Editing Elite (video game) (section)

== Versions ==
[[File:Arcelite through vipers.jpg|thumb|Enhanced graphics in the Archimedes version of ''Elite'', showing several Viper-class police ships flying in formation and a planet in lower-right corner]]

The first version of the game was released for the BBC Micro, model B on tape and disk and "about a month or two later" the Acorn Electron tape version was released.<ref name="postmortem">{{cite web | url=http://www.gdcvault.com/play/1014628/Classic-Game-Postmortem | title=Classic Game Postmortem - ELITE | publisher=GCD.com }}</ref>  The Electron's limitations meant the game was in black and white only, and several game features were cut including Thargoids and suns. Neither the BBC nor the Electron tape versions featured missions.  Additionally, the original tape version for the Electron contained a [[Bug (software)|bug]] that stopped Galactic Hyperspace from working.<ref name=pcw841206>{{citation | title=Elite bugged | journal=[[Popular Computing Weekly]] | date= 6–12 December 1984 | volume=3 | issue=49 | page=5 | url=https://archive.org/stream/popular-computing-weekly-1984-12-06/PopularComputing_Weekly_Issue_1984-12-06#page/n4/mode/1up }}</ref> Acorn provided a mail-in tape-replacement service to upgrade to v1.1 (marked as such on the tape label) that fixed this bug.<ref name=pcw841213>{{citation | title=Elite bug is removed | journal=[[Popular Computing Weekly]] | date= 13–19 December 1984 | volume=3 | issue=50 | page=5 | url=https://archive.org/stream/popular-computing-weekly-1984-12-13/PopularComputing_Weekly_Issue_1984-12-13#page/n4/mode/1up }}</ref>

A version for the BBC Micro with the [[BBC Micro expansion unit|6502 Second Processor]] was announced by Acornsoft on 25 July 1985, this new version added several extras over the standard BBC version, including 18 ships in the player environment (up from 10), no loading from disc when leaving/arriving at a space station, the ability to save screenshots and print screens to an Epson compatible printer. It also boasted over double the frame rate and a MODE1/MODE2 split screen vs. MODE4/MODE5 giving a full colour game for the first time. https://elite.bbcelite.com/6502sp/ 

The great commercial success of the BBC Micro version prompted a bidding war for the rights to publish ''Elite'' in other formats,<ref name=ma14_7>{{citation | title=Elite Auction | journal=Micro Adventurer | date=December 1984 | issue=14 | page=7 | url=https://archive.org/stream/MicroAdventurer14-Dec84#page/n6/mode/1up }}</ref> which [[British Telecom]]'s software arm, [[Telecomsoft]], eventually won.<ref>{{cite journal|title=Elite for Spectrum|journal=Home Computing Weekly|date=11 December 1984|issue=92|page=5|publisher=[[Argus Press]]|url=https://archive.org/stream/home-computing-weekly-092/Home_Computing_Weekly_092#page/n4/mode/1up}}</ref>

Contemporary versions for home computers based on the [[MOS Technology 6502|6502]] microprocessor were ported by either Bell or Bell and Braben.<ref name=ma15/><ref name="ianbell"/> The [[Commodore 64]] conversion introduced Trumbles<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://archive.org/stream/zzapp_64_issue_001_600dpi/Zzap640001Hi#page/n25|title = Zzap! 64 Issue 001 (HQ)}}</ref> (creatures based on the [[Tribble (Star Trek)|tribbles]] in ''[[Star Trek: The Original Series]]''). When the docking computer is activated in the Commodore 64 version and some other versions, a musical rendition of "[[The Blue Danube]]" [[Waltz]] is played, as a nod to a space docking sequence in [[Stanley Kubrick]]'s 1968 film ''[[2001: A Space Odyssey (film)|2001: A Space Odyssey]]''.<ref name=trivia/>

[[File:ZXSpectrum elite.gif|thumb|1985 ZX Spectrum port, by Firebird Software]]
The ZX Spectrum version, programmed by "Torus"<ref>{{Citation | title = Face to Face with the Elite Programmer, Ricardo Pinto | newspaper = [[Amtix!]] Magazine | date = November 1986 | issue=13 | pages=84–86 | publisher=[[Newsfield Publications Ltd]] | url=https://archive.org/stream/amtix-magazine-13/Amtix_13_Nov_1986#page/n83/mode/2up}}</ref> included a [[supernova]] mission not found in the original.<ref name="postmortem"/>

The [[Amstrad CPC]] conversion has fewer ships than other platforms, lacking the Anaconda and Transport, along with some minor differences in missions and titles.<ref>{{Citation | title = The Ultimate Space game Elite | newspaper = [[Amstrad Action]] | date = December 1985 | issue=3 | pages=70–71 | publisher=[[Future plc]] | url=https://archive.org/stream/amstrad-action-003/Amstrad_Action_003#page/n69/mode/2up}}</ref> [[Ricardo Pinto (novelist)|Ricardo Pinto]], the programmer for the Amstrad version, explained that his team was given a 6502 hex dump by Braben and Bell, which did not help development: "In the end we wrote our version by playing ''Elite'' on a [BBC Micro] and making ours look the same."<ref name="amtix13">{{cite magazine|magazine=[[Amtix]]|issue=13|page=84|title=Face to Face with the Elite Programmer, Ricardo Pinto|first=Lee|last=Paddon|publisher=Newsfield|date=November 1986}}</ref> This version included the "supernova rescue" and "cloaking device" missions, and refinements to the launch tube and jump drive animations.

