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Elite on the BBC Micro and NES

Flight: ESCAPE

[BBC Micro cassette version]

Name: ESCAPE [Show more] Type: Subroutine Category: Flight Summary: Launch our escape pod
Context: See this subroutine in context in the source code Variations: See code variations for this subroutine in the different versions References: This subroutine is called as follows: * Main flight loop (Part 3 of 16) calls ESCAPE

This routine displays our doomed Cobra Mk III disappearing off into the ether before arranging our replacement ship. Called when we press ESCAPE during flight and have an escape pod fitted.
.ESCAPE LDA MJ \ Store the value of MJ on the stack (the "are we in PHA \ witchspace?" flag) JSR RES2 \ Reset a number of flight variables and workspaces LDX #CYL \ Set the current ship type to a Cobra Mk III, so we STX TYPE \ can show our ship disappear into the distance when we \ eject in our pod JSR FRS1 \ Call FRS1 to launch the Cobra Mk III straight ahead, \ like a missile launch, but with our ship instead LDA #8 \ Set the Cobra's byte #27 (speed) to 8 STA INWK+27 LDA #194 \ Set the Cobra's byte #30 (pitch counter) to 194, so it STA INWK+30 \ pitches up as we pull away LSR A \ Set the Cobra's byte #32 (AI flag) to %01100001, so it STA INWK+32 \ has no AI, and we can use this value as a counter to \ do the following loop 97 times .ESL1 JSR MVEIT \ Call MVEIT to move the Cobra in space JSR LL9 \ Call LL9 to draw the Cobra on-screen DEC INWK+32 \ Decrement the counter in byte #32 BNE ESL1 \ Loop back to keep moving the Cobra until the AI flag \ is 0, which gives it time to drift away from our pod JSR SCAN \ Call SCAN to remove the Cobra from the scanner (by \ redrawing it) JSR RESET \ Call RESET to reset our ship and various controls PLA \ Restore the witchspace flag from before the escape pod BEQ P%+5 \ launch, and if we were in normal space, skip the \ following instruction JMP DEATH \ Launching an escape pod in witchspace is fatal, so \ jump to DEATH to begin the funeral and return from the \ subroutine using a tail call LDX #16 \ We lose all our cargo when using our escape pod, so \ up a counter in X so we can zero the 17 cargo slots \ in QQ20 .ESL2 STA QQ20,X \ Set the X-th byte of QQ20 to zero (as we know A = 0 \ from the BEQ above), so we no longer have any of item \ type X in the cargo hold DEX \ Decrement the counter BPL ESL2 \ Loop back to ESL2 until we have emptied the entire \ cargo hold STA FIST \ Launching an escape pod also clears our criminal \ record, so set our legal status in FIST to 0 ("clean") STA ESCP \ The escape pod is a one-use item, so set ESCP to 0 so \ we no longer have one fitted LDA #70 \ Our replacement ship is delivered with a full tank of STA QQ14 \ fuel, so set the current fuel level in QQ14 to 70, or \ 7.0 light years JMP BAY \ Go to the docking bay (i.e. show the Status Mode \ screen) and return from the subroutine with a tail \ call