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Documented and annotated source code for Elite on the Commodore 64

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Re: Documented and annotated source code for Elite on the Commodore 64

#51

Post by 0xDEADFED5 »

MarkMoxon wrote: post #35
WillAdams wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Have you considered turning this into a book? If you used Literate Programming principles: http://literateprogramming.com/ then it could become a seamless narrative which could be very expressive.

Yeah, it's a bit tricky when the code you are documenting is copyright, and you aren't the copyright owner. Website is one thing, but publishing a book? I suspect that is asking for trouble. Also, books can't be updated, and I update this stuff all the time...

I've never owned a C64 or played Elite, but the dedication shown to your hobby is inspiring, thanks for the effort, it's very cool.

Re: Documented and annotated source code for Elite on the Commodore 64

#54

Post by MarkMoxon »

0xDEADFED5 wrote: post #51
MarkMoxon wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah, it's a bit tricky when the code you are documenting is copyright, and you aren't the copyright owner. Website is one thing, but publishing a book? I suspect that is asking for trouble. Also, books can't be updated, and I update this stuff all the time...

I've never owned a C64 or played Elite, but the dedication shown to your hobby is inspiring, thanks for the effort, it's very cool.

Thank you! I came at it from the BBC Micro angle, which was the system I grew up with, and I have to say that analysing Elite been a brilliant way to learn about other 8-bit platforms. I’ve documented the NES version and now the Commodore 64, and the Apple II is next.

It’s the retro equivalent of discovering that if you like the Beatles, you’ll probably like the Stones, The Who and Pink Floyd. :-)

Re: Documented and annotated source code for Elite on the Commodore 64

#55

Post by mgkimsal »

MarkMoxon wrote: post #32
mgkimsal wrote: post #30

Very curious how Mark Moxon was able to understand and comment so much of the code. Just... a very big fan with a lot of free time? No idea how this will be formatted, but the level of understanding in the comments is quite deep for just having access to the original source. Or did the original source have this level of comments as well? How long does a project like this take to comment? .QQ22 SKIP 2 ; The two hypers…

This should answer your question: https://elite.bbcelite.com/about_site/about_this_project.htm... Some parts of Elite were documented prior to my project, particularly the procedural generation and ship data blocks. But none of it was documented to this level; it's taken time, lots of it! I love this game, and I figured it deserved a proper homage. Or, to put it another way, this is a labour of love. :-)

Thank you for your service! ;)

Seriously, thanks for the details. This was a bit of a pivotal game for me in ... '86 IIRC. It's been interesting to see so much of a following over the decades. Just confirms that whatever was intriguing to me connected with so many other people too!

Re: Documented and annotated source code for Elite on the Commodore 64

#56

Post by jlarcombe »

hathawsh wrote: post #43
MarkMoxon wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Honestly, for me personally and on this specific project with its specific history of copyright issues (look it up!), that would be crossing the line into disrespecting the copyright situation. Websites are ethereal, in a sense, as they are easy to switch off and hard to copy and distribute. PDFs and books are the opposite. Sure, websites get archived and repos get forked, but I think PDFs and books fall into a diffe…

You don't need to be the copyright owner. All you need is a license from the copyright owner. It can't hurt to contact Ian Bell and see what you can negotiate. http://www.iancgbell.clara.net/ Edit: never mind, it sounds like Ian sold his copyright and now there's a mess. Hmm. https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2017/03/elite-dangerous-crowd...

Interesting that, Chris Jordan was part of Acornsoft when the original game was being developed and is also well known for his Hybrid Music System for the BBC Micro, way ahead of its time.
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