There is no substitute, which is why the wait for Elite IV was so grueling. I've played all the titles I mentioned, and can reccomend each one of them, however, none can truly hold a candle to the Elite titles. You increase your rating by hacking systems and doing jobs. 2.1 Uplink Ratings This is a list of the Uplink ratings you acquire through the game. Its a deep hole looking for something to replace Elite, and its a journey that I've taken over the years. Section 2 Uplink Information This section contains Information about Uplink, such as Uplink Ratings, Neuromancer ratings and how they change, and Software and Hardware Info. It's arguably one of the most realistic games out there. Using your PC, you move up the ranks of Uplink agents by hacking different companies' computers and servers.
The whole premise is that you, an unnamed agent of the Uplink Corporation (an underground hacker-for-hire service), have just joined up in the ranks. However, despite these all being truly excellent trader/fighter open ended space sims, NONE of them did EVERYTHING right like Elite did. Uplink is a game that could best be described as a Hollywood Hacking simulation. Lastly I can say that Privateer is another popular choice, it being a spin-off of Wing Commander, and can be found on GOG.com.
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(X3 Terran Conflict being the best out of that series.) Others will talk about Space Rangers 2 and Escape Velocity Nova (2 excellent top-down open ended trading/fighting/space things.) Others will periodically mention Freelancer (an early 2000's space open ended game in the vein of Elite, but with a bit more structure) which I think is quite good. Always make a backup of the files that are overwritten by the File Archive, as the original files are usually required to update the game to a newer version or to play Online Some No-CD/Fixed EXE files work fine in Single Player mode but are detected to be modified when trying to play online. The problem with Elite, is that deep down, there is truly nothing else like it.