Frontier was also the long-awaited
1993 sequel to
Elite, and was written by
David Braben and a team of helpers, in assembly language.
Released for the PC, Commodore Amiga and Atari ST, it presented the player with a universe - our own, but with fictional additions - and a spaceship with which to explore it.
Gameplay involved trading and combat; unlike Elite, however, the game physics were modelled on real life. This meant that the combat was frustratingly unentertaining, and best left to the autopilot.
Whilst it remains unique as the only game that allows you to explore, land on, and shoot at the entire universe, including every planet and moon, the lack of entertainment prevents it from being a classic.
It was followed by a bug-ridden, half-finished sequel, 'Frontier : First Encounters', which prompted lawsuits between David Braben and Gametek over the latter's decision to release the game in an uncompleted state; and a lawsuit between Elite co-writer Ian Bell and David Braben involving an agreement whereby the former would receive royalties from direct sequels to Elite (Braben argued that First Encounters was an entirely new game).
Currently David Braben is working on a fourth Elite game. Frontier is currently unavailable.