ELITE: THE NEW KIND

Gameboy Advance Version 1.4
===========================

May 2003

This is release 1.4 of the GBA port of Elite - The New Kind.

The original PC version is available from Christian Pinder's New Kind website at..
http://www.newkind.co.uk

The latest Gameboy version can be found at http://www.quirky.remakes.org/

newkindgba.zip contains a compiled version of the code designed to run on the Gameboy Advance 
using a flash card or similar "backup" device. It has been tested with a Flash Advance Pro 256M.
You will have to add the Nintendo header to the file, but most card writing software does this
automatically.

newkindgba_source.zip contains the GBA specific source code for Elite - The New Kind.
If you want to recompile the game then you will need:
> the Unofficial GameBoy Advance Software Development Kit available from http://www.io.com/~fenix/devkitadv/download.html
> gbalib - a gameboy advance mode 4 gfx and maths library available from Pete ( dooby@bits.bris.ac.uk / http://bits.bris.ac.uk/dooby/ )
> Krawall http://mind.riot.org/krawall/ - I have used the non-commercial GCC SDK version for mod play back and sound effects


Controls
---------

On the intro screen, press A to load a saved game or B to continue
press Start on the ship parade screen

Menus
-------
When in game, START will bring up the controls menu. Use the d-pad to move around
on the menu and A to select.

You can use the approriate gadget on your ship from here, providing it is fitted. 
There is a reduced menu when docked but you can also save and load via the "Options" screen.

Generally in the status screens, up and down select an option. Right or A buys things,
Left sells, B cancels.

When you buy a new laser you will be asked where to fit it - prss up down left or right
to fit to the front, back or the left or right side.

In space
---------

A - Fire.
B* - Fire missile
up - Dive.
down - Climb.
left - Roll Left
right - Roll Right
L* - Slow Down
R* - Speed up.
Start - Menu
Select* - target missile

* - can be configured in the Options screen

On The Chart Screens
--------------------

d-pad - Move cross hairs around.
B - return cursor to docked planet
 when "finding"-
  up and down to change current letter
  A to select letter
  B to delete letter
  select "?" to search for the named planet
  

Release 1.0 differences to PC version
--------------------------------------
1 mission extra - see source code for spoilers
"find" can be performed only when docked
A couple of extra ships appear, taken from Elite A


Release 1.0 Known "problems"
--------------------------
Certain "line" graphic hacks do not display correctly.
The scanner is not too useful due to the required scaling
Auto docking computer can be bit crazy, but it won't crash you.
Menus have 1 unused slot each. They aren't secret options.
Ships at mid-distances are impossible to hit.


Release 1.1 fix
------------------
After buying ECM system, can't buy any other add on.

Release 1.2
------------
Vsync (screen update) waiting uses an interrupt, to cut down on battery use.
Added a new way to change view. Press <button> + direction to shift to forward, back, left and right view. Most useful in conjuction with Speed toggle (button + up/down to speed up/slow down)
Press R on the Short Range Chart to jump to the Data screen.

Release 1.3 changes
------------------
Sped up the vertex calculating code a bit by putting variables in iwram and ditching malloc (dunno why it was in there really!). Should cut out some of the slow down when there are a few ships on screen.
Added Pogoshell support to "Quit Game". Without Pogoshell the game just resets on "quitting".
Added the option to use "GBA Palette" which is a brighter, easier to see palette.
Now saves the game options (solid ships, instant dock, palette). Old saves aren't affected as there were a few unused bytes in the game save. Just update these options and save the game as normal.
I've also included a PogoShell icon in the binary download (.elite.icon). Add this to the same dir as the elite.gba file when creating your PogoShell binary. The icon uses the same palette as the default Pogo theme.

Release 1.4 changes
------------------
NEiMOD's nmod player is no longer available due to it being added to the Catapult 
game creation tool, so I've changed over to Krawall for sound. http://mind.riot.org/krawall/
I initially tried Krawall but I couldn't get it to work correctly with my code for some reason. 
All sorted now though.
The sound effects are a lot better, explosions and lasers don't cut each other out as before, and the 
intro tunes sound a bit "richer".

