Hey,
Im supprised that I still care about ELITE but today I stumbled across a small article over at GameSpy.com and thought I would have a quick look. This is a bittersweet moment for me as I have some very fond memories of playing ELITE coupled with the realisation that it's been 25 years since it's release and likely over a decade since I played it for any decent length of time
However as a teenager I spent many fun filled , angst ridden , exuberant , estatic , crushed and devistated hours in front of my trusty old SONY HIY BIT MSX which had 64 Kb of RAM compared to the BBC's 32
Ahh those were the days indeed. I used to have a log book (Woolworths A4 Pad) which I would fill in keeping track , or attempting to keep track of prices which fluctuated as you flooded the market with illegal narcotics or food etc. MAN as I type its all coming back ! I remember Battling either police or pirates and sometimes BOTH
making for some MASSIVE battles. I had/have a competition pro joystick that would give me blisters but would never break and still works. In fact I still have my MSX and Elite as well as Final Frontier but of course its on the Amiga. I remember fighting my way out of a system. Cant rember if it was police or pirates as both were as I recall nearly constantly after me only to have my ship loose its fuel, just as I killed them off, with a lucky hit. I then had to go and skim the nearest star to scoop up some fuel and then hyperspace over to the next system to sell my combination of legal / illegal and pirated contraband which I had successfully recovered by salvageing some Cargo Canisters with my Fuel Scoop. MAN I Miss those days :/ ELITE was my Favourite game of all time. And must still be in my top 10 if not the top 5 which says a lot when you consider all the games , must be thousands, that Ive played over the years. Today i can see the flaws in the game. Long loading times on cassetes is a chore but back then I would just read a bit of the novella untill it did launch. THAT by the way was an EXCELLENT READ. I loved Sci Fi then and Love Sci Fi now and that Novella is just ACHING for a more substantual SEQUAL !
Also the galactic MAP , displayed on my 14 " DECCA Color Portable TV looked MASSIVE. I had a map to a entire GALIXAY which I , fuel permiting , could travel across. Absoluetly Fabulous. I wonder if there was anything in the tap water back then 8) Aww MAN . I think im going to go and dig in the cupboard and retrieve my MSX or look online for an emulator.
BRABEN . GET YOUR FINGER OUT DUDE AND MAKE US ANOTHER SEQUEL !!!!
Are we ever going to see ELITE III ? None of the more recent space operas have quite got the formula right for me yet . inc X3 series which is about the best ive discovered so far.
I just wish my memory was better as I KNOW that there were some moments that were truly EPIC and HUGELY EXCITING as i fought my way through swarths of pirates and police firing lasers and missiles whilst jamming incomming missles and evading laser fire. The Rader was a TRUE inspiration and made keeping track of your position an intuative and unconcious experiance . You know what I mean. The whole Cockpit Lay out was nigh on perfect given the limitation's of the era. Tones of information but displayed clearly and like what I imagine a space fighter / trading vessel of the future will look like.
I suspect the only game that comes close to equalling ELITE today is EVE Online but its too expensive for me to subscribe to. Yes i know its an MMO while Elite was SP but when I played ELITE who is to say that the vessels I fought against wasnt controlled by alien intelligences in orbit above our planet looking for a worthy adverserry
Ok I better go and do some work in the real world now!
Hope to see more work from you David and the rest of your Team.
Live long and Prosper
LOL a cant believe I wrote all this
Paul Kennedy
Im supprised that I still care about ELITE but today I stumbled across a small article over at GameSpy.com and thought I would have a quick look. This is a bittersweet moment for me as I have some very fond memories of playing ELITE coupled with the realisation that it's been 25 years since it's release and likely over a decade since I played it for any decent length of time
However as a teenager I spent many fun filled , angst ridden , exuberant , estatic , crushed and devistated hours in front of my trusty old SONY HIY BIT MSX which had 64 Kb of RAM compared to the BBC's 32
Also the galactic MAP , displayed on my 14 " DECCA Color Portable TV looked MASSIVE. I had a map to a entire GALIXAY which I , fuel permiting , could travel across. Absoluetly Fabulous. I wonder if there was anything in the tap water back then 8) Aww MAN . I think im going to go and dig in the cupboard and retrieve my MSX or look online for an emulator.
BRABEN . GET YOUR FINGER OUT DUDE AND MAKE US ANOTHER SEQUEL !!!!
Are we ever going to see ELITE III ? None of the more recent space operas have quite got the formula right for me yet . inc X3 series which is about the best ive discovered so far.
I just wish my memory was better as I KNOW that there were some moments that were truly EPIC and HUGELY EXCITING as i fought my way through swarths of pirates and police firing lasers and missiles whilst jamming incomming missles and evading laser fire. The Rader was a TRUE inspiration and made keeping track of your position an intuative and unconcious experiance . You know what I mean. The whole Cockpit Lay out was nigh on perfect given the limitation's of the era. Tones of information but displayed clearly and like what I imagine a space fighter / trading vessel of the future will look like.
I suspect the only game that comes close to equalling ELITE today is EVE Online but its too expensive for me to subscribe to. Yes i know its an MMO while Elite was SP but when I played ELITE who is to say that the vessels I fought against wasnt controlled by alien intelligences in orbit above our planet looking for a worthy adverserry
Ok I better go and do some work in the real world now!
Hope to see more work from you David and the rest of your Team.
Live long and Prosper
Paul Kennedy
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