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If you do, here are some of my other Elite hacks: Elite Compendium elite.bbcelite.com/hacks/elite_... Elite Universe Editor elite.bbcelite.com/hacks/elite_... Teletext Elite elite.bbcelite.com/hacks/telete... Elite 3D elite.bbcelite.com/hacks/elite_... Until next time, Commanders! 🫡 (10/10)

Thargoid-based combat in two-player Elite

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I’m indebted to the Acorn team at @tnmoc.bsky.social who tried out the game and helped me track down some of the gnarlier bugs Although there will definitely be some issues left, it’s so complicated If you spot anything, let me know and I’ll see what I can do to fix it I hope you like it! (9/10)

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It’s worth mentioning that this project is 100% AI-free, like all my projects I use a very minimal development environment and I hand-code absolutely everything The source code includes all the modifications I’ve made in this hack, and it’s all fully documented, both on-site and in-source (8/10)

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The game requires a 6502 Second Processor fitted to a BBC Micro or BBC Master It supports the keyboard, joysticks, and all the buttons on the Delta 14B For one human player, you only need your computer For two human players, you’ll need at least one joystick Twin joysticks are great fun! (7/10)

Twin Delta 14B joysticks and BBC Micro B+, signed by David Braben

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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)

Fighting as a Thargoid in two-player Elite

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Two-player Elite lets you choose each player’s ship from: * Cobra Mk III * Python * Anaconda * Viper * Sidewinder * Mamba * Krait * Moray * Thargoid Bigger ships are easier to hit, while smaller ones are a lot sneakier And, at last, you can choose to be a Thargoid, if that’s your bag (5/10)

The configuration screen in two-player Elite

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If you don’t have a human to hand, don’t panic: two-player Elite’s “AI Pilot” mode uses the game’s normal tactics routines to give you a proper deep-space fight for one For those of us who grew up playing the original Elite, it’s finally a chance to see things from the enemy’s perspective! (4/10)

An incoming missile for player 2 in two-player Elite

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I have also written an extensive article about how I hacked a second player into BBC Elite: elite.bbcelite.com/hacks/two-pl... It’s a very long read (15,000+ words!), but I wanted to explain everything properly This is my most complex Elite hack to date, so there’s an awful lot to cover… (3/10)

The game over screen in two-player Elite

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Here are the links: About two-player Elite elite.bbcelite.com/hacks/two-pl... Downloads elite.bbcelite.com/hacks/two-pl... Instructions elite.bbcelite.com/hacks/two-pl... Play in a browser (press F10 to play) bbc.xania.org?coProcessor=... Code repository github.com/markmoxon/el... (2/10)

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Mark Moxon @markmoxon.bsky.social · 30/08/2026

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

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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

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Mark Moxon @markmoxon.bsky.social · 24/08/2026

I love it when projects include side quests Two-player #BBCMicro #Elite (releasing next week) was having Delta 14B joystick issues, so I built a test tool This proved the hardware was bad, not the code (phew!) And I've released the code for others to use A fun detour! github.com/markmoxon/de...

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Mark Moxon @markmoxon.bsky.social · 07/08/2026

Two-player Elite on the #BBCMicro is finally feature-complete. Phew, that was a long road! Got a few bugs to fix, but the Acorn team at @tnmoc.bsky.social have road-tested and given it a thumbs up, so that's a good sign. September release, I hope... #retrocomputing #retrogaming #8bit #elite

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Mark Moxon @markmoxon.bsky.social · 24/07/2026

Two-player #BBCMicro Elite has just become the first game ever to support all the buttons on twin Delta 14B joysticks So two players can dogfight in Elite without either of them needing the keyboard For some of us, this is a dream come true! And it justifies all this hardware I keep buying... 😀

Key legend for the Delta 14B in two-player Elite

One Delta 14B joystick and the 14B/1 adaptor box

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Mark Moxon @markmoxon.bsky.social · 16/07/2026

