TLDR; Simulation Game.
I think that simulation in this context is a scale not a yes or no thing. On one end of the scale, 100% sim would be something that is absolutely as close to reality as it can get. Such that you'd have to eat, you would get ill and the game would end when you die. At the other end of the scale, 0% sim I might find a zombie riding a my little pony emerging from a space station riding a rainbow - just because.
Needless to say, almost all games fall somewhere in between those two extremes. I believe that Elite games should fall closer to the simulation end than most, but not as close as hardcore simulation games. I think that without a healthy dose of simulation it would not be enjoyable. But then it's worth thinking about what we're trying to simulate and how:
This is something they do in every weather forecast. It's one of the best uses of simulation. Likewise we can run a simulation of things that aren't real and won't come to pass. We could simulate a cricket shot being played in completely normal conditions but with double Earth's gravity. Not something that will realistically happen but still a simulation of how something might happen within those parameters. Almost all simulations have parameters that don't perfectly replicate reality - which is why they're simulations and not re-enactments (or pre-enactments?!).
So we can model something that hasn't happened yet, and even something that isn't real. But it's still a simulation. So now we have a legitimate question: we're trying to simulate something, but what? Not reality. I don't want to spend my entire life staring at empty unchanging space just because it's realistic. We're trying to simulate a particular brand of science fiction. It is not reality, it doesn't have to be perfect science. But it does resemble reality, and it has to stay true to its own universe. There's a good deal of room for artistic license, and some significant concessions to gameplay (not least the fact we're dogfighting in fighter cockpits) - but it's not a fairy tale. We do need a simulated universe that is fairly believable.
I think that simulation in this context is a scale not a yes or no thing. On one end of the scale, 100% sim would be something that is absolutely as close to reality as it can get. Such that you'd have to eat, you would get ill and the game would end when you die. At the other end of the scale, 0% sim I might find a zombie riding a my little pony emerging from a space station riding a rainbow - just because.
Needless to say, almost all games fall somewhere in between those two extremes. I believe that Elite games should fall closer to the simulation end than most, but not as close as hardcore simulation games. I think that without a healthy dose of simulation it would not be enjoyable. But then it's worth thinking about what we're trying to simulate and how:
This is something they do in every weather forecast. It's one of the best uses of simulation. Likewise we can run a simulation of things that aren't real and won't come to pass. We could simulate a cricket shot being played in completely normal conditions but with double Earth's gravity. Not something that will realistically happen but still a simulation of how something might happen within those parameters. Almost all simulations have parameters that don't perfectly replicate reality - which is why they're simulations and not re-enactments (or pre-enactments?!).
So we can model something that hasn't happened yet, and even something that isn't real. But it's still a simulation. So now we have a legitimate question: we're trying to simulate something, but what? Not reality. I don't want to spend my entire life staring at empty unchanging space just because it's realistic. We're trying to simulate a particular brand of science fiction. It is not reality, it doesn't have to be perfect science. But it does resemble reality, and it has to stay true to its own universe. There's a good deal of room for artistic license, and some significant concessions to gameplay (not least the fact we're dogfighting in fighter cockpits) - but it's not a fairy tale. We do need a simulated universe that is fairly believable.
