Elite (video game)

Elite is a space trading video game, written and developed by David Braben and Ian Bell and originally published by Acornsoft for the BBC Micro and Acorn Electron computers in September 1984.Elite's open-ended game model, and revolutionary 3D graphics led to it being ported to virtually every contemporary home computer system, and earned it a place as a classic and a genre maker in gaming history. The game's title derives from one of the player's goals of raising their combat rating to the exalted heights of "Elite".

Elite was one of the first home computer games to use wire-frame 3D graphics with hidden line removal. It added graphics and twitch gameplay aspects to the genre established by the 1974 game Star Trader. Another novelty was the inclusion of The Dark Wheel, a novella by Robert Holdstock which gave players insight into the moral and legal codes to which they might aspire.

The game was followed by the sequels Frontier: Elite II in 1993, and Frontier: First Encounters in 1995, which introduced Newtonian physics, realistic star systems and seamless freeform planetary landings. A third sequel, Elite: Dangerous, began crowdfunding in 2012 and was launched on 16 December 2014, following a period of semi-open testing.

The Dark Wheel (novel)

The Dark Wheel is a crime novel by Philip MacDonald and A. Boyd Correll.

Plot introduction

The novel centers on Cornelius Van Toller, a wealthy New Yorker, with Jekyll-and-Hyde character. His obsession with actress Kay Forrester sets the stage for a thrilling drama.

Publication history

The Dark

The Dark may refer to:

Film and television

Literature

Music

Other uses

The Dark (Metal Church album)

The Dark is the second full-length album released by Metal Church. It was released on 6 October 1986 and was the last album featuring the group's classic lineup of David Wayne, Kurdt Vanderhoof, Kirk Arrington, Duke Erickson, and Craig Wells. 1999's Masterpeace album reunited the former four, with John Marshall replacing Wells.

Album information

The Dark talks of somber themes, such as assassination, death, struggle, rituals, and the supernatural: the lyrics from "Line of Death", for example, were based on Libyan hostilities in the Gulf of Sidra. "Watch the Children Pray" became the band's first music video. The album was dedicated to the late Metallica bassist Cliff Burton, who died nine days before its release. In order to promote The Dark, Metal Church supported Metallica and Anthrax on the Damage, Inc. Tour. They also opened for King Diamond.

"Ton of Bricks" appears as the opening track in the Charlie Sheen movie No Man's Land.

Reception

Reviews for The Dark have been mostly positive. Allmusic's Eduardo Rivadavia awards the album two-and-a-half stars out of five, and states that it "contained some of the group's best material." In 2005, the album was ranked number 389 in Rock Hard magazine's book of The 500 Greatest Rock & Metal Albums of All Time.

The Dark (film)

The Dark is a 2005 British-German horror film, based on the novel Sheep (now out of print) by Simon Maginn.

Plot

While in Wales visiting her husband James (Sean Bean), Adélle (Maria Bello) tries to fix her relationship with her daughter Sarah (Sophie Stuckey). By the side of a cliff, they see a strange memorial with evidence of a plate missing and with the name "Annwyn" marked on it. A local man Dafydd (Maurice Roëves) explains that, according to traditional Welsh mythology, Annwyn is a sort of afterlife.

Later, Sarah vanishes on the beach, and another similar looking girl, named Ebrill (Abigail Stone) ("Ebrill" is Welsh for "April"), appears in her place. Ebrill is the long-dead daughter of a local shepherd who also served as the town's pastor fifty years prior. When Ebrill, who was a sickly child, died, her father gave her to the ocean, sending her to Annwyn. He then convinced his followers to throw themselves into the ocean, claiming that it was the way to Paradise, while he privately hoped that their sacrifice would return Ebrill to him from Annwyn. Ebrill did come back, but, something came back with her. Her father tried to draw the evil out of her, through trepanning and locking her in her room. Dafydd was one of the followers who did not throw himself off the cliff, though both his parents did. Ebrill's father took him in, and when Dafydd could no longer bear witnessing the shepherd hurting Ebrill, he set her free, which in turn allowed the evil within her to lash out and shove her father over the cliff.