Load and run "loader" and use it to load elite. You will have to turn the turboload off for it to work properly. ********* Welcome to Project 64! The goal of Project 64 is to preserve Commodore 64 related documents in electronic text format that might otherwise cease to exist with the rapid advancement of computer technology and declining interest in 8- bit computers on the part of the general population. Extensive efforts were made to preserve the contents of the original document. However, certain portions, such as diagrams, program listings, and indexes may have been either altered or sacrificed due to the limitations of plain vanilla text. Diagrams may have been eliminated where ASCII-art was not feasible. Program listings may be missing display codes where substitutions were not possible. Tables of contents and indexes may have been changed from page number references to section number references. Please accept our apologies for these limitations, alterations, and possible omissions. Document names are limited to the 8.3 file convention of DOS. The first characters of the file name are an abbreviation of the original document name. The version number of the etext follows next. After that a letter may appear to indicate the particular source of the document. Finally, the document is given a .TXT extension. The author(s) of the original document and members of Project 64 make no representations about the accuracy or suitability of this material for any purpose. This etext is provided "as-is". Please refer to the warantee of the original document, if any, that may included in this etext. No other warantees, express or implied, are made to you as to the etext or any medium it may be on. Neither the author(s) nor the members of Project 64 will assume liability for damages either from the direct or indirect use of this etext or from the distribution of or modification to this etext. Therefore if you read this document or use the information herein you do so at your own risk. ********* The Project 64 etext of the ~Elite manual~. Instructions edited and written by Bob Tinsley , credits Coverdale Page. Formatting, corrections, and prices by Cris Berneburg , the Basic Bombardier. Corrections for Quick Key Control Guide obtained from Doc's "R" Us BBS, 914-668-3664 (phone number may no longer be valid) supplied by Uber from the Tri-City Commodore User Group collection. This replaces ELITE10.TXT, etext 29. ELITE11.TXT, April 1997, etext #230# ********* %PROGRAM : Elite %COPYRIGHT : British Telcommunications plc (Firebird), 1985 %AUTHORS : R.J.M. Pinto, D.M.N. Prior, M. Wighton, P. Mochan %INSTRUCTIONS : Command your Cobra space ship in a fantastic voyage of discovery and adventure, a supreme test of your combat, navigational and entrepreneurial skills. Trade between countless planets, using the proceeds to equip your ship with heat-seeking missiles, beam lasers and other weapons - corporate states can be approached without risk, but unruly anarchies may be swarming with space pirates. Black market trading can be lucrative but could result in skirmishes with local police and a price on your head! However you make your money, by fair means or foul, you must blast onwards through space annihilating pirate ships and hostile aliens as you strive to earn your reputation as one of the Elite! YOUR RATING AS A COMBATEER To become an elite combateer requires great skill and great patience, because expert trading is essential before the necessary more powerful armaments and equipment available to the Cobra ship can be bought: beam lasers, more missiles, energy bombs, a docking computer, galactic hyperdrive, etc. As you sail through space between the stars, and as you trade, you will live with your combat rating. You will begin as HARMLESS. If you survive your first skirmish you may be reclassified as MOSTLY HARMLESS. But on the slow climb to a status level that reflects a growing talent for combat you will have to engage many different ships, in many different skirmishes, in the System Space of many different worlds. You will