How to download and install Elite over Econet
To load Elite on your Econet network, you'll need to download the disc image from here:
- Elite over Econet as a DSD disc image
This will let you load Elite over Econet on the following networked machines:
- BBC Micro Model B
- BBC Micro Model B with 16K Sideways RAM
- BBC Micro Model B+ 64K
- BBC Micro Model B+ 128K
- BBC Micro with 6502 Second Processor
- BBC Master 128
- BBC Master Turbo
Basic installation instructions are provided in a ReadMe file on the disc, or see below for more detailed information.
What's on the disc?
-------------------
The disc contains updated versions of Acornsoft Elite that work when loaded from a fileserver over Econet (unlike the originals). On top of this, Elite over Econet supports multiplayer scoreboards, which lets you run live Elite competitions between groups of players (see the Elite multiplayer scoreboard for details).
The game experience is unchanged - this is the same Elite game as always - but these versions load over Econet and let you load and save commander files to your network account.
That said, the version for the unexpanded BBC Micro does have two features missing from the original, which had to be removed to make room for Econet. First, the docking computer now instantly docks on pressing "C", just like the BBC Micro cassette and Acorn Electron versions of Elite; and second, the planets are simple circles, without meridians, equators or craters, like the Electron version. Gameplay is otherwise unaffected, and all other versions of Elite over Econet are unchanged.
To make things fair in multiplayer competitions, all versions of Elite over Econet support instant docking (as otherwise BBC Micro players would have a time advantage). You can activate this by pressing "C" to start the normal docking sequence, and then tapping "J" to insta-dock. This feature is backported from the NES version of Elite, so it's an authentic part of the Elite canon.
The 6502 Second Processor version works on the BBC Master Turbo, the BBC Master with an external 6502 Second Processor, and the BBC Micro with an external 6502 Second Processor.
The Master version is based on the Superior Software Master Compact release, so it supports digital joysticks and works on the Master 128, Master ET and Master Compact.
The BBC Micro version will look for 16K of sideways RAM, and if it finds it, it will load the fully featured sideways RAM variant of BBC Micro disc Elite. If there is no sideways RAM, it loads the cut-down version of BBC Micro disc Elite that is missing the docking computer animation and detailed planets.
Installation instructions
-------------------------
To install Elite on your Econet network, download the disc image and copy the files to your server as follows (files have been grouped into DFS directories to make this process easier). Note that the disc image is a double-sided disc, so it contains files on both drive 0 and drive 2.
- Create a directory on the server called $.EliteGame and copy all the files from DFS directory G on both drive 0 and drive 2 to there (see below if you want to install the game into a different location). Note that this directory name has changed from earlier versions.
- Create a directory called D inside $.EliteGame (i.e. $.EliteGame.D) and copy all the files from DFS directory D on drive 2 of the disc image to there.
- Create a directory called EliteCmdrs in the top level of the main home directory for each user who wants to play Elite (e.g. $.Mark.EliteCmdrs for user Mark), and copy all the files from DFS directory C on drive 2 of the disc image to there. If you don't create this folder, then the game will not work for that user. Note that this directory name has changed from earlier versions.
- Do one of the following, depending on who you want to be able to play the game:
- If you want all users to be able to play Elite, then copy all the files from DFS directory L on drive 2 of the disc image into $.Library and $.Library1 and ensure all users have their library set accordingly.
- If you want to restrict the game to specific users, then copy all the files from DFS directory L on drive 2 of the disc image into the EliteCmdrs folder that you just created in each of the users' main home directories.
- Users can then play Elite by typing:
*Elite
This will load the correct version of Elite for their machine. If you restricted Elite to specific users in step 4 above, they will need to *DIR into their own EliteCmdrs folder first, like this:*DIR *DIR EliteCmdrs *Elite
If you want to run Elite over Econet on a BBC Micro that has any ROMs other than BASIC and NFS installed (such as DNFS or DFS, for example), then you will probably need to run the FixPAGE utility first. See the BBC Micro section below for details. - Should you run into difficulties with the above command, you can run specific versions of Elite using the following:
*EliteB (to play BBC Micro Elite) *EliteM (to play BBC Master 128 Elite) *EliteSP (to play 6502 Second Processor Elite)
If you have problems, you can post to this Stardot thread and I'll do my best to help.
Installation notes
------------------
The installation process can be tailored as follows:
- If you want to install the Elite binaries in steps 1 and 2 into a different directory on the server (i.e. not $.EliteGame), then you can use a hex editor on the EliteB, EliteM and EliteSP binaries so that they load the game from your preferred directory instead. Simply change the *DIR $.EliteGame string at the end of each binary to point to your new directory, and everything should work - just make sure that the string is still terminated by a &0D carriage return character. So if you want to install Elite in $.Games.Elite, for example, edit the end of each binary, changing *DIR $.EliteGame to *DIR $.Games.Elite (followed by &0D).
