Two screenshots of the high-resolution version of Rimscape, a game being developed by wEvil and myself (along with a very skilled Java programmer, Malohkan) inspired by Nodewars and using ship models similarly inspired by Nodewars ships.
The game is in 2d mainly because it's being developed for MIDP2.0 Java phones, and there's a low resolution version that will be for phones. The high-res version is playable on most PC OSes.
Gameplay is similar to Elite, Escape Velocity, Privateer, and Freelancer as this is a free-form "sandbox game" where you purchase ships and items. Unlike these games, there's a bit of influence from Master of Orion/Diablo in how items are handled as there are different types of item variants with increasing rarity. For example you might have a missile, or you could have a shield piercing missile that's a little more expensive and so a rarer item.
The main goal is of course to have a game that is as non-linear as possible and you can do what you want to do in the game. Smuggle contraband, be a pirate, be a mercenary, etc.
Pretty much this is intended to be a visually simple game, with a lot of depth.
Hopefully, by the end of May we'll be ready for beta testing and I'll post up a link on HLP for testers.
Plans are already starting on a 3d version with net code that we'll begin development on probably this fall.
