Oolite

In 1984, a game was released that became influential even today, 25 years later. That game was Elite. It had the first true 3D graphics, and open ended gameplay. It was followed by two sequels, Frontier, and FFE, which didn't do as well. Many people have been waiting for a new sequel, Elite4, to come out for about 10 years.

In the meantime there is a new version of Elite available for modern computers, with versions for Windows, Linux, and Mac. It's called Oolite, and is totally free to download. It has a big community of users who are busy making new ships, graphics, missions, and other stuff. Over 250 extensions called OXPs are available.

Download it from www.oolite.org, OXPs from The Elite Wiki, and participate in chat and development on the Oolite Forum.

Below I have gathered a few screenshots and graphics from the game in a slideshow.