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Credits

Elite: How a Galaxy Fit Inside a BBC Micro

The film's page has its chapters, every source, the code and the full transcript: Elite: How a Galaxy Fit Inside a BBC Micro.

Sources and credits for the film. Every fact in the narration is tied to a quotation from a captured source; every image, clip and piece of music is listed with its licence and where it came from. Archive images and footage are public domain, openly licensed or used for commentary, criticism and historical analysis. Maps, charts and diagrams were made for this film from the cited sources.

Images and footage (146)

  • Acorn News, December 1984, page 3 (scan on Ian Bell's site, 1101 x 724, the top of the page): 'Elite - the game everyone's playing', with a black-and-white photograph captioned 'Elite's authors Ian Bell and David Braban' (sic): two young men in jackets and ties beside a BBC Micro and its monitor showing an Elite screen, the man on the right in glasses holding a joystick (the caption does not say which is which); text: 'More than 50,000 copies ... already been sold', '£17.65 for the BBC disc version', Johnson-Davies on 'techniques to squeeze information into memory', the code name 'Bell', the pack (ship identification poster, Space Trader's Flight Training Manual, quick reference card, Order of Elite postcard, The Dark Wheel), 'a dramatic piece of artwork by airbrush illustrator Philip Castle'; a Domesday Project item at the right edge
    Acorn News, Acorn Computers, 1984 (scan: Ian Bell's Elite Home Page). Fair-dealing candidate (copyright Acorn Computers, Acorn News, 1984); scan hosted by Ian Bell, no licence stated. Source
  • Acorn World (supplement in Acorn Programs), December 1984, cover: 'Meet the ELITE team', a colour photograph of Ian Bell and David Braben, two young men sitting side by side on stone steps beside a tree in Cambridge, under the pink 'Acorn World' masthead; the cover does not say which is which
    Acorn World (Acorn Programs), ECC Publications, 1984. unknown. Source
  • Acorn World, December 1984, page iv: Nicole Segre's profile 'Limitless horizons for the Elite team' ('two unassuming undergraduates at Jesus College, Cambridge, 20-year-old Ian Bell and 19-year-old David Braben'; 13,000 copies in two weeks; Braben's 'hideous shortage of memory'), with a colour photograph of one of the two authors, a young man with glasses and a dark coat sitting on stone steps by a tree (not captioned on the page)
    Acorn World (Acorn Programs), ECC Publications, 1984. unknown. Source
  • Acorn World, December 1984, page v: the profile continues: Bell, 'If the BBC had more memory, we would probably still be writing it. As it is, there is not a single free byte in the program'; Braben, 'The main thing is to make sure that every instruction is a useful one'; the friendship 'struck up at dinner in Hall at Jesus'; Braben's Acorn Atom and Bell's Tandy TRS-80; 'Utmost secrecy'; a thumbnail of the supplement's cover, and a colour photograph of the other author, a young man in a light jacket and white jumper sitting on stone steps by a tree (not captioned on the page)
    Acorn World (Acorn Programs), ECC Publications, 1984. unknown. Source
  • Animation: a starfield with the crosshairs of our ship held still at the centre (OUR SHIP: HELD STILL) and a Cobra with three labelled arrows NOSE, ROOF, SIDE; as we roll, the stars and the Cobra turn round the centre, its arrows turning with it (WE ROLL: EVERYTHING ELSE TURNS ROUND US, ITS ARROWS WITH IT)
    Elite (Acornsoft, 1984) by Ian Bell and David Braben. Fair dealing (criticism, review, quotation): Elite (Acornsoft, 1984) by Ian Bell and David Braben; recorded by Retro Computer TV.
  • Animation: from one dashboard byte magnified out to Elite's whole screen; the 2-line vertical sync pulse below the picture and the beam at its end (END OF VERTICAL SYNC: COUNTDOWN STARTS, 14,622 µs), flying back to the top and sweeping down (THE TOP: ONE BIT PER PIXEL) at 64 µs a line, the countdown reaching 0 µs at line 190.8, about a line above the dashboard (COUNTDOWN OVER, ABOUT A LINE EARLY); a magnified strip of lines 186 to 196 marks 0 µs, THE SWITCH (line 191.2) and THE DASHBOARD (line 192); then the dashboard drawn in colour (THE DASHBOARD: TWO BITS PER PIXEL). Timing as measured in the running game, mean of the two interlaced fields
    Elite (Acornsoft, 1984) by Ian Bell and David Braben. Fair dealing (criticism, review, quotation): Elite (Acornsoft, 1984) by Ian Bell and David Braben; recorded by Retro Computer TV.
  • Animation: the 1,088-byte block filling from both ends, records up from &0900 and line lists down from &0D3F, to 70 BYTES LEFT, then a sixth Cobra's 189 bytes that do not fit: NO ROOM, held
    Retro Computer TV. Own work.
  • Animation: one byte of screen memory (&7832, from the dashboard artwork) as eight bit tiles 1 0 1 0 0 1 0 0; read as eight one-bit pixels (white and black: ONE BIT PER PIXEL: EIGHT PIXELS, TWO COLOURS), then as four two-bit pixels, each joined to one bit from each half of the byte (yellow, red, yellow, black: TWO BITS PER PIXEL: FOUR PIXELS, FOUR COLOURS)
    Elite (Acornsoft, 1984) by Ian Bell and David Braben. Fair dealing (criticism, review, quotation): Elite (Acornsoft, 1984) by Ian Bell and David Braben; recorded by Retro Computer TV.
  • Animation timed to the narration of c01p09 (38 s): two outlines of the whole BBC Micro (32,768 bytes): in the first, THE GENERATOR: 299 BYTES, then + 82 FOR RADIUS AND SPECIES: 381 BYTES OF RULES, a sliver, and later UNDER HALF A KILOBYTE; the second filling with THE SAME INFORMATION AS A PLAIN TABLE, counting up to 40,193 BYTES and running past the outline (MORE THAN THE WHOLE MACHINE); then the table squeezed to PACKED AT 8 BYTES A SYSTEM: 16,384 BYTES, HALF THE MACHINE
    Retro Computer TV. Own work.
  • Animation: two outlines of the whole BBC Micro (32,768 bytes): in the first, THE GENERATOR: 299 BYTES, a sliver; the second filling with THE SAME NAMES AND FIGURES AS TABLES: 32,001 BYTES until only 767 BYTES LEFT · THE SCREEN ALONE NEEDS 7,936
    Retro Computer TV. Own work.
  • Animation: galaxy 8 at x 94, y 96: the one point labelled CECEES, then two labels apart (CECEES · WHERE THE GALACTIC HYPERDRIVE ARRIVES, ESUSALE, UNDER IT), then together again; then the five places where two systems share one point
    Elite (Acornsoft, 1984) by Ian Bell and David Braben. Fair dealing (criticism, review, quotation): Elite (Acornsoft, 1984) by Ian Bell and David Braben; recorded by Retro Computer TV.
  • Animation: the Cobra Mk III's 28 numbered points from its blueprint, then its 38 edges, then its 13 faces shaded (no face filled past the hull), turning slowly
    Elite (Acornsoft, 1984) by Ian Bell and David Braben. Fair dealing (criticism, review, quotation): Elite (Acornsoft, 1984) by Ian Bell and David Braben; recorded by Retro Computer TV.
  • Animation: the Cobra Mk III from its blueprint turning; first every edge (EVERY EDGE: SEE-THROUGH), then faces towards us lit cyan and faces away dark (FACING US: LIT, FACING AWAY: DARK), an edge fading out only when both its faces are dark (AN EDGE GOES ONLY WHEN BOTH ITS FACES ARE DARK), ending on the clean wireframe (WHAT IS LEFT LOOKS SOLID)
    Elite (Acornsoft, 1984) by Ian Bell and David Braben. Fair dealing (criticism, review, quotation): Elite (Acornsoft, 1984) by Ian Bell and David Braben; recorded by Retro Computer TV.
