YS GAME GUIDE Your Sinclair, October 1986 ELITE NOT SO MUCH A GAME ... ...more of a way of death! Death in the cold, dark, gloomy, friendless, vacuum- swept icy wastes of space. Elite - not so much a game ... more a way of staying up into the early hours of the morning, with a steamy mug of "cocoa" and a glint in your eye as you battle to become one of them - yes, one of the Elite. Who would ever have imagined it in even their wildest dreams? A game set in a universe of eight galaxies each with over 250 planets just waiting to be explored. A game where you're given the chance to take command of a ship and discover the secrets of space whilst fighting second by second for your survival. But it became a reality with the appearance of Elite by Acornsoft which came out for the BBC way back in 1984. Speccy owners had to wait a bit longer for Firebird's Elite. It hit our screens like a star going nova in September 1985 but, boy was it worth it. As soon as it was released it shot straight to number one and stayed in the chart for a whacking 18 months. It's since sold nigh on 50,000 copies! Fast and action-packed, Elite combines skill, strategy and raw aggression. Programmed by Torus, the game is based on a very simple idea - capitalism. You command a ship and fly it around the eight galaxies visiting planets to buy and sell cargo whilst fighting off a barrage of pirates, bounty hunters and police. Only in that way will you raise yourself from the humble rating of "Harmless" to that of "Elite". But it's the implementation of the idea that's so brilliant - the graphics are superb and the size of the game amazing - it's so addictive that you'll hardly be able to tear yourself away from it to watch Blue Peter! But reaching the dizzy heights of Elite is so difficult that Firebird offered Elite Commander badges to those who managed it. Only one snag really - a bug! No, not a beetle, but a bloomin' big cock up in the code. Type 'Y' when you're asked whether you want a new Commander and then select option 2. Now enter your name and save your position (you don't have to press play on the cassette player) then press any key and Exit with 3. What happens? Yes, you've got the security rating of Elite, 653425253.5 credits and enough hardware to destroy half the universe this side of Watford. Poor ol' Firebird then didn't know who'd reached Elite status by cheating and who'd got there with skill. Now read on to find out how to cheat at Elite and how to win fair and square with all the hints 'n' tips you'll ever need and the most comprehensive hacking program for any game ever to appear in print. ELITE HACKED TO BITS! Firebird's Elite - a game rarely completed. But we can rebuild it, we have the technology. ZZKJ rips Elite to bits and reconstructs it piece by piece to give you the biggest hack ever plus the ability to completely redesign your character. Everyone's heard of Firebird's Elite, most people have played it, but only the select few have actually mastered it and reached Elite status. (And no, using the famous bug doesn't count.) Well, it's all gonna change with my amazing Elite Hacking program that'll allow you to do almost everything, except make the tea of course. I have to admit, though, that I first got the idea from Mick West who sent in a routine for infinite shields and fuel. It hit me in a cosmic flash - why not the complete megahack for the greatest game of all time? I set about adding as many features as I could to Mick's original program and came up with this truly mega arsenal of features. Welcome aboard the Elite Hacking Program. You are equipped with a variety of POKEs to aid you in your mission. Here are your instructions: first type in the program, save it and then run it. The main block of code has a checksum so you should be able to spot any mistakes. However the POKEs at the end of the program don't have a checksum so be careful when you're typing them in. When you're ready, run it with your fully rewound Elite tape in the cassette recorder and stand back - you're about to take-off. It's a good idea to put the POKES in the first time you type in the program - though if you do use them all you'll kill the game stone dead so I've annotated the program to show you what each POKE does. RED ALERT: all the POKEs must be entered in the order shown, though you may delete some of them afterwards. Line 200 This is one of Mick's POKES - it'll give you infinite energy and your shields won't go down. Line 210 Infinite missiles will come in very handy when you're in a tight situation. Line 220 You'll need either the ECM System Jammer or the Cloaking Device for this to work. Once you have these this POKE'll allow you to blow a space station to smithereens simply by firing a missile at it. Line 230 Makes the Space Station launch Thargoids at you instead of Vipers when you fire at it. This is only effective if you shoot with a laser or don't have the above POKE fitted. Line 240 Overkill or what? Allows you to install the ZZKJ Laser Boosting System. Everything (except for Space Stations) will be destroyed with only one blast from whichever type of laser you have fitted. Line 250 Flying around the galaxy shooting everything that moves can get you a little hot under the collar - this POKE'll keep you ice cool. Line 260 Another of Mick's POKEs. Gives you everlasting fuel. Line 270 So, you wiped out one galaxy and it's time to move on to another. Well, this'll allow you to hyperspace as far as you like and makes refuelling unnecessary. Beware though, 'cos this POKE stops all checks on fuel so it's advisable to use the infinite fuel POKE so that you don't end up with odd levels. Line 260 Use this POKE in conjunction with the one above - it'll allow you to Galactic Hyperspace as often as you like. Line 290 If you prefer a fair fight this one's for you. It'll give you an Escape Pod to wangle your way out of sticky situations. Line 300 There's just one problem with using an Escape Pod - it causes you to lose all your cargo. Not any more with this little POKE. Line 310 If your only problem is lack of cargo space, relax. You now have an infinitely large cargo bay - well almost. The only limit is that you can't carry more than 255 of one item. Line 320 Bored of fighting or just a coward? Hit the energy bomb button and you'll obliterate everything except for Space Stations and Thargoids. Line 330 If you've got a constant energy bomb you tend to use it constantly and the flashing on screen drives you crazy. Use this POKE to restore your sanity. Line 340 Infinite cash sir? That'll do nicely! And that's just what this POKE