and i am 43
if you ask me as a complete fanatic, there is nothing that can compare to elite or in my case Frontier.
i guess the magic is not a supergrafic, there was better when frontier was released, was they better? imo no, you cant compare frontiers pure vector grfx with the quad "polys" of WC, i like the vector more especially on closeups, they might be less detailed but allways sharp compared to the first try's in WC 3D style, which didn't exists no more.
nowadays all use real 3D objects like elite allready did, even if they was very low detailed. the other system used also for the classic 3D ego shooter Doom (i might be wrong) i never liked because in a close view things turned to this quads get blurred. in amigas demo scene the "WC system" lived a little further, but i guess no one produces any 3D in this way no more.
pah, those days people came up a said this and that game had a supergrfx but most was sprite based and very bad animated, is a grafic good only because i can see it is James Bond? but when that guy moves like in a cheap japanese cartoon with two sprites for the movement i must say vector grfx are 1000 times better and animations are allways as fluid as it your machine allows.
but i guess i was on a loosing street, it was my choice back in the 80's to stay behind intellivisions poor grafix, was they poor? only (same reason) you can see Rocky Bilboas Face had a Black eye after the fight on coleco? but they was animated in a absolute stupid way, while the inty running man moves in 16! directions and the animated little blocks they used for him have 32 states for a complete movement 32! not 2.
but like allways the masses found the stills better than a fluid movement as long as they can see their heros face.
from this point on "movies" became more important in games rather then good animations or even less important a good gameplay, but im a complete outsider i know.
the gameplay is unique, i guess even if i don't know many other (i played a little XWA and of course WC in the very beginning, but after i played Frontier the first time it couldn't fascinate me no longer), i'm such addicted to Frontier. but foremost it's the open playfield you have, no limits, no given storyline or missions you have to do or to win else the galaxy is lost.
this concept has been picked up by many others but i guess none is as deep as frontier.
almost the whole game is procedural genarated, that means a extreme large galaxy, and many things beside of what you see will take influence the game.
e.g. if you buy a laser gun for your ship, you didn't simply buy one class, it might look that way but each class of laser guns has 8 classes in fact, so it depends on the tech level of the system (you can't see that either) and on your reputation what equipment you get. this gives the game this depth many find Frontier is unique for.
and of course (you can see it at my avatar) there is no Spaceship looking better then a Imperial Courier. only the intro and the Courier made me allready fell in love with it.
what a long list of machines
!
btw, is there any other game that has a "wormhole" bug ? still i don't believe fully it's a bug, because how else can you travel the galaxy, to me it allways was like a "secret" function.
