Writer, walker, software archaeologist. Back in the day: Editor of Acorn User, Editor of h2g2. I love analysing old code, and my aim is to create the best code disassemblies you have ever seen. Purveyor of Elite/Lander/Revs hacks.
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2026-08-30T16:02:56Z Event JSON
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Last Notes npub1839p73atfgyl7hka2gzxymczj37h9a352v4r02ml35jpd7gfma9skyke5s Mark Moxon I'm delighted to announce the release of the Elite Compendium for the #Commodore64 and #Commodore128 This contains Firebird Elite with lots of great features added from the other official 6502 versions, as well as bug fixes. For details, see: https://elite.bbcelite.com/hacks/elite_compendium/ The Elite Compendium contains a "Greatest Hits" version of Elite; all the added features are official Bell and Braben code, just backported to the C64. It also contains the Elite Universe Editor, which lets you create 3D scenarios in the Elite universe and "press play" to see them come to life. The key Elite features are: * Flicker-free graphics * Disk menu can now overwrite files, delete files and catalogue disks * Volume control * Docking computer improvements * Fuel scoop improvements * Keyboard works better with joysticks * Commodore 128 speed-up * Speed cap for fast CPUs * Bug fixes As with all my projects, you can explore the source code and see every single change I've made to the original Elite for the Compendium version in the Technical Information article: https://elite.bbcelite.com/hacks/elite_compendium/technical_information.html And everything is handcrafted and 100% AI-free. Right on Commanders! #retrogaming #retrocomputing npub1839p73atfgyl7hka2gzxymczj37h9a352v4r02ml35jpd7gfma9skyke5s Mark Moxon I have just released Lander for the ARM Evaluation System. So that's the first ever ARM game running on the first ever ARM chip. See this Stardot thread for details: https://stardot.org.uk/forums/viewtopic.php?t=33766 Fly safe! #retrocomputing #retrogaming #bbcmicro #archimedes https://media.universeodon.com/media_attachments/files/117/485/401/211/523/703/original/ebe7ee9be8c85646.mp4 npub1839p73atfgyl7hka2gzxymczj37h9a352v4r02ml35jpd7gfma9skyke5s Mark Moxon New: Four interactive guides for building 8-bit Elite from Bell and Braben’s original source disks… all in your browser Covers the BBC Micro, Commodore 64, Apple II and 6502 Second Processor versions of Elite You can find links to all four guides in the first section of my deep dives index: https://elite.bbcelite.com/deep_dives #retrocomputing #8bit #BBCMicro #Commodore64 #AppleII #Elite npub1839p73atfgyl7hka2gzxymczj37h9a352v4r02ml35jpd7gfma9skyke5s Mark Moxon You can also choose from the following: * Four types of lasers * Three types of energy unit * Missiles * Anti-missile E.C.M. And your fight can be to the death, or the first to reach a specific number of hits The latter is great fun and brings a whole new challenge to one-on-one combat (6/10) https://media.universeodon.com/media_attachments/files/117/207/807/408/757/677/original/667fc2c3e1e309b7.png npub1839p73atfgyl7hka2gzxymczj37h9a352v4r02ml35jpd7gfma9skyke5s Mark Moxon I am thrilled to announce the release of my latest Elite hack: Two-player Elite for the #BBCMicro This is the original 1980s Acornsoft Elite, but with split-screen, two-player, deep-space combat See the thread for links, downloads and details (1/10) #retrocomputing #retrogaming #elitedangerous https://media.universeodon.com/media_attachments/files/117/207/796/273/204/090/original/631852a4afa77283.mp4 npub1839p73atfgyl7hka2gzxymczj37h9a352v4r02ml35jpd7gfma9skyke5s Mark Moxon Status check for two-player #BBCMicro Elite: Development… [Done] Testing… [Done] Website… [Done] Technical deep dive… [Overdone] Code repository… [Done] Document all mods… [Done] Confirm date… [Done] Releasing this Thursday, 3 September Get your twin joysticks ready! #retrogaming #retrocomputing https://media.universeodon.com/media_attachments/files/117/185/198/937/928/003/original/807f2998065eaa0d.png npub1839p73atfgyl7hka2gzxymczj37h9a352v4r02ml35jpd7gfma9skyke5s Mark Moxon Two-player Elite on the BBC Micro is finally feature-complete. Phew, that was a long road! Got a few bugs to fix, but the Acorn team at The National Museum of Computing have road-tested and given it a thumbs up, so that's a good sign. September release, I hope... #bbcmicro #retrocomputing #retrogaming #8bit #elite https://media.universeodon.com/media_attachments/files/117/055/094/960/306/031/original/1aa2091723683635.png https://media.universeodon.com/media_attachments/files/117/055/095/993/032/102/original/1a753ad046847e0e.png npub1839p73atfgyl7hka2gzxymczj37h9a352v4r02ml35jpd7gfma9skyke5s Mark Moxon Missiles are now working in