A list of all the Elite hacks on this site
When exploring the source code for seminal games like Elite, one often gets to thinking about what might have been, about what still could be. The following Elite-related hacks are exactly the kinds of thing that happen when, as a coder, you decide to take the detour.
As one Elite fan to another, I really hope you enjoy the treasures on this page. They are all made with a great deal of love - for the original game, and for the joy of coding. Right on, Commanders!
Elite Compendium
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The Elite Compendium brings together the very best Elite hacks for the Master and BBC Micro. It contains features from multiple versions of 6502 Elite and packs them all into one disc. If you want to start somewhere, start here.
- About the Elite Compendium - Bringing all the best Elite hacks together in one feature-packed disc
- Playing the Elite Compendium - How to download and play the Elite Compendium
- Technical information - Details of all the hacks and enhancements in the Elite Compendium
Elite Universe Editor
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I always wondered what it would be like to fly my Cobra Mk III through the iconic screenshot on the back of the box, so I wrote the Elite Universe Editor to find out. Turns out it's quite the experience...
- About the Elite Universe Editor - Create your own Elite universes and "press play" to bring them to life
- Playing the Elite Universe Editor - How to download and play the Elite Universe Editor, on both the BBC and Commodore 64
- A summary of keys - All the keys used in all the different versions of the Elite Universe Editor
- Instructions for the BBC version - Full instructions for the Elite Universe Editor on the BBC Micro and Master
- Instructions for the Commodore 64 version - Full instructions for the Elite Universe Editor on the Commodore 64
- Technical information - Details of how the Elite Universe Editor works under the bonnet
Flicker-free Elite
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The BBC Master's flicker-free ships are a thing of beauty, so I just had to backport the algorithm to the original BBC Micro, Acorn Electron and Commodore 64 versions. The results are super-smooth...
- About flicker-free Elite - Improved ship drawing on the BBC Micro, Electron, Commodore and Apple
- Playing flicker-free Elite - How to download and play flicker-free Elite, on both the BBC and Commodore
- Technical information - Details of how flicker-free Elite weaves its magic
Compendium version of Electron Elite
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The 1984 release of Elite on the Acorn Electron was missing quite a few key features... so I've put them back. All you need is 16K of sideways RAM, and Electron players can now enjoy every feature from the BBC Micro disc version (and more), as well as a very welcome increase in speed.
- About the Compendium version of Electron Elite - Updating Acorn Electron Elite with all the bells and whistles of the BBC version
- Playing the Compendium version of Electron Elite - How to download and play the improved version of Electron Elite
- Technical information - How I backported BBC Micro disc Elite to the Acorn Electron with sideways RAM
Teletext Elite
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Love Ceefax? Me too! Adore Elite? Sure do! Want to see what happens when we squish them together? Yes, you do, because Teletext Elite turns out to be something really special...
- About Teletext Elite - The disc version of BBC Micro Elite, converted to run in teletext
- Playing Teletext Elite - How to download and play Teletext Elite
- Instructions for Teletext Elite - Full instructions for Teletext Elite on the BBC Micro
- Technical information - Details of how Elite was converted to use teletext
Elite over Econet
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Acorn's Econet networking system was popular in schools, providing a cost-effective way to share expensive resources like printers and disc drives between multiple workstations for entire classroms. But tragically, Elite doesn't load over Econet... until now! Teachers, you may want to look away...
- About Elite over Econet - Econet support and multiplayer scoreboards for the BBC Micro, Electron and Archimedes
- Installing Elite over Econet - How to install Elite on an Econet fileserver
- Playing Elite over Econet - How to play Elite over an Econet network
- The Elite multiplayer scoreboard - Running multiplayer Elite competitions with a live Econet-based scoreboard
- Playing Elite over Econet in an emulator - How to set up BeebEm with an emulated Econet network that runs Elite
- Technical information - Details of how Elite over Econet works
- Elite over Econet on the Acorn Archimedes - Joining multiplayer scoreboards from the RISC OS version of Elite
Elite 3D
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Expand your Elite experience into the third dimension with this anaglyph 3D version of BBC Micro Elite - all using contemporary 1980s technology. Just add a pair of fancy coloured glasses and imagine how cool this would have been back in the day....
- About Elite 3D - Taking 8-bit Elite into another dimension with anaglyph 3D and coloured specs
- Playing Elite 3D - How to download and play Elite 3D
- Configuring Elite 3D - How to configure the anaglyph settings in Elite 3D
- Technical information - Details of how Elite 3D works
BBC Master Elite on the BBC Micro B+
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The BBC Micro B+ is often ignored, and nothing out there makes full use of its extra 32K of RAM... until now! I've backported the fast and colourful BBC Master version of Elite to the unexpanded B+, so B+ owners can now enjoy a fully featured Elite that's packed with loads of extra from the Compendium.
- About BBC Master Elite on the BBC Micro B+ - Giving the BBC Micro B+ the full colour version of Elite that it deserves
- Playing BBC Master Elite on the BBC Micro B+ - How to download and play BBC Master Elite on the BBC Micro B+
- Technical information - Squeezing full colour BBC Master Elite into the weird extra memory on the B+
Acornsoft Elite... with music!
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The Commodore 64 version of Elite includes two pieces of music: a catchy title track, and the classic Blue Danube that plays when the docking computer is engaged. Thanks to some technical wizardry from the Bitshifters, I've been able to backport both tunes to the BBC Micro and Acorn Electron, in all their 8-bit glory...
- About the musical version of Acornsoft Elite - BBC Micro and Acorn Electron Elite, with added title and docking music
- Playing musical Acornsoft Elite - How to download and play Acornsoft Elite with music
- Technical information - How the Commodore 64's music was ported to Elite on the BBC Micro and Electron
BBC Micro disc Elite on the BBC Master
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The BBC Master is a wonderful computer, but did you know it can't run the original 1984 version of Elite? This simply will not do, so I've converted BBC Micro disc Elite to work on the BBC Master, because everyone knows space should be black-and-white...
- About BBC Micro disc Elite on the BBC Master - The disc version of BBC Micro Elite, converted to run on the BBC Master
- Playing BBC Micro disc Elite on the BBC Master - How to download and play the original disc version of Elite on the BBC Master
- Technical information - Details of how disc Elite was converted from the BBC Micro to the BBC Master