There's Thargoids On The Starboard Bow [Elite 3D]

A trip down memory lane: Elite 3D, a version of Elite hacked by Mark Moxon to use anaglyph 3D, playable on a BBC micro emulator (standard BBC B with 6502 second processor). This was one of my favourite BBC games back in the 80s.

Elite was first released for the BBC Micro 40 years ago, on September 20th 1984. At a time when every other game involved three lives and a hi-score table, Ian Bell and David Braben, produced something original and unique - an imaginative 3D sci-fi universe in which you could fly your spaceship from star to star, docking at space stations, trading legal or illegal goods, upgrading your weapons and ship systems, fighting pirates or becoming a pirate yourself. 

Elite was both a creative achievement - the first true open-world game, and a technological achievement - realtime 3D graphics for stars, planets, spaceships, space stations and asteroids, AI for enemy ships, an economic and political simulation, eight galaxies to discover, and a few "surprises" all crammed into 32K for the original BBC version - in fact there's even a 16K Electron version with only a few less features. That's less bytes than an e-mail.

Versions of the game appeared on other home computers and early PCs, each with their own quirks and twists. Braben went on to write two excellent PC sequels, Frontier and Frontier: First Encounters, and (much, much later) successfully returned with the MMO Elite: Dangerous.

The original Elite was known for a steep learning curve, particularly for combat and docking skills. I had forgotten just how hard this game could be: on my first flight I emerged from hyperspace and was immediately attacked by swarms of pirates - there's only one on screen here but look how many are on the scanner. I didn't stand a chance, but at least managed to take three or four down before they got me.

I've never forgotten the sound from this game - particularly the screeching as my shields are worn down by enemy lasers, followed by the crashing sound of hull damage.

Also among the pirates was a Thargoid - I'm quite sure I saw it. I didn't get a screenshot because I was too busy dying.

On the other hand, a few flights later I survived to reach the safe zone, and managed to successfully dock with a space station - this was another hard-earned skill when first playing the game. Inspired by the film 2001, docking involves lining up with the space station entrance, then matching the rotation of the space station.

The trading aspect of the game is also quite hard - even after several more flights buying and selling goods I'd only managed to earn a few extra credits, nowhere near enough for the upgrades I want.

You can play Elite 3D in your browser here. There's more information about it here.

Mark Moxon, the one-time editor of Acorn User, can be found on Mastodon (@markmoxon@universeodon.com) where you can read about his Elite-related and other projects. I love the 3D anaglyph hack - it doesn't change the game at all but adds to the experience while remaining firmly grounded in the 80s. Silly hacks are also part of Elite lore - the best of these was the hack for the Archimedes version that added fluffy dice and a bumper sticker.

Frame Shift Drive Charging [Elite Dangerous]

A long time ago, in a galaxy far away, a blogger backed a Kickstarter campaign for a sequel to a classic space-opera themed computer game. Despite a rocky start, the campaign proved to be phenomenally successful - and in due course, the game was released to a warm welcome from its many fans. Feeling immensely satisfied, the blogger downloaded his free version of the game, installed it and hit the "play" button on the launcher...

...only to discover that his pre-Bronze Age PC was so low spec he had no chance of ever running it. And so the dream died and the blogger drowned his sorrows and continued with his life. When the pain wasn't too sharp he would continue to read about the game and the exploits of its pilots, and even watched in-game events streamed on YouTube.

The pre-Bronze Age PC struggled on for several few months, occasionally shaking or emitting smoke or sparks, until finally it could calculate no more and departed this earth for the greener pastures of the Cloud. It had served its master well and had had the digital equivalent of a good innings.

While the blogger mourned the loss of his faithful if pathetic companion, his heart was not entirely sad. In fact, while this may appear heartless to some, he realised that finally there was an excuse to buy a half-decent machine!
There was a moment of suspense as, once more, the "play" button depressed and the hard drive fired up - and a whole new world opened up.



The Sidewinder Sleeps Tonight

I can't claim to be that far ahead of the curve on this occasion - thousands of people are already playing Elite Dangerous so there's a steep catch-up curve ahead of me. However I can report that my old BBC B docking skills have survived cryosleep and the new game isn't too difficult to pick up. I will write more about the game when I've had more of a chance to try it out.

Right On Commander

Right On Commander [Elite: Dangerous]

An update on the Elite: Dangerous Kickstarter campaign: the campaign now has more than 13,000 backers and £600,000 pledged. This is impressive but the Frontier team have set themselves an ambitious target of £1,250,000 - and that won't be easy to reach.

