Mastodawn

I am delighted to announce my latest hack: Elite 3D.

This is BBC Micro Elite, but in anaglyph 3D. To enjoy the third dimension, you'll need a pair of 3D specs; red-cyan is a good choice, but five different types are supported.

It's for BBC machines with a 6502 Second Processor, but you can also play it in your browser or emulator.

Full details:

About Elite 3D: https://elite.bbcelite.com/hacks/elite_3d.html

Playing Elite 3D: https://elite.bbcelite.com/hacks/elite_3d_downloads.html

Configuring Elite 3D: https://elite.bbcelite.com/hacks/elite_3d_configuration.html

Technical information: https://elite.bbcelite.com/hacks/elite_3d_technical_information.html

I recommend you take a quick look at the instructions first, as the built-in configuration tool makes a great introduction to the 3D effect and can help you get the best from it.

But if you can't resist jumping in straight away - and are willing to accept that 1980s anaglyph 3D isn't exactly the future of VR - then click here to play the game in your browser:

https://bbc.xania.org/?model=Master&coProcessor=true&autoboot&disc=https://elite.bbcelite.com/versions/elite_3d/elite-6502sp-3d-sng45.ssd

Have fun!

#retrogaming #retrocomputing #8bit #bbcmicro #elite #anaglyph #3D

Elite 3D - Elite on the BBC Micro and NES

Details of the anaglyph 3D version of BBC Micro Elite

Karl Stanley Sep 25, 2024

@markmoxon This is unbelievably cool - I must get myself a set of 3d glasses!

Mark Moxon Sep 25, 2024

@karlstanley They're super-cheap from Amazon. I bought these three types - the cardboard ones work fine but are, obviously, pretty cheap; the wraparound ones are better and work pretty well for me; and the clip-on ones are OK, but they're actually red-blue, so you have to change the palette in Elite 3D first (via the in-game configuration tool).

I'll be really interested to know how people get on, and which glasses they find best.

Karl Stanley Sep 26, 2024

@markmoxon OK 3d specs challenge accepted - right on commander!

marshall Sep 25, 2024

@markmoxon @mcnalu needs to see this!

Herr Irrtum! 🔊Sep 25, 2024

@markmoxon

How cool!! Am very interested to check it out later. I wonder how much the flickering will increase, as if I understand it right almost everything has to be drawn twice and there is (if I'm right) no screen buffering in the BBC versions so drawing and deleting of lines/the screen will always be "visible" (in theory, and If I understand it right).
However, and that's fascinating, you write that the 6502 copro makes it too fast, do there is actually a frame limiter in place.
Anyway… looking forward to check it out later today! ;)

Mark Moxon Sep 25, 2024

@herr_irrtum I'm using the flicker-free version of Elite as the basis for Elite 3D, so there isn't much flicker. On slower machines and with more complex scenes there can be a bit of a lag between the left and right eyes, so they update slightly out of sync, but there's still no flicker.

You are right, both eyes need to be drawn twice on each frame, but with the flicker-free approach this is done one line at a time, rather than one ship at a time, so it is much harder to see the algorithm at work.

I hope you like it! People seem to be enjoying it so far... 🙂

Stewart X Addison Sep 25, 2024

@markmoxon Found a pair of the red/blue cardboard glasses lying around the house - nice work 😀

Mark Moxon Sep 25, 2024

@sxa Great! I hope the 3D effect works OK for you - I’m still not sure how easy it is to see for everyone, as we all have such different monitor setups, not to mention different eyes… 😳

Stewart X Addison Sep 26, 2024

@markmoxon Yeah definitely works for me :-) even your screenshot in your post here looks good. And the 'F0/F10' on the "Load new commander?" screen that shows a few ships looks good too.
First time I'd fired up the second processor version too so that's a bonus! I'll need to look up all the differences now and try not to get addicted to playing again ;-)

Mark Moxon Sep 26, 2024

@sxa That’s great! Thanks for letting me know - I wasn’t sure if everyone would be able to see it, but it seems to be doing OK so far.

If you haven’t seen it before, try the second processor version’s scroll text demo. Press TAB on the main title screen and sit back and enjoy. It’s a bit slow at times, but it’s all part of Elite folklore, and it works quite well in 3D. 😀

Stewart X Addison Sep 27, 2024

@markmoxon Ahhh that was nice too :-) So good to be able to see all these extras so many years after they were available. "My" version was the BBC B disk one so I hadn't properly seen the others (The B is still in a cupboard at home)
I now feel a need to find a joystick I can connect to the emulator and go battling the Thargoids in 3D (Might take a bit of time to build my ship up though ... Although I guess there must be some saved games around)!
Great work on the 3-D changes.

Mark Moxon Sep 27, 2024

@sxa Ah, a joystick connoisseur, I see! That's the way to better docking.

By the way, if you want to pimp your ship up without any effort, the Elite 3D disc contains a commander file called 'MAX' on drive 0. Just for research purposes, of course, but it's a lot easier than starting from scratch...

John Constable Sep 25, 2024

@markmoxon paging @davebiff

Dave Holland Sep 25, 2024

@kript @markmoxon I've been turning the house upside down looking for my red/green specs, no luck yet!

四 Sep 26, 2024

@markmoxon love it!

Simon Harper Sep 26, 2024

@markmoxon @craiggrannell loved playing this game back in the day. Didn’t love fitting Econet to BBC Micro’s though.

Mark Moxon Sep 26, 2024

@simonharper @craiggrannell Yeah, all that soldering... oof, not nice. I've only done it once (on my own machine), and that was enough for me!

It's so much easier on a Master and Archimedes...

Simon Harper Sep 26, 2024

@markmoxon @craiggrannell Yeah, imagine doing multiple classrooms full of machines and then getting the EcoNet to work - was painful.

Mark Moxon Sep 26, 2024

@simonharper @craiggrannell New stress dream unlocked... 😱

Simon Harper Sep 26, 2024

@markmoxon @craiggrannell 🤣 sorry ;)