  • Animation: two points with the horizontal leg drawn (ACROSS, SQUARED), then the vertical leg (HALF THE WAY DOWN, SQUARED), then the long side (ADD, THEN THE WHOLE-NUMBER SQUARE ROOT)
    Retro Computer TV. Own work.
  • Animation: GALAXY 4: GOVERNMENT COMES FROM THREE SEED BITS: bit cells ? ? 0, the lowest ALWAYS 0 IN GALAXY 4; bars rising to 64 for anarchy, multi-government, communist and democracy, 0 for the other four
    Elite (Acornsoft, 1984) by Ian Bell and David Braben. Fair dealing (criticism, review, quotation): Elite (Acornsoft, 1984) by Ian Bell and David Braben; recorded by Retro Computer TV.
  • Animation: galaxy 7's chart with the pink Usleance to Erbieder line straight across it, then the jump network with the 27-system pocket lit in cyan (27 SYSTEMS), pushing slowly towards the pocket
    Elite (Acornsoft, 1984) by Ian Bell and David Braben. Fair dealing (criticism, review, quotation): Elite (Acornsoft, 1984) by Ian Bell and David Braben; recorded by Retro Computer TV.
  • Animation: the 32 KB memory map with pages &56 to &5F and page &60 outlined (THE BOUNDARY, below the map); then a strip of byte cells built left to right: THE MAIN PROGRAM ENDS AT &5638, &5639 CHECKSUM, SHIP BLUEPRINTS: &563A TO &5FFF, THE SCREEN FROM &6000; the map again with &7F00 lit (THE ROW THE SCREEN DROPPED · THE PYTHON'S BLUEPRINT); ending on the checksum byte ringed: ONE BYTE: THE CHECKSUM
    Retro Computer TV. Own work.
  • Animation: the BBC Micro's 32 KB as 128 squares filling in address order, GAME: 21,952 BYTES, then SCREEN: 7,936 BYTES, then THE REST: 2,880 BYTES; the boundary addresses; credit line for the source and its documentation
    Retro Computer TV. Own work.
  • Animation: Elite's screen inside a Mode 4 outline (MODE 4: 40 × 32 CHARACTERS · 320 × 256 PIXELS); the outline shrinks to Elite's 32 × 31 (256 × 248 PIXELS), the freed side strips and last row shaded pink: 2,304 BYTES SAVED
    Elite (Acornsoft, 1984) by Ian Bell and David Braben. Fair dealing (criticism, review, quotation): Elite (Acornsoft, 1984) by Ian Bell and David Braben; recorded by Retro Computer TV.
  • Animation, second part: the counter passes 65,535 and rolls over to 00237 (REALLY 65,773), the 17th binary digit falling away: 65,773 ROLLS OVER TO 237; WHOLE-NUMBER ROOT: 15 · × 4 = 60 TENTHS; 6.0 LIGHT YEARS; then galaxy 1 with Cemave and Beenri where the game's chart plots them, a dashed line between them, and a ring growing round Cemave at 6.0 LIGHT YEARS: THE GAME'S SUM: BEENRI IS 6.0 LIGHT YEARS FROM CEMAVE
    Elite (Acornsoft, 1984) by Ian Bell and David Braben. Fair dealing (criticism, review, quotation): Elite (Acornsoft, 1984) by Ian Bell and David Braben; recorded by Retro Computer TV.
  • Animation, first part: CEMAVE TO BEENRI: THE TWO SQUARES ADDED IN 16 BITS: 243² = 59,049, 82² = 6,724, a five-digit counter counting up from 59,049 and slowing towards 65,535 (65,525), the 16-bit row beneath
    Elite (Acornsoft, 1984) by Ian Bell and David Braben. Fair dealing (criticism, review, quotation): Elite (Acornsoft, 1984) by Ian Bell and David Braben; recorded by Retro Computer TV.
  • Animation: the pair table; LA, VE and choice 0 lit and moved down into LA + VE + 0 = LAVE; then TI, BE, DI, ED into TI + BE + DI + ED = TIBEDIED; both held
    Elite (Acornsoft, 1984) by Ian Bell and David Braben. Fair dealing (criticism, review, quotation): Elite (Acornsoft, 1984) by Ian Bell and David Braben; recorded by Retro Computer TV.
  • Animation: one seed byte (&4A) as eight binary digits turned one place left eight times, the left digit going round to the right each time, a clock face of galaxies 1 to 8 advancing and each galaxy's chart beside it, back to &4A and galaxy 1: EIGHT TURNS: BACK WHERE IT BEGAN
    Elite (Acornsoft, 1984) by Ian Bell and David Braben. Fair dealing (criticism, review, quotation): Elite (Acornsoft, 1984) by Ian Bell and David Braben; recorded by Retro Computer TV.
  • Animation: galaxy 1 with the 11-jump Lave to Sori route lit leg by leg, the Cemave to Beenri leg pink across the chart; then galaxy 7's main region, the Usleance to Erbieder link and the 27-system pocket lit in turn: ONLY NORMAL HYPERSPACE CONNECTION
    Elite (Acornsoft, 1984) by Ian Bell and David Braben. Fair dealing (criticism, review, quotation): Elite (Acornsoft, 1984) by Ian Bell and David Braben; recorded by Retro Computer TV.
  • Animation: the six seed bytes, the three numbers twisting four times, then galaxy 1 plotted system by system in the order the game makes them until 256 SYSTEMS
    Elite (Acornsoft, 1984) by Ian Bell and David Braben. Fair dealing (criticism, review, quotation): Elite (Acornsoft, 1984) by Ian Bell and David Braben; recorded by Retro Computer TV.
  • Animation: a 256 x 192 one-bit space view shown four times over, stars and a Cobra wireframe; the ship's old lines drawn again one by one, each pixel flipping back (THE OLD LIST DRAWN AGAIN: EVERY PIXEL FLIPS BACK), then its new lines drawn (THE NEW LIST BUILT AND DRAWN), then a few slowed frames of movement (FRAME BY FRAME, SLOWED)
    Elite (Acornsoft, 1984) by Ian Bell and David Braben. Fair dealing (criticism, review, quotation): Elite (Acornsoft, 1984) by Ian Bell and David Braben; recorded by Retro Computer TV.
  • Animation, second part: the same two Cobras on to FRAME 400, the right-hand ship stretching and skewing, then held: AT WORST IN 400 FRAMES: 9.4% AND 7.8° (with TIDY); NOSE AXIS 26% SHORT, SIDE AXIS 21% LONG, NOSE TO ROOF 77°, NOT 90° (without)
    Elite (Acornsoft, 1984) by Ian Bell and David Braben. Fair dealing (criticism, review, quotation): Elite (Acornsoft, 1984) by Ian Bell and David Braben; recorded by Retro Computer TV.
  • Animation, first part: two Cobras WITH TIDY (left) and WITHOUT TIDY (right) drawn from the ship's orientation as our run of the game's own code stored it every two frames, each with its three arrows and live readouts (LENGTH OFF, CORNER OFF, and for TIDY WORST SO FAR); frames 0 to 178
    Elite (Acornsoft, 1984) by Ian Bell and David Braben. Fair dealing (criticism, review, quotation): Elite (Acornsoft, 1984) by Ian Bell and David Braben; recorded by Retro Computer TV.
  • Animation: the three seed numbers 5A4A 0248 B753 twisted four times, each sum shown with the digit past 16 bits dropped, to CD80 98B8 7A1D: SYSTEM 1 · QUBE
    Elite (Acornsoft, 1984) by Ian Bell and David Braben. Fair dealing (criticism, review, quotation): Elite (Acornsoft, 1984) by Ian Bell and David Braben; recorded by Retro Computer TV.
