Elite source (BBC Micro cassette)

Cite as: Elite source (BBC Micro cassette)
Original: https://elite.bbcelite.com
Pinned: markmoxon/elite-source-code-bbc-micro-cassette @ 6ba1c7f633926501e687d9f1acfe76606e9467d7
Accessed: 2026-10-20
Licence: None. The README says the repository intentionally has no licence because the commentary is intertwined with the original source, which is copyright; it may be read and forked. Quoted here a line at a time.
Credit: Elite by Ian Bell and David Braben (Acornsoft, 1984). The original source, which Ian Bell released, with every line documented by Mark Moxon.
Notes: The date is the pinned commit's (“Add missing word to commentary”). Line numbers refer to 1-source-files/main-sources/elite-source.asm. Code lines are the original's; comments after backslashes are Moxon's.

Cited on

Commodity trading

Claims (6)

Elite's station markets price 17 goods afresh in every star system and stock all but the last, alien items, whose availability `var` sets to 0.	`1-source-files/main-sources/elite-source.asm L32542–325601-source-files/main-sources/elite-source.asm L20798–20799`	Code
Each good's price is $(b + (r \land m) \pm e \cdot f) \times 4$ tenths of a credit, from its base price $b$ , a random byte $r$ masked by $m$ , the system's economy $e$ (0 to 7), and the good's economic factor $f$ , all in 8-bit arithmetic.	`1-source-files/main-sources/elite-source.asm L20485–205351-source-files/main-sources/elite-source.asm L20785–20822`	Code
One random byte, drawn on arrival in a new system, sets every good's fluctuation for that visit.	`1-source-files/main-sources/elite-source.asm L20931–209351-source-files/main-sources/elite-source.asm L21185`	Code
The table gives each good a base price, an economic factor from −9 (Furs) to +29 (Narcotics), and a fluctuation mask from 1 (Food) to 120 (Narcotics).	`1-source-files/main-sources/elite-source.asm L32544–32560`	Code
A negative factor makes a good cheapest in poor agricultural systems and a positive one in rich industrial systems, so Food costs 7.6–8.0 credits a tonne at economy 0 and 2.0–2.4 at economy 7, and Computers 61.6–62.8 and 100.8–102.0.	`1-source-files/main-sources/elite-source.asm L20502–205201-source-files/main-sources/elite-source.asm L3036–3047`	Code
Narcotics' sum can pass 255 and wrap around, so in a rich industrial system its price is either 94.0–100.4 or 1.2–39.6 credits.	`1-source-files/main-sources/elite-source.asm L20491–20493`	Code