| − |
| |
| − |
| |
| − | The original PC Elite. Classical Elite, but with the option to choose
| |
| − | solid graphics or wireframe. CGA only - 4 (sickly) colours. The two
| |
| − | versions are completely independent of one another. The menu provides a
| |
| − | touch of humour, telling you you need a fast computer (6MHz 80286 or
| |
| − | faster) to run solid graphics mode.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | Missions: Supernova, Masking Device, Thargoid Invasion
| |
| − |
| |
| − |
| |
| − | 3.19) PC Elite + (Microprose Software, 1991, Chris Sawyer)
| |
| − | ----------------
| |
| − |
| |
| − |
| |
| − | PC Elite improved to run in EGA or VGA (with 16 colours) or MCGA (with 256
| |
| − | colours) graphics modes. All modern machines will probably be able to use
| |
| − | the MCGA mode.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | Missions: Tribble, Supernova, Stolen Police Ship, Thargoid Documents,
| |
| − | Asteroid Bombardment, Masking Device, Thargoid Invasion.
| |
| − |
| |
| − |
| |
| − | Adders and Kraits (in particular) have a tendency to "bleed" missiles:
| |
| − | Once you fight back and start doing them serious damage they loose them
| |
| − | all in quick succession. This makes combat very dangerous before you have
| |
| − | an ECM, because you can't escape missiles like in BBC Elite.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | Anarchies are great fun, with a relentless assault from large numbers of
| |
| − | ships (as many as 7 have been reported) at once, and they never stop
| |
| − | coming. Good equipment and powerful lasers are a must. Not one for your
| |
| − | regular trade routes!
| |
| − |
| |
| − | Apart from the tribbles, missions are triggered on a hyperspace count
| |
| − | basis: After you leave galaxy 1 a counter increments with each hyperspace,
| |
| − | triggering missions at certain levels.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | Note: Also present in the code are the messages for when the player
| |
| − | trails the Constrictor. This mission does not appear to be implemented,
| |
| − | however.
| |
| − |
| |
| − |
| |
| − | 3.20) Archimedes Elite (Gringras & Burch, 1991)
| |
| − | ----------------------
| |
| − | There are two versions - v1.05 and v1.14. The latter has the password
| |
| − | protection removed.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | 3.20.1) Description
| |
| − | -------------------
| |
| − | Claimed by all those who have played it (to the extent of my
| |
| − | knowledge) to be the best incarnation of Elite ever.
| |
| − | Superficially, it is BBC Elite with solid, colour graphics and
| |
| − | extra ships. However, for the first time in the Elite universe,
| |
| − | you are no longer the centre of action. The AI has taken a
| |
| − | colossal step forwards. Now you can encounter pirate packs
| |
| − | battling it out for dominance of their private patches, traders
| |
| − | under attack, Bushmaster mining vessels smashing asteroids into
| |
| − | chunks and scooping up the pieces, vipers towing disabled ships
| |
| − | back to the station, vipers flying along in formation looking for
| |
| − | some lawbreaker to fight... (they are _very_ deadly. I've seen a
| |
| − | pack of six flying along in a perfect rectangle suddenly peel off
| |
| − | into combat. They took down 5 caimen and 5 geckos before I could
| |
| − | even blink). There are even other ships like yourself - Cobras
| |
| − | armed to the teeth looking for pirates to fight, to boost their
| |
| − | Elite rating. A considerable range of new ships, all with their
| |
| − | own unique characters. And then there's the oddities. But that'll
| |
| − | wait until later.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | Quite simply the most playable Elite game of all time.
| |
| − |
| |
| − |
| |
| − | 3.20.2) Missions
| |
| − | ----------------
| |
| − |
| |
| − | 3.20.2.1) Genesis Capsule
| |
| − | -------------------------
| |
| − | Requirements: Galaxy 1, 550CR, 1200 kills.
| |
| − | You get hired by GalFam to drop an ecology seed capsule on a
| |
| − | starving world to revitalise its economy. To succeed, simply
| |
| − | jettison it while facing the planet at very low altitude. First,
| |
| − | of course, you have to go and pick it up...
| |
| − |
| |
| − | Reward: 500CR and a rosy glow. The system data changes from "A
| |
| − | hopless starving planet" to "A starving planet with a glimmer of
| |
| − | hope".
| |
| − |
| |
| − | 3.20.2.2) Kill Zartid III
| |
| − | -------------------------
| |
| − | Requirements: 1450 kills, 4000CR, any galaxy.
| |
| − | A respected member of the Tri-Alliance (Note for TEP members - in
| |
| − | those days, the thargoids were the baddies...) has been running
| |
| − | plans to the enemy. Find him and kill him. You are told where he
| |
| − | was last seen. Zartid flies blue wing-like ship, and is escorted by a
| |
| − | small fleet of Mambas. If you take too long to kill him he gets
| |
| − | reinforcements.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | Advice: If you can't take it, energy-bomb the mambas first. You
| |
| − | might also want to try the missile trick from the BBC Disk
| |
| − | Constrictor mission.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | Reward: Yaw boosters. These turn a good pilot into a deadly
| |
| − | pilot. In the right hands they can improve laser accuracy by as
| |
| − | much as 50%. Best used with mouse control - right hand on the
| |
| − | mouse, left on the cursors.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | 3.20.2.3) Kill Zurid Pino
| |
| − | -------------------------
| |
| − | 2600 kills, any galaxy.
| |
| − | You have killed Zurid's father, the infamous pirate Rantan Pino.
| |
| − | Zurid has stolen a top-secret Cobra with a cloaking device and
| |
| − | missile autolock and is coming to get you. Zurid flies a red-
| |
| − | brown cobra which does not appear on scanners and has 8 missiles.
| |
| − | Another difficult fight.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | Reward: Missile Autolock. A little cross on your current missile
| |
| − | target and a lot of pose value.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | 3.20.2.4) Medicine Run
| |
| − | ----------------------
| |
| − | 4600 kills, planet no. MOD3 = 1, any galaxy.
| |
| − | Travel around the galaxy gathering components for a medical cure.
| |
| − | The chemicals may have various side effects - one makes you
| |
| − | likely to explode if you get too hot sun-scooping, another seems
| |
| − | to increase the damage of enemy lasers to your shields and
| |
| − | energy, and a third reacts with any of the others if your shields
| |
| − | are reduced to nil while it's in the hold. Advice: As soon as you
| |
| − | find the mixing centre, drop off the more troublesome ones!
