	 
			       --- ELITE 128 ---

				  Version 0.9

			by D.Braben & I.Bell (sort of)




This is the second release of a hacked Elite version that utilizes the faster
CPU of the C128, has experimental SuperCPU support and some more nice
features.

Here's a list (see below for a list of drawbacks):

  - Will run in 2MHz mode on the C128 while outside the visible area of the
    screen. This means that the CPU will run with 2MHz for about 40% of the
    time, giving an increase of 40% in speed.

  - Default device is the disk, no need to switch from cassette.

  - Switch between fast and slow possible when game stopped. Hit Inst/Del to
    stop the game, then press 'T' (you will hear a beep). Press Clr/Home to
    continue with the game.

  - Joystick/keyboard handler changed to allow parallel working of both. No
    need to take your hands from the joystick when accelerating, activating a
    missile or similiar things. The original version did not accept any keys
    when the joystick was active.

  - Keep settings when ship gets destroyed or the game is restarted.

  - Enabled three previously hidden keys that control music and sound. In
    addition to the 'T' key mentioned above, there are now three more keys
    available:

        'B'   -->  Allow sounds *and* music. Do you remember your enemies
	 	   killing you because you did not hear them while the docking
	 	   computer was active?

    	'C'   -->  Continous music. The music starts when leaving the station.
	 	   Rather boring but you may give it a try...

    	'E'   -->  Switch between the original docking music and the intro
                   theme.

    All keys are toggle keys. Press them once to enable the feature, press
    them a second time to disable it again.

  * Should detect a SuperCPU, switch it into fast mode and enable the frame
    rate limiter (see next topic) automatically.
    Note: As I don't have a SuperCPU, this may or may not work. If it does not
    work, you may need to manually switch to high speed and enable the frame
    rate limiter.
    Note^2: The SuperCPU must be configured to allow software clock switching
    for this.

  * Version 0.9 has code to limit the frame rate. If you have a SuperCPU this
    may enable you to play Elite in fast mode with more or less constant
    speed. If a SuperCPU is detected, the code is enabled (see previous topic).
    If this does not work, or if you don't have a SuperCPU but some other
    accelerator card, you may want to enable it by hand: Hit Inst/Del to stop
    the game, then press 'L' (you will hear a beep). Press Clr/Home to
    continue with the game. This is a toggle key! To disable the function, use
    the same procedure.
    Note: Enabling this feature on a C64 or C128 without an accelerator card
    has no effect since both are too slow and the frame rate limit is never
    reached.

  * When saving a commander file, a file with the same name is scratched
    before saving the new one. You don't need to use the dangerous '@'
    feature or constantly change your name.

  * Removed the checksum code when saving and loading a commander file.
    This means, you can patch your commander files if you really want to.
    Maybe I will release a commander save file map with the next version.

  * Does work with other devices than #8. The device, from which Elite is
    loaded is remembered by the game and used for all other loads and
    saves.


(+ = new feature in 0.8, * = new in version 0.9)

There are many more internal changes in version 0.9 that are not reflected in
new features. Stay tuned!

As you probably know, there's no such thing as free lunch:-)
So here's the dark side of the new version:

  * I used the german version because it had a second music theme. So, all
    text is in german.
    I've descrambled most of the text, so it should be possible to
    retranslate the german version into english, but the text uses two(!)
    rather complex compression shemes, that are difficult to do by hand. I
    will have to write an encoder to make that possible. Maybe a smarter
    compression will give even more room for new freatures.

  * You win not much if you use the version on a stock C64 or an emulator.
    I had to add a third raster line interrupt, so this version is even a
    (very) small percentage slower on the C64. If you have a 128 or a 64
    with a SuperCPU, it maybe worth a try.

  * I've stripped several layers of compression and encryption from the
    code, changed the initialization, put part of the code in an overlay
    and changed parts of the code, so I may have introduced errors.


If time and mood allows, maybe I will add several more features:

  * Make the messages an overlay (this is possible without problems). Have
    loadable messages in more than one language (translation and encoding
    is a problem - see above). This is my primary target for version 1.0,
    since it makes the new version usable by more people.

  * Add more music (seems not to be very realistic - I've removed several
    K of unused code, but a third music theme needs more than just a few
    kilobytes of RAM...). Maybe I will remove the cassette support to get
    more space.

  * Speedup the code (don't know if this is really possible).

  * Add a fastloader.


For now: Have fun!
