<s>
Frontier	B-Application
:	I-Application
Elite	I-Application
II	I-Application
is	O
a	O
space	O
trading	O
and	O
combat	O
simulator	O
video	O
game	O
written	O
by	O
David	O
Braben	O
and	O
published	O
by	O
GameTek	O
and	O
Konami	O
in	O
October	O
1993	O
and	O
released	O
on	O
the	O
Amiga	B-Device
,	O
Atari	B-Device
ST	I-Device
and	O
DOS	B-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
is	O
the	O
first	O
sequel	O
to	O
the	O
seminal	O
game	O
Elite	B-Application
from	O
1984	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
game	O
retains	O
the	O
same	O
principal	O
component	O
of	O
Elite	B-Application
,	O
namely	O
open-ended	O
gameplay	O
,	O
and	O
adds	O
realistic	O
physics	O
and	O
an	O
accurately	O
modelled	O
galaxy	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Frontier	B-Application
:	I-Application
Elite	I-Application
II	I-Application
had	O
a	O
number	O
of	O
firsts	O
to	O
its	O
name	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
was	O
followed	O
by	O
Frontier	B-Application
:	I-Application
First	I-Application
Encounters	I-Application
in	O
1995	O
and	O
another	O
sequel	O
,	O
Elite	B-Protocol
Dangerous	I-Protocol
in	O
2014	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
There	O
is	O
no	O
plot	O
within	O
Frontier	O
,	O
nor	O
are	O
there	O
pre-scripted	O
missions	O
(	O
as	O
there	O
are	O
in	O
its	O
sequel	O
,	O
First	B-Application
Encounters	I-Application
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
Frontier	O
,	O
the	O
player	O
begins	O
in	O
the	O
year	O
3200	O
and	O
assumes	O
the	O
role	O
of	O
one	O
of	O
Commander	B-Application
Jameson	I-Application
's	O
grandchildren	O
,	O
having	O
inherited	O
one	O
hundred	O
credits	O
and	O
an	O
Eagle	O
Long	O
Range	O
Fighter	O
from	O
him	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
These	O
two	O
factions	O
are	O
bitter	O
enemies	O
,	O
but	O
at	O
the	O
time	O
of	O
the	O
game	O
they	O
have	O
established	O
a	O
tense	O
cease-fire	O
,	O
akin	O
to	O
the	O
Cold	B-Application
War	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
As	O
with	O
Elite	B-Application
,	O
much	O
of	O
Frontier	O
is	O
concerned	O
with	O
trading	O
:	O
players	O
can	O
buy	O
and	O
sell	O
a	O
variety	O
of	O
goods	O
—	O
from	O
food	O
and	O
computer	O
parts	O
to	O
guns	O
and	O
slaves	O
—	O
with	O
the	O
aim	O
of	O
making	O
the	O
most	O
profit	O
possible	O
from	O
each	O
trading	O
run	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Frontier	O
substitutes	O
Elite	B-Application
’s	O
arcade	O
flying	O
style	O
for	O
one	O
based	O
rigidly	O
on	O
Newtonian	O
physics	O
:	O
momentum	O
must	O
first	O
be	O
neutralised	O
to	O
bring	O
the	O
player	O
's	O
craft	O
to	O
a	O
stop	O
,	O
and	O
turning	O
180°	O
has	O
no	O
effect	O
on	O
the	O
direction	O
of	O
travel	O
until	O
previous	O
momentum	O
has	O
been	O
counteracted	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
All	O
enemy	O
ships	O
destroyed	O
count	O
towards	O
the	O
player	O
's	O
combat	O
rating	O
,	O
starting	O
at	O
"	O
Harmless	O
"	O
and	O
progressing	O
towards	O
"	O
Elite	B-Application
"	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
game	O
's	O
copy	B-Application
protection	I-Application
was	O
worked	O
into	O
the	O
game	O
in	O
the	O
form	O
of	O
police	O
spot-checks	O
,	O
making	O
sure	O
the	O
player	O
is	O
the	O
legitimate	O
owner	O
of	O
his	O
ship	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Frontier	O
has	O
more	O
advanced	O
graphics	O
than	O
Elite	B-Application
,	O
but	O
this	O
is	O