gives you - infinite buying power. Line 350 This'll give you an ECM System Jammer that allows you to destroy all missiles on the scanner. Also used in blowing up Space Stations - see line 220. Line 360 Have you seen the invisible spacecraft? Didn't think so! This POKE gives you the Cloaking Device which'll make you completely invisible. Line 370 Allows you to fly through Space Stations, Planets and Suns without being smashed, crashed or melted. Line 380 This ends the POKEs and you must not leave it out. DESIGNER PROGRAM Right, now you've got every conceivable hack up your sleeve, how about a complete redesign of your character? Sounds good eh? With my menu driven program you can alter every aspect of your character. It allows you to change your status, rating and weapons and you may also change your cargo or the cargo of the station you're docked at. Then all you have to do is save it off to tape to be reloaded into the game. DESIGNER DESIGN All the program's input is done through a one line window at the bottom of the screen rather like the usual Speccy input function. This is because the program has to check the validity of your data for loads of different types of input. Initially you'll get four options at the bottom of the screen - Character, Cargo, Station Cargo, and Save. All you have to do is simply press 1, 2, 3 or 4 to select an option. You'll then get a screen nearly identical to that of the corresponding screen in the game. Move the large arrow up and down through the options using Shift and the 6 and 7 keys (or the cursor keys if you've got a Spectrum+). As you do so the one line message at the bottom of the screen will change as applicable and inform you what you have to do to change an option. THINK OF A NUMBER For example, when you're in "Change Character" mode and the arrow is pointing at the Galaxy number you'll get the message "Press Galaxy Number 1-8", but as you move to fuel the message'll change to "Press C" to alter the fuel. The input is intelligent so don't try putting in more than the maximum allowed for that particular input 'cos it won't allow you to type it in. Take fuel for example, you can only carry 255 units of fuel so if you've inputted 25 the program only allows you to enter a number between 0 and 2. Easy isn't it? Well, not easy but you'll pick it up. 255 is the maximum for all numeric inputs apart from cash where it is 65535999.9 Credits. To return to the main menu option just press Space, provided, of course, you're not in the middle of typing in an input. When altering the cargo available at a Space Station you'll find that the aliens and refugees aren't present as you really wouldn't want to buy either of them. You can however put them into your own cargo so you can sell them to a Station when you arrive. When you've finished redesigning everything press Space to get back to the main menu and then select 4 to get to the sub menu, Save. You're then all set to save off your new character and stations data to be reloaded back into the game. Take it away Cap'n. SURVIVAL GUIDE Here at your fingertips is all you need to know to increase your chances of survival. The first two pieces of equipment do work, or so I've been reliably informed, though I've never actually used them myself. WE'RE JAMMIN' The first is the ECM Jammer System which, as you'd imagine, jams your enemies' ECM Systems so they're unable to deflect your missiles when you fire at them. This is apparently given to you by the Federation to complete your first mission - blow up the Thargoid overrun Space Station at Tibedied. You can purchase an ECM System at Tech Level 2 though I suggest you use the POKEs in the Hacking Program or design yourself a character who has one fitted. NOW YOU SEE IT NOW YOU DON'T Secondly, there's the Cloaking Device which can sometimes be obtained when you use the Galactic Hyperspace to get to Galaxy Two. On arrival you're greeted by a group of rather unfriendly Asps, one of which will keep disappearing and re-appearing. If you manage to kill it and pick up its cargo you'll find the Cloaking Device which will be automatically installed on board your ship. It is activated with the 'Y' key whereupon the border will change colour and your energy will go up and down at an alarming rate. Use the infinite energy POKE to stop this. This device makes both you and your missiles completely invisible to the enemy (you can still see your missiles) so they can't be ECM'd. WATCH WITCH SPACE! You should've heard about Witch Space from The Dark Wheel Booklet. It's actually where you get stuck when a Hyperspace Jump is stopped halfway. You won't have any problem recognising it 'cos numerous Thargoids appear shooting at you nineteen to the dozen. Unless you cheat or are extremely skilful (lucky) then you don't stand a snowball's chance of surviving. You can't use escape capsules, energy bombs (Thargoids are immune to them) or dock in Witch Space either. If you get into Witch Space by pausing the game, pressing 'F', unpausing the game and hyperspacing somewhere you'll find yourself face to face with the Thargoids. However, if you reverse the procedure you'll end up back in normal space - don't forget and hyperspace again or you'll end up with even more Thargoids to contend with. WHAT A BUG UH! There's a very interesting bug in Elite which can come in very useful. If you fire a missile at a Thargoid (or anything else when Thargoids are around) using the ECM System or Cloaking Device and use the energy bomb you'll destroy one of the nearby Thargoids. Further energy bombs will then destroy other Thargoids - when they're all gone the bomb will destroy anything else in one go. THE GREAT ESCAPE POD The Escape Pod saves you from fights, docks you with nonexistent Space Stations and it's also useful if you don't want to fly all the way to a Space Station. It'll dock with the Space Station no matter how far away it is, and if you have the "No cargo loss" POKE active, it's a rapid method of getting around, especially if you're not too good at docking. It's also handy as every time you dock your legal status is put back to clean each time you use it, though if you're carrying illegal cargo your status will go back again. Beware when blowing up a Space Station! If you do so and then try and fly through the space it once occupied the game crashes. The only way round this is to Hyperspace to another Galaxy or use your Escape Pod to dock with the nonexistent Space Station. Armed with my amazing Hacks, POKEs, Redesign Program and super hints there'll be no stopping you reaching the giddy heights of "Elite".