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".

