Cool article for those who wanted to do an Elite..

... type game.

http://www.gamasutra.com/features/20060112/oneil_01.shtml

And,

If you want the full source to an Elite clone and all the media:

http://developer.berlios.de/projects/oolite-pc/

p.s. worth downloading - even if you just want to play it:
http://oolite.aegidian.org/screenshots/