| |
| − |
| |
| − | Reward: 2000CR and innoculation!
| |
| − |
| |
| − |
| |
| − | 3.20.3) Extra Features
| |
| − | ----------------------
| |
| − |
| |
| − | 3.20.3.1) Space Beacons
| |
| − | -----------------------
| |
| − | Navigational aids for the lost spacer, these are a feature of
| |
| − | ArcElite only. Brightly coloured tetrahedrons registering as
| |
| − | cargo on the scanner, no benefit is gained from shooting them,
| |
| − | and they do not appear on the hold contents register when
| |
| − | scooped. They do take up 1t of storage, however, and cannot be
| |
| − | shifted short of using an escape capsule.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | I vaguely remeber something about ejecting one in association
| |
| − | with every tonne of X jettisoned, but I cannot remember what X
| |
| − | was, and have tried it with minerals and food without success.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | Space beacons do not stop you jumping.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | 3.20.3.2) The Urutu
| |
| − | -------------------
| |
| − | Mentioned on the Moccasin card in ArcElite Gold, this is the name
| |
| − | frequently associated with the yellow ship with a grey underside
| |
| − | and green nose border and triangles on its back. This ship is
| |
| − | rectangular with a rounded nose and may be pirate or trader. It
| |
| − | is almost as fast as a Cobra and _very_ manouverable.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | Notes released on an Acorn Computing cover disk pertaining to be
| |
| − | documentation of the state of the game, however, suggest
| |
| − | otherwise, recording that dredgers may have been included in some
| |
| − | of the jump-emergence event possibilities. Maybe these ships are
| |
| − | dredgers. They certainly seem meaner than your run-of-the-mill
| |
| − | bad guy. However, dredgers are apparently huge. This ship just doesn't
| |
| − | seem big enough.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | On the other hand, there are two very distinct forms of Moccasin and it is
| |
| − | possible that the one not on the card is the Urutu and that the green and
| |
| − | yellow ship is a dredger. After all, the Urutu is described as a close
| |
| − | cousin of the Moccasin.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | For convenience I refer to them as the Moccasin, Special Moccasin and
| |
| − | Urutu.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | 3.20.3.3) Crazy Craft
| |
| − | ---------------------
| |
| − | Archimedes Elite only. These ships fly in erratic circles. They
| |
| − | are mentioned in the handbook. From the game's perspective, they
| |
| − | are in fact trying to shoot themselves!
| |
| − |
| |
| − | 3.20.3.4) Missionaries
| |
| − | ----------------------
| |
| − | ArcElite only. Harmless weak unarmed ships originally created for
| |
| − | target practice by the navy and bought up en masse by a religious
| |
| − | sect who fly around dangerous planets spreading the word.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | Darwin in action.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | 3.20.3.5) Messages
| |
| − | ------------------
| |
| − | Sometimes, the unexpected can flash up on the bottom of your screen. Watch
| |
| − | out for:
| |
| − |
| |
| − | REPENT, SINNER! REPENT! - cried occasionally over the radio by
| |
| − | missionaries in hognoses.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | MEGAWEED!!! - displayed occasionally upon scooping a cargo cannister. A
| |
| − | particularly potent narcotic. Sells as normal though.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | WHY DID THE GROIGAN DANCE? _ Thargoids ambushing an
| |
| − | WHY WAS THE KANGAROO HAPPY? unlucky pilot in witch-space
| |
| − |
| |
| − | 3.20.3.6) Scrolltext
| |
| − | --------------------
| |
| − | If you bring up the info window in desktop and leave your pointer on the
| |
| − | copyright message, you get a scrolltext. Apparently one of the names
| |
| − | credited is that of the Mad Hatter, of Micro User Elite column fame.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | 3.20.3.7) Escorts
| |
| − | -----------------
| |
| − | If you attack a ship with escorts, it does a runner while you fight them.
| |
| − | Just thought I'd mention it.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | 3.20.3.8) Rentadock
| |
| − | -------------------
| |
| − | At Tech Level 8+ if you have no docking computer, you can press C anyhow
| |
| − | and pay a charge of 50CR for use of the remote Rentadock. This puts rather
| |
| − | a dint in the income.
| |
| − |
| |
| − |
| |
| − | 3.20.4) Fluffy Dice
| |
| − | -------------------
| |
| − |
| |
| − | There are two expansion modules worthy of mention:
| |
| − |
| |
| − | 1) !EliteExt by Ben Dooks and Andrew Clover, with a few bug fixes by Rob
| |
| − | Pfeifer. Available for download from
| |
| − | http://www.cranfield.ac.uk/public/gfr/fr950671/programs/eliteext
| |
| − | as a self-extracting archive: Set type to Obey and double-click.
| |
| − | it gives you a ship ID system which also displays remaining shields on
| |
| − | target, a clock, a cargo hold fullness readout, fluffy dice which swing
| |
| − | realistically with the movement of the ship and a bumper sticker reading
| |
| − | "My other ship is a Thargoid". Versions before 1.03 (Rob's fix) confuse
| |
| − | Anacondas and Boa II's, and also Moccasins and the rarer special variety.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | 2) AUEliteCht - a module available from
| |
| − | http://%20www.cranfield.ac.uk/public/gfr/fr950671/programs/AUEliteCht
| |
| − | which gives a super-powerful laser and rather fancy explosions, among
| |
| − | many other things.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | These are both off Simon Challands' wonderful Acorn Elite page
| |
| − | http://www.cranfield.ac.uk/public/gfr/fr950671/elite.htm
| |
| − |
| |
| − |
| |
| − | 3.21) Archimedes Elite Gold (Gringras & Burch, 1991)
| |
| − | ---------------------------
| |
| − |
| |
| − | Archimedes Elite, with reference cards provided for the ships and a little
| |
| − | pad to record market prices on.
| |
| − |
| |
| − |
| |
| − |
| |
| − | 3.22) Frontier Elite II (Braben, with elements
| |
| − | attributable to Bell, 1993)
| |
| − | -----------------------
| |
| − |
| |
| − | Available in Atari ST, Amiga and PC formats from
| |
| − | http://www.yikesstation.freeserve.co.uk/frontier/downloads.htm#getfrontier
| |
| − |
| |
| − | 3.22.1) Description
| |
| − | -------------------
| |
| − | Ian Bell and David Braben returned to the Elite universe to bring
| |
| − | it up to date. In this game, star systems have more than one
| |
| − | planet, planets may have many space stations and ground ports,
| |
| − | there is far more equipment available to the player, the player
| |
| − | may buy different and better space ships, and there are a wide
| |
| − | range of careers open, from passenger transport to mining,
| |
| − | assassination and life in the military. Of course, one can also
| |
| − | stay as a trader if one wishes!
