Fully documented source code for Elite on the BBC Micro
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This site contains the original source code for the classic space game Elite on the BBC Micro and Acorn Electron, with every single line documented and (for the most part) explained.
It covers the original BBC Micro cassette version, the enhanced BBC Micro disc version, the super-fast 6502 Second Processor version, the flicker-free BBC Master version and the cut-down Acorn Electron version, all of which were written by Ian Bell and David Braben and published by Acornsoft. It also includes Elite-A, Angus Duggan's extended version of the original game.
My hope is that this site will be useful for those who want to learn more about Elite and what makes it tick. It is provided on an educational and non-profit basis, with the aim of helping people appreciate one of the most iconic games of the 8-bit era.
Note that the original source code was never released for the BBC Micro disc, BBC Master or Acorn Electron versions, so some of the source code for these versions has been reconstructed from disassembling the original game binaries.
Suggestions for your visit
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To start your journey into the secrets of Elite, you might like to try the following:
- See the quick start guide to find out how to use this site.
- Read more about this project and how it came to be.
- Check out the deep dive articles for lots of details about how Elite works under the hood.
- Explore Elite hacks like the Elite Universe Editor, flicker-free Elite and Teletext Elite.
- Dive straight into the source code, though you might want to read these notes first, which explain some of the terminology used in the commentary.
- Dig really deep and compare the code for the different versions of Elite.
- Play Elite in your browser or emulator, and discover why it is regarded as such a masterpiece.
- Jump straight to a random routine from the source code - who knows where you might end up? (Hopefully not in witchspace...) You can also click the ∞ at the top of the page to keep jumping through the source code; it's a good way to explore.
If you prefer a lighter theme for your Elite explorations, you can change the site's colour scheme by clicking the icons in the top-right corner.
And finally, you may also be interested in my other projects, the fully documented source code for Aviator on the BBC Micro and fully documented source code for Revs on the BBC Micro.
If you want to play with the code
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If you are interested in building a working copy of Elite from the source, then there are six accompanying GitHub repositories, each of which contains fully commented and buildable source code for a specific version of Elite:
- BBC Micro cassette version
- BBC Micro disc version
- 6502 Second Processor version
- BBC Master version
- Acorn Electron version
- Elite-A
These repositories can be assembled on modern computers to produce working game discs that can be loaded into a BBC Micro, an Acorn Electron or an emulator. If you want to experiment with the code, this is the place to go.
Right on, Commanders!