two-player #BBCMicro Elite. This clip shows player 1 firing a missile at player 2 (in the bottom view) and then player 2 retaliating (in both views). This was really difficult to build! But it's important; here's why. Until now, I've only had to draw the two ships, the planet and the sun. There are shortcuts we can take for all of these: the sun and planet are so distant that we can ignore their orientations, and each ship is the origin of its own space view, which simplifies a lot of the maths. Missiles, however, represent arbitrary objects in 3D space, so getting the maths working for them means we can add any objects to space and draw them from the perspective of any other objects. So this means that multiplayer Econet Elite should be possible - mathematically, at least. Nice! #retrocomputing #retrogaming https://media.universeodon.com/media_attachments/files/116/930/360/417/920/275/original/0fe98a947c787056.mp4 npub1839p73atfgyl7hka2gzxymczj37h9a352v4r02ml35jpd7gfma9skyke5s Mark Moxon To help me test two-player #BBCMicro Elite, I’ve added “AI Pilot” as an option It uses the game’s 1984 tactics routines to fly player 2 (bottom view) It’s really interesting to watch Elite’s original “AI” from inside the other ship’s cockpit - in this case, an NPC Python The top view is a human player, the bottom view is the AI You can see the AI’s view jumping around quite a bit This is because pitch and roll are either fully on or fully off for AI ships - there is no fine control To make up for this, AI ships don't have to be 100% accurate to make a hit In this configuration, two-player Elite is effectively the same as standard single-player Elite, but with the bottom view showing the cockpit of the computer-controlled AI ship So this is what the world looks like for Elite NPCs! I'll definitely be leaving this feature in - it’s great fun #retrocomputing https://media.universeodon.com/media_attachments/files/116/810/961/484/571/538/original/4666ca4b92fc53a6.mp4 npub1839p73atfgyl7hka2gzxymczj37h9a352v4r02ml35jpd7gfma9skyke5s Mark Moxon Two-player #BBCMicro #Elite is coming along nicely. It now supports two pilots in two ships with two controllers and a split-view screen Here are some work-in-progress videos - see the thread for an explanation There’s lots to fix, but at least we have a proof-of-concept… (1/6) #retrocomputing https://media.universeodon.com/media_attachments/files/116/664/233/205/979/943/original/f330f201265891af.mp4 npub1839p73atfgyl7hka2gzxymczj37h9a352v4r02ml35jpd7gfma9skyke5s Mark Moxon As promised, I've created a flicker-free version of the Elite Demonstration Disc for the #BBCMicro. It contains both flicker-free ships and planets. Play in browser: https://bbc.xania.org/?autoboot&disc=https://elite.bbcelite.com/versions/flicker_free_elite/elite-demonstration-disc-flicker-free.ssd Download disc image: https://elite.bbcelite.com/hacks/flicker-free_elite_downloads.html More info: https://elite.bbcelite.com/demo/ Enjoy! npub1839p73atfgyl7hka2gzxymczj37h9a352v4r02ml35jpd7gfma9skyke5s Mark Moxon I've just released a web version of the documented source code for the Elite Demonstration Disc, the 1984 self-playing demo from Acornsoft. https://elite.bbcelite.com/demo It's got syntax colouring, hyperlinked labels, code maps, indexes, stats and more. Deep dive coming soon. #bbcmicro #retrocomputing npub1839p73atfgyl7hka2gzxymczj37h9a352v4r02ml35jpd7gfma9skyke5s Mark Moxon It's finished! The Sentinel, Geoff Crammond's epic game, is now fully documented at https://thesentinel.bbcelite.com * 41,902 lines of lovingly annotated source code * 51 deep dives (116,240 words) * Fully buildable code repository * 100% handcrafted AI-free content * 7 months’ work If you have enjoyed this project, you might like my other software archaeology projects at https://www.bbcelite.com * Elite on the 6502 * Aviator on the BBC Micro * Revs on the BBC Micro * Lander on the Acorn Archimedes Time for a new project now… after a bit of a break. See you soon! #retrocomputing #C64 #BBCMicro https://media.universeodon.com/media_attachments/files/116/392/607/433/587/614/original/67e5a130ab1181f4.png https://media.universeodon.com/media_attachments/files/116/392/607/833/002/609/original/746815cd20b48e0c.png https://media.universeodon.com/media_attachments/files/116/392/608/188/698/055/original/e0739d9065c0ce54.png https://media.universeodon.com/media_attachments/files/116/392/608/648/102/799/original/7bbf5e5f002d81f6.png npub1839p73atfgyl7hka2gzxymczj37h9a352v4r02ml35jpd7gfma9skyke5s Mark Moxon I've just released the fully documented source code for The Sentinel as an easy-to-browse website. It's a lot more fun to explore than the GitHub repository, with cross-references, popups, indexes, statistics and more. I hope you like it! The