The campaign is active with new information and FAQ answers, pictures and videos being added every few days, such as this development diary video.
I think this game has the potential to be awesome but I'm still waiting to see what will set it aside from games such as "Freelancer" (one of the many games heavily inspired by the original Elite.)

A Kickstarter campaign is more than just a way to raise money - it's a chance to connect with potential players and build a community before a product is launched. Not all Kickstarter campaigns bother to do this. It looks as if  David Braben and Frontier are listening to the backers and fans. For example the game was going to be download-only, but as many commenters said they'd like the option of a traditional hard copy or boxed set, they've changed their minds and both standard and collectors edition boxed sets are now on the list of pledge rewards. It's a small change but a positive one.

Kick Start My Heart [Elite Dangerous]

There's a faint glimmer of light at the end of the (docking) tunnel: a Kickstarter campaign has been launched to fund a new Elite game, Elite Dangerous.

When the classic space-opera Elite first appeared on the BBC Micro it was ground-breaking and a work of genius. Eight galaxies of 3D open-ended interstellar trading, fighting, adventuring, asteroid mining, docking and ship upgrading were squeezed by programmers Bell and Braben into less memory than an e-mail.



Elite is still the watchword for non-casual computer gaming. The learning curve was brutal: it took me three  weeks of playing to figure out how to launch my ship, turn it around and return to dock (you are required to match spin with the space station) – only then could I venture out beyond the safety zone, try out my shiny new hyperdrive and get blasted to pieces by space pirates. Elite rewards the dedicated player: some events in the game are only seen rarely, or are scheduled to occur on reaching a particular rank which could be weeks or months into playing.

Elite created something which still marks out the best computer games: a player community. Micro User, Acorn User and BEEBUG magazines regularly printed letters describing dubious in-game discoveries e.g. “I found another secret mission!” “I was ambushed by Thargoids!” “I saw a space dredger!” sometimes accompanied by pencil sketches and followed by weeks of debate as to whether the space dredger was real, or whether the pilot had indulged in one too many narcotics trading runs.

Versions of Elite appeared on different computers: each with its own graphic style and quirks. An early PC version was extremely playable however the best and most quirky version was produced for the Acorn Archimedes: features included an ongoing war between police and criminals, and fleets of unarmed Space Missionaries calling on you to repent. A popular hack for this version kitted out your Cobra with fluffy dice and a bumper sticker.

Elite also spawned two sequels: Frontier and Frontier First Encounters, both groundbreaking in their own way, and then - nothing. Rumours of a planned Elite 4 have come and gone, and all but a few of the waiting pilots had given up hope.

So last week's announcement, more or less unexpected, came as a pleasant surprise. The story is by no means over: the campaign is live and the video and concept art look serious, but Frontier have yet to achieve their ambitious Kickstarter goal, and then they have to actually write the game. As a backer Sci-Fi Gene is hopeful and looks forward to completion - Godspeed Elite Dangerous.

What about the crew?

I've played a number of space sims looking for a way to live out the space-opera experience (think Star Trek, or even better David Weber's Honor Harrington series). I'm not hugely interested in mission-based fighter sims, however many wingmen you get - what I'd like is to be able to captain a large, complex capital ship, to be able to make both military and non-military decisions, and to manage crew dynamics. My search so far:

Frontier series: allow you to interview, hire and fire crewmembers who have names and faces; they occasionally quit of their own accord; the offer of work on one bulletin board may correspond to a missing persons or wanted notice elsewhere. However we're only usually talking about three to seven crew; and apart from remove the chocks at take-off they don't seem to do all that much. This is also not really a capital ship game as in the Elite universe the small one-ship import-export entrepeneur is king (think Only Fools and Horses in space) however Frontier is the only game that gets ship choice right: it's not about working your way up to the biggest, fastest, blingiest ship with the most weapon ports, it's about specialization and the right sized hull - that enormous cargo-hauler is great for profitable trading routes or exploration, but will be too slow for a high-speed parcel courier or an assassin overtaking his marks in hyperspace. The equipment you need e.g. cabins for a passenger ship, takes up so much of the hull space that you can't afford to be a generalist.

Battlecruiser series: larger crew complement, varied roles, crewmembers actually seem to do their jobs, move around the ship and come on and off duty. The ship feels like a capital ship, particularly as you can scramble fighters and shuttles to deal with some situations. However only bridge crew and fighter pilots have any names or personality and they are fixed - you clone them if they die; other crew members can be hired at space stations but are just numbers.

Both series were let down by bugs and other issues around release. BC should have been closer to what I was looking for but FFE was in fact much more enjoyable and immersive despite the bugs.