This site contains the source code for three different variants of Elite-A:
- The variant that was officially released on Angus Duggan's site
- The variant produced by the source disc (which was never released)
- A variant that fixes the splinter bug, clarifies the cargo capacity stats in the encyclopedia, implement the lower ship prices from the source disc variant, and updates the game to work on the BBC Master (which the original doesn't)
See below for comprehensive details of the differences between the variants, along with links to the relevant bits of the source code.
All these differences are implemented within the source code using BeebAsm IF statements, which determine which variant is compiled. These IF statements check the values of the relevant source code variables (_RELEASED and _SOURCE_DISC), which are themselves set by parameters to the build command (such as variant=source-disc). See the associated repository for more about building different variants from the source.
To play Elite with an SSD disc image, load the disc image into drive 0 and press SHIFT-BREAK.
The official release
--------------------
Only one version of Elite-A was released, via Angus Duggan's Elite-A site.
| Default build in repository | Yes |
| Product details | From Angus Duggan's site |
| Date | Late 1980s (released in the 1990s) |
| Build command parameter | variant=released (optional) |
| Source code variable | _RELEASED |
| Verification checksums (crc32) | See the GitHub repository |
| Disc image | Original, Flicker-free |
| Play this variant online | Original, Flicker-free |
Angus Duggan's source disc
--------------------------
The version on Angus's source disc has a lower set of ship prices, as Angus was experimenting with different price points. This version was not released.
| Default build in repository | No |
| Product details | - |
| Date | Late 1980s |
| Build command parameter | variant=source-disc |
| Source code variable | _SOURCE_DISC |
| Verification checksums (crc32) | See the GitHub repository |
| Disc image | Original, Flicker-free |
| Play this variant online | Original, Flicker-free |
It has the following features that differentiate it from the other variants:
- Lower ship prices (see new_ships and new_details).
Bug-fix release
---------------
There is a bug in the original version of Elite-A that prevents splinters from displaying properly, which makes mining all but impossible. This variant fixes that bug, and it also adds a quality-of-life improvement to the cargo capacities shown for flyable ships in the encyclopedia, so they reflect the in-game capacity when no equipment is fitted, rather than the "normal configuration" from the original version (which is a bit subjective).
It also updates the game to work on the BBC Master and BBC Master with 6502 Second Processor, which the original doesn't, and it incorporates the lower ship prices from the source disc variant, as they reduce the grind to a much more enjoyable level. If you want the original ship prices, you can always play the original version.
| Default build in repository | No |
| Product details | - |
| Date | August 2021 (first release) February 2024 (latest release) |
| Build command parameter | variant=bug-fix |
| Source code variable | _BUG_FIX |
| Verification checksums (crc32) | See the GitHub repository |
| Disc image | Original, Flicker-free |
| Play this variant online | Original, Flicker-free |
It has the following features that differentiate it from the other variants:
- Lower ship prices (see new_ships and new_details).
- Fixes the edges offset in the splinter blueprint (see SHIP_SPLINTER).
- Changes the cargo capacity in the encyclopedia for a number of ships, to match the cargo capacity when nothing is fitted, instead of the "normal configuration" value from the original (see adder, anaconda, asp_2, boa, chameleon, cobra_1, cobra_3, fer_de_lance, gecko, ghavial, iguana, monitor, moray, ophidian, python).
- Works on the BBC Master and BBC Master with 6502 Second Processor. Note that the disc catalogue and file deletion screens draw very slowly; this may be improved in later versions.