| |
| − |
| |
| − | The biggest change is the inertial (Newtonian) flight engine. You
| |
| − | have momentum and if you change facing, your thrusters will begin
| |
| − | to act to slow you down rather than leading to an instant travel
| |
| − | in the new direction. This is like the real world, as opposed to
| |
| − | Tie Fighter and its ilk.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | There are no hand-coded missions but the sheer variety of day-to-day
| |
| − | careers more than makes up.
| |
| − |
| |
| − |
| |
| − | 3.22.2) The Mirage and the Dart
| |
| − | -------------------------------
| |
| − | For those of you who only have Frontier, some background is necessary. In
| |
| − | classical Elite, thargoids attacked you by diverting your hyperspace jump
| |
| − | then mobbing you. In Frontier, they didn't exist. In FirstEnc the
| |
| − | thargoids are back and they're friendly. I suppose you want one of their
| |
| − | ships now.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | Forget it.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | The shape is there (you can see it sticking half out of the ground at some
| |
| − | military bases you are sent to photograph). There are snippets of
| |
| − | storyline in the code which lead people to believe that you must be Prince
| |
| − | with the Empire, have some sort of high pass from Sirius Cybernetics and
| |
| − | be at the eastern edge of the galaxy. Unfortunately it was never
| |
| − | implemented. Even the ship definition is incomplete. It is possible to
| |
| − | create a Mirage by hacking, but the ship stats are mad. For example, it
| |
| − | has more missile racks than the savegame file has slots for. In short any
| |
| − | data in it is random gibberish from whatever part of the program code it
| |
| − | happens to point to.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | To put it simply, the ship does not exist in normal play. You have to
| |
| − | cheat. Get one here.
| |
| − | http://www.sslmit.unibo.it/zat/shipyard.htm
| |
| − |
| |
| − | I also heard tell once of a small ship with a Class 9 Hyperdrive called
| |
| − | the Dart. This is an utter lie. There is no Class 9 Hyperdrive (the
| |
| − | hackers have verified this), nor is there a shape for it in the game
| |
| − | (again, the hackers have been through it with a fine toothcomb. The only
| |
| − | unaccounted-for shape is the mirage). It is possible this legend arose
| |
| − | from someone hacking themselves to be flying a missile with a Class 8
| |
| − | drive (and maybe even poked the text and drive stats - _creating_ a Class
| |
| − | 9 drive where none should exist). In short, as far as getting it in the
| |
| − | game is concerned, another fiction.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | 3.22.3) Bugs
| |
| − | ------------
| |
| − | The first four are beneficial. These are not guaranteed to work on all
| |
| − | versions, or indeed at all. The ones after these are harmful and are
| |
| − | probably far more ubiquitous...
| |
| − |
| |
| − | 3.22.3.1) Deimos and Phobos
| |
| − | ---------------------------
| |
| − | Apparently shooting these asteroidal moons of Mars gets you kills, and
| |
| − | they remain intact so you can keep shooting until you're Elite or your
| |
| − | finger gets tired. Use a mining laser at 3rd acceleration, and make sure
| |
| − | you're a fair distance away and have shields because you get a fair load
| |
| − | of minerals flying off.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | 3.22.3.2) Garbage Truck Bug
| |
| − | ---------------------------
| |
| − | Load up your ship with rubbish, fly out beyond the last planet of the
| |
| − | system and click just below the jettison button in your cargo hold. You
| |
| − | want to be travelling fairly fast when you do this or you'll hit the crazy
| |
| − | stuff spewing out back. You can increase your tonnage indefinitely in this
| |
| − | manner. Note that some say you simply jettison the rubbish and get an
| |
| − | increase of 1t for each rubbish jettisoned. This could be 2 separate bugs
| |
| − | on different versions, or different (and one therefore incorrect)
| |
| − | relatings of the same bug. Try them and see.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | 3.22.3.3) Wormholes
| |
| − | -------------------
| |
| − | When hyperspacing a distance close to an exact multiple of 655.36ly the
| |
| − | fuel tonnage required drops almost to nil on some versions. That's what
| |
| − | you get if you skimp on variable sizes when programming! This allows
| |
| − | rapid transgalactic travelling for very little fuel (simply knock off as
| |
| − | many 655.36's from the distance as possible, then use the range remaining
| |
| − | after that). This bug is only present in early releases. Nonetheless it
| |
| − | is one of the most widely heard-of bugs in the game.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | 3.22.3.4) Get Rich Quick
| |
| − | ------------------------
| |
| − | There are two ways to do this. First, go to Cemiess. Buy Gemstones on the
| |
| − | Black Market - they pay you to take them. When your hold is full, sell
| |
| − | your ship thereby losing your cargo but keeping the money. Repeat. Second:
| |
| − | Get a passenger. Repeatedly try and buy a cheaper ship. You will be
| |
| − | credited with the difference each time, but because of the presence of the
| |
| − | passenger your ship will not actually be changed. If you don't actually
| |
| − | want to carry the passenger, eventually buy an escape capsule and use it
| |
| − | just outside the station.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | 3.22.3.5) Mining Machine bug
| |
| − | ----------------------------
| |
| − | Mining machines must be picked up in reverse order to that in which they
| |
| − | were dropped or the game crashes. There is a patch to fix this at
| |
| − | http://www.jades.org/files/lavestn/elitearc/frontier/frn_patc.zip
| |
| − |
| |
| − | 3.22.3.6) Mad Protection Scheme
| |
| − | -------------------------------
| |
| − | Sometimes the scheme asks for e.g. page 8238, line 27764, word 29263.
| |
| − | There is a patch available at George Hooper's excellent utilities page:
| |
| − | http://members.xoom.com/encounters/utility.htm
| |
| − | This disables the protection altogether.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | 3.22.3.7) Impossible Missions
| |
| − | -----------------------------
| |
| − | Beware of missions requiring you to deliver to or kill someone emerging
| |
| − | from a planet with no starport. They are impossible. Also beware of
| |
| − | missions to planets near far greater masses e.g. many gas giants and a
| |
| − | large star, as it may be impossible to get your frame of reference
| |
| − | relative to them, making approach difficult and missiling near-impossible
| |
| − | (nuclear missiles have a fixed velocity of about 10-15,000 km/s - if you
| |
| − | need to match speeds by going faster than this, they'll never hit).