  • Animation: the eight galaxies with the seven cut-off systems; the bottom-left corner of galaxy 8 with Oresrati, the reach of a full tank and Biered outside it; the eight galaxies again: 12 SYSTEMS NEVER VISITABLE
    Elite (Acornsoft, 1984) by Ian Bell and David Braben. Fair dealing (criticism, review, quotation): Elite (Acornsoft, 1984) by Ian Bell and David Braben; recorded by Retro Computer TV.
  • Animation: a grid of pixels with a few stars; a line drawn pixel by pixel flips each pixel (a star it crosses goes dark: DRAW THE LINE: EACH PIXEL FLIPS), then drawn again flips them back and the line disappears (DRAW IT AGAIN: FLIPPED BACK)
    Retro Computer TV. Own work.
  • Our recording of Elite's Galactic Chart 7 (game-wormhole-g7 at 29.5 s): the fuel circle at Usleance (right edge) and the crosshairs at Erbieder (left edge) ringed and named, and 'ERBIEDER Distance: 4.0 Light Years' ringed
    Elite (Acornsoft, 1984) by Ian Bell and David Braben. Fair dealing (criticism, review, quotation): Elite (Acornsoft, 1984) by Ian Bell and David Braben; recorded by Retro Computer TV.
  • The same screen with only 'Average Radius: 4116 km' ringed in yellow, labelled 4,116 km
    Elite (Acornsoft, 1984) by Ian Bell and David Braben. Fair dealing (criticism, review, quotation): Elite (Acornsoft, 1984) by Ian Bell and David Braben; recorded by Retro Computer TV.
  • A freeze of our recording game-chart-lave (15.0 s): Data on Lave, the radius line ringed yellow and beneath it, in the screen's empty space, 4,116 = 16 × 256 + 20
    Elite (Acornsoft, 1984) by Ian Bell and David Braben. Fair dealing (criticism, review, quotation): Elite (Acornsoft, 1984) by Ian Bell and David Braben; recorded by Retro Computer TV.
  • Our recording (game-missile-jammed at 9 s): five Cobras ahead, 'MISSILE JAMMED' at the foot of the space view ringed, labelled NOTHING HAS JAMMED
    Elite (Acornsoft, 1984) by Ian Bell and David Braben. Fair dealing (criticism, review, quotation): Elite (Acornsoft, 1984) by Ian Bell and David Braben; recorded by Retro Computer TV.
  • A freeze of our recording game-sale-102kg (16.0 s): the Inventory after selling 102 kg of platinum, Cash: 115.2 Cr ringed in yellow, +15.2 CR in the side margin
    Elite (Acornsoft, 1984) by Ian Bell and David Braben. Fair dealing (criticism, review, quotation): Elite (Acornsoft, 1984) by Ian Bell and David Braben; recorded by Retro Computer TV.
  • Our recording of Elite's Short-range Chart at Divees in galaxy 5 (game-tezabi at 3 s): the names Divees and Tezabi beside one dot ringed: ONE DOT
    Elite (Acornsoft, 1984) by Ian Bell and David Braben. Fair dealing (criticism, review, quotation): Elite (Acornsoft, 1984) by Ian Bell and David Braben; recorded by Retro Computer TV.
  • Acorn User 27 (October 1984), page 18: the right half of Acornsoft's two-page Elite launch advert: a second masked alien lit by a computer screen, the end of the headline '...among the Elite?', the Elite box for the BBC Microcomputer (Philip Castle's winged ELITE artwork, 'ACORNSOFT' at the top), a colour Elite screenshot on a monitor, the competition ('When you reach the rank of Competent or higher, you should send us the secret code number'), the pack ('Elite: The Dark Wheel', a compelling novel, and a flight training manual), the prices 'the entire package at £14.95 on cassette, or £17.65 on disc (for the BBC Micro) and £12.95 for the Electron', and the Acornsoft logo
    Acorn User, Redwood Publishing, 1984. unknown. Source
  • A BBC Micro keyboard photographed at an angle in 2012, with Elite's function-key strip (winged ELITE logo, LAUNCH / FRONT, BUY CARGO / BACK, SELL CARGO / LEFT, EQUIP SHIP / RIGHT, LONG RANGE CHART, SHORT RANGE CHART, DATA ON SYSTEM, MARKET PRICE, STATUS MODE, INVENTORY) above the red f0-f9 keys
    Daniel Beardsmore, public domain. Source
  • A BBC Micro's keyboard seen from above, photographed in 2020, with Elite's function-key strip in place above the red f0-f9 keys: the winged ELITE logo at the left and the legends LAUNCH / FRONT, BUY CARGO / BACK, SELL CARGO / LEFT, EQUIP SHIP / RIGHT, LONG RANGE CHART, SHORT RANGE CHART, DATA ON SYSTEM, MARKET PRICE, STATUS MODE, INVENTORY; 'BRITISH BROADCASTING CORPORATION MICROCOMPUTER SYSTEM' and the owl logo at the right; the cassette motor, caps lock and shift lock lights below
    Robert-brook, CC0. CC0. Source
  • A BBC Micro (BBC Microcomputer System) photographed from the front on a white background, 2005: the cream case, black keyboard with red function keys, the 'BRITISH BROADCASTING CORPORATION MICROCOMPUTER SYSTEM' label; the model letter is not legible
    Stuart Brady, public domain. Source
  • An Acorn BBC Micro Model B (per the file's description, from 1982) photographed at an angle on a blue background, 2018, high resolution: cream case, black keyboard, red function keys
    simon.inns, CC BY 2.0. CC BY 2.0. Source
  • Ian Bell's handwritten design page for Elite (undated; his caption: 'The Goat Soup Recipe'): the planet-description grammar as numbered token groups, each a bracketed list of alternatives, e.g. 93 'Mighty / Huge / ...', 94 'Volcanoes / ... / Oceans', 107 'Fabulous / Exotic / Hoopy / Unusual / Exciting', 102 'Beset / Plagued / Ravaged / Cursed / Scourged', 103 'Civil War / <104> <95> <96>s / a <104> disease / Earthquakes / Solar Activity', 104 'Killer / Deadly / Evil / Lethal / Vicious', with cross-references in angle brackets and probabilities pencilled at the side
    Design scan: Ian Bell (elitehomepage.org). unknown. Source
  • Ian Bell's handwritten design page for Elite (undated), the second Goat Soup scan: a small fragment of the planet-description grammar, token groups 123-127, one list reading 'Hockey / Cricket / Karate / Polo / Tennis'
    Design scan: Ian Bell (elitehomepage.org). unknown. Source
  • Ian Bell's handwritten design page for Elite (undated; his caption: 'The classic Elite control model and the approximation utilised'): x, y, z axes, the roll matrix (alpha) and pitch matrix (beta) in cos and sin, their product, then the approximation with cos taken as 1 and sin as the angle itself, ending with the update rule x + alpha y, y - alpha x - beta z, z + beta (y - alpha x)
    Design scan: Ian Bell (elitehomepage.org). unknown. Source
  • Ian Bell's handwritten design page for Elite (undated scan on his site, captioned 'Initial concept'): a sketch of the screen, a forward view with a planet, ships and a crosshair inside a frame, a narrow column at the top left, 'Fuel 1538', 'no. missl. 3', 'sector 42' in a right-hand column, and below a dashboard labelled FORWARD with a 'LONG' range scanner box, bar gauges (shield, roll, laser temp, energy, dive, vel.) and a 'TARGET PROFILE - LOCKED' panel; note 'SPEAKER (for trading versions)'. Bell's caption on the page: image strip and status column 'intended to restrict width of updated area to 256 pixels'
    Design scan: Ian Bell (elitehomepage.org). unknown. Source
  • David Braben on stage at the IGF Awards / Game Developers Choice Awards, San Francisco, 4 March 2015: three-quarter length, black shirt, glasses, smiling, standing at a lectern before a blue screen with large lettering behind him
    Official GDC, CC BY 2.0. CC BY 2.0. Source
  • Galaxies 2, 3, 6 and 7 with Anusa, Xeesanus, Isaanus and Maanusre each ringed and named on its chart
    Elite (Acornsoft, 1984) by Ian Bell and David Braben. Fair dealing (criticism, review, quotation): Elite (Acornsoft, 1984) by Ian Bell and David Braben; recorded by Retro Computer TV.
