Elite (1984) from the store

Jack Schitt · Sep 19, 2014

In case anyone unfamiliar with emulators is struggling with the version of BBC Elite that's downloadable from the Frontier store, there's a mistake in the naming of one of the files. ELITEBBC.SDD should be ELITEBBC.SSD otherwise the emulator can't find it if the first Single Sided Disc option (suffixed "*.ssd") is selected in the BeebEm loading dialog drop-down.

If the second Single Sided Disc option (suffixed "*.*") is selected the file can be loaded.

Those nostalgic fogies among us who are used to BeebEm will have no problem working around this, but non-technical ED players keen to see what all the fuss was about 30 years ago might get stuck trying to follow the instructions in the README unless they rename that file or use the second Single Sided Disc option.

Steve 67 · Sep 19, 2014

Jack Schitt said:
In case anyone unfamiliar with emulators is struggling with the version of BBC Elite that's downloadable from the Frontier store, there's a mistake in the naming of one of the files. ELITE.SDD should be ELITE.SSD otherwise the emulator can't find it without some loading dialogue trickery.

Those nostalgic fogies among us who are used to BeebEm will have no problem working around this, but non-technical ED players keen to see what all the fuss was about 30 years ago might get stuck trying to follow the instructions in the README unless they rename that file.

Many thanks! +1

Nuarda · Sep 19, 2014

I already have Beebem. Its a great emulator - very stable.

If anyone is interested there are loads of game and other software on the net ready for discovery! Some of it is really good!

Check out Cholo - its a weird little 3D wireframe game!

Arithon · Sep 19, 2014

Nuarda said:
I already have Beebem. Its a great emulator - very stable.

If anyone is interested there are loads of game and other software on the net ready for discovery! Some of it is really good!

Check out Cholo - its a weird little 3D wireframe game!

That was a tank game wasn't it?

MikeSnos · Sep 19, 2014

I used to use Horizon for several years but now use BeebEm mostly....

schnitzelbrain · Sep 19, 2014

Docking in ED is a piece of cake compared to the Elite from 1984.
Just tried it out, man I know how desperate I was for docking computer.

Nuarda · Sep 19, 2014

Arithon said:
That was a tank game wasn't it?

The idea was that you are trapped in an underground bunker (along with others after a nuclear war.) You have access to a robot that interfaces with other robots. Each robot does a different thing and the object is to use the robots to get to the bunker and free the people!

I think I remember it as it used wireframe 3d graphics like Elite!

Wavey · Sep 19, 2014

Jack Schitt said:
In case anyone unfamiliar with emulators is struggling with the version of BBC Elite that's downloadable from the Frontier store, there's a mistake in the naming of one of the files. ELITE.SDD should be ELITE.SSD otherwise the emulator can't find it without some loading dialogue trickery.

Those nostalgic fogies among us who are used to BeebEm will have no problem working around this, but non-technical ED players keen to see what all the fuss was about 30 years ago might get stuck trying to follow the instructions in the README unless they rename that file.

Thanks was wondering what the problem was

typos are evil

Jack Schitt · Sep 19, 2014

Wavey1 said:
Thanks was wondering what the problem was typos are evil

I PMed Michael and he said he's passing this info on to the relevant people. Hopefully the .zip file will be updated so only a few early downloaders will see this problem.

Ervig · Sep 19, 2014

Jack Schitt said:
In case anyone unfamiliar with emulators is struggling with the version of BBC Elite that's downloadable from the Frontier store, there's a mistake in the naming of one of the files. ELITE.SDD should be ELITE.SSD otherwise the emulator can't find it without some loading dialogue trickery.

Those nostalgic fogies among us who are used to BeebEm will have no problem working around this, but non-technical ED players keen to see what all the fuss was about 30 years ago might get stuck trying to follow the instructions in the README unless they rename that file.

