History of Elite

Elite, originally published by Acornsoft for the BBC Micro computer, was released in 1984. Elite gave players the option to enter the realm of trading goods and contraband, engage in combat in a large galaxy full of dangers and mysteries, indulge in pirate activity and even take up the reigns of bounty hunting, in order to earn money to improve your ship.
 

The game's title “Elite” derives from one of the player's goals of raising their combat rating from “Harmless” to the exalted heights of "Elite", a feat only accomplished by a select few to this very day.
 

Elite was followed by two sequels, named Frontier: Elite II (released in 1993) and Frontier: First Encounters (released in 1995) which both introduced improved graphics and the ability for players to land on planet surfaces and visit individual cities, adding a new dimension to the game.

The trail-blazing open-ended game model and advanced 3D graphics meant Elite and its sequels were ported to virtually every home computer and game console system, earned universal acclaim as a classic videogame, and is still recalled with fondness by many.

It’s for this reason we’re delighted to be celebrating 25 great years of Elite history with contributions from gamers around the planet.

Elite

In "Elite" you start with a basic Cobra Mk.III space craft and a measly 100 Credits.

You are then challenged to survive in a hostile galaxy containing traders, pirates, police, bounty hunters, and an elusive alien race, the "Thargoids". You can earn money in many ways, including trading food from an agricultural world to an industrial world, and machinery on the return journey. Perhaps you prefer piracy to honest trading. Or maybe a little of each…
 

"Elite" set many firsts, and was the first genuine 3D game on home computers. Even many years after its release it is fondly remembered. It went on to sell around 1,000,000 units, and is popular still, having appeared on most popular gaming formats.

Elite II: Frontier

"Frontier: Elite II" was the long awaited sequel to Elite. It was written in five and a half years by David Braben, with Konami Inc of Japan as publisher. In 1993, Konami decided to get out of PC publishing, and sold the rights to Gametek. The game was released in October 1993 and was in the top few slots in the UK Gallup chart for the best part of the following year. It was the best selling game in Europe 1993 according to Gallup.
 

It was made up of in the region of 250,000 lines of 68000 assembler, and as such was one of the largest commercial programs to be written entirely in assembler. Chris Sawyer (now of Rollercoaster Tycoon fame) did the mammoth task of porting it to the 80286 for the PC.
 

"Frontier" set a number of firsts. It was the first game to have “real-sized” planets, where cities could be viewed from orbit, it was the first to use curved surfaces (Bezier), the only game to do a palette-fit every frame to get best use of colours (Amiga and ST only), and (apart from First Encounters) is the only piece of software (games or otherwise) that attempts to simulate our entire galaxy.
 

Planets orbit and rotate correctly, so if you stay in one spot you will see sunrises, and the progression of stars, planets and moons through the night sky. It is possible to watch Saturn-rise from one of its moons.
 

Due to Gametek Inc.'s disappearance, accurate sales figures are not known. Royalties were received for around 350,000 sales but it appears that actual sales were in excess of 500,000 units.
 

Frontier, like Elite, is still widely played by many people.

Elite III: First Encounters

"First Encounters" was the sequel to Elite II: Frontier. It was released in Easter 1995 and was well reviewed by press and gaming enthusiasts alike. It was, however released by the publisher before it was ready, with known bugs, and was the subject of a protracted lawsuit between David Braben and Gametek.
 

Much like Elite and Frontier: Elite II, "First Encounters" had a number of firsts to its name. The extent of the detailed modelling of the geography of the planets has still not been surpassed, despite the relative lack of power of the target PCs at the time – i.e. Intel 386 machines. It was the first game to use procedural texturing to generate the vegetation, snow, etc. on the planet surfaces. Mountain ranges, cliffs, wonderful alien landscapes and atmospheric effects all contributed to the atmosphere of the game, and the coloured lighting from the redder stars gave some planets an eerie look.

Despite the problems at the time of release it is still played by many people around the world.