| |
| − |
| |
| − | 3.22.3.8) Unshiftable dissatisfied passenger
| |
| − | --------------------------------------------
| |
| − | If a passenger declares they're disgusted at how long you're taking and
| |
| − | getting off at the next stop, their contract vanishes but they remain in
| |
| − | the cabin, unshiftable, preventing you selling it or your ship. The only
| |
| − | way to get rid of them is by using an escape capsule.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | 3.22.3.9) Note
| |
| − | --------------
| |
| − | If you have other troubles, read the section on First Encounters bugs.
| |
| − | While many of these are new to FirstEnc, some may apply to FEII as well.
| |
| − | Likewise, some of these bugs are in turn carried forwards. There are also
| |
| − | many minor glitches not mentioned here such as populations in empty star
| |
| − | systems, etc. etc.
| |
| − |
| |
| − |
| |
| − |
| |
| − | 3.23) Frontier: First Encounters (Braben, 1995)
| |
| − | --------------------------------
| |
| − |
| |
| − | 3.23.1) Description and Missions
| |
| − | --------------------------------
| |
| − |
| |
| − | Written by David Braben alone, this is rumoured to be the buggiest game in
| |
| − | history with the possible exception of Battlecruiser 3000. However, it
| |
| − | pushes FE2 that little bit further and makes something special of it.
| |
| − | Planets are texture-mapped, there are journals you can subscribe to,
| |
| − | keeping you up to date on current affairs, and there are some special
| |
| − | hand-coded missions to surprise you...
| |
| − |
| |
| − | The latest patch (version 1.06) is available from Jades' First
| |
| − | Encounters Page, download section -
| |
| − |
| |
| − | http://www.jades.org/download.htm
| |
| − | http://www.stratec.ca/FFE3/jffes/download.htm
| |
| − |
| |
| − | Handcoded missions are back in this game, and there are a wide variety,
| |
| − | details of which can be found on Jades' missions page.
| |
| − | http://www.jades.org/ffe.htm
| |
| − | They range from transporting a dolphin to destroying a law academy.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | Some, however, stand out above the others: These are the missions
| |
| − | involving Argent's Quest and the Thargoids.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | Triggered by having sufficient combat rating, and being on Alioth
| |
| − | in early October (November?) 3252. Look on the bulletin board for
| |
| − | TURNER'S REQUIEM and donate 10,000cr.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | These missions are somewhat buggy - apparently most problems can
| |
| − | be solved by using stardreamer up until the first cutout, just
| |
| − | before docking, then saving, starting a NEW GAME, then reloading.
| |
| − | Then dock. When docking on space stations, do not accelerate time
| |
| − | for the final stage.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | Warning: When entering the first hidden system, make sure you've
| |
| − | got a nuclear missile...
| |
| − |
| |
| − |
| |
| − | 3.23.2) Interesting Ships
| |
| − | -------------------------
| |
| − |
| |
| − | 3.23.2.1) Bubble Drive Ships
| |
| − | ----------------------------
| |
| − | These are mentioned in the journals in First Encounters but are just a
| |
| − | filler for New Scientist and don't actually exist in the game.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | 3.23.2.2) Thargoid
| |
| − | ------------------
| |
| − | You can get the "Unknown" - your very own thargoid fighter - by following
| |
| − | through the Turner's Requiem plotline and siding with the Thargoids.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | 3.23.2.3) Keeping the Quest
| |
| − | ---------------------------
| |
| − | If you opt not to get a thargoid fighter but return to the Alliance in the
| |
| − | Quest, they will take it back when you land at New Rossyth. So land at
| |
| − | Fortress Campbell instead, sell it, buy a Lifter or something, and go to
| |
| − | New Rossyth. They will repossess the Lifter and you can go and buy back
| |
| − | the Quest - for keeps this time!
| |
| − |
| |
| − | 3.23.2.4) Baffling Alien
| |
| − | ------------------------
| |
| − | There is one unidentified ship that is not involved in the game in any
| |
| − | way. It is octagonal so probably thargoid in origin, but much more ornate
| |
| − | than their usual bland functional designs. It comes with a thargoid
| |
| − | hyperdrive (equal to or better than Class 8) and a thargoid laser of a
| |
| − | very special type - it fires blue with a little explosion on the end.
| |
| − | Try http://www.sslmit.unibo.it/zat/shipyard.htm, All Thargoid Ships file.
| |
| − |
| |
| − |
| |
| − | 3.23.2.5) Long Range Cruiser
| |
| − | ----------------------------
| |
| − |
| |
| − | You can get a file hacked to fly a Long Range Cruiser, too. Not much fun
| |
| − | as pirates just crash into you all the time before you can even turn to
| |
| − | fire. Again, it's available from
| |
| − | http://www.sslmit.unibo.it/zat/shipyard.htm
| |
| − |
| |
| − | I've also recently hacked to fly a Lynx cruiser and a Nuclear Missile.
| |
| − | The ultimate hacking guide is by George Hooper and can be found at:
| |
| − | http://members.xoom.com/encounters/utility.htm
| |
| − |
| |
| − | 3.23.3) Bugs and Problems
| |
| − | -------------------------
| |
| − |
| |
| − | 3.23.3.1) My Missile Hits Me!
| |
| − | -----------------------------
| |
| − | It's not being projected far enough to leave your ship. Go to 3x
| |
| − | stardreamer just after launching. This is a frequent problem with big ships.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | 3.23.3.2) My Turret Gun Hits Me!
| |
| − | --------------------------------
| |
| − | It's mounted in a position where it's partially enclosed by your
| |
| − | ship's hull (e.g. Griffin Carrier lower turret). No solution. Buy a better
| |
| − | ship.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | 3.23.3.3) They Won't Give Me A Nuclear Missile!
| |
| − | -----------------------------------------------
| |
| − | Either you're wearing an Iraqi military uniform or all your
| |
| − | pylons are full. Sell a missile before taking the photography or
| |
| − | bombing mission.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | 3.23.3.4) How Do I Turn On The Transmission Jammer?
| |
| − | ---------------------------------------------------
| |
| − | It's automatic. It'll take care of itself.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | 3.23.3.5) I Can't Voluntarily Use My Escape Capsule!
