Summary of keys for the Elite Universe Editor

All the keys used in all the different versions of the Elite Universe Editor

The Universe Editor is described in full detail in the instructions for the BBC version and Commodore 64 version, but here's a summary of all supported key presses for reference. Click on the following to jump down to the relevant section:

BBC Micro and BBC Master keys
Commodore 64 keys

A lot of these key presses will be familiar from the original game, which is great if you're running the Universe Editor on real hardware. If you're using an emulator, however, note that modern keyboards don't have the same range of keys as the BBC Micro or Commodore 64, or even the same layout. In particular, BBC keys like f0 and COPY don't tend to exist anymore, and neither do Commodore 64 keys like RUN/STOP or C=, so if you are using an emulator, you may have to check the documentation to see which keys you should press instead.

For example, in JSBeeb, BeebEm and b2, you should press f10 instead of f0 to launch the editor, while in B-em you should press f1 to f7 instead of f0 to f6. In all these emulators you should press End instead of COPY to duplicate a ship, and while some emulators will emulate the BBC Micro's DELETE key using both Delete and backspace, others may only recognise backspace. And as for the @ key, it may be mapped to backtick, it may be mapped to backslash, or it may even be mapped to the @ key on your keyboard; experimentation pays off here.

It's a similar story on the Commodore. For example, the VICE emulator maps RUN/STOP to Escape, C= to TAB, left arrow to End, CLR/HOME to Home and INST/DEL to backspace. For details, consult your emulator's documentation.

BBC Micro and BBC Master keys
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Let's start with the keys you can use for opening and closing the editor, and bringing up the menu and various space views:

BBC key	Function
f0	Launch the Universe Editor from the first title screen
ESCAPE	Quit the Universe Editor and return to the game
@	Open the menu for saving, loading and playing universe files
f0	Switch to the front space view
f1	Switch to the rear space view
f2	Switch to the left space view
f3	Switch to the right space view

Next up are the keys for adding, selecting, duplicating and deleting objects:

BBC key	Function
RETURN	Add a new ship into the first empty slot
Q, W	Select the ship in the previous/next slot
H	Highlight the currently selected ship on the scanner
DELETE	Delete the currently selected ship
COPY	Duplicate the currently selected ship

To add a new ship to the universe, press RETURN, followed by the relevant key for the type of ship you want to add:

Key	Ship
1	Missile
2	Escape pod
3	Alloy plate
4	Cargo canister
5	Boulder
6	Asteroid
7	Splinter
8	Shuttle
9	Transporter
A	Cobra Mk III
B	Python
C	Boa
D	Anaconda
E	Rock hermit (asteroid)
F	Viper
G	Sidewinder
H	Mamba
I	Krait
J	Adder
K	Gecko
L	Cobra Mk I
M	Worm
N	Cobra Mk III (pirate)
O	Asp Mk II
P	Python (pirate)
Q	Fer-de-lance
R	Moray
S	Thargoid
T	Thargon
U	Constrictor
V	Cougar
W	The Elite logo (6502 Second Processor version only)

These are the keys for moving objects in space:

BBC key	Function
Cursor keys	Move the currently selected object up/down/left/right (hold SHIFT for faster movement, CTRL for much faster movement)
?, SPACE	Move the currently selected object closer/further away (hold SHIFT for faster movement, CTRL for much faster movement)
S, X	Pitch the currently selected object forwards/backwards
<, >	Roll the currently selected object left/right
K, L	Yaw the currently selected object left/right
R	Reset the position of the currently selected object

These are the keys for editing ship attributes:

BBC key	Function
1	Acceleration (1 = increase, SHIFT-1 = decrease)
2	Toggle AI tactics on/off
3	Toggle innocent bystander flag on/off
4	Toggle cop flag on/off
5	Toggle hostile flag on/off
6	Aggression level (6 = increase, SHIFT-6 = decrease)
7	Speed (7 = increase, SHIFT-7 = decrease)
8	Roll counter (8 = increase, SHIFT-8 = decrease)
9	Pitch counter (9 = increase, SHIFT-9 = decrease)
0	Energy level (0 = increase, SHIFT-0 = decrease)
M	Number of missiles (M = increase, SHIFT-M = decrease)
T	Select missile target (press T then the target's slot number, with SHIFT-0 to SHIFT-9 for slots 10 to 19)
C	Toggle docking computer on/off ("S" bulb)
E	Toggle E.C.M. on/off ("E" bulb)
A	Toggle lasers (so they fire at us)
P	Toggle "personality" (trader, pirate, sun/station, etc.)
D	Destroy the currently selected ship (so it explodes)

And finally, these are the keys for editing the galaxy seeds:

BBC key	Function
G	Edit the galaxy seeds to generate an entirely new set of galaxies
f4	Long-range Chart
f5	Short-range Chart
f6	Data on System
Cursor keys	Move the crosshairs (hold SHIFT for faster movement)
D	Show the distance to the current system
O	Reset crosshairs to the current system
F	Search for a system
H	Set the system under the crosshairs as the current system
CTRL-H	Jump to the next galaxy

Commodore 64 keys
-----------------

Note that on the Commodore 64, there are only two cursor keys (down and right). To move up or left, hold down SHIFT to move in the opposite direction; most emulators will automatically support the four cursor keys on modern keyboards. As a result of this, we can't use SHIFT for things like faster movement or decreasing a value instead of increasing it, so instead we use the Commodore C= key to modify our actions instead.