BBC Elite - Acornsoft

The BBC disc version of Elite was first released by Acornsoft in September 1984. Although it followed the regular Acornsoft box design on the outside, what the box contained set a new standard for computer games. The higher than usual price tag was more than justified when the entire Elite experience was realised.

The disc version of BBC Elite is regarded as the classic version of the game. It featured the full set of ships, secret missions and other additions which enriched the game. It cost more to purchase than the cassette version but the added features made the extra expense worthwhile.

The disc version differed from the tape version as follows:-

• Full set of ships - Adder, Anaconda, Asp Mk II, Boa, Cobra Mk I, Cobra Mk III, Fer-De-Lance, Gecko, Krait, Mamba, Moray Star Boat, Python, Orbit Shuttle, Sidewinder, Thargoid, Transporter, Viper, Worm
• Two types of space station - Coriolis and Dodecahedron
• Secret missions
• Military lasers
• Mining lasers
• Brief loading delays during docking and hyperspacing

The high-speed loading offered by the disc filing system was a major strength of the game. Although there was no extra memory available to the disc version, extra data could be loaded during the game, giving the appearance of additional features and ships.

The disc version was undoubtedly the version to have when the game was released. In addition to the missions and extra ships, the game loaded in a matter of seconds and was much less prone to loading errors than the cassette tape version. From Acornsoft's point of view, the game was much more difficult to copy, especially as sophisticated anti-piracy code was included on the disc.

The arrival of Elite heralded a new concept in game presentation. Instead of just the game media and an instruction sheet, Elite came packaged with a hefty manual, a novella based on the game, a ship poster and various other items.

Click on the image to the left to view the complete BBC micro (disc) Elite package

To generate further interest in the game, a demo disc was produced and distributed to game retailers, which contained a rolling demonstration of Elite to run on the store's BBC computer. There was no playable element as it was intended for shop windows and displays.
The same program was present on the retail BBC disc and showed off the trading and combat aspects of the cassette tape version of the game. The program ran differently each time it repeated (one iteration is shown in the video below).

Each copy of Acornsoft Elite came with a competition entry card, which was to be completed and posted to Acornsoft by any Commander with a ranking of 'Competent' or higher.
For each month from September 1984 (the game's release) to March 1985, the Commander judged to have shown the most skill could win £100 of Acornsoft software and an 'Elite' emblem. The monthly winners would then be entered into the national Elite tournament, to be held in April 1985.
The entry card for the BBC cassette tape version was blue, whereas it was green for the Acorn Electron and brown for the BBC disc version. Along with the other box contents, this was part of Acornsoft's attempts to reduce software piracy, by making the entire package desirable, rather than just the game itself. The security code referred to on the card was displayed automatically by the game, each time the Commander saved their progress.

BBC Elite - Superior Software

In 1986, after acquiring the rights to the Elite game on Acorn machines, Superior Software released newly-packaged versions of the game. One such version was the new disc version shown here, which was released on a dual format floppy disc to take advantage of BBC Master computer hardware, if present. On a normal BBC disc-based machine, the game would play exactly as before.

This version was cheaper than the Acornsoft release but had a reduced amount of material enclosed within it, due to the smaller packaging. The novella and ships poster were among those items absent.

Playing BBC Elite on your PC

Running BBC Elite on your PC can be done in two easy steps:
1. Download BeebEm to emulate a BBC on your PC
2. Download the game from Mark Moxon's amazing BBC Elite website

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