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; see the thread for details. #retrocomputing #retrogaming (1/3)

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Mark Moxon @markmoxon.bsky.social · 11/07/2026

That is excellent to hear… as my notes from way back seem to agree, I just didn’t have the confidence to document it that way. But I think now that I have a totally independent view agreeing with my guess, it’s time to document that baby! Thank you James! 👍

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Mark Moxon @markmoxon.bsky.social · 25/06/2026

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 #retrocomputing (1/3)

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Mark Moxon @markmoxon.bsky.social · 21/06/2026

Two-player #BBCMicro Elite will be a deep-space dogfight game The rest of Elite wouldn’t be that exciting with two players, so I’m sticking to the core combat experience When you fire it up, you can choose what kind of contest you want Here's the all-new config screen 🚀 Game on! #retrocomputing

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And finally, the game is now noticeably more accurate I originally used the game’s 8x24-bit dot-product routine to calculate ship positions, but that only uses half of each 16-bit orientation vector I’ve now built a 16x24-bit routine, and it’s a fair bit smoother Slowly getting better! (5/6)

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Another improvement is that both players now get to see both the planet and the sun This wasn’t easy to add for player 2, as the accuracy of matrix maths at big distances is a challenge in 6502 But they’re an important part of the immersion, and those mode 1 suns are just so darn pretty… (4/6)

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The two-player dashboard is now wired up to show each player’s status Each compass points to the other player, so you can track down a faraway opponent The scanner is shared using different colours for each player - it works well The only part that doesn’t work (yet) is the missile counter (3/6)

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The headline feature is that two-player Elite now has frickin’ laser beams And there’s a hit counter too So dogfights can either be “last one standing” or “first to 100 hits” (say) And the laser types are configurable - military lasers really make that hit counter go brrrr Game on! (2/6)

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Mark Moxon @markmoxon.bsky.social · 12/06/2026

I’ve been beavering away at two-player #BBCMicro Elite These videos show the most recent improvements: laser beams, hit counters, two-player dashboard, planets, suns and more accuracy It’s quite difficult to film! See the thread for a tour of what’s new… (1/6) #retrocomputing #retrogaming #8bit

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Two-player #BBCMicro Elite now has a two-player dashboard Each player has their own set of indicators: speed, attitude control, fore and aft shields, laser temperature, energy, missiles and compass They share the scanner, which works well It’s starting to feel like a proper game! #retrocomputing

Two-player Elite with a two-player dashboard

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Bonus video: someone asked me to show the two ships looking at each other in a spaghetti-western style. Here you go: Cobra vs Viper, head-on. It doesn't end well.

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I’m building this on the BBC Micro with 6502 Second Processor because it makes development so much easier It should be possible to do a standard BBC Micro version, but it might need sideways RAM and speed could be more of an issue It’s very early days! But we’re getting there… 🚀💥🚀 (6/6)

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Controls are either twin joysticks, or player 1 on keyboard and player 2 on joystick Speed and view changes are done with the keyboard for both players I also plan to support two Delta 14B joysticks (the ones with the buttons) for the best experience (5/6)

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The less good news is that it isn’t accurate enough yet, so player 1’s ship jumps around a bit This is because I’ve used Elite’s own dot product code, which was designed for visibility checks, so only the sign bit is accurate I’m writing a double-precision version that I hope will fix this (4/6)

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Player 1’s scanner view is in cyan, player 2’s scanner view is in yellow. Players will be able to choose different ships and loadouts The good news is that this proof-of-concept confirms that the geometry behind two-player Elite is sound That’s the tricky part, so this is a relief! (3/6)

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The videos show player 1 (top) in a Cobra Mk III and player 2 (bottom) in a Viper They demonstrate both ships independently flying past each other This clip shows the rear view working too Though it’s a bit hard to demo a two-player game when there’s only one of me! 😂 No lasers yet… (2/6)

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