  • Galaxy 5 round Divees, each outlined patch the crosshair positions that select one system by the game's own rule (neighbouring patches always different colours); Divees ringed, labelled DIVEES and TEZABI: NOWHERE
    Elite (Acornsoft, 1984) by Ian Bell and David Braben. Fair dealing (criticism, review, quotation): Elite (Acornsoft, 1984) by Ian Bell and David Braben; recorded by Retro Computer TV.
  • Galaxy 1 with a pink line from Cemave to Beenri across most of the chart, labelled REALLY 102.6 LIGHT YEARS
    Elite (Acornsoft, 1984) by Ian Bell and David Braben. Fair dealing (criticism, review, quotation): Elite (Acornsoft, 1984) by Ian Bell and David Braben; recorded by Retro Computer TV.
  • Galaxy 1 with Lave circled and a dashed line down the chart at its x coordinate, labelled x = 20 inside the chart, x = 0 and x = 255 above it
    Elite (Acornsoft, 1984) by Ian Bell and David Braben. Fair dealing (criticism, review, quotation): Elite (Acornsoft, 1984) by Ian Bell and David Braben; recorded by Retro Computer TV.
  • Galaxy 4's systems coloured by government (anarchy pink, multi-government cyan, communist yellow, democracy green), with the counts beneath: 64 of each of those four and 0 feudal, dictatorship, confederacy and corporate state, struck through
    Elite (Acornsoft, 1984) by Ian Bell and David Braben. Fair dealing (criticism, review, quotation): Elite (Acornsoft, 1984) by Ian Bell and David Braben; recorded by Retro Computer TV.
  • Galaxy 4's first 32 systems in the order they are made as coloured bars by government: the same eight repeated four times
    Elite (Acornsoft, 1984) by Ian Bell and David Braben. Fair dealing (criticism, review, quotation): Elite (Acornsoft, 1984) by Ian Bell and David Braben; recorded by Retro Computer TV.
  • Galaxy 4's chart with a ruler across its full width (256 MAP UNITS = 102.4 LIGHT YEARS: THE CHART'S FULL WIDTH) and its seven false pairs as pink lines: GALAXY 4'S SEVEN FALSE PAIRS: EACH AT LEAST THAT FAR APART
    Elite (Acornsoft, 1984) by Ian Bell and David Braben. Fair dealing (criticism, review, quotation): Elite (Acornsoft, 1984) by Ian Bell and David Braben; recorded by Retro Computer TV.
  • Galaxy 4 with its seven false short cuts drawn as pink lines across the chart
    Elite (Acornsoft, 1984) by Ian Bell and David Braben. Fair dealing (criticism, review, quotation): Elite (Acornsoft, 1984) by Ian Bell and David Braben; recorded by Retro Computer TV.
  • Galaxy 7's jump network without the overflow: the 27-system pocket in cyan joined to nothing else
    Elite (Acornsoft, 1984) by Ian Bell and David Braben. Fair dealing (criticism, review, quotation): Elite (Acornsoft, 1984) by Ian Bell and David Braben; recorded by Retro Computer TV.
  • Galaxy 7's jump network, the pocket in cyan, with the Usleance to Erbieder line and the Arberi witchspace route faintly marked; no words
    Elite (Acornsoft, 1984) by Ian Bell and David Braben. Fair dealing (criticism, review, quotation): Elite (Acornsoft, 1984) by Ian Bell and David Braben; recorded by Retro Computer TV.
  • Galaxy 7 of the cassette game drawn as its Long-range Chart draws it (human worlds as dashes, alien worlds as dots); a pink line straight across the chart joins Usleance (right) and Erbieder (far left), both named
    Elite (Acornsoft, 1984) by Ian Bell and David Braben. Fair dealing (criticism, review, quotation): Elite (Acornsoft, 1984) by Ian Bell and David Braben; recorded by Retro Computer TV.
  • Galaxy 7's jump network: the main 229 systems white, the 27-system pocket cyan, and the Usleance to Erbieder line pink, labelled ONLY NORMAL HYPERSPACE CONNECTION
    Elite (Acornsoft, 1984) by Ian Bell and David Braben. Fair dealing (criticism, review, quotation): Elite (Acornsoft, 1984) by Ian Bell and David Braben; recorded by Retro Computer TV.
  • All eight galaxies of the cassette game side by side as their Long-range Charts draw them, labelled GALAXY 1 to GALAXY 8
    Elite (Acornsoft, 1984) by Ian Bell and David Braben. Fair dealing (criticism, review, quotation): Elite (Acornsoft, 1984) by Ian Bell and David Braben; recorded by Retro Computer TV.
  • The eight galaxies with all three marks: the 30 false short cuts (pink lines), the 7 cut-off systems (cyan) and the 5 hidden ones (yellow), with their counts
    Elite (Acornsoft, 1984) by Ian Bell and David Braben. Fair dealing (criticism, review, quotation): Elite (Acornsoft, 1984) by Ian Bell and David Braben; recorded by Retro Computer TV.
  • The eight galaxies with the seven cut-off systems circled cyan and the five hidden under another system circled yellow; captions CUT OFF: 7 and HIDDEN UNDER ANOTHER: 5
    Elite (Acornsoft, 1984) by Ian Bell and David Braben. Fair dealing (criticism, review, quotation): Elite (Acornsoft, 1984) by Ian Bell and David Braben; recorded by Retro Computer TV.
  • The eight galaxies with the 30 pairs of systems the 16-bit overflow makes look near joined by pink lines across the charts; caption 30 PAIRS: 102.4 TO 102.7 LIGHT YEARS APART, SHOWN AS 2.4 TO 6.8
    Elite (Acornsoft, 1984) by Ian Bell and David Braben. Fair dealing (criticism, review, quotation): Elite (Acornsoft, 1984) by Ian Bell and David Braben; recorded by Retro Computer TV.
  • Five small galaxy charts (4, 5, 5, 8, 8), each with a yellow ring where two systems share one position, captioned with the hidden system and the one over it (for example TEZABI UNDER DIVEES)
    Elite (Acornsoft, 1984) by Ian Bell and David Braben. Fair dealing (criticism, review, quotation): Elite (Acornsoft, 1984) by Ian Bell and David Braben; recorded by Retro Computer TV.
  • The bottom-left corner of galaxy 8 (its left and bottom edges drawn, outside shaded: THE EDGE OF GALAXY 8): Oresrati, the cells a full tank can reach from it shaded cyan (WHERE A FULL TANK (7.0) CAN REACH), and Biered outside them on a dashed line: 8.2 LIGHT YEARS AWAY · THE GAME SHOWS 8.0
    Elite (Acornsoft, 1984) by Ian Bell and David Braben. Fair dealing (criticism, review, quotation): Elite (Acornsoft, 1984) by Ian Bell and David Braben; recorded by Retro Computer TV.
  • Six charts of galaxy 1 as six random seeds would make it, each seed's bytes above it; headed GALAXY 1 FROM SIX RANDOM SEEDS
    Elite (Acornsoft, 1984) by Ian Bell and David Braben. Fair dealing (criticism, review, quotation): Elite (Acornsoft, 1984) by Ian Bell and David Braben; recorded by Retro Computer TV.
