Elite Plus was an amazing game that allowed you to engage in space trading and combat missions. The structure was freeform (probably one of the earliest freeform games ever to be released, certainly in 3D). This enabled you to add equipment to your spacecraft, travel from space station to space station to secure the best markups on trade goods, and, last but not least: there was no moral element to the game. You could attack traders and steal their cargo, if you fitted a fuel scoop to your craft, or, alternatively, equip your craft with a laser and head out on trading missions.
Elite Plus was an amazing game that allowed you to engage in space trading and combat missions. The structure was freeform (probably one of the earliest freeform games ever to be released, certainly in 3D). This enabled you to add equipment to your spacecraft, travel from space station to space station to secure the best markups on trade goods, and, last but not least: there was no moral element to the game. You could attack traders and steal their cargo, if you fitted a fuel scoop to your craft, or, alternatively, equip your craft with a laser and head out on trading missions. However, attacking a trader within range of a space station would bring a swift police response. Pirates would periodically
attack your vessel en route to the space station, and this would let you engage in 3D combat. It showed the versatility of the system, as your Fuel Scoop (if you'd decided to fit one) would allow you to collect any cargo that the pirates had dropped.
The combat was excellent stuff, making use of a 3D radar scope, which has to be seen to be understood. It was remarkably effective, and the basic idea of drawing lines on the radar relative to the mid-point of the vertical axis of space is still in use in games today.
Docking at a space station was another memorable event, in which one had to match the rotation of one's spacecraft to the rotation of the geodesic station, and enter without crashing. This was no mean feat, but once mastered, it was a skill never forgotten, and one worthy of showing your friends.
A final twist was added with the mysterious Zargons, aliens inhabiting classic flying saucer shaped craft who were noticeably harder to destroy than the space pirates (although not impossibly so). Zargon drone ships could be collected in the Fuel Scoop and sold at a very handsome profit.
I would thoroughly recommend this game to everyone, who has not tried it.
