Amstrad CPC Elite Information

Elite was released for the Amstrad CPC brand of machines, in both tape and disc format, by Firebird in 1985. It was a faithful and fairly standard version of the original game. There appear to be few - if any - differences between the tape and disc versions of Elite for the Amstrad. Due to the extra RAM available compared to the BBC Micro, both the tape and disc versions featured the system descriptions. These were absent from the BBC tape version, due to a lack of memory.

As with the Spectrum version, memory restrictions meant there were fewer types of ships compared to the BBC disc version, although the dangerous Fer-de-Lance did survive. There werre also some hidden missions for the commander to enjoy.

Click on the image to the left to view the complete Amstrad CPC Elite tape package.

A bug contained in the original release for Amstrad Elite meant that the machine would lock up after an hour or so of playing the game. Firebird rectified this by sending out a free replacement cassette to anyone who requested it.

The original, bugged version had a black label on the cassette (below left). The updated version could be identified by the word "METROPOLITAN" on a white label (below right).

Click on the image to the right to view the complete Amstrad CPC Elite disc package. This included the Firebird Ship Identification Chart, plus the competition entry card and a copy of The Dark Wheel.

As the game was released in 1985, the Order of Elite competition ran until May 1986. Each Commander who had reached the combat rank of Elite would receive a full colour poster and the official Order Of Elite insignia. The best two Commanders from each month would be awarded the Order Of Elite and receive the full range of Firebird Amstrad software. They would also be eligible to enter the grand play-off in July 1986.

There was a leaflet included in the disc version of Amstrad Elite, warning the player to leave the game disc in the machine unless docked and accessing the disc menu. The likeliest explanation for this is that the machine was reading the disc during regular gameplay, and if it attempted to do so with the correct disc not being present, the game would crash. This could have the unfortunate result of losing many hours of progress in the game.

The Amstrad CPC was a popular computer outside the UK, and when Elite was released it was available in a number of languages.
The pictures below show the French disk version with the box contents broadly similar to the English version.

Another popular market for the game was Germany, where the Amstrad CPC was known as the Schneider CPC, and the game retailed for DM 69.90.
The pictures below show the disk version contents. This included a German edition of The Dark Wheel, titled Das Dunkle Rad.

The Order of Elite competition took place in Germany in 1986, run by Happy Computer Magazine in Munich. The closing date was 1st August 1986, and first prize was a trip for two to Firebird Sofware in London.

To celebrate their 100th edtion, Amstrad Action magazine featured Elite on its cover tape in January 1994. Full instructions for playing the game were included in the magazine itself, for the benefit of the few players who had not encountered the game up to that point.

There was a step-by-step guide for the novice commander and a quick key control guide, plus some interesting suggestions should the game fail to load from the cassette tape. These included adjusting the head alignment of the tape player with a screwdriver or gently tapping the cassette on a hard surface to un-jam the tape spools.

Playing Amstrad Elite on your PC

1. Download an Amstrad emulator, such as WinAPE
2. Download the game from Ian Bell's Elite Page