Basically, there are 5 races in the galaxy, and they're all randomly distributed on planets all over the place. The secret of FTL (faster than light travel) has just been rediscovered, and people need stuff transported! Build your own inter-galactic shipping company from the ground up, make contracts with planets to ship goods to them, build starports on the planets so you can attract more business, all the way down to scheduling routes and the cargo each leg of a route carries.
Each race likes different things, so you can tailor it for max profit. Or you could go for the cheap approach and just be a straight passenger liner service, what ever works.
Also neat is the option to release stock shares in your company, and buy shares of some companies. The idea of the game is to bankrupt the 3 other companies competing with you. There are some very fun options to do this with. Want to give them a bad reputation, start a slander campaign! Tired of them touting their new big fancy ships? Sabotage them! Hire pirates to jack their cargo! Lots of fun! But be careful, because they can do the same to you.
Unfortunately, there is no multiplayer. I would
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have loved to see that, but back then, multiplayer real time strategies weren’t all that common, maybe one or two really popular ones, and that was it.
One more cool aspect is that every now and then, new technologies will come out, like better engines, that make you fly faster, stronger shields, and more powerful guns. Keeping up is important, not just for speed, but every now and then you encounter pirates, who will take your cargo. You do have the option to fight the pirates off, but its completely and if your ship sucks, chances are, your ship will be completely destroyed. But if your ships are state of the art, you'll blow them out of space.
All in all, an outstanding game, I recommend it for any one who likes the idea of being able to micro manage every aspect of a giant company, or just about any body that wants to build a business and crush their competition at the same time!
