BBC Master Elite

About

This repository contains Ian Bell and David Braben's 1986 Acornsoft source code for Elite on the BBC Master, reconstructed by hand from a disassembly of the released binaries and documented line-by-line by Mark Moxon. It supports building two byte-accurate variants — the Acornsoft SNG47 release and the Superior Software Master Compact version — plus separate branches adding a flicker-free graphics fix, Commodore 64-derived music, and BBC Micro B+ compatibility.

How it differs from the original

The flicker-free branch removes planet-rendering flicker present in the original release, and the music branch adds a soundtrack ported from the Commodore 64 version — neither exists in the original BBC Master game.

Getting started

Building the game from source requires BeebAsm and Python; running the project's build script produces a disc image that can be loaded onto real BBC Master hardware or into an emulator, with options to choose the release variant, disable copy protection, or start with a maxed-out commander.

History

The project builds on Kieran Connell's earlier BeebAsm disassembly of Elite and Paul Brink's annotated disassembly work, reconstructing the source from binaries originally published on Ian Bell's personal website.

Licensing & legal

• The repository is deliberately released without a license, since the underlying Elite source code is still copyrighted; only reading and forking the repository is permitted.