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Creation Of Elite Charted

Posted by simoniker on from the another-witchspace-reference dept.

Thanks to The UK Guardian for their book excerpt focusing on the creation of classic 3D space shooter Elite. The piece is introduced: "Computer games weren't very good in 1982.. which was what prompted two teenage mathematicians to create the cosmos of their dreams, making them a fortune and inspiring computer nerds the world over", going on to explain why Elite, originally for the BBC Micro but with "the best conversions... for the Nintendo Entertainment System and the Acorn Archimedes" innovated in 3D graphics, complex trading systems, and "having the computer generate the game universe" for the player. However, nothing can explain Elite: The Musical.

6 of 20 comments (clear)

  1. Best version of Elite by joshsnow · · Score: 2, Informative

    Read the Article on Saturday - was surprisingly good.

    The article mentions that Acornsoft, the original publishers, didn't want to pay royalty rates as high as Braben and Bell wanted, so they retained publishing rights enabling them to sell those rights at auction to BTSoft, leading to Elite on other platforms.

    IMO, by far the best version produced was for the Acorn Archimedes in 1992 - circa 10 years after the original.

    Many happy hours as an undergraduate whiled away back then...

  2. Now: Shareware by neglige · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Frontier (Elite 2) is available for download and can be registered for just 5 UK-Pounds... I don't know the exact number of galaxies included, but there were more than 256...

    --
    My cats ate my karma. They also wrote this comment.
  3. Why no new Elite? by Sheetrock · · Score: 2, Insightful
    I played Elite 2 on the Amiga for awhile and thought it was pretty solid. Why aren't they making a new one?

    Ditto with Starflight. Both series had the gaming down cold, and I'd like to see what could be done with them using today's technology.

    --

    Try not. Do or do not, there is no try.
    -- Dr. Spock, stardate 2822-3.




    1. Re:Why no new Elite? by Fenresulven · · Score: 2, Interesting

      They are...

  4. Link to PC version by Pvt_Waldo · · Score: 2, Interesting

    http://www.iancgbell.clara.net/elite/pc/index.htm

    Now when is someone going to do like a "Tenebrae" version with OpenGL, etc? :^)

  5. The book it is from is worth reading by cryptogryphon · · Score: 3, Interesting

    The article is from Chapter 3 of Francis Spufford's "Backroom Boys". I enjoyed the book immensely.

    As the subtitle suggests it is unashamedly British in outlook, but celebrates engineering with six anecdotal stories that would warm the heart of any geek (or at least allow them the odd knowing chuckle).

    As well as Elite, it covers Britain's space program (Black Arrow, Blue Streak etc.), Concorde (topical), cellphones, the Human Genome, and a reprise on Britain's space program with Beagle 2. Not a proper review I know, but a recommendation all the same.