  • Close up of galaxy 5 at x 37, y 130: one point with two names, DIVEES · SYSTEM 171 and TEZABI · SYSTEM 247
    Elite (Acornsoft, 1984) by Ian Bell and David Braben. Fair dealing (criticism, review, quotation): Elite (Acornsoft, 1984) by Ian Bell and David Braben; recorded by Retro Computer TV.
  • Our two recordings side by side at their real speed, not retimed: one Cobra Mk III tumbling (left, ONE COBRA) and five (right, FIVE COBRAS), 12 s from 1.0 s in each
    Elite (Acornsoft, 1984) by Ian Bell and David Braben. Fair dealing (criticism, review, quotation): Elite (Acornsoft, 1984) by Ian Bell and David Braben; recorded by Retro Computer TV.
  • Our two recordings side by side at real speed, SELLING 100 kg and SELLING 102 kg, from the inventory through the sale to the balances; below, THE 102 kg SALE IN TENTHS OF A CREDIT: a five-digit counter at 00000 until the Y press, then counting up, rolling over past 65,535 and stopping at 00152: 65,688 ROLLS OVER TO 152, = 15.2 CREDITS
    Elite (Acornsoft, 1984) by Ian Bell and David Braben. Fair dealing (criticism, review, quotation): Elite (Acornsoft, 1984) by Ian Bell and David Braben; recorded by Retro Computer TV.
  • The same composite continued: the station ahead, then the rear view with no sun, slot 1 STATION
    Elite (Acornsoft, 1984) by Ian Bell and David Braben. Fair dealing (criticism, review, quotation): Elite (Acornsoft, 1984) by Ian Bell and David Braben; recorded by Retro Computer TV.
  • Our recording beside the 12 slots: the rear view with the sun, the turn towards the planet, the approach until the station appears, slot 1 changing from SUN to STATION, held
    Elite (Acornsoft, 1984) by Ian Bell and David Braben. Fair dealing (criticism, review, quotation): Elite (Acornsoft, 1984) by Ian Bell and David Braben; recorded by Retro Computer TV.
  • Flat scan (941 x 1293) of the front of Acornsoft's Elite box for the BBC Micro (the same front on the cassette and disc releases): 'ACORNSOFT' at the top left, Philip Castle's airbrushed artwork of the winged gold ELITE lettering over a Coriolis space station, small yellow ships and a saucer-shaped ship with glowing red ports, 'for the BBC Microcomputer' at the bottom
    Box (c) Acornsoft 1984, cover art Philip Castle (scan: frontierastro.co.uk). unknown. Source
  • Scan (765 x 484) of the Elite cassette itself: a black cassette with a white label 'ACORNSOFT ELITE for the BBC Microcomputer', 'SBG38/C', '1200 Baud', 'Contents: ELITE', 'Copyright Acornsoft Limited 1984'
    Cassette (c) Acornsoft 1984 (scan: frontierastro.co.uk). unknown. Source
  • Scan (868 x 1240) of the Elite cassette's loading instructions sheet: 'ELITE for the BBC Microcomputer Model B, Authors: Ian Bell, David Braben'; 'How to load the program ... type CHAIN "ELITE" and press RETURN ... The title page will load in less than one minute and the main program will take a further seven minutes to load'; the rotating Cobra Mk III and the 'Load New Commander (Y/N)?' query; a note that instructions marked '*' in the Training Manual apply to the disc version only
    Acornsoft 1984 (scan: frontierastro.co.uk). unknown. Source
  • Flat scan (941 x 1293) of the back of the Elite disc box for the BBC Micro: the same blurb and screenshot as the cassette box, 'Enclosed in this package are a disc, ...', 'This disc features a new Acornsoft dual format design which allows it to be used with either a 40 track disc drive or a double-sided 80 track disc drive. The program makes full use of the 100K disc capacity', 'Front cover illustration by Philip Castle', SNG38
    Box (c) Acornsoft 1984 (scan: frontierastro.co.uk). unknown. Source
  • Scan (1042 x 1028) of the Elite 5.25-inch floppy disc: black sleeve with a white label 'ACORNSOFT ELITE for the BBC Microcomputer', '40/80 track', 'Copyright Acornsoft 1984', 'SNG38/D'
    Disc (c) Acornsoft 1984 (scan: frontierastro.co.uk). unknown. Source
  • Elite's manual (Acornsoft, 1984), page 55, Observer's Guide to Ships in Service: the Cobra Mk I and the Cobra Mk III, each in black silhouettes from three angles and a drawing in space, with dimensions (Cobra Mk III 65/30/130 ft), cargo capacity 20 TC, armaments, maximum velocity 0.30, in-service date 3100 AD (Cowell & MgRath Shipyards, Lave)
    Elite: Space Trader's Flight Training Manual, Acornsoft, 1984. unknown. Source
  • Elite's manual (Acornsoft, 1984), page 14, Navigation and Flying: the navigational controls (galactic chart f4, Worldata link f6, with keyboard diagrams) and the screen 'DATA ON REORTE': Distance 4.4 Light Years, Economy Poor Agricultural, Government Dictatorship, Tech. Level 6, Population 3.1 Billion (Black Fat Felines), Gross Productivity 5208 M CR, Average Radius 6419 km
    Elite: Space Trader's Flight Training Manual, Acornsoft, 1984. unknown. Source
  • Elite's manual (Acornsoft, 1984), page 12: the left half of a galactic chart printed white on black, dots for the systems, the circled crosshair cursor at the left edge, captioned 'There are 8 galaxies (of which this is one), and over 250 recognised planets in each galaxy. So massive a universe contains very little that is completely predictable, and offers infinite opportunities for adventure.'
    Elite: Space Trader's Flight Training Manual, Acornsoft, 1984. unknown. Source
  • Elite's manual (Acornsoft, 1984), page 40, Intergalactic Trading: the screen 'LAVE MARKET PRICES', seventeen goods from Food to Alien Items with unit, price and quantity for sale, and below the Inventory screen and the buying screen ('Quantity of Alloys/t ?')
    Elite: Space Trader's Flight Training Manual, Acornsoft, 1984. unknown. Source
  • Elite's manual (Acornsoft, 1984), page 47: 'Political Profile Of The Universe', 'Consequences for Trade', the 2040 officially registered worlds classified in decreasing order of safety as Corporate States, Democracies, Confederacies, Communist States, Dictatorships, Multi-Governments, Feudal Worlds, Anarchies
    Elite: Space Trader's Flight Training Manual, Acornsoft, 1984. unknown. Source
  • The Long-range Chart of galaxy 1 ('GALACTIC CHART 1'): the crosshairs move from Esesla to Lave and the game prints Lave's name and distance; then the Data on System screen for Lave
    Elite (Acornsoft, 1984) by Ian Bell and David Braben. Fair dealing (criticism, review, quotation): Elite (Acornsoft, 1984) by Ian Bell and David Braben; recorded by Retro Computer TV.
  • 1 Cobra Mk III tumbling 2,000 units ahead in empty space, not attacking; the game runs at 14.8 frames a second here
    Elite (Acornsoft, 1984) by Ian Bell and David Braben. Fair dealing (criticism, review, quotation): Elite (Acornsoft, 1984) by Ian Bell and David Braben; recorded by Retro Computer TV.
  • 5 Cobra Mk IIIs tumbling 2,000 units ahead in empty space, not attacking; the game runs at 3.8 frames a second here
    Elite (Acornsoft, 1984) by Ian Bell and David Braben. Fair dealing (criticism, review, quotation): Elite (Acornsoft, 1984) by Ian Bell and David Braben; recorded by Retro Computer TV.
