Elite Ported to Atari 8-Bit from BBC Micro Disk Source
In a move born from frustration with other stalled projects, a developer has taken matters into their own hands, porting the feature-complete disk version of Elite from the BBC Micro to the Atari 8-bit line.
The Atari 8-bit family of computers is on the receiving end of an impressive new port of the classic space-trading game Elite, with a developer releasing a public demo of their ongoing work. In a candid post on the AtariAge forums, the developer explained the project was born from frustration with other stalled porting efforts. 'Many of us us have been teased with a recent non-optimized port of the tape version of Elite and another porting project with no end in sight', they wrote. 'As a result, I got frustrated and decided to make it happen myself'.
Rather than starting from the more common tape-based code, this new version is a port of the feature-complete disk version from the BBC Micro. The work is based on the meticulously reverse-engineered source code published by Mark Moxon, for which the developer gives 'great thanks'. The process was far from simple, requiring 'countless changes' to adapt the code for the Atari's architecture. This included creating new display lists, writing new interrupt routines, re-mapping Page 0 variables, and modifying all pixel-drawing routines to suit the Atari’s linear screen memory.
The resulting demo, now on its second release, already boasts an extensive list of features not seen in other versions. These include flicker-free ships and space stations, 31 possible ship types, enhanced AI, a proper docking computer, a ship hanger display after docking, and a more colourful cockpit display and 3D scanner. The developer also notes that optimisations have been made, 'including the use of logarithm-based math routines', to improve performance on the 8-bit hardware.
The project is not yet finished, as the current demo does not permit loading or saving, though a version with that capability is in development. The developer is actively seeking bug reports on the AtariAge forum to refine the port further, noting that special mission screens and inventory bugs still need to be addressed. The second demo file, edemo2.atr, is available to download from the forum thread for any user with an Atari 8-bit computer (or emulator) with at least 48k of memory.