Video Game

System:	BBC Micro / Electron
Title:	Elite
Publisher:	Acornsoft
Country:	UK
Date:	1984
Media Format:	Floppy Disk
Barcode:
Cat#:	SNG38
Genre:	Strategy, Arcade, Managerial
Rating:	2.0 Rate
Collection:	I Own It I Want It
Community:	2 Own
Price Guide:	Valuation Page
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Notes

Includes 64-page manual, 48-page novella by Robert Holdstock, reference card, ship identification chart (A3 size), function key strip and Order Of Elite application form.

Images

Number: 2674946 THUMBNAIL Uploaded By: Folker Description: Case, front	Number: 2674947 Uploaded By: Folker Description: Case, rear	Number: 2674948 Uploaded By: Folker Description: Disc	Number: 2674949 Uploaded By: Folker Description: Manual front cover
Number: 2674950 Uploaded By: Folker Description: Quick reference card (1)	Number: 2674951 Uploaded By: Folker Description: Quick reference card (2)	Number: 2674952 Uploaded By: Folker Description: Function key strip	Number: 2674953 Uploaded By: Folker Description: Novella (front)
Number: 2674954 Uploaded By: Folker Description: Novella (rear)	Number: 2674955 Uploaded By: Folker Description: Installation and disc notes (1)	Number: 2674957 Uploaded By: Folker Description: Installation and disc notes (2)	Number: 2674958 Uploaded By: Folker Description: Application to join the Order Of Elite (1)
Number: 2674959 Uploaded By: Folker Description: Application to join the Order Of Elite (2)	Number: 2674960 Uploaded By: Folker Description: Ship identification chart (A3 poster)

Comments and Reviews


albert 15th Jan 2023		I loved Elite, there was so much packed into the game that you could easily spend hours and not get bored. Docking took a little bit of practice but once you mastered the skill then it really was quite easy and you could dock quite quickly, [and if I remember correctly there may have been an upgrade for auto-docking that you purchased during your intergalactic trading]. Anyway that was the thing, you started with a really basic spacecraft and through your trading you built up the spacecraft into something that was much more powerful. You could buy 'fuel scoops' which allowed you to refuel your exhausted engines by flying close to the sun, thus eliminating the need to dock and purchase fuel at a docking station, and thereby allowing you to roam the galaxies without limitation. The novel gave you hints on which galaxies and planets had the goodies and the galactic chart helped you plan a journey. You also had to get into 'illegal activity' in order to become an outlaw and I think then be offered amnesty and richer rewards fighting against bad guys plaguing other galaxies. Battles in 3D were fun and when you zapped another spacecraft you got to scoop up their lost cargo, spacecraft upgrade kit, and other items floating around the area. Elite completely shook things, you have to remember that before Elite games were usually 2D pacman/invaders clones, or text based adventure games, or extremely slow 3D maze games. Elite had criticism because of it's line-dawn environment, but 3D gameplay was fast, and showed the capabilities of the Acorn chips, in fact when the game was ported onto other consoles (using shaded blocks) it just didn't work, the limitations of other consoles were brutally exposed - they were just way too slow compared to the BBC machine. Brilliant game.



Quad5point1 20th Jun 2021		I have to agree with you Folker, I found Elite totally unplayable, which, after all the hype I was very disappointed in it. I very quickly put it on the shelf and never went near it again. It gets a very low rating from me, all style, hype and no substance, oh, and the packaging was good, far better than the contents



Folker 20th Jun 2021		Review This was a really big deal, when it was released. Acornsoft pretty much threw the kitchen sink at it, marketing and packaging wise. The computer press duly took the bait and raved about it. The game won all kinds of awards. It was the first (and probably only) major-player video game which actually started life on the Beeb, rather than getting an after-thought port from some other platform. It was a remarkable programming achievement and demonstrated what could really be achieved on the Beeb, despite its oft-criticised lack of memory. So why do I dislike Elite so much ? Maybe it's because I expect to be able to actually get started with a game I've paid an arm and a leg for. The game appeared to demand that you learn how to slot a flying parcel through a rotating letterbox with millimetre accuracy, before you were allowed to discover what you shelled out all that cash for. My vivid recollections of Elite are not of the vast universe it opened up or the complexities of trading which it simulated, but of endlessly crashing into that bloody docking bay. (This rather reminds me of when my wife spent about 40 quid on a copy of Return To Castle Wolfenstein as a present and I couldn't get past the first 4 or 5 locations.) I suppose alarm bells should have been ringing when I opened the Elite manual. Software which comes with a 64-page (!!) manual isn't a game, it's a job of work. Even the novella was only 48 pages long! Any supposed game which needs a "quick reference guide" and a wall chart, because the manual is so fat, has clearly lost the plot. After a long day at work (ironically, writing computer software), I wanted much more instant gratification from my games. Unfortunately the trend to ever more "immersive" gameplay seems to have been one that the games industry has followed ever since. Now, where's my copy of Space Invaders ... 3 people found this review helpful. ✔︎ Helpful Review?

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