| |
| − | ----------------------------------------------------
| |
| − | As for missiles in 3.23.3.1, you're not getting thrown clear. No
| |
| − | solution. Just wait until someone else blows you up. In the
| |
| − | Quest, if you want a go in the Stowmaster, try ramming a planet or something.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | 3.23.3.6) My Assassination Target's Not There!
| |
| − | ----------------------------------------------
| |
| − | Reload and re-enter the system. If all pads are full when a base
| |
| − | is generated, there's nowhere to put the target!
| |
| − |
| |
| − | 3.23.3.7) Joystick prevents map rotation
| |
| − | ----------------------------------------
| |
| − | Even having a joystick plugged in means you can't use the right button to
| |
| − | rotate the local sectors map.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | 3.23.3.8) I have -1 passengers and can't sell my ship
| |
| − | -----------------------------------------------------
| |
| − | Oh dear. You took the scripted mission with a sole passenger in, didn't
| |
| − | you? Well, you're stuck like that. Either use an escape capsule or take a
| |
| − | contract for another passenger and try and get bug 3.22.3.8 to kick in.
| |
| − | Even if it doesn't, at least while you have the contract your passenger
| |
| − | count returns to zero so you can carry out ship transactions as normal.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | 3.23.3.9) Not Actually Bugs.
| |
| − | ----------------------------
| |
| − | 3.23.3.9.1) Everyone's Out To Kill Me!
| |
| − | --------------------------------------
| |
| − | You forgot to destroy the military satellite on a photography
| |
| − | mission or the first hidden system in the thargoid missions. Try
| |
| − | again but get it this time.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | 3.23.3.9.2) Wormholes fixed
| |
| − | ---------------------------
| |
| − | "The wormhole fix in FFE is a blatant kludge (one of my favourite
| |
| − | Americanisms!), as the range still appears negative and the fuel
| |
| − | consumption is 1t. However, when you press H you get the hyperspace noise
| |
| − | (AFAIR) and your fuel drops by 1 ton but you stay put. The thought of 1t
| |
| − | of fuel boldly going where no TC has gone before seems very amusing." -
| |
| − | Graham Thurlwell
| |
| − |
| |
| − | This appears only to be true for early versions.
| |
| − |
| |
| − |
| |
| − |
| |
| − | 4) Tricks of the Trade
| |
| − | ----------------------
| |
| − |
| |
| − | 4.1) Good Trading
| |
| − | -----------------
| |
| − |
| |
| − | 4.1.1) Original Elite
| |
| − | ---------------------
| |
| − | Fly Furs and Liquor & Wines from a poor agricultural to a rich industrial
| |
| − | and Computers and Machinery back. A convenient start (though not the best
| |
| − | possible) is between Lave and Zaonce, but Lave is rich. The poorer the
| |
| − | agricultural and richer the industrial, the better. And always be on the
| |
| − | look out for dirt cheap narcotics at the industrial end. You can make a
| |
| − | killing!
| |
| − |
| |
| − | Any time you see gold at less than 39.0cr/kg, buy. Ditto for platinum and
| |
| − | 72cr and gems at 19.5cr. Sell when they go over. These volumeless goods
| |
| − | can make a nice bit of profit on the side if you have the cash. Note that
| |
| − | prices may be less favourable at other world combinations, but that poor
| |
| − | agriculturals tend to export these mined precious goods and rich
| |
| − | industrials have a great demand for them.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | Remember also that the cheapest "buy" is to scoop after shooting up a
| |
| − | pirate - do this when you're good enough. Go out and scoop a holdful then
| |
| − | come back and sell it.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | Ever tried mining traders? They jettison a cannister every time they're
| |
| − | shot, and mining lasers do the least damage so you get the most loot. Bad
| |
| − | for the reputation.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | 4.1.2) Frontier & FirstEnc
| |
| − | --------------------------
| |
| − |
| |
| − | A large number of trade routes exist. However, a fairly immediate one from
| |
| − | the default starting place on Gateway in FFE is this: Nerve Gas, Battle
| |
| − | Weapons and Animal Meat from the Gateway system to Titican (go to the
| |
| − | ground port, not the station - the guard on the ground can be bribed for
| |
| − | 250cr if necessary) and Robots and Farm Machinery back. You should find a
| |
| − | trustworthy black marketeer and stick with them. You will soon find you
| |
| − | have to visit many starports to load up to maximum before doing your run!
| |
| − |
| |
| − | Note that Gateway _does_ exist in FE2 - but it's called Oltiqu instead.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | In the first two months in FirstEnc, just run medicine to Sohalia from
| |
| − | anyhwere (preferably somewhere that exports it). This is _far_ more
| |
| − | profitable than the Wiccan Ware race.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | 4.2) Good Combat
| |
| − | ----------------
| |
| − |
| |
| − | 4.2.1) Original Elite
| |
| − | ---------------------
| |
| − | The trick is to get them while they're distant. Target a missile. When it
| |
| − | locks, you're aiming dead on. Kill. Repeat. An analogue joystick works
| |
| − | wonders too. Missiles from close range are rarely ECMed before they hit
| |
| − | the target but beware because the blast frequently damages you too.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | When fighting thargoids in witch space, selectively take out the thargoids
| |
| − | (octagonal). When all are dead, the thargons (pentagonal) will fall inert.
| |
| − | Scoop them up as cargo and sell them as alien items!
| |
| − |
| |
| − |
| |
| − | 4.2.2) Frontier & FirstEnc
| |
| − | --------------------------
| |
| − | Combat has become a bit of a jousting match, with ships flashing past one
| |
| − | another too fast for a real dogfight to take place. The best trick is to
| |
| − | pause, aim a turret, fire, and keep firing while unpausing. So it's
| |
| − | cheating. Anything else is pot luck and just as monotonous. However, if
| |
| − | you do play fair there are tactics that will give you the edge. Fight at
| |
| − | low speeds (1000km/h or so) relative to your reference body. Although this
| |
| − | shouldn't make a difference, it does - the enemies find it easier to match
| |
| − | veloc ities and then you have the edge as they are poor at rapid turning
| |
| − | and direction changing, which are easy when velocities are well matched.
| |
| − | Also, turn your stardreamer up to max briefly after each kill, before the
| |
| − | next ship comes in range. They will skip in one at a time instead of all
| |
| − | at once, and will act dazed for a few seconds before they "spot" you.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | 4.2.3) Archimedes Elite
| |
| − | -----------------------
| |
| − | Mastering Yaw Boosters is the key to success. With these in one
| |
| − | hand and the mouse in the other, you have the most manouverable
| |
| − | ship in space. Get in amongst the pirates then orient so your
| |
| − | chosen target is flying more or less vertical relative to you.
