Wing Commander ®: Privateer ™

I have never seen so much freedom in a space trader. You can be almost anything you want in this game! A pirate, a trader, a mercenary, an explorer, dead, ect. It also has one of the most expansive combat systems I've ever seen, you have to actually know where you're shooting instead of mindlessly blasting another ship. The only problem I have is that this game is one of the most difficult and brutal things to get started in I've ever seen. If you want to play this game you have to be prepared to start again multiple times after you die(and you WILL die, a lot). The learning curve for space combat is absolutely massive, especially if you are more into the trading aspect over fighting. There is a cheat you can turn on to make your ship invincible, but you gain no profit while doing it. If you can just make it past that massive hump though, this gem has so much to offer and more!

I'm so glad to see this game back up and running on newer OS's. I loved the freedom that this game offered as well as the action and adventure. One of the first open-world games I've played. Graphically was the best I've seen at the time as well.

Open world(s) trading and combat simulator. Not quite Elite: Dangerous, but the game is fun in it's own right. Get ready for some configuration though, as this game has some messy controls straight out the box. I would try Xpadder or DS4 if you're using a controller. the game has native joystick support, but only for an axis and 2 buttons. (It's designed for flight sticks). If you're using keyboard and mouse, then using Dosbox's mapper will help you there. Just make sure to write everything down...

Wing Commander: Privateer is one of the best games in the history of space sims. Though it came after elite, it established itself as a foundation in the genre. If you like space sims, you should enjoy this game. Or at the very least appreciate it as an amazing part of scifi gaming history.

To me this is the game that first got me into space trading and combat games. It's still playable now, but you MUST read the manual first and probably print out the keyboard shortcuts. Warning, it's not very playable with just a keyboard. I'm doing okay with an xbox controller, but it's not super smooth. The joystick I have is about comparable. Keyboard is rough though. Referencing the manual and playtest guide is really handy. I am fortunate to still have the original hard copies of those. :) Playtest guide is also super nice to see prices of items to sell and buy. Almost a must for trading. Grind it out in Troy for a long time until you're upgraded enough to do other things. Save EVERY TIME you are at a base.