"Frontier: First Encounters" is the sequel to Frontier: Elite II. The year is 3250 A.D. For the last millennium, Mankind has sought its destiny colonizing the solar systems in the nearby stars. Vast interstellar empires have been established, aliens have been discovered, and wars have been fought. You are an independant ship commander. You answer to no one and have complete freedom of movement in the galaxy. The only limitations you have are the amount of money in your bank account and the fuel you can carry in your cargo hold. What are you going to do? Are you going to spend your time making money by ferrying goods between systems? Apply for military service and fly missions for the government, earning ranks as well as pay? Or, are you going to leave the confines of colonized space and travel to unknown and uncharted worlds where the only protection you will have is your trusty laser? Reputation and combat ratings make you more attractive to potential employers who are looking to hire a skilled privateer to do their dirty work. Eventually, given a hair trigger finger and the right amount of skill, you can progress to the coveted combat rating of ELITE. When that happens, you have truly become a master of the spacelanes!