6502 Second Processor Elite

About

Elite is Ian Bell and David Braben's space trading and combat game, originally published by Acornsoft for the BBC Micro; the 6502 Second Processor version documented here is copyright Acornsoft 1985. This repository is not a reimplementation but the original 1985 BBC Micro assembly source code for Elite (the 6502 Second Processor variant), with every line documented and explained by Mark Moxon as a companion to the elite.bbcelite.com website. The source can be assembled with BeebAsm and a Python-based build process into working disc images for three historical variants (the released Acornsoft SNG45 disc, an unreleased source-disc build, and an unreleased Executive version), with build output verified byte-for-byte against the original binaries.

How it differs from the original

The repository also includes optional branches that go beyond the 1985 release: a flicker-free version backporting BBC Master ship-drawing fixes, and a version adding Commodore 64 music to the BBC Micro game.

Getting started

To get a runnable game, assemble the source using BeebAsm and Python via the included build scripts for Windows or Mac/Linux; this produces a disc image that can be loaded into a BBC Micro emulator (with optional auto-loading into the b2 emulator) or written for use on real BBC Micro hardware.

History

The annotated source is a documentation project by Mark Moxon, based on the original source discs from Ian Bell's personal website and originally forked from Kieran Connell's BeebAsm disassembly of the game.

Licensing & legal

• The repository deliberately has no LICENSE file; under default copyright rules the source remains fully rights-reserved, and GitHub's terms only permit reading and forking it.