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Version analysis of TITLE

This code appears in the following versions (click to see it in the source code):

Code variations between these versions are shown below.

Name: TITLE Type: Subroutine Category: Start and end Summary: Display a title screen with a rotating ship and prompt
Display the title screen, with a rotating ship and a text token at the bottom of the screen.
Arguments:

Code variation 1 of 35A variation in the comments only

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A The number of the recursive token to show below the rotating ship (see variable QQ18 for details of recursive tokens)
A The number of the extended token to show below the rotating ship (see variable TKN1 for details of recursive tokens)
X The type of the ship to show (see variable XX21 for a list of ship types)

Code variation 2 of 35A variation in the comments only

This variation is blank in the Cassette, Disc (docked), 6502 Second Processor and Electron versions.

Y The distance to show the ship rotating, once it has finished moving towards us


Code variation 3 of 35A variation in the comments only

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Returns: X If a key is being pressed, X contains the internal key number, otherwise it contains 0
Returns: X If a key is being pressed, X contains the ASCII code of the key pressed
.TITLE

Code variation 4 of 35Related to the Master version

In the Master version, the Cobra Mk III shown on the first title page is further away than in the other versions, which is implemented by a new variable that contains the distance that the ship should be shown at.

See below for more variations related to this code.

This variation is blank in the Cassette, Disc (docked), 6502 Second Processor and Electron versions.

STY distaway \ Store the ship distance in distaway
 PHA                    \ Store the token number on the stack for later

 STX TYPE               \ Store the ship type in location TYPE

 JSR RESET              \ Reset our ship so we can use it for the rotating
                        \ title ship

Code variation 5 of 35Related to Elite's use of the Tube

This variation is blank in the Cassette, Disc (docked) and Electron versions.

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JSR ZEKTRAN \ Call ZEKTRAN to clear the key logger JSR ZINF \ Call ZINF to reset the INWK ship workspace
JSR ZEKTRAN \ Reset the key logger buffer that gets returned from \ the I/O processor

Code variation 6 of 35A variation in the comments only

This variation is blank in the Cassette, Disc (docked) and Electron versions.

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LDA #32 \ Set the mode 1 palette to yellow (colour 1), white JSR DOVDU19 \ (colour 2) and cyan (colour 3)
LDA #32 \ Send a #SETVDU19 32 command to the I/O processor to JSR DOVDU19 \ set the mode 1 palette to yellow (colour 1), white \ (colour 2) and cyan (colour 3)

Code variation 7 of 35Specific to an individual platform

The Master version has a unique view type for the title screen (13).

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LDA #1 \ Clear the top part of the screen, draw a border box, JSR TT66 \ and set the current view type in QQ11 to 1
LDA #13 \ Clear the top part of the screen, draw a border box, JSR TT66 \ and set the current view type in QQ11 to 13 (rotating \ ship view)

Code variation 8 of 35Related to the screen mode

This variation is blank in the Cassette, Disc (docked) and Electron versions.

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LDA #RED \ Switch to colour 2, which is white in the title screen STA COL
LDA #RED \ Send a #SETCOL RED command to the I/O processor to JSR DOCOL \ switch to colour 2, which is white in the title screen

Code variation 9 of 35Minor and very low-impact

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DEC QQ11 \ Decrement QQ11 to 0, so from here on we are using a \ space view
LDA #0 \ Set QQ11 to 0, so from here on we are using a space STA QQ11 \ view
STZ QQ11 \ Set QQ11 to 0, so from here on we are using a space \ view
 LDA #96                \ Set nosev_z hi = 96 (96 is the value of unity in the
 STA INWK+14            \ rotation vector)

Code variation 10 of 35Other (e.g. bug fix, optimisation)

The disc version contains various bits of copy protection code injected into the loader, and the results get checked in the main title sequence to make sure nothing has been changed.

This variation is blank in the Cassette, 6502 Second Processor, Master and Electron versions.

LDA &9F \ As part of the copy protection, location &9F is set to CMP #219 \ 219 in the OSBmod routine in elite-loader3.asm. This BEQ tiwe \ jumps to tiwe if the value is unchanged, otherwise it \ crashes the game with the following (as presumably \ the game code has been tampered with) LDA #&10 \ Modify the STA DELTA instruction in RES2 to &10 &FE, STA modify+2 \ which is a BPL P%-2 instruction, to create an infinite LDA #&FE \ loop and hang the game STA modify+3 .tiwe

Code variation 11 of 35Related to the Master version

See variation 4 above for details.