Instructions:

5. Change the File type to "Single Sided Disc" and select ELITEBBC.SDD

No re-naming necessary for those who read

Mack · Sep 19, 2014

Ervig said:
Instructions:

5. Change the File type to "Single Sided Disc" and select ELITEBBC.SDD

No re-naming necessary for those who read

You'll find in the drop down list, the filetype is .sSd not sDd

You need to select the type

Single Sided Disc (*.*)
not
Single Sided Disc (*.ssd)

EAGLE 5 · Sep 19, 2014

Nuarda said:
I already have Beebem. Its a great emulator - very stable.

If anyone is interested there are loads of game and other software on the net ready for discovery! Some of it is really good!

Check out Cholo - its a weird little 3D wireframe game!

OT but cholo was the remake of another game that I can't remember the title of. Want to really have fun look up the emulation of Novagen's Mercenary series which fits neatly in one executable file. More early 3d awesomeness with a great story arc and quite complex missions. As a kid for me the alternative to Elite was Starglider II and Mercenary II: Damocles.

Wavey · Sep 19, 2014

Ervig said:
Instructions:

5. Change the File type to "Single Sided Disc" and select ELITEBBC.SDD

No re-naming necessary for those who read

well one says SSD the other says SDD which one is correct ? that is what confused me when i read it .....

Jack Schitt · Sep 19, 2014

Mack said:
You'll find in the drop down list, the filetype is .sSd not sDd

You need to select the type

Single Sided Disc (*.*)
not
Single Sided Disc (*.ssd)

Yes, to be fair there are two entries for Single Sided Disc in the drop-down. The second, ending (*.*), will load anything including the .SDD file but the first, which is the one most people will select by default, won't.

(I've been using BeebEm for years and only just noticed the *.* options in that drop-down).

The README could be amended to be more specific on this but if the contents of the .zip are to be altered then the easiest thing is still for someone to rename the .SDD file to .SSD which is the correct extension for a BeebEm single sided disc.

I'll edit my OP to clarify this.

CMDR Charybdis · Sep 19, 2014

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".

My first go I jumped to Reorte and was set upon by an Adder, Mamba, Krait and a 4th ship I didn't get a chance to recognise.

The pulse lasers weren't up to it

Ervig · Sep 19, 2014

Mack said:
You'll find in the drop down list, the filetype is .sSd not sDd

You need to select the type

Single Sided Disc (*.*)
not
Single Sided Disc (*.ssd)

A true...this could be a tad confusing.

Trasher · Sep 19, 2014

It's got Chuckie Egg!

Mack · Sep 19, 2014

Trasher said:
It's got Chuckie Egg!

It does indeed if you load games.ssd

you get the below

Chuckie Egg
Dare Devil Dennis
Zalaga
Cylon Attack

Ancrcake · Sep 23, 2014

Issues with hyperspace

Hi, I'm having issues with the hyperspace function in my game.
Whenever i select the planet to hyperspace to, the countdown timer works, the animation plays but then in the top left of the screen it says "Not Found" and freezes, any idea why this may be?

Thanks

Jack Schitt · Sep 23, 2014

Ancrcake said:
Hi, I'm having issues with the hyperspace function in my game.
Whenever i select the planet to hyperspace to, the countdown timer works, the animation plays but then in the top left of the screen it says "Not Found" and freezes, any idea why this may be?

See the post from HypoThermia further up this page. It's to do with the disc image being incompatible with the default file system. If you change the settings in the emulator's Hardware | BBC Model menu from "BBC Model B" to "BBC Model B Plus" everything should work as expected.

To be honest, nice idea though it was for Frontier to offer this as an anniversary gift to people who may never have used an emulator before, the whole thing feels very thrown together and untested. I was expecting something similar to what GOG do with their DOSBox packages; a simple installer with a one-click launch.

Still, if it encourages a few more people to try out BeebEm it can't be a bad thing. Once the emulator's installed it's also worth paying a visit to Ian Bell's Elite page here. Once your brain has recovered from the shock of time travelling back to the mid 90s

, there are some BBC disc images containing alternative versions of Elite such as the Master and Second Processor versions (smoother and with colour!) and the heavily modified Elite-A. These may not have the purity of the very first release but they are a lot of fun for those who remember them the first time around, or for those who want to see how the early evolution of Elite played out.