then be classified as POOR, then AVERAGE, then ABOVE AVERAGE, then COMPETENT. Then you will become DANGEROUS, then DEADLY. And at last a few will become ELITE. Your kills are photographed and transmitted by TS ComDirect to the nearest GalCop Federal Law Centre. Your rating as a combateer will increase in direct proportion. Fly your Cobra craft wisely and carefully. Remember: other pilots may be attempting to increase their own combat rating by attacking either innocent traders, or police Vipers (the ships of the GalCop Police Force). If you resort to such tactics (or if you adopt the fast-credit routine and trade in illegal goods) then your combat rating may rise, but your legal status: CLEAN -> OFFENDER -> FUGITIVE, will make you Public Enemy Number One with the Federation Crime Monitoring Authority and you will not be left alone. CONSOLE READINGS +----+------------+-------------------------------------+------------+----+ | FS | |||||||||| | __ ___________ __ | |||||||||| | SP | | AS | |||||||||| | / \ __--- ---__ /* \ | || | RL | | FU | || | \__/ / \ \__/ | || | DC | | CT | || | < FLIGHT GRID SCANNER > | |||||||||| | 1 | | LT | | \__ __/ | |||||||||| | 2 | | AL | |||||||||| | E ---___________--- | |||||||||| | 3 | | -> | | | | |||||||||| | 4 | +----+------------+-------------------------------------+------------+----+ Front shields Status (Green, all safe; Yellow, Speed Aft shields possible danger; Red, immediate Roll Fuel level danger; Flashing, critical.) Dive/Climb Cabin temperature Compass (Centres on planet or Energy bank 1 Laser temperature space station; when dot is not Energy bank 2 Altitude solid, object is behind you.) Energy bank 3 Missile status ECM detector - ECM activity near Energy bank 4 EQUIPMENT Item Tech Level Price/CR Fuel Always Varies Missile Always 30 Large Cargo Bay Always 400 ECM System 2 600 Pulse Laser 3 400 Beam Laser 4 1000 Fuel Scoops 5 525 Escape Capsule 6 1000 Energy Bomb 7 900 Extra Energy Unit 8 1500 Docking Computers 9 1500 Galactic Hyperdrive 10 5000 Mining Lasers 10 800 Military Lasers 10 6000 HINTS AND TIPS * Agricultural worlds need specialist food and raw materials, but mostly basic machinery and spare parts. If they are rich, they need luxuries and high tech industrial machines. They produce food in quantity, raw materials and specialised 'organic' items, like some textiles. * Industrial worlds need agricultural produce, raw materials (for refining), resource exploitation machinery, and (if rich) high tech goods. They produce basic items of need for civilised worlds: beds, seals and gaskets, power storage units, basic weapons, mass produced fertiliser, mass produced medicines, etc. * Trade in illegal goods (Slaves, Narcotics and Firearms) is the most profitable, but may harm your Legal Status. * Destroying pirate vessels earns a bounty, but attacking innocent traders may harm your Legal Status. * Once your Cobra is within automatic-docking and protective range of the Coriolis space station, the scan console will display an S next to the compass. * Asteroids (and spacecraft!) can be mined with the appropriate lasers, and the debris collected in fuel scoops. * Thargoid (alien) battle-cruisers may 'hover' in Witch-Space (hyperspace) and attack through-coming craft. * Using an Escape Capsule effectively resets your legal status to Clean. DOCKING PROCEDURE Docking with a Coriolis space station is never easy, unless the ship is equipped with an automatic docking computer (in which case C will activate it). The Navy Training Manual recommends the following approach and dock sequence. Locate the Coriolis station and approach it. The entrance tunnels to all these stations face the mother planet. Fly near to the station and then on towards the planet (monitoring altitude carefully). By turning a half circle you will now find your ship orientated towards the entrance. Approach the final moments of docking at DEAD SLOW SPEED. Failure to dock cleanly can be fatal but may simply result in your scraping the sides of the aperture, with consequent loss of defensive shield(s) and