This variation is blank in the Cassette, Disc (docked), 6502 Second Processor and Electron versions.

LDA #96 \ Set A = 96 as the distance that the ship starts at

Code variation 12 of 35A variation in the comments only

This variation is blank in the Disc (docked), 6502 Second Processor, Master and Electron versions.

\LSR A \ This instruction is commented out in the original \ source. It would halve the value of z_hi to 48, so the \ ship would start off closer to the viewer
 STA INWK+7             \ Set z_hi, the high byte of the ship's z-coordinate,
                        \ to 96, which is the distance at which the rotating
                        \ ship starts out before coming towards us

 LDX #127               \ Set roll counter = 127, so don't dampen the roll and
 STX INWK+29            \ make the roll direction clockwise

 STX INWK+30            \ Set pitch counter = 127, so don't dampen the pitch and
                        \ set the pitch direction to dive

 INX                    \ Set QQ17 to 128 (so bit 7 is set) to switch to
 STX QQ17               \ Sentence Case, with the next letter printing in upper
                        \ case

 LDA TYPE               \ Set up a new ship, using the ship type in TYPE
 JSR NWSHP

Code variation 13 of 35Related to Elite's use of the Tube

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LDY #6 \ Move the text cursor to column 6 STY XC
LDA #6 \ Move the text cursor to column 6 STA XC
LDA #6 \ Move the text cursor to column 6 JSR DOXC

Code variation 14 of 35Specific to an individual platform

This variation is blank in the Disc (docked), 6502 Second Processor, Master and Electron versions.

JSR DELAY \ Wait for 6/50 of a second (0.12 seconds)
 LDA #30                \ Print recursive token 144 ("---- E L I T E ----")
 JSR plf                \ followed by a newline

Code variation 15 of 35Related to Elite's use of the Tube

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LDY #6 \ Move the text cursor to column 6 again STY XC INC YC \ Move the text cursor down a row
LDA #10 \ Print a line feed to move the text cursor down a line JSR TT26 LDA #6 \ Move the text cursor to column 6 again STA XC
LDA #10 \ Print a line feed to move the text cursor down a line JSR TT26 LDA #6 \ Move the text cursor to column 6 again JSR DOXC
 LDA PATG               \ If PATG = 0, skip the following two lines, which
 BEQ awe                \ print the author credits (PATG can be toggled by
                        \ pausing the game and pressing "X")

Code variation 16 of 35Minor and very low-impact

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LDA #254 \ Print recursive token 94 ("BY D.BRABEN & I.BELL") JSR TT27
LDA #13 \ Print extended token 13 ("BY D.BRABEN & I.BELL") JSR DETOK
.awe

Code variation 17 of 35Specific to an individual platform

This variation is blank in the Cassette, Disc (docked), 6502 Second Processor and Electron versions.

LDY #0 \ Set DELTA = 0 (i.e. ship speed = 0) STY DELTA STY JSTK \ Set JSTK = 0 (i.e. keyboard, not joystick)

Code variation 18 of 35Specific to an individual platform

This variation is blank in the Cassette, Master and Electron versions.

LDA brkd \ If brkd = 0, jump to BRBR2 to skip the following, as BEQ BRBR2 \ we do not have a system error message to display INC brkd \ Increment the brkd counter

Code variation 19 of 35Related to the Master version

The Master version shows the "Load New Commander (Y/N)?" prompt on row 20, while the other versions show it one line lower, on row 21.

See below for more variations related to this code.

This variation is blank in the Cassette and Electron versions.

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LDA #7 \ Move the text cursor to column 7 STA XC LDA #10 \ Move the text cursor to row 10 STA YC
LDA #20 \ Move the text cursor to row 20 STA YC LDA #1 \ Move the text cursor to column 1 STA XC
LDA #7 \ Move the text cursor to column 7 JSR DOXC LDA #10 \ Move the text cursor to row 10 JSR DOYC

Code variation 20 of 35Specific to an individual platform

This variation is blank in the Cassette, Master and Electron versions.

\ The following loop prints out the null-terminated \ message pointed to by (&FD &FE), which is the MOS \ error message pointer - so this prints the error \ message on the next line LDY #0 \ Set Y = 0 to act as a character counter JSR OSWRCH \ Print the character in A (which contains a line feed \ on the first loop iteration), and then any non-zero \ characters we fetch from the error message INY \ Increment the loop counter LDA (&FD),Y \ Fetch the Y-th byte of the block pointed to by \ (&FD &FE), so that's the Y-th character of the message \ pointed to by the MOS error message pointer BNE P%-6 \ If the fetched character is non-zero, loop back to the \ JSR OSWRCH above to print it, and keep looping until \ we fetch a zero (which marks the end of the message) .BRBR2

Code variation 21 of 35Related to the Master version

See variation 19 above for details.