  • A fight with 1 pirate Mamba in deep space (planet and sun behind us): our Cobra Mk III weaves after the nearest pirate and fires its pulse laser; the pirates fire back
    Elite (Acornsoft, 1984) by Ian Bell and David Braben. Fair dealing (criticism, review, quotation): Elite (Acornsoft, 1984) by Ian Bell and David Braben; recorded by Retro Computer TV.
  • A fight with 3 pirate Mambas in deep space (planet and sun behind us): our Cobra Mk III weaves after the nearest pirate and fires its pulse laser; the pirates fire back
    Elite (Acornsoft, 1984) by Ian Bell and David Braben. Fair dealing (criticism, review, quotation): Elite (Acornsoft, 1984) by Ian Bell and David Braben; recorded by Retro Computer TV.
  • The galactic hyperdrive: in flight near Lave, CTRL-H starts the countdown, then the hyperspace jump into galaxy 2, arriving at Ororra; then the Long-range Chart of galaxy 2 and the status screen
    Elite (Acornsoft, 1984) by Ian Bell and David Braben. Fair dealing (criticism, review, quotation): Elite (Acornsoft, 1984) by Ian Bell and David Braben; recorded by Retro Computer TV.
  • Launching from the Coriolis space station at Lave: the docked status screen, the launch tunnel, the front view with the planet Lave ahead, then the rear view with the station falling behind
    Elite (Acornsoft, 1984) by Ian Bell and David Braben. Fair dealing (criticism, review, quotation): Elite (Acornsoft, 1984) by Ian Bell and David Braben; recorded by Retro Computer TV.
  • Five Cobra Mk IIIs ahead with the planet in view; a missile is armed and locked (T), then fired (M), and the game prints 'MISSILE JAMMED' because the ship memory is full
    Elite (Acornsoft, 1984) by Ian Bell and David Braben. Fair dealing (criticism, review, quotation): Elite (Acornsoft, 1984) by Ian Bell and David Braben; recorded by Retro Computer TV.
  • Five Cobra Mk IIIs ahead with the planet in view; a missile is locked on the centre Cobra (T) and fired (M), and the game prints 'MISSILE JAMMED' because the ship memory is full; the ship pitches up to the Cobra above the sights and shoots it down with its pulse laser; when its explosion has finished and the game has freed its slot, the same M launches the missile, which flies to the centre Cobra and destroys it
    Elite (Acornsoft, 1984) by Ian Bell and David Braben. Fair dealing (criticism, review, quotation): Elite (Acornsoft, 1984) by Ian Bell and David Braben; recorded by Retro Computer TV.
  • Docked at Lave: the Market Prices screen, the Inventory with 100 kg of platinum and 100.0 Cr, then the Sell Cargo screen; after the sale the Inventory shows 6540.0 Cr
    Elite (Acornsoft, 1984) by Ian Bell and David Braben. Fair dealing (criticism, review, quotation): Elite (Acornsoft, 1984) by Ian Bell and David Braben; recorded by Retro Computer TV.
  • Near the Coriolis station at Lave: the station ahead with two Cobra Mk III traders and a Viper police ship flying about it; the 3D scanner and the dashboard (shields, fuel, speed, roll and pitch, the S bulb) in a busy scene
    Elite (Acornsoft, 1984) by Ian Bell and David Braben. Fair dealing (criticism, review, quotation): Elite (Acornsoft, 1984) by Ian Bell and David Braben; recorded by Retro Computer TV.
  • The Short-range Chart around Divees in galaxy 5: the name 'Tezabi' printed under 'Divees' beside the same dot; the crosshairs sweep round it and every press of D selects Divees or a neighbour, never Tezabi
    Elite (Acornsoft, 1984) by Ian Bell and David Braben. Fair dealing (criticism, review, quotation): Elite (Acornsoft, 1984) by Ian Bell and David Braben; recorded by Retro Computer TV.
  • The last second of the Acornsoft loading screen (ACORNSOFT ELITE over a ringed planet), then Elite's title screen: a Cobra Mk III rotating under '---- E L I T E ----', with 'Load New Commander (Y/N)?' and '(C) Acornsoft 1984'
    Elite (Acornsoft, 1984) by Ian Bell and David Braben. Fair dealing (criticism, review, quotation): Elite (Acornsoft, 1984) by Ian Bell and David Braben; recorded by Retro Computer TV.
  • The galaxy 1 wormhole: on the Long-range Chart the crosshairs cross the galaxy from Legees to one step left of Tianve and the game prints 'TIANVE' and 'Distance: 3.2 Light Years'; launch, the hyperspace countdown, the jump and the arrival; the status screen reads 'Present System: Tianve' and 'Fuel: 3.8 Light Years'
    Elite (Acornsoft, 1984) by Ian Bell and David Braben. Fair dealing (criticism, review, quotation): Elite (Acornsoft, 1984) by Ian Bell and David Braben; recorded by Retro Computer TV.
  • The galaxy 7 wormhole: on the Long-range Chart the crosshairs cross the whole galaxy from Usleance to Erbieder and the game prints 'ERBIEDER' and 'Distance: 4.0 Light Years'; launch, the hyperspace countdown, the jump and the arrival; the status screen reads 'Present System: Erbieder' and 'Fuel: 3.0 Light Years'
    Elite (Acornsoft, 1984) by Ian Bell and David Braben. Fair dealing (criticism, review, quotation): Elite (Acornsoft, 1984) by Ian Bell and David Braben; recorded by Retro Computer TV.
  • Four system names built from their pairs: AN US A = ANUSA (galaxy 2), XE ES AN US = XEESANUS (3), IS A AN US = ISAANUS (6), MA AN US RE = MAANUSRE (7); GALAXY 1: NONE OF THEM
    Elite (Acornsoft, 1984) by Ian Bell and David Braben. Fair dealing (criticism, review, quotation): Elite (Acornsoft, 1984) by Ian Bell and David Braben; recorded by Retro Computer TV.
  • The 1,088-byte block from &0900 to &0D3F as an empty column: EVERY NEARBY OBJECT
    Retro Computer TV. Own work.
  • The block with the planet, sun and five Cobra records at the bottom, five Cobra line lists at the top, and the gap: 70 BYTES LEFT
    Retro Computer TV. Own work.
  • The block with four Cobras and a larger gap: ONE COBRA FEWER: THE MISSILE FITS
    Retro Computer TV. Own work.
  • The block with the gap between the records and the line list outlined yellow: A NEW OBJECT MUST FIT IN HERE
    Retro Computer TV. Own work.
  • The block with the planet, sun and Cobra records at the bottom and the Cobra's 153-byte list of drawn lines at the top, arrow down: ITS LINES, FROM THE TOP DOWN
    Retro Computer TV. Own work.
  • The 1,088-byte block with the planet's and the sun's records at the bottom and a Cobra's 36-byte record above them, arrow up: A SHIP'S RECORD: 36 BYTES, FROM &0948; THE PLANET AND THE SUN COME FIRST
    Retro Computer TV. Own work.
  • The full block beside two outlines that do not fit: 189 BYTES, A SIXTH COBRA: NO ROOM; 97 BYTES, A SIDEWINDER: NO ROOM
    Retro Computer TV. Own work.
  • The Cobra Mk III wireframe from its blueprint with three arrows from its centre at right angles: NOSE, ROOF, SIDE
    Elite (Acornsoft, 1984) by Ian Bell and David Braben. Fair dealing (criticism, review, quotation): Elite (Acornsoft, 1984) by Ian Bell and David Braben; recorded by Retro Computer TV.
  • The Cobra Mk III's edges drawn by the game's rule: white where either of an edge's two faces faces us, dashed pink where both face away
    Elite (Acornsoft, 1984) by Ian Bell and David Braben. Fair dealing (criticism, review, quotation): Elite (Acornsoft, 1984) by Ian Bell and David Braben; recorded by Retro Computer TV.
