I’ve sunk a lot of time into both the X series and Elite, and they’re very different games. X has always been about building an empire. At first glance, X looks like a combat sim with empire building elements tacked on, but it’s actually the exact opposite. It’s an empire building game with combat sim elements tacked on.
Elite, on the other hand, is a pure space simulator. Virtually nothing you do in the game will make any sort of lasting impact on the universe. It’s space trucking and space mining and space combat in almost its purest form, get rich or die trying. In that regard I’d almost say it’s more like Eve, where a group of people can impact the BGS, but a solo player is more or less at its whim.