mostly	O
due	O
to	O
the	O
differences	O
in	O
the	O
underlying	O
computer	O
platforms	O
,	O
as	O
the	O
Amiga	B-Device
,	O
Atari	B-Device
ST	I-Device
and	O
IBM	B-Device
PC	I-Device
offered	O
much	O
more	O
power	O
than	O
the	O
BBC	B-Device
Micro	I-Device
and	O
Commodore	O
64	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
graphics	O
engine	O
was	O
advanced	O
for	O
its	O
time	O
,	O
featuring	O
curved	O
Bézier	O
surfaces	O
,	O
and	O
texture	O
mapping	O
in	O
the	O
PC	B-Device
version	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Frontier	O
built	O
on	O
Elite	B-Application
differs	O
in	O
other	O
aspects	O
as	O
well	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
is	O
possible	O
to	O
freeform	O
seamlessly	O
land	O
on	O
planets	O
,	O
something	O
not	O
possible	O
in	O
the	O
first	O
Elite	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
addition	O
to	O
this	O
some	O
real	O
stars	O
had	O
been	O
placed	O
in	O
the	O
Frontier	O
universe	O
,	O
mostly	O
near	O
Sol	O
,	O
such	O
as	O
Alpha	B-Application
Centauri	I-Application
and	O
Sirius	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Other	O
brighter	O
stars	O
such	O
as	O
Altair	O
,	O
Antares	O
,	O
Betelgeuse	O
and	O
Polaris	B-Application
,	O
which	O
are	O
much	O
further	O
out	O
,	O
are	O
also	O
included	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Similarly	O
to	O
the	O
original	O
Elite	B-Application
,	O
Frontier	O
offers	O
dozens	O
of	O
ships	O
,	O
from	O
small	O
but	O
fast	O
fighters	O
like	O
the	O
Eagle	O
,	O
multi-role	O
traders	O
like	O
the	O
Cobra	O
to	O
huge	O
cruisers	O
such	O
as	O
the	O
Anaconda	O
or	O
the	O
Panther	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Braben	O
originally	O
programmed	O
the	O
game	O
in	O
68000	B-Device
assembly	B-Language
language	I-Language
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
had	O
roughly	O
250,000	O
lines	O
of	O
code	O
,	O
which	O
were	O
ported	O
from	O
68000	B-Device
assembler	B-Language
to	O
the	O
PC	B-Device
's	O
80286	O
assembler	B-Language
by	O
Chris	O
Sawyer	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Frontier	B-Application
:	I-Application
Elite	I-Application
II	I-Application
was	O
published	O
on	O
a	O
single	O
floppy	B-Device
disk	I-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
For	O
the	O
Amiga	B-Device
version	O
,	O
this	O
is	O
a	O
single	O
880	O
KB	O
disk	O
(	O
disk	O
2	O
was	O
only	O
a	O
selection	O
of	O
interesting	O
saved	O
games	O
)	O
,	O
and	O
for	O
the	O
PC/DOS	O
platform	O
a	O
720	O
KB	O
double	B-Device
density	I-Device
floppy	I-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
For	O
the	O
Amiga	B-Device
version	O
,	O
the	O
actual	O
executable	O
file	O
was	O
only	O
around	O
400	O
KB	O
(	O
uncompressed	O
)	O
,	O
its	O
small	O
size	O
partly	O
due	O
to	O
the	O
entire	O
game	O
being	O
written	O
in	O
assembly	B-Language
language	I-Language
while	O
its	O
universe	O
was	O
mostly	O
procedurally	O
generated	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
With	O
a	O
9-year	O
sequel	O
gap	O
since	O
the	O
original	O
Elite	B-Application
in	O
1984	O
,	O
Frontier	O
was	O
described	O
by	O
CU	O
Amiga	B-Device
in	O
1993	O
as	O
"	O
the	O
longest-awaited	O
sequel	O
of	O
the	O
decade	O
"	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
game	O
has	O
since	O
been	O
released	O
as	O
shareware	B-License
and	O
is	O
available	O
as	O
a	O
free	B-License
download	I-License
,	O
although	O
being	O
a	O
DOS	B-Device
game	O
,	O
users	O
of	O
