Bytes 0x30 to 0x75 say where the commander is. Like every Elite, PC Elite does not store its galaxies: it generates each system from three 16-bit seeds when it needs one. The file keeps the galaxy number, the position on the chart, and two systems already generated: the present system and the one chosen for the next jump.
Galaxy and charts
0x30Random state three 16-bit words60x36Galaxy10x37Present system x and y20x39Cursors in use, short-range and galactic, x and y each60x3FChart in use1
| Offset | Size | Name | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
0x30 | 2 + 2 + 2 | Random state | The state of the program’s random number generator: each new number is the sum of the three words, which then move along one place. A new commander starts with the first galaxy’s seeds here (5A4A 0248 B753). The values do not need to be anything in particular. |
0x36 | 1 | Galaxy | 0 to 7, shown as 1 to 8 on the galactic chart. A galactic jump from the eighth galaxy can, by chance, go to a ninth, which is 8 here (“Welcome to the 9th Galaxy!”). |
0x37 | 1 | Present system x | The present system’s place on the galactic chart, across, 0 to 255. |
0x38 | 1 | Present system y | Its place down, 0 to 127: half the y coordinate the 6502 versions use. Lave, at 20, 173 there, is 20, 86 here. |
0x39 | 1 + 1 | Cursor | The cursor on the chart in use, x then y. |
0x3B | 1 + 1 | Short-range cursor | Where the cursor was left on the short-range chart. 50 40 (80, 64) is its middle, the present system. |
0x3D | 1 + 1 | Galactic cursor | Where the cursor was left on the galactic chart, in the same units as 0x37: the system chosen for the next jump. |
0x3F | 1 | Chart in use | 0 when the cursor at 0x39 belongs to the galactic chart, 1 when it belongs to the short-range chart. Opening a chart copies its saved cursor to 0x39 and sets this byte. |
On arrival after a jump, the program sets the present position, the cursor and the galactic cursor to the new system and the short-range cursor to its middle.
A system
The present system is at 0x40 and the hyperspace system at 0x59. Each is 25 bytes in the same layout, and the program copies the hyperspace system over the present one when a jump arrives. Offsets below are from the start of the system.
+0Name and its length9 + 1+10System number and distance1 + 2+13Government, economy, tech level, population4+17Species four words4+21Productivity and radius2 + 2
| Offset | Present | Hyperspace | Size | Name | Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
+0 | 0x40 | 0x59 | 9 | Name | Up to eight capital letters, then a zero. Bytes after the end of a shorter name can hold a space or a zero. |
+9 | 0x49 | 0x62 | 1 | Name length | The number of letters in the name. |
+10 | 0x4A | 0x63 | 1 | System number | The system’s number in its galaxy, 0 to 255. |
+11 | 0x4B | 0x64 | 2 | Distance | How far the system is from the present one, in tenths of a light year, worked out when it is chosen on a chart. A jump needs 70 (7.0 light years) or less. A jump clears it before the copy, and in the present system it is whatever was last worked out. |
+13 | 0x4D | 0x66 | 1 | Government | 0 to 7, see below. |
+14 | 0x4E | 0x67 | 1 | Economy | 0 to 7, see below. |
+15 | 0x4F | 0x68 | 1 | Tech level | One less than the tech level shown. |
+16 | 0x50 | 0x69 | 1 | Population | In hundreds of millions: 25 is 2.5 billion. |
+17 | 0x51 | 0x6A | 1 | Species size | FF for Human Colonials. Otherwise the first word of the species, see below. |
+18 | 0x52 | 0x6B | 1 | Species colour | The second word. Not written for Human Colonials, so it keeps what an earlier system left there. |
+19 | 0x53 | 0x6C | 1 | Species look | The third word; also left as it was for Human Colonials. |
+20 | 0x54 | 0x6D | 1 | Species kind | The last word; also left as it was for Human Colonials. |
+21 | 0x55 | 0x6E | 2 | Productivity | In millions of credits: (government + 8)² × population × 4. |
+23 | 0x57 | 0x70 | 2 | Radius | The planet’s average radius in kilometres, 4,321 to 8,416. |
Description seeds
| Offset | Size | Name | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
0x72 | 2 | Description seed 1 | The hyperspace system’s first seed XOR its second, worked out with the system. |
0x74 | 2 | Description seed 2 | The first seed XOR the second XOR the third. The two words start the generator that writes the planet’s description on the Data on System screen. |
Government
| Value | Government |
|---|---|
| 0 | Anarchy |
| 1 | Feudal |
| 2 | Multi-Government |
| 3 | Dictatorship |
| 4 | Communist |
| 5 | Confederacy |
| 6 | Democracy |
| 7 | Corporate State |
Economy
The order is the reverse of the 6502 versions’, where 0 is Rich Industrial.
| Value | Economy |
|---|---|
| 0 | Poor Agricultural |
| 1 | Average Agricultural |
| 2 | Rich Agricultural |
| 3 | Mainly Agricultural |
| 4 | Mainly Industrial |
| 5 | Poor Industrial |
| 6 | Average Industrial |
| 7 | Rich Industrial |
Species
A species other than Human Colonials is shown as up to four words, for example “Large Green Slimy Rodents”. A value whose word is empty adds nothing.
| Value | Size | Colour | Look | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0 | Large | Green | Slimy | Rodents |
| 1 | Fierce | Red | Bug-Eyed | Frogs |
| 2 | Small | Yellow | Horned | Lizards |
| 3 | (none) | Blue | Bony | Lobsters |
| 4 | (none) | Black | Fat | Birds |
| 5 | (none) | Harmless | Furry | Humanoids |
| 6 | (none) | (none) | (none) | Felines |
| 7 | (none) | (none) | (none) | Insects |