Elite

Elite (1984)

by Acornsoft, David Braben, Frontier Developments, Ian Bell, Digital Integration, Firebird, Hybrid Technology, Imagineer, Merlin Software U.K.
Genres:Strategy, Shooter, Simulator
Themes:Open world, Action, Science fiction, Sandbox, Business
Game modes:Single player
Story:Elite is a space trading video game, written and developed by David Braben and Ian Bell and originally published by Acornsoft for the BBC Micro and Acorn Electron computers in September 1984. Elite's open-ended game model, and revolutionary 3D graphics led to it being ported to virtually every contemporary home computer system, and earned it a place as a classic and a genre maker in gaming history. The game's title derives from one of the player's goals of raising their combat rating to the exalted heights of "Elite". Elite was one of the first home computer games to use wire-frame 3D graphics with hidden line removal. It added graphics and twitch gameplay aspects to the genre established by the 1974 game Star Trader. Another novelty was the inclusion of The Dark Wheel, a novella by Robert Holdstock which gave players insight into the moral and legal codes to which they might aspire.Show more
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Stories about this game (6)
What’s your memory of Elite?Share your favorite moments and see what others remember about this game.
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user avatar@paci2020user avatar@paci2020
February 06, 2025
Before Elite Dangerous, there was this game. It had a reputation system based on your kills which increased access to more dangerous areas and more lucrative missions. Starting from the bottommost Harmless, all the way up to Dangerous, then Deadly then Elite. The higher your reputation, the more you would be hunted by others wanting to raise their own reputations. Tempted to try this again just for nostalgia but I honestly don't miss the days when every sound from your game came out of a single pc speaker in some kind of variation of beep or bop. Or monitors back in the day that were all green, or orange. Later upgrading to the amazing EGA, with 16 COLOURS!!! Then VGA, then...I kind of lost track after that. Why do we even need 8K? Was painfully reminded of this trying to replay old Sierra games. There is a reason why remasters are necessary for retro classics like this. I do wish Elite Dangerous was available as a single player offline experience though. Like all online games, it will die with it's server, while this old thing will go on and on. Such a tragedy, really.
user avatar@GoodGuyAuser avatar@GoodGuyA
February 02, 2025
The seminal piece of early British game software. There are many, many versions and different types of support that would need to be added - but it would be worth it to have one of the most important video games of all time available.
first space game i played,i played on a AMIGA 500,their wasnt anything at the time anywhere near it,it would be fun for younger memebers to see what it was like back in the day.
user avatar@Ianmanuser avatar@Ianman
February 20, 2025
An amazing experience that started my hobby of gaming. it was revolutionary at the time and I couldn't believe the scale of the game. It just brings back a lot of memories!
user avatar@shenron666user avatar@shenron666
February 26, 2025
This is the most advanced game of its time. No game at the same period could argue to propose a tenth of Elite. In fact, this game is a masterpiece, far above any other game, more than technicaly advanced for the computers capabilities of the era.
Played this game from tape on BBC micro. Still love it. :)
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