This variation is blank in the Master version.

JSR CLYNS \ Clear the bottom three text rows of the upper screen, \ and move the text cursor to the first cleared row. \ It also returns with Y = 0 STY DELTA \ Set DELTA = 0 (i.e. ship speed = 0) STY JSTK \ Set JSTK = 0 (i.e. keyboard, not joystick)

Code variation 22 of 35Related to the Master version

The Master version shows the copyright year on the title screen as 1986 rather than 1984.

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PLA \ Restore the recursive token number we stored on the JSR ex \ stack at the start of this subroutine, and print that \ token LDA #148 \ Set A to recursive token 148 LDX #7 \ Move the text cursor to column 7 STX XC JSR ex \ Print recursive token 148 ("(C) ACORNSOFT 1984")
PLA \ Restore the recursive token number we stored on the \ stack at the start of this subroutine JSR DETOK \ Print the extended token in A LDA #12 \ Set A to extended token 12 LDX #7 \ Move the text cursor to column 7 STX XC JSR DETOK \ Print extended token 12 ("({single cap}C) ACORNSOFT \ 1984")
PLA \ Restore the recursive token number we stored on the \ stack at the start of this subroutine JSR DETOK \ Print the extended token in A LDA #7 \ Move the text cursor to column 7 STA XC LDA #12 \ Print extended token 12 ("({single cap}C) ACORNSOFT JSR DETOK \ 1986")
PLA \ Restore the recursive token number we stored on the \ stack at the start of this subroutine \JSR ex \ This instruction is commented out in the original \ source (it would print the recursive token in A) JSR DETOK \ Print the extended token in A LDA #7 \ Move the text cursor to column 7 JSR DOXC LDA #12 \ Print extended token 12 ("({single cap}C) ACORNSOFT JSR DETOK \ 1984")

Code variation 23 of 35Related to the 6502SP version

The 6502SP version adds two loop counters to the title screen so we can start the demo after a certain period on the title screen.

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This variation is blank in the Cassette, Disc (docked) and Electron versions.

LDA #12 \ Set CNT2 = 12 as the outer loop counter for the loop STA CNT2 \ starting at TLL2 LDA #5 \ Set the main loop counter in MCNT to 5, to act as the STA MCNT \ inner loop counter for the loop starting at TLL2

Code variation 24 of 35Specific to an individual platform

This variation is blank in the Cassette, Disc (docked), 6502 Second Processor and Electron versions.

STZ JSTK \ Set JSTK = 0 (i.e. keyboard, not joystick)
.TLL2

 LDA INWK+7             \ If z_hi (the ship's distance) is 1, jump to TL1 to
 CMP #1                 \ skip the following decrement
 BEQ TL1

 DEC INWK+7             \ Decrement the ship's distance, to bring the ship
                        \ a bit closer to us

.TL1

 JSR MVEIT              \ Move the ship in space according to the orientation
                        \ vectors and the new value in z_hi

Code variation 25 of 35Minor and very low-impact

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LDA #128 \ Set z_lo = 128, so the closest the ship gets to us is STA INWK+6 \ z_hi = 1, z_lo = 128, or 256 + 128 = 384
LDX distaway \ Set z_lo to the distance value we passed to the STX INWK+6 \ routine, so this is the closest the ship gets to us
LDX #128 \ Set z_lo = 128, so the closest the ship gets to us is STX INWK+6 \ z_hi = 1, z_lo = 128, or 256 + 128 = 384

Code variation 26 of 35Related to the 6502SP version

The 6502SP version only scans for key presses every four iterations on the title screen (as opposed to every iteration in the other versions), so you have to hold down "Y", "N" or Space for noticeably longer to load a commander or start the game.

This variation is blank in the Cassette, Disc (docked), Master and Electron versions.

