Elite / Frontier Elite BBC Micro - Need some help getting started

Chaz GELF

Chaz GELF
Hello there! I've been stumbling into a few errors with the BBC Micro version of Elite, usually when trying to make a save or trying to warp to another system.

Can anyone more familiar with the workings of a BBC Micro guide a relatively fresh Commander through the starting steps and basic controls, so that I can proceed to crash my ship instead of the game? :D
 

MikeSnos

MikeSnos
To save you need the @ symbol on the keyboard from what I remember.

H for Hyperspace to another system

Use the function keys to change the menu or view (F10 is your front view and F9 lets you undock)

Default keys :

M for Launch Missile
T to Target Missile

That should get you going
 
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CMDR Charybdis

CMDR Charybdis
Hopefully this will get you started:

I've found the following works for me as the SSD image supplied doesn't seem to work with the standard BBC micro rom.

1) Install BeebEm
2) Copy the ELITE.SDD to a folder of your choice. Rename the file extension to .SSD.
3) Start BeebEm
4) Select Options|Map F1-F10 to F0-F9
4) Choose Hardware|BBC Model|BBC Micro B plus (you should see Acorn OS 112K/Acorn 1770 DFS)
5) Open File|Run Disc
6) Navigate to where you saved ELITE.SSD and select it.
7) Reminisce over the load screen
8) Jump into the game, remembering to engage your imagination

The standard "BBC DFS" doesn't seem to work properly and the game fails with "Not Found" when you hyperspace. Also the F1 to F0 mapping will help you as F0 is "launch from space station".
 

Chaz GELF

Chaz GELF
Thanks for the help so far! I'm getting disc faults when trying to save or load - what drive should I be saving the game to?
 

Zarkon

Z
Thank you so much for the advice, HypoThermia! I was able to load up on foods/textiles and successfully hyperjump to Zaonce. Woohoo!

Chaz GELF, I am using the BeebEm's FILE -> SAVE/LOAD STATE command. Seems to be working so far.
 

Chaz GELF

Chaz GELF
Alright! I've figured out how to save the game using the emulator's disk system. Maybe not the ideal route but go to Disc Options, click on "New Disc 1" and then name that whatever you like (I've named mine EliteSave.ssd), click on "Load Disc 1" and load that disc into drive 1, then go back to Disc Options and click on "Write Protect 1" to uncheck it.

Now you can save your commander information the traditional way!

Also I've succeeded in shipping food to Zaonce, and even managed to destroy my first pirate ship (Something I've never been able to do in either Oolite or Elite: Dangerous, actually!)
 

CMDR Texas Stu

CMDR Texas Stu
My problem is I can't even see the ELITEBBC.SDD file. I followed the directions but unable to select a file that won't show up no matter where I put it.

added: Find it in the emulator under load disc.
 

Zarkon

Z
Cool, thanks Chaz. I made my first run without crashing into docking port (oh yeah, I still got it)! Followed a Boa in as I approached the station, and destroyed a Krait that station launch down my throat while docking. Now that was a rush down memory lane. :D
 

Chaz GELF

Chaz GELF
The file extension by default is SDD, which BeebEm doesn't recognise - I think changing it to SSD (Single Sided Disk) fixes the issue, though!
 

CMDR Texas Stu

CMDR Texas Stu
I figured out my problem (after coming back to it later)...
It was looking to open the file in my user/documents for some reason.
Once I pointed it correctly it worked. Crashed with 'not found' after jumping to Diso
 

CMDR Charybdis

CMDR Charybdis
Chaz GELF said:
Alright! I've figured out how to save the game using the emulator's disk system. Maybe not the ideal route but go to Disc Options, click on "New Disc 1" and then name that whatever you like (I've named mine EliteSave.ssd), click on "Load Disc 1" and load that disc into drive 1, then go back to Disc Options and click on "Write Protect 1" to uncheck it.
Click to expand...
You can also take off the write protect on Disc 0 as well, and there's a flush commander on there called MIKE as an alternative starting point if you just want to explore.

