I found the analogue joystick support on the PC a big plus.

SarahWalker wrote:

truth5678 wrote:

Sarah also wrote a BBC emulator (binary).

That version is ancient (2006!) and fairly bad. If anyone was planning on using it, go to http://b-em.bbcmicro.com and get the most recent version.

I'm sorry that I forgot to mention I was listing the newest DOS (dosbox compatible) version I could find.

I can't imagine it would be particularly useful in DOSBox.

Fair enough. 😀 We are all fortunate for your time and expertise on creating the bbc emulator, notwithstanding all the other emulators on your site.

Looked further at Elite versions. In the case of DOS Elite, there is a "CGA video memory slowdown" patch for dosbox. This patch may help reduce variation in the gameplay speed, even if this version is not favored over others. Also, I believe I identified the GPF error in DOS TNK -- it occurred in the "end of game" function (eip register value and gdb revealed the likely source).

Rekrul wrote:

never even got close to Riedquat. Every time I was able to use the jump drive for a couple seconds, I'd get attacked (...) it looked like I was further away than when I started! You could say that I was flying away from the planet during the dogfight, but if that's the case, why do I never seem to get any closer when I'm flying toward the planet at normal speed?

I believe that bug is related to a check on planet distance in the space.c source file. I reverted the distance value and the bug seems gone.

But this game *should* be played FAST. This is why I never liked Oolite: everything moves so slowly. It takes an age to approach a space station. In CGA/DOS Elite you zoom in and dock in seconds. Sure, it's unrealistic but so what?

truth5678 wrote:

I believe that bug is related to a check on planet distance in the space.c source file. I reverted the distance value and the bug seems gone.

Did you find anything that would explain why you can't jump even though the scanner is clear?

2fort5r wrote:

But this game *should* be played FAST. This is why I never liked Oolite: everything moves so slowly. It takes an age to approach a space station. In CGA/DOS Elite you zoom in and dock in seconds. Sure, it's unrealistic but so what?

It was never a problem in the Amiga version. Combat moved at a good pace, once the scanner was clear, you jumped closer to the planet, the "S" appeared and from there it took a few minutes to get to the station. Or if you had a docking computer, you could enable fast docking and that would instantly put you inside the station.

In the DOS version, all the ships zip around so fast that it's practically impossible to hit them. Plus, everything moves so fast that a quick tap on the accelerate key instantly gives you 50% speed, rather than increasing it slowly. Pushing forward on the stick just a little overshoots the target by a mile.

Playing CGA Elite in DOSBox now. Yes it is a bit fast. You're aware that you can lower the speed by pressing ESC->set frame rate? Setting it to F5 seems to be about right. The default is F8.

Ah, and I remember now why I never play this game anymore - it can only read save-files with the archive flag off, and there's no way to do this in DOSBox. I still have all my old save games from the 1990s but I can't load any of them.

2fort5r wrote:

this game (...) - it can only read save-files with the archive flag off, and there's no way to do this in DOSBox.

Try with a hard disk image or ripsaw's TSR workaround: "Elite" (1987) save/load problem request..

Thanks, the TSR works great. This must have been an attempt to stop people editing the savefiles in a hex editor.