  • The Cobra Mk III drawn from its blueprint: faces turned towards us shaded cyan, faces turned away pink (no face filled past the hull: the laser is left out): FACING US, FACING AWAY
    Elite (Acornsoft, 1984) by Ian Bell and David Braben. Fair dealing (criticism, review, quotation): Elite (Acornsoft, 1984) by Ian Bell and David Braben; recorded by Retro Computer TV.
  • Diagram: two faces of a ship, each with its direction arrow, and a dashed line of sight from US to each face (the game's vector from us to the ship): the one whose direction points back towards us FACES US: DRAWN, the other FACES AWAY: HIDDEN; THE FACE'S DIRECTION × OUR LINE OF SIGHT, PART BY PART, ADDED UP; LESS THAN 0: IT FACES US · MORE THAN 0: IT FACES AWAY (LL9: a negative product means visible)
    Retro Computer TV. Own work.
  • Lave's three seed numbers in binary with the bits of its y and x coordinates, its government and its human-or-alien bit marked
    Elite (Acornsoft, 1984) by Ian Bell and David Braben. Fair dealing (criticism, review, quotation): Elite (Acornsoft, 1984) by Ian Bell and David Braben; recorded by Retro Computer TV.
  • Lave's average radius, 4,116 km, in binary: the high byte 16 lots of 256 = 4,096, the low byte 20 REMAINS; LAVE'S x ON THE MAP: 20
    Elite (Acornsoft, 1984) by Ian Bell and David Braben. Fair dealing (criticism, review, quotation): Elite (Acornsoft, 1984) by Ian Bell and David Braben; recorded by Retro Computer TV.
  • The BBC Micro's 32 KB as 128 squares of 256 bytes: the game's 21,952 bytes cyan, the screen's 7,936 pink, workspace grey
    Retro Computer TV. Own work.
  • A strip of byte cells: the end of the program (&5637, &5638), &5639, the ship models from &563A to &5FFF, then the screen from &6000: THE LAST SHIP BYTE, THEN THE SCREEN
    Retro Computer TV. Own work.
  • 144 grey squares, one per byte: UNUSED WHILE THE GAME RUNS
    Retro Computer TV. Own work.
  • The 144 squares in three colours: 64 the operating system's printer buffer, 24 a spare copy of the multiply routine, 56 spare bytes scattered through the game
    Retro Computer TV. Own work.
  • The same 18 bytes each EOR &A4, decoded letter by letter: (C)Bell/Braben1984
    Elite (Acornsoft, 1984) by Ian Bell and David Braben. Fair dealing (criticism, review, quotation): Elite (Acornsoft, 1984) by Ian Bell and David Braben; recorded by Retro Computer TV.
  • 18 bytes as hex, 8C E7 8D E6 C1 C8 C8 8B E6 D6 C5 C6 C1 CA 95 9D 9C 90: 18 MORE BYTES, NOT AMONG THE 144: A HIDDEN NOTICE
    Elite (Acornsoft, 1984) by Ian Bell and David Braben. Fair dealing (criticism, review, quotation): Elite (Acornsoft, 1984) by Ian Bell and David Braben; recorded by Retro Computer TV.
  • Galaxy 1 with Cemave (top left) and Beenri (right) where the game's chart plots them, a dashed line between them, and the ring of 6.0 LIGHT YEARS round Cemave: THE GAME'S SUM: BEENRI IS 6.0 LIGHT YEARS FROM CEMAVE
    Elite (Acornsoft, 1984) by Ian Bell and David Braben. Fair dealing (criticism, review, quotation): Elite (Acornsoft, 1984) by Ian Bell and David Braben; recorded by Retro Computer TV.
  • The game's table of 32 two-letter pairs as tiles, pair 0 (AL) dimmed: NAMES USE 1 TO 31
    Elite (Acornsoft, 1984) by Ian Bell and David Braben. Fair dealing (criticism, review, quotation): Elite (Acornsoft, 1984) by Ian Bell and David Braben; recorded by Retro Computer TV.
  • The pair table with AR lit cyan and SO, the only pair starting with S, yellow; beneath, AR + a pink question-marked SE, THE ONLY S PAIR: SO, NO RS PAIR
    Elite (Acornsoft, 1984) by Ian Bell and David Braben. Fair dealing (criticism, review, quotation): Elite (Acornsoft, 1984) by Ian Bell and David Braben; recorded by Retro Computer TV.
  • Two five-digit counters, 65535 + 1 = 00000 (BACK TO THE BEGINNING); 16 BITS COUNT FROM 0 TO 65,535; TIBEDIED'S FIRST TWIST: 70,629 KEEPS ONLY 5,093
    Elite (Acornsoft, 1984) by Ian Bell and David Braben. Fair dealing (criticism, review, quotation): Elite (Acornsoft, 1984) by Ian Bell and David Braben; recorded by Retro Computer TV.
  • The six seed bytes after one left rotation (94 B4 90 04 A6 6F), the bit that came round marked: ONE BIT LEFT · GALAXY 2
    Elite (Acornsoft, 1984) by Ian Bell and David Braben. Fair dealing (criticism, review, quotation): Elite (Acornsoft, 1984) by Ian Bell and David Braben; recorded by Retro Computer TV.
  • The six seed bytes in binary, each leftmost bit marked yellow: EACH LEFT BIT GOES ROUND TO THE RIGHT
    Elite (Acornsoft, 1984) by Ian Bell and David Braben. Fair dealing (criticism, review, quotation): Elite (Acornsoft, 1984) by Ian Bell and David Braben; recorded by Retro Computer TV.
  • The seed byte 4A rotated left eight times, one row a galaxy, back to 4A at the ninth: BACK WHERE IT BEGAN
    Elite (Acornsoft, 1984) by Ian Bell and David Braben. Fair dealing (criticism, review, quotation): Elite (Acornsoft, 1984) by Ian Bell and David Braben; recorded by Retro Computer TV.
  • The six seed bytes 4A 5A 48 02 53 B7 as tiles, headed GALAXY 1 · THE SEED
    Elite (Acornsoft, 1984) by Ian Bell and David Braben. Fair dealing (criticism, review, quotation): Elite (Acornsoft, 1984) by Ian Bell and David Braben; recorded by Retro Computer TV.
  • The six seed bytes read in pairs as three 16-bit numbers &5A4A, &0248, &B753
    Elite (Acornsoft, 1984) by Ian Bell and David Braben. Fair dealing (criticism, review, quotation): Elite (Acornsoft, 1984) by Ian Bell and David Braben; recorded by Retro Computer TV.
  • The seed bytes and three numbers, with SYSTEM 0: TIBEDIED beneath
    Elite (Acornsoft, 1984) by Ian Bell and David Braben. Fair dealing (criticism, review, quotation): Elite (Acornsoft, 1984) by Ian Bell and David Braben; recorded by Retro Computer TV.
  • The seed and the first eight systems made from it, 0 Tibedied to 7 Lave (SYSTEMS IN THE ORDER THEY ARE MADE), Lave boxed: WHERE EVERY GAME STARTS
    Elite (Acornsoft, 1984) by Ian Bell and David Braben. Fair dealing (criticism, review, quotation): Elite (Acornsoft, 1984) by Ian Bell and David Braben; recorded by Retro Computer TV.
  • Diagram: THE SIX SEED BYTES · 8 BITS EACH: galaxy 1's seed 4A 5A 48 02 53 B7, each written out as eight bit tiles, and 6 × 8 = 48 BITS; drawn in the top two thirds of the frame
    Elite (Acornsoft, 1984) by Ian Bell and David Braben. Fair dealing (criticism, review, quotation): Elite (Acornsoft, 1984) by Ian Bell and David Braben; recorded by Retro Computer TV.
