September 23rd 2009
David Braben’s Elite Q&A Starts now! If your question is selected, you will be contacted shortly about claiming your prize.
Q: Did Elite turn out as you thought it would? (leomckitten)
DB: It was pretty close, I think – though because it evolved as we wrote it, it was always a bit of a moving target!
Hi Mr. B. Did you reach 'elite' level yourself? (CraigBagguley)
DB: Technically, yes – to test it, but honestly, no – not the hard way, at least.
I played Elite a great deal before it came out, but this was to test all the different features, so I would cheat to get there.
Q: During development of Elite 2, what was the method for organizing and developing such huge ASM code base? (NeoStrider_BZK)
DB: Hard work! Joking aside, it’s no different to managing a large code base in other languages like C++. It just takes a bit of getting used to
Q: Rumour had it Elite got its fuel-scoops from the tabletop RPG game Traveller. Is this true & was it a major part of the concept? (retrokade)
DB: No. Different things came together. We wanted an excuse for the player to fly to the star, so fuel scoops were born...
Similarly we wanted debris in our explosions, and it seemed logical (in a funny sort of unexplained way) to allow you to scoop up cargo
Amusingly the name “FUEL SCOOPS2 came from how many bytes it would take to store the name - and this compressed super well.
Q: David, How do you feel the shift in computer capability will shape Elite IV? and How has the industry changed 25 years on? (AJR_1)
DB: We have the opportunity to do things we simply couldn’t do in the early ‘80s. Networking, graphics, AI will all have a big effect.
Q: Did you have any idea just how big Elite would become & if you could change anything about the original Elite would you? (tfullstopj)
DB: I hoped it would be a big success, in the back of my mind thought it might not be. I was delighted and felt very lucky it all went well.
I might want to make docking a bit easier – but we did try at the time – we had no more memory to make it any more sophisticated.
Q: My question for David is "What was your favourite gaming moment in Elite?" (ParaSitius)
DB: Tricky – Most of my fondest memories of Elite are not really ‘gaming moments’.
Perhaps surviving my first ‘mis-jump’ and Thargoid attack in a non-test version of the game.
Q: Modern space games don't have the immediacy and rapidity of Elite ie cutscenes. Would you retain the arcadestyle in an update? (webfundi)
DB: Yes. Personally, I find long cut scenes annoying as they detract from the game.
Q: Were Trumbles added to the C64 Elite to cause an eventual game end? Or just a tip of the hat to Star Trek's Tribbles? (John_Ellam)
DB: No – they’re a mission. You can get rid of them…
Q: Can we expect to see any re-makes of the original Elite’s? Perhaps an Xbox Live Arcade or PSN version? (JohnS)
DB: You never know! It depends on me sorting things out with Ian Bell.
Q: What are your thoughts on the games that took direct inspiration from Elite? eg X Series, Privateer, Eve Online & Jumpgate (chrisoregan)
DB: Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery!
Q: What are the most impressive acts of Elite fandom you've seen? (trioptimum)
DB: The sheer number of people that have got to “Elite” is pretty impressive.
I’ve had some astonishing communications with people that have hacked “Frontier” too...
..One guy (hi – if you’re reading this!) turned up at my door, as he didn’t understand why a particular routine worked the way it did.
Q: Hi David, despite the huge success of Elite and it's sequels what valuable lessons could be learned by todays games industry? (martynmac)
DB: Don’t be put off if people think your ideas are too ambitious!
Q: I only made it to Deadly. Was there a figure set on the number of ships that would have to be destroyed to reach Elite? (CptnFishy)
DB: From memory (how sad is that!) it was 0x1900 in hex – ie 6400 in decimal.
On the first version of Elite (for BBC Micro), each ship was worth one kill...
...in later versions they were worth from about 0.3 to 4 kills each – with Thargoid mother ships being worth the most.
Q:I loved Elite and Frontier, never played F2. Any chance of even an update or reimagining of Elite for PC? Or Elite 4 (steeliXS)
DB: Who knows… watch this space!
Q: Why are all of the ships in Elite named after snakes? (chrisoregan)
DB: It was fun to have some sort of consistency in the naming, and snakes seemed a good choice...
...They were originally called “Ship 1”, “Ship 2” etc. Snakes were better…
Q: How did the concept for Elite begin? (leomckitten)
DB: It started off as just shooting spaceships – no world, galaxy, no trading, and it felt a bit dull...
...the trading and the galaxy were added to give the game some form.
Q: 25 yrs. Amazing. What do you think we will look back on at the 50th anniversary? (Spacehopper69)
DB: Much as things have changed amazingly in the last 25 years, I imagine we will look back and see just as big changes in the next 25.
Q: Was there any intention of installing the now mythical generation ships, dredgers and space hermits into Elite? (chrisoregan)
DB: They were created by Rob Holdstock when he wrote “The Dark Wheel”. We did look at including them, but couldn’t, given the constraints.
I have even seen some shamelessly doctored screenshots online showing them which I think were done for an April fools joke in a magazine
Thankyou to everyone who has sent in questions, if your question wasn't selected look out for more events of this nature for Frontier games!
