space trading game & while on paper it didn’t sound that ground breaking, it set a standard still used by many such games today. The idea is you collect items from one planet, then look at the most lucrative planet to travel to
& sell you items at a vast profit. Crammed into a minuscule amount of
code & using wireframe 3d graphics the player area was immense. Some
versions like the Amiga featured filled colour graphics, but that was
processor dependent.

If you started trading contraband then the police you trail you & shoot
you down, here your best option was to hyperspace & hope to get lucky as
you never knew where such hyperspace would take you & what the planet
would be like, friend foe or worse! Not only was the gameplay unique, but
the game featured a radar that could not only show the position of the
aliens or other space traders, but also the height & how close they were
to you.

I think because the BBC version was the first version I saw & the C64
version looked quite glitch in comparison, I still look back on Elite as a
BBC game, & still think the BBC version was probably the best, I have
included some video of different systems playing so you can make u your own mind.

An Unofficial plus 4 has been created that shows what could have been with silky smooth graphics. So plus 4 users can experience the thrill of 1980
they never had.

plus 4 (unofficial)
https://plus4world.powweb.com/software/Elite_Plus4 https://www.indieretronews.com/2022/09/elite-4-flicker-free-classic-as.html

Commodore 64
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LhTTpV5qFrs

BBC version
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x6m4DwkYgGs&t=165s

Amiga
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rsuWgLEQBxM

IAN bells (co creator) website
http://www.iancgbell.clara.net/elite/

Elite: A Pioneering Odyssey in Space Gaming In the early 1980s, when home computers were still quite a new fad, a groundbreaking game emerged from the minds of two British programmers. Elite was the brainchild David Braben and
Ian Bell. The two quickly wrote the game as they were scared Somone else
would do it before them, & so while they were both studying at the
University of Cambridge, they worked together on a game that would revolutionize the gaming world. Elite was famously described as the game
that couldn’t t have been written.

Players had an Open Universe System, the ability to Rhome anywhere, Players could explore eight galaxies & over 2,000 planets, drawn in 3D wireframe graphics & using clever calculations to remove lines that couldn’t be seen
by the player, in doing so leaving a clean & uncluttered experience. There
are No High Scores as such, & basically as a Players you could choose you
r own path, be that of trading goods, hunt bounties, smuggle contraband, or mining asteroids.

The original game is said to contain only 22 Kilobytes of code memory.
Braben & Bell how they managed to compressed the game into such a tiny
code space is incredible. Gameplay & Legacy In Elite, players assumed the
role of Commander Jameson, a space adventurer with a Cobra Mk III starting
at Lave Station & armed with 100 credits. Players were subject to Combat, Engage in dogfights with pirates, police, or other traders. With the option
to Upgrade your ships weaponry & shields to survive these attacks, & the
goal really of the game was to upgrade your rank to become ELITE, although
you were free to become just a space pirate & shoot police, & as they
left the planet to track you down they would destroy you. Most of the ships encountered in the game were named after snakes or reptiles.

Sales
The original game Elite sold an estimated one million units. Of course,
Sequels & Spin-offs wouldn’t be far behind to follow on this success: Two popular sequels followed: Frontier: Elite II & Frontier: First Encounters.
Then In 2012, Elite Dangerous rebooted the whole franchise & interest in
the game for the 21st century, pulling in a new generation of players.

Conclusion & summary
Elite defied conventions, transcending its 22-kilobyte origins to become a
game legend in its own right. Its open-ended gameplay, minimalist graphics,
and audacious design set a precedent for future space sims.

Innovations:
Wire-frame 3D graphics with hidden-line removal: Elite was one of the first home computer games to use this technology. The Dark Wheel: A novella by
Robert Holdstock was included, providing insight into moral & legal codes
for players. open-ended gameplay model & revolutionary graphics led to its widespread porting across contemporary home computer systems. Influence and Legacy: The Elite series is one of the longest-running video game franchises, and has served as a model for so many other games. originally published by Acornsoft for the BBC Micro & Acorn Electron computers in September 1984.
The game was later ported to virtually every contemporary home computer
system, including: Apple II Amstrad CPC Commodore 64 ZX Spectrum MSX Tatung Einstein IBM PC compatible Acorn Archimedes Amiga Atari ST Nintendo Entertainment System (PAL regions only)

Commodore 64 Version: The Commodore 64 version of Elite received critical acclaim. With Zzap!64 awarded it an impressive 97%, calling the game a brilliant game of blasting & trading & one of the best games of the year
in 1985. Amiga Version: The Amiga version of Elite, released in 1989, continued the games success, When Zzap!64 awarded it a high score of 98%.
Elite Plus (known as Elite Plus in the US & EU) was an enhanced version of
the original Elite for the Amiga. Unofficial Commodore Plus/4: Elite was indeed converted for the Commodore Plus/4, thanks to the efforts of
dedicated hackers. These hacker conversions allowed players to experience
the space trading & combat simulation on the Plus/4 platform. The game
retains its core features, including wire-frame 3D graphics & the quest
for Elite status.


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Commodore Free Insomnia
Birmingham NEC review
28 March - 1 April 2024
*********************************

If you thought insomnia was just some sleeping disorder, then your missing
out on an exciting exhibition of all things gaming.

History The Insomnia Gaming Festival, originally known as the i-Series, was founded in 1999. It began as a small LAN (Local Area Network) event where gamers could come together, connect their own computers, & play games as
part of a vibrant community. From these humble beginnings in a small office
in Swindon, England, with just a few hundred attendees, it has now grown significantly over the years. The festival was primarily cantered around
LAN gaming, where participants competed in tournaments to win prize money.

Evolution & Growth Insomnia slowly expanded beyond LAN gaming. It
transformed into a comprehensive gaming extravaganza that celebrates all aspects of gaming culture, so today, it's not just a gaming expo; it's a celebration of all things gaming. Attendees can explore brand new game releases, indulge in cosplay, discover indie games, engage with gaming

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* Origin: Dragon's Lair BBS: dragon.vk3heg.net Prt 6800 (39:901/280.0)