Elite - Information

Elite was an open ended space trading game with an element of combat. The player started out owning a small Cobra Mk III ship. Through buying and selling of cargo at space stations in orbit around other planets in other solar systems, the player was able to buy better equipment for their ship.

The player started the game docked at a space station orbiting the planet Lave. The player's ship had 7 tons of fuel onboard, enough to get them to a few other local solar systems but not much further. The ship also came armed with a small laser and a small cargo hold. Apart from the ship, the only other thing the player had was 100 credits to spend on whatever cargo they wanted. Commodity price information at other solar systems was vital to making a profit, as was other general information on the system. For example, slaves could be highly profitable, but they were illegal in many solar systems. The player could risk trading in illegal cargo, but the local police would be after them and their chances of escaping alive would decrease.

The player progressed by making money and attaining a new status linked to the number of 'kills' they acheived during space combat. Starting off as 'harmless', the ultimate aim of the game was to become 'elite' - hence the title of the game. Different versions of the game had additional 'missions' that would give the player a specific task to complete. The reward was usually money or a new piece of equipment to add to their ship.

The player would buy and sell at the station, then choose a new solar system to travel to. Having chosen their next destination, they would launch from the station and then engage their hyperdrive. On arrival at the next solar system, their main priority was to find the nearest space station and manually dock (which was difficult to do at the best of times until you could afford a docking computer!). Once safely docked, trading could begin again.

There was, of course, the chance of other ships engaging the player in combat enroute to the station. If the player was feeling brave enough, they might even have fired first! Combat was simply a matter of getting close enough to the other ship and firing at it. Obviously, the other ship would normally be moving to avoid being hit, so you would often try and anticipate the other ship's moves before firing. Heat seeking missiles could also be bought and fitted to some ships, allowing more accuracy to come into play during combat. A "Right on Commander!" heralded the player's next step up the ladder towards elite status.

The graphics in all but the 16-bit conversions of Elite were 3D wireframe, with additional static screens giving the player information on prices, solar systems, the ship, their status, etc.