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VIC 20 Elite

Aleksi Eeben 2,056 3 days ago
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VIC 20 port of Elite, the genre-defining 1984 classic and one of the first open-world space trading games if not the first, featuring exploration, combat, and a dynamic economy. - 32K + 3K RAM expansion required - 1541 or SD2IEC for saving game progress - Joystick optional - Download at https://vic20elite.wordpress.com Released on 20 January 2025 VIC 20 Elite is based on the C-64 source. VIC 20 specific graphics, text, keyboard & joystick input, and sound routines were written from scratch to replace the corresponding C-64 code. Of course, the complete enhanced Elite won’t fit within the VIC 20’s limited memory, so some features had to be left out. Following the original 1984 BBC Cassette and Acorn Electron version, the VIC 20 version omits extended planet descriptions, planetary details (craters and meridians), and the missions that appear further on in the game. The pause mode options are dropped, and there is no Find Planet option in Galactic Chart (that would be only really useful during missions). Three ship blueprints have been removed: Moray, that never spawns due to a bug; Constrictor, that only appears in a mission; and Cougar, which is so rare it’s seen maybe once in a lifetime. Ships that appear as both pirates and traders are optimized to share blueprints. This made it possible to include 30 different ships, 27 of which are unique design. Also, both Coriolis and Dodo Space Stations are in. For reference, the BBC Cassette and Acorn Electron versions only had 11–13 ships, so the VIC 20 version is arguably bigger and better! Even the suns are kept in, although they do slow things down a bit. This port relies heavily on Mark Moxon’s digital archaeology project about Elite on various 8-bit platforms. Check out his work at https://elite.bbcelite.com. Elite for the Commodore 64 was written by Ian Bell and David Braben and is copyright D. Braben and I. Bell, 1985. Mark Moxon’s thoroughly documented and analyzed source code is based on the source disks released on Ian Bell’s personal website: http://www.elitehomepage.org See Space Traders Flight Training Manual on archive.org: https://ia800202.us.archive.org/35/items/Elite_1985_Firebird_Software/Elite_1985_Firebird_Software.pdf Instructions: https://www.lemon64.com/doc/elite/207 Keyboard commands & comparison of different 8-bit versions of Elite: https://bit.ly/vic20elite-help Acornsoft Elite - Promo Video 1984 - VHS: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=47HzgWqv_kk Ponder's Retro Goodness: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wzvdviWjdY0 Pelataanpa: Elite (VIC-20:llä!): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FD_jeFN7Xxw Modern Retro Gaming News: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QpRR4oh5GCc AndyH: Elite Vic 20 - Getting started: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s4QMKXOM2Is Rob Lester: Elite on a real Vic 20 - War, it's fantastic! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7STWMwPB8cw Saberman's Indie Retro News: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ujrmmo6Jn8 Rod Hull Replays: Elite for the Commodore VIC20 (prev 15012025-1646): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ICNWKrSycpk hack::soho | Explaining Elite | Mark Moxon: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J10vYqqE6oI Visit Aleksi’s Eight Bit Shed at https://fb.com/eightbitshed and https://bit.ly/eightbitshed (Dropbox) for a load of other 8-bit projects. If you want to support Aleksi’s work you can send him a decaf at http://ko-fi.com/aleksieeben

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