I love this game, but none of my computers run it!!!!
Something different about this game was the ability to buy illegal weapons and information about people you can hire, and the different races. I really liked how I could hire some colony managers to take care of some of my asteroids (while I busied myself with my "war asteroids").
This game also was nice because you can pick who your opponents were, and their difficulties varied. If you just wanted to smash somebody, you picked the Rigellians. If you want a challenge, maybe you picked the Braccadians? (don't remember how to spell).
I wish that they would put this game on steam, at least then I would be able to play it. It hasn't worked for me since windows 98...