Release Pandora elite - Beta
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Gruntfuggly
Mostly Harmless
Back in the day I played the BBC version long enough to get to Elite. Within weeks, Micro User magazine published a 'hack' that allowed you to modify your commander file and set your rating to anything you liked. When I found out years later that the only thing that contributed to your rating was number of kills I felt a bit cheated - I'd always hoped it was based on some other stuff too...
dtho2312
Still Fresh
I always thought that was the brilliance of elite. Such seemingly complex systems from so few variables - it makes you fill in the gaps yourself mentally. Old text adventures wouldn't have worked otherwise.
TitanUranus
Active Member
I have a couple of questions. Is there any way to speed up the flying towards planets - I press "J" and sometimes it speeds me up a little then stops - as you might guess, I'm very new to this! Is there anyway to get market prices for other planets than the one you are at?
I have spent a little time playing this today and it really is excellent. I've just about mastered the docking process (which was the reason I never bothered playing Elite on the c64, I was too young and it was too frustrating). I've found the docking process to be very similar to my real life attempts to dock with women. At first it's all very awkward and you're likely to do some damage by forcing your way in. After a while you get used to it, and the whole process becomes more comfortable and pleasurable - whilst retaining some excitement.
I'm off to "dock" for the fifth time this evening, though I'm getting really knackered now and should go to sleep. Cheers.
EDIT: I've been playing about with this for a while, it's very fun. I think I may have spotted a bug, though it's not drastic. I was docked at some scummy planet I can't remember the name of. I launched and realised I should have saved, lest my docking probe be shot off by some vicious pirates on arrival at my destination neighbour. I went in to dock again (I'm sure I was leaking fuel with anticipation) and the space station just crapped out a big spaceship which plopped right into my viewscreen. This is the polar opposite of my "docking with a lady" analogy, since in the case of spaceships I am not inclined to offer extra money for such a service - indeed I rather disliked it. Also, would it be possible to integrate a "note pad" so I could make little notes to refer back to? This would be a most useful addition.
I have spent a little time playing this today and it really is excellent. I've just about mastered the docking process (which was the reason I never bothered playing Elite on the c64, I was too young and it was too frustrating). I've found the docking process to be very similar to my real life attempts to dock with women. At first it's all very awkward and you're likely to do some damage by forcing your way in. After a while you get used to it, and the whole process becomes more comfortable and pleasurable - whilst retaining some excitement.
I'm off to "dock" for the fifth time this evening, though I'm getting really knackered now and should go to sleep. Cheers.
EDIT: I've been playing about with this for a while, it's very fun. I think I may have spotted a bug, though it's not drastic. I was docked at some scummy planet I can't remember the name of. I launched and realised I should have saved, lest my docking probe be shot off by some vicious pirates on arrival at my destination neighbour. I went in to dock again (I'm sure I was leaking fuel with anticipation) and the space station just crapped out a big spaceship which plopped right into my viewscreen. This is the polar opposite of my "docking with a lady" analogy, since in the case of spaceships I am not inclined to offer extra money for such a service - indeed I rather disliked it. Also, would it be possible to integrate a "note pad" so I could make little notes to refer back to? This would be a most useful addition.
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ZXDunny
Deep avatar
- Joined
- Oct 12, 2010
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- 2,585
The Taurus Jump Drive cannot operate in the presence of mass - either a planet, a sun or another ship. It also only operates at near full-speed. If another ship enters your vicinity, the drive will shut down. You have a choice - either continue on and wait for the ship to leave your field of view (note that this is not related to the scanner - the ship may still be visible from one of your viewports), or you can destroy it. I tend to go for the latter, which boosts your Elite Combat Rating, and can earn you a little cash. The shutdown of the drive can be a nice early warning too - look for the ship that's caused it to deactivate and examine it closely - if it's more than one ship in close configuration, you might be in for a fight
Deciding where to trade based on market prices would be a nice addition, but would limit some of the game's charm somewhat. One tip I can give you is to examine the info on a planet before choosing it. There are clues - if you find a poor agricultural planet, then you can guarantee that things like food and textiles will be cheap - whereas on an industrial planet they will charge a premium. Conversely, agricultural planets will pay top-dollar for tech (such as computers) where the industrials will sell it quite cheaply. There's a nice little trade route between Relaes and Ra, where you can make a killing if you buy and sell the right products, and they're only a couple of lightyears apart
Finally, the tech level of a planet indicates what kinds of upgrades they sell - tech levels of 5 or lower will pretty much only be good for fuel and missiles; the highest tech levels will sell everything you could want to upgrade your ship.
