Age and graphics quality are irrelevant, as long as it runs on my netbook. I'd prefer offline singleplayer stuff, but I'd be happy to hear about low-system-requirement MMO's as well.

I am looking for a game - I'm not even sure if it exists. I love X3, own X2, owned and played and loved Freelancer and DarkStar One, but now that I've changed over to my netbook I cannot play any of my space sims. I'm looking for something that offers similar depth of gameplay and freeroaming space experience in a netbook-friendly package. I'd particularly love it if the game takes it a step farther so I can actually get out of my ship and explore planetside. I was looking at the expansion for the X: Beyond the Frontier, called X-Tension, but I cannot figure out from wikipedia or the page on Steam whether it's a stand-alone expansion, and I can't find a demo.

Any help would be greatly appreciated, I've been craving this sort of game for quite some time.

There's a joke to be had somewhere from the title of your thread...I'm thinking something with "Klingons" and "Uranus" but its late & I can't quite put it together.

I don't think anyone wants to help you klingon uranus.

Practically writes itself, doesn't it?

Somebody had to say it ;P

Ambrosia Software still sells Escape Velocity: Nova. It's more of a top-down perspective game. It's got all the stuff Freelancer does, like trading, bounty hunting, escorting, etc. And if you're so inclined, a couple of dedicated fans have made mods that let you play the campaigns from the previous two Escape Velocity games, which up until the mods' release were only available on Mac.

If it's arcade action you want, you can't go wrong with Starscape from Moonpod. It's kinda like a reverse game of Sinistar. Basically, you mine asteroids for resources, and build up your mothership to restore your star drive.

Oh yeah, and then there's Evochron: Mercenary, which is totally sandbox. There are no plot driven missions whatsoever. It's made by the folks who brought you the Star Wraith series.

Thank you! I'll check out Evochron, I looked at EV Nova and I'm sorry...maybe it's just incredibly awesome and I'm being naive, but $30 for an eight-year-old game is a bit much when it isn't even a collectible.

Mmm, and Evochron looks awesome! It's far beyond my system specs, but it's definitely something I'd pick up if I still had my old computer - thanks!

While I do agree that $30 for EV Nova seems steep, in my personal opinion it's definitely worth it. Especially as the previous two games are available as mods. It's shareware so you can try it before you register.

That reminds me, I should install it on the laptop so I have it with me while away.

Now I can't tell youhow to get it but I can absolutely encourage you to get Starflight 2: Trade Routes Of The Cloud Nebula. Its a fantastic open world trading/exploration/combat/diplomacy/treasurehunt game that was the X3: Reunion of it's day.

It has evil jellyfish, cunning trader slugs, a plant species split down the middle by a genocidal religious war, a triple gendered species who are wonderfully friendly some of the time and others they redefine 'that time of the month' and there's a chronically depressed species who are ironically the longest lived race in the galaxy.

Damnit, now I'm feeling all nostalgic and want to haggle with the Humna Humna...

How about a wing commander privateer remake? Should run on your netbook, and it's a free download to find out if it will run.

http://privateer.sourceforge.net/

Some free alternatives:
Privateer: Ascii Sector - Space flight, boarding ships, landing planets/space ports and lot more. ASCII based graphics
NAEV - 2D space trading and combat game. Still in development.
Noctis IV - space and planetside exploration only. Dos game
Oolite - Space trading and combat game with lots of mods. Elite clone
Orbiter - realistic space flight simulator
Space Exploration: Serpens Sector - 2D space exploration game
Strange Adventures in Infinite Space - 2D space exploration game
Transcendence Graphical 2D roguelike. Space exploration and combat in randomly generated universe.
Ur-Quan Masters - 2D Space exploration and combat. Star Control 2 3DO source port.
Vega Strike - 3D Action-Space-Sim that lets you trade, fight, and explore in a vast universe.
Wing Commander: Privateer Gemini Gold - Space trading and combat with plot. Wing Commander: Privateer remake.
Wazzal - 2D space privateering game.
Universal Combat Command a cruiser in hostile unverse. Space combat in cruiser or fighter, landing on worlds possible. Extremely complex and difficult to handle and probably wont run in netbook.

Homeworld

This is not exactly a space exploration game since it's an RTS but one of the best ones. Feels like you are eploring the universe, the unknown. You cannot miss it!

You should check Space Rangers 2. The original Space Rangers is on GOG and is a good game too, but the sequel is better. Plus it was rereleased with a bunch of extras, in a package called Reboot.

It's a mix of several different genres, but the main thing is about flying through space, trading, doing missions, pirating (if you want), et.c., while a dynamic war is going on in the background and can be influenced by your actions.

Also, the Independence War-games (both on GOG) are definitely worth checking out. Very slick and enjoyable games.

If you haven't played Star Control II / The Ur-Quan Masters, then you need to do so. It's one of the best games ever made, and a fantastic space exploration game. And it's free.

http://www.eliteclub.org.uk/shareware.htm

Frontier: First Encounters PC shareware version 1.06
Frontier: Elite 2 PC shareware version