| |
| − | Keep him in the sights and fire! He must be in them when the
| |
| − | laser blits reach the centre of the screen, _not necessarily at
| |
| − | the moment of firing!_
| |
| − |
| |
| − | If mobbed by a second bunch of pirates while halfway through the
| |
| − | first lot, charge straight into the midst of the second. Either
| |
| − | you let them have free shooting while they close with you, or you
| |
| − | let the one or two ships remaining from the old pack have a go at
| |
| − | you while you move over to the new. I know which I'd prefer.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | I play it squeaky-clean. There's more than enough pirates to go
| |
| − | around, so don't bother attacking innocent ships. They take too
| |
| − | long because they run away. You're better off getting out of jump
| |
| − | range and finding some more baddies.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | Beware the sudden increase in reinforcement likelihood two Right On
| |
| − | Commanders after deadly, and the increased tendency of Copperheads to use
| |
| − | missiles.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | Concerning thargoids, see (4.2.1). Also note that in ArcElite ramming a
| |
| − | thargoid will destroy it but will not inactivate its associated thargons.
| |
| − | Active thargons can, however, be scooped quite happpily.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | I have had response to this section to the effect that yaw boosters keep
| |
| − | your hand too far from the ECM. What can I say, but "If you're not living
| |
| − | on the edge you're taking up too much space". Oh - and I can stab any key
| |
| − | without looking, just like that (*snaps fingers*) so it's not really a
| |
| − | problem for me. I guess that's personal preference then.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | Further points:
| |
| − |
| |
| − | Shots to an enemy's thrusters do no damage.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | Before ships enter from the edge of radar, they will flicker on briefly
| |
| − | somewhere near the centre. If you catch this extremely rapid flash of
| |
| − | green it can act as a reliable early warning system.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | It's fine by the police for you to shoot pirates in the station zone.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | If you're a fugitive, vipers attack you on sight unless there're pirates
| |
| − | in the area in which case they go for them first. If you're the cautious
| |
| − | type, you can run for it now.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | Fer de Lances behave like vipers in that they attack pirates or the
| |
| − | fugitive player. Naturally, they respond if attacked themselves. Armed
| |
| − | with front and rear pulse lasers, they are far less fearsome than the
| |
| − | Cobra Mk3 bounty hunters with military lasers all round. Many's the time
| |
| − | these guys have shown up and joined me in polishing off a pack or two.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | 5) Technical Information
| |
| − | ------------------------
| |
| − |
| |
| − | 5.1) Slowing down old games on a PC
| |
| − | -----------------------------------
| |
| − | There is an excellent software utility called Mo'Slo which allows you to
| |
| − | reduce your PC processor speed to a specified percentage of its maximum.
| |
| − | It is available from
| |
| − | http://www.hpaa.com/moslo/moslotry.htm
| |
| − | It works a treat. Note that it has recently been updated to use less
| |
| − | memory and produce slightly more slowdown per percentage.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | 5.2) Getting the Various Elites
| |
| − | -------------------------------
| |
| − | A vast number of classical Elites can be downloaded from Ian Bell's
| |
| − | WWW page.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | Emulators are recommended for all except ArcElite. Note then that there is
| |
| − | an Archimedes (ARM2 - ie a fairly slow one) emulator somewhere on
| |
| − | http://www.nvg.unit.no/bbc/emulators.html#ARM2
| |
| − | It runs Archimedes Linux, very slowly, and no-one has got it to run
| |
| − | ArcElite yet. Solution: Buy an Archimedes.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | Commander Jades (aka Graham Thurlwell) has a good guide as to obtaining
| |
| − | Frontier Elite II and First Encounters on his WWW site.
| |
| − | http://www.jades.org/getffe.htm
| |
| − | The patches are on the download page -
| |
| − | http://www.jades.org/download.htm
| |
| − | which is worth a look even if you haven't got FFE yet.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | As for any other version, I'm afraid you're on your own.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | 5.3) Problems Running First Encounters
| |
| − | --------------------------------------
| |
| − | If you just can't load a commander file, I'm afraid that's tough. There's
| |
| − | a bug that means every now and again a commander is generated that won't
| |
| − | load. Always use the incremental filenames so you have a backup.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | If you can't run the actual game, here's a list of things to consider:
| |
| − |
| |
| − | i) FirstEnc will not run in Win95 or under QEMM.EXE or other protected
| |
| − | mode memory managers because it uses its own, somewhat argumentative one.
| |
| − | This was fine at the time because Win95 wasn't out then, but now it's a
| |
| − | problem. Either select 'shutdown' then 'restart the computer in MS-DOS
| |
| − | mode' or run it in pure MS-DOS mode by selecting this from the F8 menu at
| |
| − | startup or from a boot disk with minimal drivers (try just HIMEM.SYS and
| |
| − | your mouse driver, and CD-ROM driver if you use the CD version).
| |
| − |
| |
| − | ii) Do you have the latest patch version? V1.06 is now available from
| |
| − | http://www.jades.org/getffe.htm
| |
| − | http://www.stratec.ca/FFE3/jffes/download.htm
| |
| − | Note that this patch disables videos in the CD-ROM due to incompatibility
| |
| − | with some video cards.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | iii) Are you using the CD-ROM version? If so, you should really think
| |
| − | about trying the floppy version. Having payed for the game, you are
| |
| − | entitled to have a working version, after all. Check out
| |
| − | http://www.jades.org/getffe.htm
| |
| − |
| |
| − |
| |
| − | 5.4) Trouble with Win95
| |
| − | -----------------------
| |
| − |
| |
| − | First, a few terms. Back in the dim and distant past of MS DOS, memory
| |
| − | was divided into 2 main regions: Base and upper. Frontier Elite II
| |
| − | uses only base memory and requires rather a lot of it. First Encounters
| |
| − | is capable of using upper memory - programs that do this utilise what
| |
| − | is known as "a DPMI handler". Win95 contains one of these, built in. So
| |
| − | does First Encounters. They are not happy cohabiters.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | 5.4.1) Frontier Elite II
| |
| − | ------------------------
| |
| − |
| |
| − | When you run a DOS game under Win95 it creates an environment the
| |
| − | program cannot tell from a genuine DOS boot-up. Unfortunately, this
| |
| − | means including the device drivers (which enable your computer to do
| |
| − | things like use the CD ROM drive or mouse in DOS). These take up some
| |
| − | base memory. If you have too many drivers, there will not be enough
| |
| − | base memory for Frontier to run.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | First, if you've been messing around with the memory settings in the
| |
| − | MS-DOS shortcut, delete it. Then read on:
| |
| − |
| |
| − | There are 2 solutions:
| |
| − |
| |
| − | 1) Remove some DOS drivers.