In case you're not over 35 and therefore haven't played the original Elite, there's a manual on my site:
https://sites.google.com/site/pauldunn/Elite-Manual.pdf
D.
gruso
thunderbox
ooh, thanks for the link Dunny.
<-- 34, clueless.
<-- 34, clueless.
Blue Protoman
Well-Known Member
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Wow, age boundaries are more defined than I thought they would be.
gruso
thunderbox
Oh yeah, it's a veritable cliff between 34 and 35. All fun and games until my tax dollars are supporting Dunny in his dotage.
TitanUranus
Active Member
That explains it - I'm only 33. Being Scottish though, that means I'm middle aged - damn. Swings and roundabouts eh?
I just stuck the manual for Elite on my Kindle. First time I've actually used the Kindle in months - decided to do a bit of hacking on it, I quite fancy using it for playing infocom adventure games. Thanks for the tips, I'm sure I'll be Elite in no time (ha ha ha).
I just stuck the manual for Elite on my Kindle. First time I've actually used the Kindle in months - decided to do a bit of hacking on it, I quite fancy using it for playing infocom adventure games. Thanks for the tips, I'm sure I'll be Elite in no time (ha ha ha).
Blue Protoman
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No, he's British.
TitanUranus
Active Member
Damn, I started playing this about half an hour ago and five hours dissapeared! I'm quite proud of my efforts though. I only started playing it a few days ago, and I seem to be making good headway. Here's my stats in case anyone cares
Commander Titan:
cash = 7113.8 Cr
Legal Status = Clean
Rating = Competent
Experience = 20864
Equipment = Large Cargo Bay, Escape Pod (untested yet), Fuel Scoops, Extra Energy Unit, Front Beam Laser, Rear Pulse Laser and I treated myself to a docking computer a couple of stations ago just cause I was getting bored docking - it sure speeds things up, but the thing crashed and I got a game over on it's secont use - is this normal?). I might treat myself to a military laser next, but maybe I ought to go to bed first.
Edit: Couple of suggestions. A "Super Time" key where you can go 10x normal speed (allowing you to float around and recover shields/energy as well as skip boring bits). A log of market prices ov visited worlds correct at time of last visit. A journal/ships log, allowing player notes to be taken. Ability to toggle/mute docking music.
Commander Titan:
cash = 7113.8 Cr
Legal Status = Clean
Rating = Competent
Experience = 20864
Equipment = Large Cargo Bay, Escape Pod (untested yet), Fuel Scoops, Extra Energy Unit, Front Beam Laser, Rear Pulse Laser and I treated myself to a docking computer a couple of stations ago just cause I was getting bored docking - it sure speeds things up, but the thing crashed and I got a game over on it's secont use - is this normal?). I might treat myself to a military laser next, but maybe I ought to go to bed first.
Edit: Couple of suggestions. A "Super Time" key where you can go 10x normal speed (allowing you to float around and recover shields/energy as well as skip boring bits). A log of market prices ov visited worlds correct at time of last visit. A journal/ships log, allowing player notes to be taken. Ability to toggle/mute docking music.
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gunrock
Very Active Member
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- Jan 20, 2011
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Why use the Kindle for Infocom games (apart from e-ink I guess)? Gargoyle on Pandora plays them beautifully.
TitanUranus
Active Member
Because I can.
gunrock
Very Active Member
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Fair enough, guv.
DrCJBoduma
Active Member
thanks very much for this. i was amazed at how little help there was out there for a classic game which, at least to me, is so unfathomable to a uninitiated player.
CJ
TitanUranus
Active Member
Here's a link I found usefil when I started playing a few days ago - it taught me how to dock.
http://www.stairwaytohell.com/gamehelp/GUIDE-Elite-MU.html
http://www.stairwaytohell.com/gamehelp/GUIDE-Elite-MU.html
sswam
Advanced Member
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- Dec 16, 2009
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looks great, can you share the source for this and edit it into the first post?
If you don't wish to publish a link, please send me a link or the source privately!
thank-you, sam@nipl.net
If you don't wish to publish a link, please send me a link or the source privately!
thank-you, sam@nipl.net
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