- Alternatively, you can change the path by building your own installation disc using the elite-over-econet repository, by changing the path in the MESS1 variable in the elite-boot-6502sp.asm, elite-boot-6502sp.asm and elite-boot-master.asm sources.
If you install Elite over Econet in the default locations, then the complete list of installed files on your server should look like this if you are installing Elite for all users:
- $.EliteGame
- ElDebug
- ElScore
- ELTAD
- ELTAI
- ELTAT
- ELTBD
- ELTBI
- ELTBM
- ELTBR
- ELTBS
- ELTBT
- ELTMC
- ELTMD
- ELTME
- ELTSA
- ELTSE
- ELTSI
- ELTSP
- FixPAGE
- Version
- $.Library
- Elite
- EliteB
- EliteM
- EliteSP
- $.Library1
- Elite
- EliteB
- EliteM
- EliteSP
- $.User1.EliteCmdrs
- MAX
- $.User2.EliteCmdrs
- MAX
- ...
- $.UserX.EliteCmdrs
- MAX
Or like this if you are just installing Elite for one user:
- $.EliteGame
- ElDebug
- ElScore
- ELTAD
- ELTAI
- ELTAT
- ELTBD
- ELTBI
- ELTBM
- ELTBR
- ELTBS
- ELTBT
- ELTMC
- ELTMD
- ELTME
- ELTSA
- ELTSE
- ELTSI
- ELTSP
- FixPAGE
- Version
- $.User.EliteCmdrs
- MAX
- Elite
- EliteB
- EliteM
- EliteSP
If you can't get your installation working, let me know in this Stardot thread and I'll try to help.
Playing Elite over Econet
-------------------------
Here are some notes on playing Elite over Econet:
- Commander files will be saved into each individual user's EliteCmdrs directory.
- If a user tries to run Elite but doesn't have a folder called EliteCmdrs in their main user directory, i.e. $.<user>.EliteCmdrs, then the game will not load.
- The BBC Micro version loads data every time you launch or dock. This shouldn't take too long, but if the network is slow, you might have to wait a bit longer. You can tell when the game is loading data as the top part of the dashboard tends to flicker.
- Docking with the docking computer is instant in the standard BBC Micro version of Elite over Econet. To make things fair, all other versions of Elite over Econet support instant docking (as otherwise BBC Micro players would have a time advantage). You can activate this by pressing "C" to activate the normal docking sequence, and then tapping "J" to insta-dock; this applies to the BBC Micro sideways RAM version, the 6502 Second Processor version, and the BBC Master version.
For more on multiplayer competitions, see the Elite multiplayer scoreboard for details.
The BBC Micro version
---------------------
Because memory is really tight, the BBC Micro version needs the machine to be set up correctly for Elite to work (this is particularly true when using the scoreboard feature). Specifically, the value of PAGE has to be &1200 or less for the game to work, as otherwise the Econet OSWORD calls will corrupt the game code. The BBC Master and 6502 Second Processor versions are much more forgiving - this is only an issue on the BBC Micro.
To make it easier to set up your BBC Micro for playing Elite over Econet, the disc contains a utility called FixPAGE, which disables all ROMs except for NFS and BASIC. This should free up enough memory to bring PAGE down to the correct level. You can run this utility from the network like this:
*DIR $.EliteGame *FixPAGE
Follow the instructions to bring PAGE down to &1200, ready for you to run Elite:
This utility might not be able to disable all ROMs, but it should work for most setups.
If your BBC Micro has sideways RAM, then a full version of the game will be loaded. This stores ship blueprints and network code in sideways RAM, leaving enough free memory for Elite to work alongside Econet. Most sideways RAM systems will work automatically, but if you run into difficulties or you want to store the ROM in a specific ROM bank, then you can pre-load the Elite ROM yourself, and the loader should identify this and won't try to load it again.
If you want to do this, then the ROM image is the ELTBR file in $.EliteGame. You can either load it into sideways RAM yourself, or you can burn it into an EPROM or EEPROM (it works equally well in ROM or RAM).
Release history
---------------
Elite over Econet has had the following releases:
- 2024-01-16 - Initial release
- 2024-04-15 - Added BBC Micro sideways RAM version
- 2024-04-16 - Fixed loading issues with BBC Micro version when multiple RAM banks are available
- 2024-04-20 - Fixed a bug in the BBC Micro version that would incorrectly dock the ship following death
- 2024-05-01 - Added standard BBC Micro version and multiplayer scoreboard
You can check the release for a given disc image by loading the disc and typing *TYPE README to display the credits. The build date is at the end.