| |
| − | Under Win95, there is no need to have any of these loaded to utilise
| |
| − | your devices, except if you boot the computer to the command line or
| |
| − | shut down and restart in DOS mode. If you work exclusively in the
| |
| − | Windows environment, you can edit your config.sys and autoexec.bat
| |
| − | files and comment out (prefix with "rem ") any lines that appear to
| |
| − | load code for hardware (and some software - e.g. do you really need
| |
| − | that Display Doctor power management system? Win95 can turn off the
| |
| − | monitor too...). This will free up more base memory.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | To check how much you actually have available, go to a DOS box and
| |
| − | type "mem". The figure we are concerned with is the largest
| |
| − | executable program size. Typing "mem/c/p" lists drivers and the
| |
| − | amounts of base and upper memory they are using.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | If you have troubles with your system, remove some or all rems.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | For more confident users, consider prefixing lines which run
| |
| − | programs from autoexec.bat with "lh " to reduce the amount of base
| |
| − | memory they take.
| |
| − |
| |
| − |
| |
| − | 2) Create a boot disk
| |
| − | This is better for those not willing to perform surgery on their
| |
| − | boot files and for those who regularly use a pure DOS environment.
| |
| − | Format a floppy disk, flagging the "copy system files" box (or
| |
| − | from DOS type "format a: /s"). Create the following files on it
| |
| − | using edit or notepad:
| |
| − |
| |
| − | Config.sys
| |
| − | ----------
| |
| − |
| |
| − | DEVICE=C:\WINDOWS\HIMEM.SYS
| |
| − | DEVICE=C:\WINDOWS\EMM386.EXE RAM
| |
| − | DOS=HIGH,UMB
| |
| − |
| |
| − | Autoexec.bat
| |
| − | ------------
| |
| − |
| |
| − | lh c:\mouse\mouse (or whatever the command for your DOS mouse
| |
| − | driver is -you'll find it by loading either
| |
| − | c:\autoexec.bat or c:\windows\dosstart.bat
| |
| − | into notepad or edit)
| |
| − |
| |
| − | Reboot the computer with this floppy in drive A: and run Frontier
| |
| − | from DOS.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | 5.4.2) First Encounters
| |
| − | -----------------------
| |
| − |
| |
| − | This game can not in any way be run from the Windows environment.
| |
| − | You must either "shut down and restart the computer in MS-DOS mode"
| |
| − | (the option off the shutdown menu) or create a boot disk as
| |
| − | detailed above.
| |
| − |
| |
| − |
| |
| − | 6) Other Relevant FAQs
| |
| − | ----------------------
| |
| − | The Frontier Elite II FAQ: http://www.jades.org/files/frontier.faq
| |
| − | FFE FAQ (v1.1): http://www.jades.org/files/faq11.txt
| |
| − |
| |
| − |
| |
| − | 7) Particularly impressive Elite WWW sites
| |
| − | ------------------------------------------
| |
| − |
| |
| − | These two are my personal favourites:
| |
| − |
| |
| − | Matt Dibb's page - http://www.hoopla.cwc.com/lotf/
| |
| − | George Hooper's page - http://members.xoom.com/encounters/ - the utilities section is superb. Also contains the only known listing of Elite-rated commanders
| |
| − |
| |
| − | Other good ones include:
| |
| − |
| |
| − | Jades's page - http://www.jades.org/ffe.htm
| |
| − | Case's page - http://home.sol.no/~case/ffe.htm - includes a patch to make space black
| |
| − | like it should be
| |
| − | Zat Solo's page - http://www.sslmit.unibo.it/zat/main.htm
| |
| − | Ian Bell's Elite page - http://www.cix.co.uk/~ibell/elite/
| |
| − |
| |
| − | 98) Is that it?
| |
| − | ---------------
| |
| − | For the time being. According to recent press, David Braben is working on
| |
| − | Elite 4. Very little is known about this, not even the final intended name.
| |
| − | Ian Bell also reports an ongoing project on his homepage but gives no
| |
| − | details. Maybe it's another Elite. Maybe not. Who knows?
| |
| − |
| |
| − | Vague details on:
| |
| − | Matt Dibb's page - http://www.hoopla.cwc.com/lotf/
| |
| − | Jades' Elite 4 page
| |
| − |
| |
| − | These aren't your only hopes, though. There are other games in the pipeline:
| |
| − |
| |
| − | 98.1) The Elite Project
| |
| − | -----------------------
| |
| − |
| |
| − | 98.1.1) What is it?
| |
| − | -------------------
| |
| − |
| |
| − | An attempt to write a single-player game with the feel and open-
| |
| − | endedness of Elite. As a result of a recent debate on the likely
| |
| − | stance of the original authors to copyright, no features
| |
| − | copyrightable to Elite are going to be included, including the
| |
| − | name. Provisional name: Stardreamer.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | This game will be public domain.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | 98.1.2) How can I keep tabs on it?
| |
| − | ----------------------------------
| |
| − |
| |
| − | See http://www.uni-leipzig.de/~troeger/tep/ for the most
| |
| − | comprehensive list of links about.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | The latest code is available from
| |
| − | http://www-stu.cai.cam.ac.uk/~jaj22/tep/
| |
| − |
| |
| − | 98.2) The Galileo Project
| |
| − | -------------------------
| |
| − |
| |
| − | 98.2.1) What is it?
| |
| − | -------------------
| |
| − | An attempt to write a multiplayer game with the open-endedness of Elite
| |
| − | but the universe, scenario, technology and the like are all newly devised.
| |
| − | Will be playable over the internet.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | 98.2.2) How can I keep tabs on it?
| |
| − | ----------------------------------
| |
| − |
| |
| − | Via their website:
| |
| − | http://www.galileo.base.org/
| |
| − |
| |
| − |
| |
| − |
| |
| − | 98.3) X
| |
| − | -------
| |
| − |
| |
| − | 98.3.1) What is it?
| |
| − | -------------------
| |
| − | A commercial space flight and combat sim that I am told "looks everything
| |
| − | First Encounters could have been, brought up to date". I have yet to check
| |
| − | out the webpage though I hear a rolling demo is available.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | 98.3.2) How can I keep tabs on it?