post-Windows	O
98	O
operating	B-General_Concept
systems	I-General_Concept
may	O
have	O
difficulty	O
getting	O
it	O
to	O
run	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Primarily	O
this	O
was	O
because	O
of	O
the	O
game	O
using	O
EMS	B-Device
type	O
memory	O
rather	O
than	O
XMS	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
expanded	O
memory	O
manager	O
EMM386	B-Device
had	O
to	O
be	O
configured	O
to	O
use	O
it	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Using	O
emulation	O
such	O
as	O
DosBox	B-Application
will	O
get	O
the	O
official	O
shareware	B-License
version	O
of	O
the	O
game	O
to	O
run	O
on	O
modern	O
operating	B-General_Concept
systems	I-General_Concept
such	O
as	O
Windows	B-Device
7	I-Device
,	O
Windows	B-Application
XP	I-Application
,	O
Mac	B-Operating_System
OS	I-Operating_System
X	I-Operating_System
and	O
Linux	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Also	O
,	O
around	O
2005	O
Tom	O
Morton	O
reverse	O
engineered	O
a	O
platform-neutral	O
C	B-Language
version	O
from	O
the	O
game	O
,	O
called	O
GLFrontier	O
,	O
making	O
the	O
game	O
natively	O
and	O
fast	O
playable	O
on	O
modern	O
OSes	O
again	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
longer	O
review	O
the	O
next	O
month	O
reported	O
that	O
the	O
game	O
compensated	O
for	O
the	O
Amiga	B-Device
version	O
's	O
16-color	O
palette	O
with	O
"	O
a	O
surprising	O
amount	O
of	O
graphic	O
detail	O
"	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
One	O
notable	O
exception	O
was	O
Amiga	B-Device
Power	O
,	O
who	O
viewed	O
the	O
game	O
not	O
as	O
a	O
successor	O
to	O
Elites	O
throne	O
,	O
but	O
as	O
a	O
space	O
flying	O
game	O
on	O
its	O
own	O
right	O
,	O
and	O
were	O
disappointed	O
by	O
its	O
lack	O
of	O
action	O
;	O
this	O
made	O
them	O
dismiss	O
the	O
game	O
as	O
boring	O
,	O
rating	O
it	O
65%	O
(	O
75%	O
on	O
the	O
faster	O
Amiga	B-Application
1200	I-Application
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Amiga	B-Device
Power	O
later	O
ranked	O
Frontier	O
#100	O
in	O
the	O
magazine	O
's	O
top	O
100	O
games	O
list	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
was	O
named	O
#77	O
on	O
PC	B-Device
Zone	O
's	O
"	O
101	O
Best	O
PC	B-Device
Games	O
Ever	O
"	O
list	O
in	O
2007	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
1994	O
,	O
PC	B-Device
Gamer	O
UK	O
named	O
Frontier	O
the	O
16th	O
best	O
computer	O
game	O
of	O
all	O
time	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
editors	O
called	O
it	O
"	O
a	O
worthy	O
successor	O
to	O
Elite	B-Application
,	O
and	O
another	O
classic	O
in	O
its	O
own	O
right.	O
"	O
</s>
<s>
Frontier	O
was	O
succeeded	O
in	O
April	O
1995	O
by	O
First	B-Application
Encounters	I-Application
,	O
which	O
was	O
available	O
for	O
DOS	B-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
No	O
Amiga	B-Device
or	O
Atari	O
versions	O
were	O
released	O
as	O
by	O
the	O
time	O
of	O
its	O
publication	O
these	O
platforms	O
were	O
no	O
longer	O
as	O
profitable	O
as	O
they	O
had	O
once	O
been	O
,	O
even	O
though	O
Amiga	B-Application
1200	I-Application
and	O
Amiga	B-Device
CD32	I-Device
versions	O
were	O
planned	O
and	O
previewed	O
in	O
many	O
magazines	O
of	O
that	O
time	O
,	O
they	O
were	O
eventually	O
cancelled	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
further	O
sequel	O
,	O
Elite	B-Protocol
:	I-Protocol
Dangerous	I-Protocol
was	O
crowdfunded	O
through	O
a	O
Kickstarter	O
campaign	O
and	O
released	O
on	O
16	O
December	O
2014	O
.	O
</s>
