Did it simulate a proper 3D world, with your ship and the other objects all occupying space (and therefore requiring vector calculations everywhere), or did it

Did it simulate a proper 3D world, with your ship and the other objects all occupying space (and therefore requiring vector calculations everywhere), or did it cheat by keeping minimal position information and just fiddling the display to make it look like you're moving? From the way the enemy ships move it feels like it's cheating, but the starfield and the starbases all look pretty good.