I'll start up with references...
Couldn't resist temptation to sleep while playing "Weird Worlds". Horribly boring stuff.
I'd recommend two other games, first of which is one of my all-time coffee-break favs:
"Galactic Fighter"
http://members.fortunecity.com/beyond_eternity/It has rather curious ship management system... simple yet captivating.
The second one is more of an epic adventure (think Star Control that relies on random content; less of an adventure, more of a strategy; great feel of "My ship, my fortress")
It's a classical game, but now it is in process of getting revived. Get both the game and the patch.
http://www.ironseed.com/forums/viewforum.php?f=5&sid=5b72e5d4bd5e106b47c9bed6ad1bb7c4And the last one, IMHO, absolutely the best in its' genre is Space Rangers 2. It's out in English already and you can find it over bittorrent; though it's something like 1 DVD large...
What it's all about:
http://pc.gamespy.com/pc/space-rangers-2-dominators/697188p1.htmlIt has exactly the kind of combat you want - simple, fast and configuration-based.
Now for the combat ideas...
As a matter of fact, you don't really need battlefield for space combat. Imagine GearHead without terrain. It doesn't make any sense then; all that matters is the distance between you and your enemies; so all the movement you need is either "Advance" or "Retreat".
"UFO: Enemy Unknown" air combat is a good example of how "strategy-fuelled" combats should occur (the ones that are won or lost before all the shooting begins).
Of course, there should be additional twists to make things fun... Think DoomRL - of the most captivating interest there is uncertainity - you don't know will this lever heal you or kill you, what kind of a horrible monster awaits behind this or that door; is there some magnificent reward for you on this level. You simply never know until you try.
I wonder, how this might be achieved in space... Since you have no levers, no doors and no stuff floating around... it's all up to what appears in random encounter, and after you know what have you met, there's nothing more to be thrilled about - it's just one ship shooting into another ship till one of them blows up (MOO? Anybody remembers any *tactical* combat in MOO?).
You should take away that sense of certainity from the players. Make guns jam. Make crew go mad and start slaughtering each other for no apparent reason. Make weird aliens appear out of nowhere and begin destroying everything that moves. Force player to expect everything - at any moment - and give him ways to cope with it. Make each combat matter - like it is in DoomRL, where you can easily be reduced to 43% HP on the very first level with slim chances of survival on the second, if not careful.
But what are your instruments in such a game?..
First of all, I think there should be detailed scheme of ship systems. You can get all the important nodes damaged, from weapons and shields to lifesupport and engines. Divide you crew as you seem fit, repair one node over another, set the work mode (easy, normal, insane) - but look out for the morale.
Crew should be used not only for the repairs. Most probably they won't improve reloading times or maneuvrability... but they can help AC (point-defense turrets!).
Okay, I'm just throwing in random ideas, and not the ones you most probably need. I'll try to return back on topic.
Since there's nothing so special in open space, "external" view should be as simple as possible. Maybe some kind of a "chess board with spaceships". Main attention should be given to the internal part (how the ships are handled, what they consist of) - the more detail there will be, the better. I'd hate simple "HP over HP, Damage over Damage" bash.
In order to keep things fun, you can either make combats quick and furious (which is easier, and can actually work) or slow, full of well thought-about choices and long meditations... but this will need a complicated game mechanism (think wargames\board games).
...I'll write a follow-up post ASAP, where I'll try to be more specific...