Zarkon said:
Thank you so much for the advice, HypoThermia! I was able to load up on foods/textiles and successfully hyperjump to Zaonce. Woohoo!
Click to expand...

Cheers!

Stu2 said:
I figured out my problem (after coming back to it later)...
It was looking to open the file in my user/documents for some reason.
Once I pointed it correctly it worked. Crashed with 'not found' after jumping to Diso
Click to expand...
Stu - have you tried using the "Beeb B plus" hardware for the game? It solved the issue for Zarkon.
 

Nax

N
Classic Elite buggy?

I downloaded the original Elite from the Frontier store earlier today.

The readme refers to "ELITEBBC.SDD" which is what you get but BeebEm does not recognize this as a single sided disc because it expects thos eto be suffixed SSD.

I tried *.* and the game launched fine, but trouble lurked...

1) Un-docking only seemed to work sometimes, often giving a "Bad command" error and returning me to the "Load New commander" screen.

2) Docking draws the nested octagon docking graphic then writes "Bad command" in the top left corner of the screen. Elite then freezes, with only f12 (break) working to take you back to the emulator dfs prompt.

3) Hyperspacing (e.g. Lave to Zaonce) draws the hyperspace circles graphic then the game crashed with "Not found" in the top left corner. f12 is the only thing that works to take you back to Acorn DFS.

I tried re-naming ELITEBBC.SDD to ELITEBBC.SSD but it bahaved the same way.

I am running on a slow windows 7 netbook which often stutters when loading sounds in other games so that might be contributing?

Has anyone else had better luck or similar problems?

(Note that I appreciate that Elite was free and I was only trying it for old time's sake so this isn't a complaint/demand for fixes, Im just curious if there's an easy/known fix?)
 

Geko

G
Help with a few things in BBC Micro Elite

I've been trucking along steadily in the BBC Micro version of Elite with BeebEm, and I've hit some major snags.

The biggest one is that I can't use the intergalactic hyperdrive. The manual says to press "g then h." I'm out here floating around with my "galactic hyperspace" item, and pressing g then h does nothing. If I have a short-range destination marked, g then h just does a normal hyperspace jump. Am I missing something?

Secondly, I can't make it to witch-space. As far as I understand, one needs to pitch up as far as possible when hyperspace jumping, but that doesn't do it for me. Ian Bell's FAQ mentions pausing and pressing ctrl-x after the countdown starts. Pressing end, which is mapped to copy, is the only pause-like function I've found, but the ctrl-x trick doesn't help.

Anyone noticing what I'm not? Thanks.
 
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Cmdr Sharky

Cmdr Sharky
Nax said:
2) Docking draws the nested octagon docking graphic then writes "Bad command" in the top left corner of the screen. Elite then freezes, with only f12 (break) working to take you back to the emulator dfs prompt.
Click to expand...

I get the same:
BeebEliteCrash.png
 

ataribaby

A

kfsone

kfsone
If you have a compiler, the source code for "Text Elite" is available on his website. It only needs a small change to work with a modern compiler.

-Oliver
 

MrTwentyThree

M
Chaz GELF said:
Alright! I've figured out how to save the game using the emulator's disk system. Maybe not the ideal route but go to Disc Options, click on "New Disc 1" and then name that whatever you like (I've named mine EliteSave.ssd), click on "Load Disc 1" and load that disc into drive 1, then go back to Disc Options and click on "Write Protect 1" to uncheck it.

Now you can save your commander information the traditional way!

Also I've succeeded in shipping food to Zaonce, and even managed to destroy my first pirate ship (Something I've never been able to do in either Oolite or Elite: Dangerous, actually!)
Click to expand...

This doesn't work for me. I still get a "Not found" error when trying to write to the disk.
 
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