According to the lead programmer of the 16 bit Amiga/Atari ST and the MSX conversions Rob Nicholson, he did not have access to the [[source code]] because of contractual issues and had to write them "blind". All he had were the ship shapes and the procedural generation code for the galaxies.<ref>{{cite web | title=Elite - Amiga Version - Detail questions | url=https://forums.frontier.co.uk/showthread.php?t=3220&page=10&p=121682&viewfull=1#post121682 | access-date=19 January 2015 | archive-date=20 January 2015 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150120023507/https://forums.frontier.co.uk/showthread.php?t=3220&page=10&p=121682&viewfull=1#post121682 | url-status=dead }}</ref>

''Elite Plus'' was released for [[DOS]] in 1991. Whereas the original ''Elite'' (1987)<ref name="mobygames"/> for the PC used [[Color Graphics Adapter|CGA]] graphics, ''Elite Plus''  was upgraded to take advantage of [[Enhanced Graphics Adapter|EGA]], [[Video Graphics Array|VGA]] and [[Multi-Color Graphics Array|MCGA]]. It was coded entirely in [[assembly language]] by [[Chris Sawyer]], who later wrote ''[[RollerCoaster Tycoon (video game)|RollerCoaster Tycoon]]''.<ref name=elitefaq>{{cite web | url=http://www.nvg.ntnu.no/bbc/doc/games/EliteFAQ.htm | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090226021618/http://www.nvg.ntnu.no/bbc/doc/games/EliteFAQ.htm | archive-date=26 February 2009 | title=alt.fan.elite FAQ | first=Robert | last=Pfeifer | access-date=4 August 2006}} ''Section 3.18 and 3.19.''</ref>

The [[Acorn Archimedes]] version, ''ArcElite'' (1991), written by Warren Burch & Clive Gringras and regarded by ''[[Stuff (magazine)|Stuff]]'' magazine as the best conversion of the original game,<ref name="stuff gaming greats">{{cite web | url=http://www.stuff.tv/news/past-and-future/gaming-greats/gaming-greats-%E2%80%93-elite-1984 | title=Gaming Greats – Elite (1984) | publisher=[[Stuff (magazine)|Stuff]] | work=stuff.tv | date=19 April 2010 | access-date=30 January 2012 | quote=The later version of Elite on the Acorn Archimedes is viewed as the best [...]}}</ref> added intelligent opponents who engage in their own private battles and police who take an active interest in protecting the law. As well as such gameplay enhancements, the version also exploited the more modern hardware by using [[polygon mesh]] graphics in place of the wire-frames. The game world no longer seems to be centred around the player; freighter fleets with escorts go about their own business, pirate formations patrol lawless systems looking for cargo to loot and mining ships can often be found breaking up asteroids for their mineral content. Unlike the mythical [[Generation ship|Generation Ship]]s of the original, rare occurrences of other non-pirate entities mentioned in the manual really can be found in the Archimedes version: geometric formations of space beacons; hermits living among the asteroids; abandoned ships towed by police (although Dredgers and Generation Ships are confirmed ''not'' to exist in Archimedes ''Elite'').<ref>{{cite web | url=http://wiki.alioth.net/index.php/ArcElite | title=Archimedes Elite | publisher=Elite Wiki | access-date=5 October 2006}}</ref> The Archimedes version of ''Elite'' was originally written to be a space trading game called ''Trojan'' - however the obvious similarities eventually meant that to avoid a potential lawsuit ''Trojan'' had to become an official ''Elite'' conversion.<ref>Acorn User, September 1995</ref> ArcElite was one of a number of games released for free by ''[[The Icon Bar]]'' website in 2006.<ref name="iconbar lee 2006">{{cite news | url=http://www.iconbar.com/forums/viewthread.php?newsid=879 | title=Free games | work=[[The Icon Bar]] | date=11 January 2006 | access-date=26 March 2012 | first=Lee | last=Jeffrey}}</ref>

Some versions feature a new title, "[[Archangel]]", for the player to earn that substitutes the rank of Commander. Archangel is reached by undertaking a special mission to destroy a space station in a system invaded by the Thargoids. The player's reward for completing the mission is to receive the title Archangel and obtain a device that is capable of emulating anti-[[Electronic countermeasure|ECM]] broadcast.<ref name=elitefaq/>

Versions for [[32X]] and [[Sega Mega Drive]] were in development but cancelled due to Sony backing out of the project and lack of publisher.<ref name="SMuk18">{{cite magazine|url=https://retrocdn.net/index.php?title=File:SegaMagazine_UK_18.pdf&page=13|title=News: Elite Update|magazine=[[Sega Magazine]]|issue=18|publisher=[[EMAP]]|date=June 1995|page=13}}</ref> However, a ROM image of the Mega Drive demo was released online by co-designer Ian Bell.<ref>{{cite web|last=Bell|first=Ian|author-link=Ian Bell (programmer)|url=http://www.elitehomepage.org/demos/index.htm|title=Unpublished Elite Demos|work=The Elite Home Page|publisher=Ian C G Bell's Home Page|access-date=2020-12-05}}</ref>