David Braben’s Elite Q&A Starts now! If your question is selected, you will be contacted shortly about claiming your prize.
Q: Did Elite turn out as you thought it would? (leomckitten)
DB: It was pretty close, I think – though because it evolved as we wrote it, it was always a bit of a moving target!
Hi Mr. B. Did you reach 'elite' level yourself? (CraigBagguley)
DB: Technically, yes – to test it, but honestly, no – not the hard way, at least.
I played Elite a great deal before it came out, but this was to test all the different features, so I would cheat to get there.
Q: During development of Elite 2, what was the method for organizing and developing such huge ASM code base? (NeoStrider_BZK)
DB: Hard work! Joking aside, it’s no different to managing a large code base in other languages like C++. It just takes a bit of getting used to
Q: Rumour had it Elite got its fuel-scoops from the tabletop RPG game Traveller. Is this true & was it a major part of the concept? (retrokade)
DB: No. Different things came together. We wanted an excuse for the player to fly to the star, so fuel scoops were born...
Similarly we wanted debris in our explosions, and it seemed logical (in a funny sort of unexplained way) to allow you to scoop up cargo
Amusingly the name “FUEL SCOOPS2 came from how many bytes it would take to store the name - and this compressed super well.
Q: David, How do you feel the shift in computer capability will shape Elite IV? and How has the industry changed 25 years on? (AJR_1)
DB: We have the opportunity to do things we simply couldn’t do in the early ‘80s. Networking, graphics, AI will all have a big effect.
Q: Did you have any idea just how big Elite would become & if you could change anything about the original Elite would you? (tfullstopj)
DB: I hoped it would be a big success, in the back of my mind thought it might not be. I was delighted and felt very lucky it all went well.
I might want to make docking a bit easier – but we did try at the time – we had no more memory to make it any more sophisticated.
Q: My question for David is "What was your favourite gaming moment in Elite?" (ParaSitius)
DB: Tricky – Most of my fondest memories of Elite are not really ‘gaming moments’.
Perhaps surviving my first ‘mis-jump’ and Thargoid attack in a non-test version of the game.
Q: Modern space games don't have the immediacy and rapidity of Elite ie cutscenes. Would you retain the arcadestyle in an update? (webfundi)
DB: Yes. Personally, I find long cut scenes annoying as they detract from the game.
Q: Were Trumbles added to the C64 Elite to cause an eventual game end? Or just a tip of the hat to Star Trek's Tribbles? (John_Ellam)
DB: No – they’re a mission. You can get rid of them…
Q: Can we expect to see any re-makes of the original Elite’s? Perhaps an Xbox Live Arcade or PSN version? (JohnS)
DB: You never know! It depends on me sorting things out with Ian Bell.
Q: What are your thoughts on the games that took direct inspiration from Elite? eg X Series, Privateer, Eve Online & Jumpgate (chrisoregan)
DB: Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery!
Q: What are the most impressive acts of Elite fandom you've seen? (trioptimum)
DB: The sheer number of people that have got to “Elite” is pretty impressive.
I’ve had some astonishing communications with people that have hacked “Frontier” too...
..One guy (hi – if you’re reading this!) turned up at my door, as he didn’t understand why a particular routine worked the way it did.
Q: Hi David, despite the huge success of Elite and it's sequels what valuable lessons could be learned by todays games industry? (martynmac)
DB: Don’t be put off if people think your ideas are too ambitious!
Q: I only made it to Deadly. Was there a figure set on the number of ships that would have to be destroyed to reach Elite? (CptnFishy)
DB: From memory (how sad is that!) it was 0x1900 in hex – ie 6400 in decimal.
On the first version of Elite (for BBC Micro), each ship was worth one kill...
...in later versions they were worth from about 0.3 to 4 kills each – with Thargoid mother ships being worth the most.
Q:I loved Elite and Frontier, never played F2. Any chance of even an update or reimagining of Elite for PC? Or Elite 4
(steeliXS)DB: Who knows… watch this space!
Q: Why are all of the ships in Elite named after snakes? (chrisoregan)
DB: It was fun to have some sort of consistency in the naming, and snakes seemed a good choice...
...They were originally called “Ship 1”, “Ship 2” etc. Snakes were better…
Q: How did the concept for Elite begin? (leomckitten)
DB: It started off as just shooting spaceships – no world, galaxy, no trading, and it felt a bit dull...
...the trading and the galaxy were added to give the game some form.
Q: 25 yrs. Amazing. What do you think we will look back on at the 50th anniversary? (Spacehopper69)
DB: Much as things have changed amazingly in the last 25 years, I imagine we will look back and see just as big changes in the next 25.
Q: Was there any intention of installing the now mythical generation ships, dredgers and space hermits into Elite? (chrisoregan)
DB: They were created by Rob Holdstock when he wrote “The Dark Wheel”. We did look at including them, but couldn’t, given the constraints.
I have even seen some shamelessly doctored screenshots online showing them which I think were done for an April fools joke in a magazine
Thankyou to everyone who has sent in questions, if your question wasn't selected look out for more events of this nature for Frontier games!