next step is to add a whole load of deep dives explaining how Geoff Crammond's proto-VR masterpiece works under the hood, with links into the code itself. This part will take some weeks as there's a lot to explain, but I'll try to publish them as I go. Watch this space... https://thesentinel.bbcelite.com/ #retrocomputing #retrogaming #bbcmicro #c64 #8bit npub1839p73atfgyl7hka2gzxymczj37h9a352v4r02ml35jpd7gfma9skyke5s Mark Moxon Enhanced #Elite on the #Acorn #Electron now has proper docking computers. Good to see they're as nail-bitingly dodgy as all the other versions! Next on the list is to add 21 additional ship designs with spawning and tactic logic. That might take a while... #retrogaming #retrocomputing #bbcmicro https://media.universeodon.com/media_attachments/files/114/665/275/723/735/354/original/67b059b9ecbae5da.mp4 npub1839p73atfgyl7hka2gzxymczj37h9a352v4r02ml35jpd7gfma9skyke5s Mark Moxon Elite on the Apple II contains code by Ian Bell and David Braben. No surprises there. But did you know it also contains code by Steve Wozniak, Randy Wigginton and Rob Northen? Find out why in my latest deep dive. https://elite.bbcelite.com/deep_dives/file_operations_with_embedded_apple_dos.html #retrocomputing #retrogaming #8bit #apple #elite npub1839p73atfgyl7hka2gzxymczj37h9a352v4r02ml35jpd7gfma9skyke5s Mark Moxon New: I've analysed the source code for all 9 versions of Elite on the 6502, and I've put together a family tree showing the decade-long forking history of the source. Software archaeology in action! 😀 https://elite.bbcelite.com/deep_dives/the_elite_source_code_family_tree.html #retrocomputing #retrogaming #8bit #bbcmicro #c64 #apple #nes npub1839p73atfgyl7hka2gzxymczj37h9a352v4r02ml35jpd7gfma9skyke5s Mark Moxon Aleksi Eeben's conversion of #Elite for the #VIC20 has just been released, and it is absolutely fantastic! Find out more at https://vic20elite.wordpress.com When I annotated the #C64 source, this was exactly the kind of thing I hoped would happen. Right on, Commander! 🫡 #retrogaming #retrocomputing npub1839p73atfgyl7hka2gzxymczj37h9a352v4r02ml35jpd7gfma9skyke5s Mark Moxon New Elite deep dive: Just how big is 8-bit Elite? How big are the ships, planets, stars and galaxies? How fast can we fly? How far can we jump? And can we fall off the edge? This one was fun to write! https://elite.bbcelite.com/deep_dives/a_sense_of_scale.html #retrocomputing #retrogaming #bbcmicro #c64 #apple #nes #elite npub1839p73atfgyl7hka2gzxymczj37h9a352v4r02ml35jpd7gfma9skyke5s Mark Moxon Brand new year, brand new Elite deep dive! Here is the most comprehensive comparison ever published of all the different ships in Elite: https://elite.bbcelite.com/deep_dives/comparing_ship_specifications.html This is my 120th Elite deep dive article. There are more to come... #retrogaming #retrocomputing #bbcmicro #c64 #nes #8bit #elite npub1839p73atfgyl7hka2gzxymczj37h9a352v4r02ml35jpd7gfma9skyke5s Mark Moxon What better way to wish the world a Merry Christmas than with the official 1991 Archimedes Elite Christmas card? See if you can spot the festive Thargoid... #retrogaming #retrocomputing #acorn #elite #bbcmicro #arm #archimedes #riscos #elitedangerous https://media.universeodon.com/media_attachments/files/113/702/569/026/026/953/original/a948e0fd18421743.jpeg https://media.universeodon.com/media_attachments/files/113/702/569/503/793/065/original/c10309e459c5742a.jpeg https://media.universeodon.com/media_attachments/files/113/702/570/064/784/201/original/e5447e2d22bffb6d.jpeg https://media.universeodon.com/media_attachments/files/113/702/570/579/331/223/original/33591a36c6a582ac.jpeg npub1839p73atfgyl7hka2gzxymczj37h9a352v4r02ml35jpd7gfma9skyke5s Mark Moxon Last week I released fully documented source code for Elite on the Commodore 64. I've now added this version to my https://elite.bbcelite.com website, where the source code is syntax-coloured, cross-referenced, indexed and categorised. It fits in nicely with the seven other Elite sources on there! My next task is to write about 10 deep dives into the unique aspects of C64 Elite, linking to the relevant bits of code on the website so you can follow along. Then I'll move on to the Apple II version, which is the only version of 6502 Elite that I haven't yet analysed. Going for the full house! 🙂 #retrocomputing #retrogaming #8bit #commodore64 #c64 #elite npub1839p73atfgyl7hka2gzxymczj37h9a352v4r02ml35jpd7gfma9skyke5s Mark Moxon I'm really proud to present my fully documented source code for Elite on the Commodore 64. This is the original 1985 source, recently released by Ian Bell, with every single line of code explained. It’s a thing of beauty. Enjoy! https://github.com/markmoxon/elite-source-code-commodore-64 #retrocomputing #retrogaming #8bit #C64 #Commodore64 #Elite