Video Game History Archive

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1 entry of 164 involving Ian Bell

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1980-1989 The 1980s

Game development

Elite compresses a galaxy into a home computer

David Braben and Ian Bell built a space trading game for the BBC Micro whose thousands of star systems were calculated rather than stored, and which offered its player no way to win.

Key facts and significance Hide details
Who
David Braben, Ian Bell, Acornsoft
Platform
Personal computers
Region
Europe
Period
The 1980s

Why it matters

Two ideas that now feel obvious arrived together here. Worlds too large to author by hand can be computed instead, and a game needs no win condition to hold attention for months. Both are visible in space simulations, survival games and open-world design generally.

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