quite possibly your cargo. Manually control the Cobra's roll motion to match the rotation of the Coriolis station. The entry port must be nearly as horizontal as possible. If docking is successful, the protective field across the station entrance is penetrated, and a break pattern appears on the screen. Berthing is handled automatically. QUICK KEY CONTROL GUIDE Space Flight Controls Anticlockwise roll < - or joystick Clockwise roll > - or joystick Dive S - or joystick Climb X - or joystick Increase speed Space Bar Decrease speed ? Front view F1 Back view F3 Left view F5 Right view F7 Space Combat Controls Fire laser A - or fire Target missle T Fire missle M Unarm missle U ECM E Energy bomb C= [ Commodore Key ] Escape capsule <- [ Back Arrow at upper-left ] Docking computer ON C Docking computer OFF P Navigation Controls Hyperspace H Intergalactic jump ctrl H Distance to system D Cursor cross home O Cursor cross control Cursor Keys Galactic chart 4 Local cluster chart 5 Trading Controls Launch from station F1 - only while docked Buy cargo 1 - only while docked Sell cargo 2 - only while docked Equip ship 3 - only while docked Galactic chart 4 Local cluster chart 5 Data on system 6 Market prices 7 Status page 8 Inventory 9 Find Planet F - only while docked Game Controls Game skip J Freeze game Inst Del Continue game Clr Home Initiate save @ - only while docked Other Controls Note: these controls can only be used when the game is frozen Keyboard recentering toggle A Keyboard damping toggle Run Stop Keyboard/Joystick toggle K Reverse joystick Y-y channel only Reverse joystick J-both channels Docking music ON/OFF M Sound effects OFF Q Sound effects ON S Flashing RED/YELLOW toggle F Planet surface lines P Start new game <- [ Back Arrow at upper-left ] The keyboard recentering toggle (A) will disable and re-enable the recentering in roll and dive/climb control. When recentering is enabled, a small amount of climb (or clockwise roll) cancels any dive (or anticlockwise roll) and vice versa. The keyboard damping toggle (RUN STOP) will disable and re-enable the automatic damping of a roll, dive or climb while in keyboard control. The J key will reverse both channels of the joystick enabling it to be held either way around. The Y key will reverse the Y-channel only so that pushing the joystick forward will result in a climb and pulling it back will result in a dive; roll will not be affected. The J and Y keys can be used in conjunction. The F key will make the dial information appearing in red flash red and yellow. This will make the screen display clear for users with black and white televisions or monochrome monitors. ********* Sample prices and quantities for some systems. Price and availability may vary ;-) ********* Name Lave Leesti Diso Orerve Oresqu Erlaza On Rira Econ Rich Ag Poor In Ave Ag Main In Ave In Ave Ag Rich In Gov Dict Corp Dem Feudal Multi Dict Corp Tech 5 11 8 6 10 6 14 Pop 2.5 5.0 4.1 2.5 4.0 3.0 6.0 Prod 7000 35200 13120 7000 17280 6720 52800 Rad 4116 3085 6155 5132 5142 2846 6678 Food 3.6/16 6.0/10 2.8/18 5.6/13 7.2/9 3.2/19 7.6/6 Tex 6.0/15 8.0/12 6.4/18 8.0/16 8.8/14 6.0/17 8.8/12 Rad 20.0/17 26.0/12 19.6/22 25.2/18 27.6/12 20.8/25 26.8/25 Slave 6.0/- 20.8/- 8.0/10 12.8/- 16.8/- 15.6/29 23.2/- Liq 23.2/3 31.6/9 25.2/35 30.0/17 34.0/7 26.4/38 34.0/- Lux 94.4/28 85.6/38 98.4/8 89.2/33 82.8/49 98.0/7 79.2/56 Narc 49.6/14 46.8/62 64.4/34 26.4/- 3.2/- 83.6/- 23.6/24 Comp 89.6/- 73.6/28 96.0/- 79.6/17 68.4/45 95.6/- 62.4/58 Mach 58.8/- 54.0/32 62.0/6 56.8/29 52.0/41 63.2/9 47.6/42 Alloy 33.2/10 40.8/35 37.6/21 35.2/21 34.4/23 45.2/40 38.4/35 Fire 75.6/- 61.6/7 81.6/- 68.0/- 57.6/23 82.8/- 50.4/31 Furs 52.4/17 84.0/34 52.8/28 62.4/- 69.6/- 73.2/15 77.6/- Min 10.8/58 12.0/55 11.2/61 12.8/59 13.6/57 10.8/60 13.6/55 Gold 36.8/7 39.6/8 37.2/10 40.4/12 41.2/10 38.4/13 39.6/4 Plat 64.4/9 74.8/15 67.6/13 68.8/4 70.4/- 75.2/32 75.6/9 Gems 16.0/8 18.8/- 19.6/10 19.6/4 20.4/2 20.8/13 18.8/- Alien 51.2/- 34.8/- 58.0/- 42.0/- 30.0/- 59.2/- 22.0/- ********* End of the Project 64 etext of the Elite manual. *********