  • The local bubble's 12 slots as boxes: 0 planet, 1 sun or station, 2 to 11 up to ten ships
    Retro Computer TV. Own work.
  • Diagram: WITHOUT TIDY: THE SMALL ERRORS ADD UP: the nose (yellow) and roof (green) arrows of the ship without TIDY at FRAME 0 (1.00, 1.00, 90°), FRAME 200 (0.86, 1.07, 85°) and FRAME 400 (0.74, 1.16, 77°), drawn with the lengths and angle of the stored vectors, read off as on screen to two places, against the true quarter circle; at 400 the nose SHORTER, the roof LONGER
    Retro Computer TV. Own work.
  • Diagram: ONE SMALL TURN (EXAGGERATED) as MVS4 takes it, drawn at 20° (the game's full roll is about 7°), one coordinate after the other: from the white arrow, 1. A SMALL STEP SIDEWAYS, then 2. BACK ALONG THE ARROW A LITTLE (by the new sideways amount), the cyan arrow's tip landing just inside the circle: FAST, ALMOST RIGHT: JUST INSIDE THE CIRCLE
    Retro Computer TV. Own work.
  • The disc version's planet descriptions run together as plain text, small, filling the frame, the first (Lave's: 'Lave is most famous for its vast rain forests and the Lavian tree grub.') in yellow
    Elite (Acornsoft, 1984) by Ian Bell and David Braben. Fair dealing (criticism, review, quotation): Elite (Acornsoft, 1984) by Ian Bell and David Braben; recorded by Retro Computer TV.
  • The first lines of Bell and Braben's original BBC BASIC source file $.ELITEA as BBC BASIC lists it: line numbers right-aligned in five columns, wrapped at 40 columns, white on black
    Elite (Acornsoft, 1984) by Ian Bell and David Braben. Fair dealing (criticism, review, quotation): Elite (Acornsoft, 1984) by Ian Bell and David Braben; recorded by Retro Computer TV.
  • The same two charts with the TIDY run added in cyan, staying low: AT WORST 9.4% (frame 314) and AT WORST 7.8° (frame 346)
    Retro Computer TV. Own work.
  • Two line charts against frames 0 to 400, one point every two frames, WITHOUT TIDY in pink: the worst axis's distance from its true length rising to 26%, and the worst corner's distance from 90° peaking at 15.8° (frame 380) and ending at 13°
    Retro Computer TV. Own work.
  • One twist of Tibedied's three numbers 5A4A 0248 B753 into 0248 B753 13E5: the first crossed out (DROPS AWAY), arrows second into first and third into second, dashed lines from all three into the new third (THE SUM OF ALL THREE)
    Elite (Acornsoft, 1984) by Ian Bell and David Braben. Fair dealing (criticism, review, quotation): Elite (Acornsoft, 1984) by Ian Bell and David Braben; recorded by Retro Computer TV.
  • Personal Computer Games 12 (November 1984), page 44: the 'PCG Hit' review 'Join the new Elite' by Shingo Sugiura, describing the packaging (colour poster, function key strip, chart, competition entry form, 65-page flight manual, 50-page book The Dark Wheel), the eight galaxies and the Cobra Mk-III, with the 'Panel Points' box: Bob Wade, and Chris Anderson asking whether the cassette version 'contains the entire game and, if so, whether new sections must be loaded in at regular stages' and concluding 'BBC owners now have a game unrivalled on any micro'
    Personal Computer Games, VNU, 1984. unknown. Source
  • Personal Computer Games 12 (November 1984), page 45: the second page of the 'PCG Hit' review of Elite, with three Elite screenshots on drawn TV sets (two small front views with a planet and ships, one large front view of a Coriolis station over the split-screen dashboard and its oval scanner), the box 'GAME: ELITE / MACHINE: BBC B / CONTROL: KEYS/JOYSTICK / FROM: ACORNSOFT, £14.95', the ratings Graphics 10, Sound 8, Originality 9, Lasting Interest 10, Overall 9, and the reviewer's belief that 'the data files for the planets in Elite are loaded from disk as they are needed'; the top third is another game (Roomlord) and the bottom another (Demon Seed)
    Personal Computer Games, VNU, 1984. unknown. Source
  • Our recording: five Cobra Mk IIIs tumbling ahead in empty space
    Elite (Acornsoft, 1984) by Ian Bell and David Braben. Fair dealing (criticism, review, quotation): Elite (Acornsoft, 1984) by Ian Bell and David Braben; recorded by Retro Computer TV.
  • Our recording: Elite's Galactic Chart 7 with the crosshairs at Erbieder, far left, and the fuel circle round Usleance at the right edge; beneath, 'ERBIEDER Distance: 4.0 Light Years'
    Elite (Acornsoft, 1984) by Ian Bell and David Braben. Fair dealing (criticism, review, quotation): Elite (Acornsoft, 1984) by Ian Bell and David Braben; recorded by Retro Computer TV.
  • Our recording: Elite's front view just after launch from Lave's station, the planet Lave filling the view
    Elite (Acornsoft, 1984) by Ian Bell and David Braben. Fair dealing (criticism, review, quotation): Elite (Acornsoft, 1984) by Ian Bell and David Braben; recorded by Retro Computer TV.
  • Our recording: Elite's Data on System screen for Lave: Distance 18.0 Light Years, Economy Rich Agricultural, Government Dictatorship, Tech.Level 5, Population 2.5 Billion (Human Colonials), Gross Productivity 7000 M CR, Average Radius 4116 km
    Elite (Acornsoft, 1984) by Ian Bell and David Braben. Fair dealing (criticism, review, quotation): Elite (Acornsoft, 1984) by Ian Bell and David Braben; recorded by Retro Computer TV.
  • Our recording: Elite's Lave Market Prices screen: product, unit, unit price and quantity for sale, Platinum 64.4 a kilogram
    Elite (Acornsoft, 1984) by Ian Bell and David Braben. Fair dealing (criticism, review, quotation): Elite (Acornsoft, 1984) by Ian Bell and David Braben; recorded by Retro Computer TV.
  • Our two recordings side by side before the sales: SELLING 100 kg and SELLING 102 kg, each Inventory with its platinum; below, THE 102 kg SALE IN TENTHS OF A CREDIT at 00000
    Elite (Acornsoft, 1984) by Ian Bell and David Braben. Fair dealing (criticism, review, quotation): Elite (Acornsoft, 1984) by Ian Bell and David Braben; recorded by Retro Computer TV.
  • Frame 400 of our TIDY test held: the corrected Cobra (left) AT WORST IN 400 FRAMES: 9.4% AND 7.8°; the uncorrected (right) NOSE AXIS 26% SHORT, SIDE AXIS 21% LONG, NOSE TO ROOF 77°, NOT 90°
    Elite (Acornsoft, 1984) by Ian Bell and David Braben. Fair dealing (criticism, review, quotation): Elite (Acornsoft, 1984) by Ian Bell and David Braben; recorded by Retro Computer TV.
  • The Cobra Mk III drawn from its blueprint's numbers, as the game draws it: only edges with a face towards the viewer, faces facing us filled pale, on white
    Elite (Acornsoft, 1984) by Ian Bell and David Braben. Fair dealing (criticism, review, quotation): Elite (Acornsoft, 1984) by Ian Bell and David Braben; recorded by Retro Computer TV.

Music (9)

  • "Clean Soul" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com), licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License. CC BY 4.0. Source
  • "Destiny Day" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com), licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License. CC BY 4.0. Source
  • "Dreams Become Real" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com), licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License. CC BY 4.0. Source
  • "Evergreen" by Geographer (YouTube Audio Library). YouTube Audio Library. Source
  • "Jellyfish in Space" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com), licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License. CC BY 4.0. Source
  • "Odyssey" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com), licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License. CC BY 4.0. Source
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