LDA MCNT \ This value will be zero on one out of every four AND #3 \ iterations, so for the other three, skip to nodesire BNE nodesire \ so we only scan for key presses once every four loops STX NEEDKEY \ Set NEEDKEY = 128, so the call to LL9 below draws the \ ship and scans for key presses (LL9 resets NEEDKEY to \ 0 so we have to reset NEEDKEY every four iterations \ round the inner loop) .nodesire

Code variation 27 of 35Minor and very low-impact

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ASL A \ Set A = 0 STA INWK \ Set x_lo = 0, so the ship remains in the screen centre STA INWK+3 \ Set y_lo = 0, so the ship remains in the screen centre
LDA #0 \ Set x_lo = 0, so the ship remains in the screen centre STA INWK STA INWK+3 \ Set y_lo = 0, so the ship remains in the screen centre
STZ INWK \ Set x_lo = 0, so the ship remains in the screen centre STZ INWK+3 \ Set y_lo = 0, so the ship remains in the screen centre
 JSR LL9                \ Call LL9 to display the ship

Code variation 28 of 35Specific to an individual platform

This variation is blank in the 6502 Second Processor version.

DEC MCNT \ Decrement the main loop counter

Code variation 29 of 35Related to the Electron version

As joysticks are not supported in the Electron version, it doesn't check for the joystick fire button being pressed during the "Press Fire Or Space,Commander." stage of the title screen.

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This variation is blank in the Electron version.

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LDA VIA+&40 \ Read 6522 System VIA input register IRB (SHEILA &40) AND #%00010000 \ Bit 4 of IRB (PB4) is clear if joystick 1's fire \ button is pressed, otherwise it is set, so AND'ing \ the value of IRB with %10000 extracts this bit
IF _SNG47 LDA VIA+&40 \ Read 6522 System VIA input register IRB (SHEILA &40) AND #%00010000 \ Bit 4 of IRB (PB4) is clear if joystick 1's fire \ button is pressed, otherwise it is set, so AND'ing \ the value of IRB with %10000 extracts this bit ELIF _COMPACT JSR RDFIRE \ Call RDFIRE to check whether the joystick's fire \ button is being pressed BCS TL3 \ If the C flag is set then the joystick fire button \ is being pressed, so jump to TL3 ENDIF
LDA KTRAN+12 \ Fetch the key press state for the joystick 1 fire \ button from the key logger buffer, which contains \ the value of the 6522 System VIA input register IRB \ (SHEILA &40) AND #%00010000 \ Bit 4 of IRB (PB4) is clear if joystick 1's fire \ button is pressed, otherwise it is set, so AND'ing \ the value of IRB with %10000 extracts this bit

Code variation 30 of 35Minor and very low-impact

This variation is blank in the Disc (docked), Master and Electron versions.

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\TAX \ This instruction is commented out in the original \ source; it would have no effect, as the comparison \ flags are already set by the AND, and the value of X \ is not used anywhere
TAX \ Copy the joystick fire button state to X, though this \ instruction has no effect, as the comparison flags are \ already set by the AND, and the value of X is not used \ anywhere

Code variation 31 of 35Related to the Electron version

See variation 29 above for details.

This variation is blank in the Electron version.

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BEQ TL2 \ If the joystick fire button is pressed, jump to TL2
IF _SNG47 BEQ TL3 \ If the joystick fire button is pressed, jump to TL3 ENDIF

Code variation 32 of 35Related to Elite's use of the Tube

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JSR RDKEY \ Scan the keyboard for a key press BEQ TLL2 \ If no key was pressed, loop back up to move/rotate \ the ship and check again for a key press RTS \ Return from the subroutine
LDA KTRAN \ Fetch the internal key number of the current key \ press from the key logger buffer BNE TL3 \ If a key is being pressed, jump to TL3

Code variation 33 of 35Related to the 6502SP version

See variation 23 above for details.

This variation is blank in the Cassette, Disc (docked), Master and Electron versions.

DEC MCNT \ Decrement the inner loop counter BNE TLL2 \ Loop back to keep the ship rotating, until the inner \ loop counter is zero DEC CNT2 \ Decrement the outer loop counter in CNT2 BNE TLL2 \ Loop back to keep the ship rotating, until the outer \ loop counter is zero JMP DEMON \ Once we have iterated through CNT2 iterations of MCNT, \ jump to DEMON to start the demo

Code variation 34 of 35Related to the Electron version

See variation 29 above for details.

This variation is blank in the Electron version.

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.TL2 DEC JSTK \ Joystick fire button was pressed, so set JSTK to &FF \ (it was set to 0 above), to disable keyboard and \ enable joysticks
.TL3 DEC JSTK \ Joystick fire button was pressed, so set JSTK to &FF \ (it was set to 0 above), to disable keyboard and \ enable joysticks
.TL2 DEC JSTK \ Joystick fire button was pressed, so set JSTK to &FF \ (it was set to 0 above), to disable keyboard and \ enable joysticks .TL3

Code variation 35 of 35Specific to an individual platform

This variation is blank in the Electron version.

RTS \ Return from the subroutine