| |
| − | ----------------------------------
| |
| − | From the link off http://www.egosoft.com/, the company which is developing it.
| |
| − |
| |
| − |
| |
| − |
| |
| − | 99) Miscellaneous
| |
| − | -----------------
| |
| − |
| |
| − | 99.1) How do the rankings go?
| |
| − | -----------------------------
| |
| − | Elite ratings are as follows:
| |
| − | RANK: KILLS: KILLS FOR ARCELITE:
| |
| − | Harmless 0 0
| |
| − | Mostly Harmless 2 50
| |
| − | Poor 8 400
| |
| − | Average 24 1000
| |
| − | Above Average 44 1500
| |
| − | Competent 130 2500
| |
| − | Dangerous 512 4500
| |
| − | Deadly 2560 6000
| |
| − | Very Deadly (ArcElite only) 8000
| |
| − | Elite 6400 9600
| |
| − |
| |
| − | Why 6400? Ian needed to think of a number and &1900 (which equals 6400)
| |
| − | was the value of PAGE on the BBC when assembling the source. So there you
| |
| − | go!
| |
| − |
| |
| − | The actual number of kills required is the same in all editions, with the
| |
| − | exception of ArcElite which is considerably harder, and some 16 bit
| |
| − | versions which utilise points.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | In BBC Elite all crafts were worth 1 kill, but on points versions,
| |
| − | although the thresholds were the same, "a third ("fractional") byte was
| |
| − | added to the kill tally and each ship had a kill rating varying from 0.06
| |
| − | for an Asteroid to 8.0 for a Thargoid (Police Vipers were a measly 0.21
| |
| − | because they were so easy to kill while launching)" - Ian Bell.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | This fractional kills system is what I have referred to as "points" in the
| |
| − | above game descriptions. The Amiga version bases ranking on "score" which
| |
| − | is similar to the points system but utilises different values:
| |
| − | Adder 100 pts
| |
| − | Anaconda 90 pts
| |
| − | Asp Mk II 110 pts
| |
| − | Boa Class Cruiser 60 pts
| |
| − | Cobra Mk I 60 pts
| |
| − | Cobra Mk III 80 pts
| |
| − | Fer-De-Lance 100 pts
| |
| − | Gecko 80 pts
| |
| − | Krait 100 pts
| |
| − | Mamba 60 pts
| |
| − | Python 40 pts
| |
| − | Orbit Shuttle 3 pts
| |
| − | Sidewinder 80 pts
| |
| − | Thargoid 150 pts
| |
| − | Thargon 20 pts
| |
| − | Transporter 10 pts
| |
| − | Viper 50 pts
| |
| − | Wolf Mk II 150 pts
| |
| − | Worm/Escape Capsule 80 pts
| |
| − |
| |
| − | In the Amiga version, Right On Commanders are still awarded by number
| |
| − | of kills.
| |
| − |
| |
| − |
| |
| − | 99.2) What's with this Right On Commander stuff?
| |
| − | ------------------------------------------------
| |
| − | In classical Elite, you got a message saying "RIGHT ON
| |
| − | COMMANDER!" every 256 kills, as a bit of encouragement from the
| |
| − | Elite Federation. The first corresponded with being about halfway through
| |
| − | competent, and getting the Constrictor mission.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | In ArcElite, the messages are as follows:
| |
| − | "GOOD SHOOTING, COMMANDER!" - Every 50 kills. The first one
| |
| − | corresponds with the promotion from Harmless to Mostly Harmless
| |
| − | (cf 8 kills in BBC Disk Elite)
| |
| − | "RIGHT ON, COMMANDER!" - 1 kill before every fifth "GOOD
| |
| − | SHOOTING, COMMANDER!", ie every 250 kills, beginning from kill
| |
| − | 249.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | 99.3) Acknowledgements
| |
| − | ----------------------
| |
| − | So far, thanks to me (Robert Pfeifer) for writing all this, David Braben
| |
| − | and Ian Bell for writing the original game, Ian Bell again for kill
| |
| − | figures and making so many versions freely available, Warren Burch and
| |
| − | Clive Gringras for writing ArcElite, Andrew Clover for writing the best
| |
| − | Elite add-on ever (swinging fluffy dice and a rear window sticker saying
| |
| − | "My other ship is a thargoid"), the following readers of this FAQ for
| |
| − | corrections and contributions both quoted and silently incorporated:
| |
| − |
| |
| − | * Ali Bharmal
| |
| − | * Daniel Brown
| |
| − | * Simon Challands
| |
| − | * Steve Critchlow
| |
| − | * Jonathan Day
| |
| − | * Roger Earl
| |
| − | * Matthew Garrett
| |
| − | * George Hooper
| |
| − | * Chris John Jordan
| |
| − | * Brad Kerr
| |
| − | * Tim Lambert
| |
| − | * Tony Lorusso
| |
| − | * Patrik Radman
| |
| − | * Christian Schmadalla
| |
| − | * Colin Stott
| |
| − | * Graham Thurlwell
| |
| − | * Mark Tysoe
| |
| − | * Mark Williamson
| |
| − | * Michael - no last name given
| |
| − | * John - ditto
| |
| − | * Ian
| |
| − |
| |
| − | Anyone else whose name I accidentally deleted while compiling a list of
| |
| − | changes - once again, the delete key ravaged the mailbox before the
| |
| − | credits were compiled. Sorry. Feel free to remind me. Sheppy's Cider in
| |
| − | Taunton, Somerset, UK for producing the best medium still cider in the
| |
| − | world, my student's union bar for having once sold bitter at 50p a can,
| |
| − | and KLF, Sisters of Mercy and Ash for writing good music to kill to.
| |
| − | 10,000 kills and I've put away my guns. In ArcElite. Now I'm putting
| |
| − | notches in my Elite A belt.
| |
| − |
| |
| − |
| |
| − | 99.4) Disclaimer:
| |
| − | -----------------
| |
| − | I hereby disclaim responsibility for any faulty information in this FAQ,
| |
| − | and if any the effects of this information, this FAQ and any inferences
| |
| − | you may draw from it on you, your computer, your brother, sister, dog,
| |
| − | gerbil, or in fact anyone or anything anywhere and anywhen. It's for you
| |
| − | to use entirely at your own risk. Have fun and don't eat it. Except maybe
| |
| − | in hardcopy.
| |
