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An Introduction to Trade Wars For the beginner, Trade Wars can look bewildering and tedious, and you wonder, "What is the big deal over this game?" You have to really question the sanity of all these people who devote so much time to playing this stupid game. Then you download the docs because the sysop (as nutty as the rest of them) tells you that you won't be able to understand what's going on without them. So you read them, and now you know what the menu options mean, sort of, but still don't really have a grasp on what is going on. Then some little squirt comes along and blows up your merchant cruiser before you've barely gotten out of FedSpace, and you are in this escape pod in the flashing blue for everyone to laugh at on the trader listing. Real fun game! This file is intended to explain how the game works, what all the stuff means, and what is going on, and to give you some suggestions for getting established in a new game. It is divided into sections, first: Overview and Short Example of Play, second: Elements of Play, third: Getting Started, and last: Summation and Conclusion. OVERVIEW AND SHORT EXAMPLE OF PLAY This is a space game, where exploration of the unknown plays a role, and where one must be careful not to get lost in the bewildering maze of one-way and two-way warps. One may be connected to two, but that doesn't mean 101 is connected to 102. They might be on opposite sides of the universe. You start out knowing nothing, with the meager supplies on your brand new merchant cruiser, and it is your job to discover what is out there, to find the best space ports, to buy and sell and make money, then to spend that money in the most efficient manner possible. You want shields for protection, fighters for defense and for attacking your enemies, cargo holds for hauling goods to be sold. before getting into the details, let's take a quick spin through a Trade Wars gaming session. Once you have read the daily log, and whatever messages you may have received since you last played, you get the sector report for your current location. Sector : 1 in The Federation. Beacon : FedSpace, FedLaw Enforced Ports : Sol, Class 0 Planets : Terra (M) Traders : Staff Sergeant Mad Jackson, w/ 45 ftrs, in Enforcer I (Animoso Merchant Cruiser) Warps to Sector(s) : 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6 - 7 Command [TL=01:07:34] (?=Help)? Old Mad Jackson is still hanging out here in FedSpace, you see. Well, you just found out from another trader that the StarDock is in sector 561. Hopefully he was telling the truth, because these traders have been known to lie about these things. Better go check it out now. So at the command prompt you type 561 and the computer says... <Move> Warping to Sector 561 That Warp Lane is not adjacent. Computing shortest path... Interlink established with Federation Navigation system... Sector transit information being downloaded. Transmission complete, ready for warp calculations. Computed. The shortest path from sector 1 to sector 561 is: 1 > 4 > 617 > 174 > 996 > 710 > 561 Engage the Autopilot? (Y/N/Single step/Express) [Y] That's not too far. You hit enter to say, yes, I want to engage the auto-pilot, and you're off... <Auto Pilot Engaging> Auto Warping to sector 4 Sector : 4 in The Federation. Beacon : FedSpace, FedLaw Enforced Warps to Sector(s) : 3 - 34 - 617 - 546 - 5 - 1 Auto Warping to sector 617 Sector : 617 in Cymbeline. Warps to Sector(s) : 325 - 4 - 934 - 174 Auto Warping to sector 174 Sector : 174 in The Slogovian Estates. Warps to Sector(s) : 996 - 494 - 617 - 97 - 950 Auto Warping to sector 996 Sector : 996 in The Slogovian Estates (unexplored). Ports : Ucella, Class 1 Warps to Sector(s) : 174 - 710 - 771 - 234 - 769 Stop in this sector (Y,N,E,I,R,S,D,P,?) (?=Help) [N] ? R The first bunch of sectors are all empty, nothing to see, no reason to stop, so the auto-pilot just keeps going. But then you reach sector 996 where there is a port, Ucella. Ucella is a class 1 port, which means it sells equipment, and buys fuel ore and organics. The computer asks you what you want to do. Do you want to stop? You type R to get the current port report. The computer reports..... Commerce report for Ucella: 07/16/03 11:45:32 AM Items Status Trading % of max OnBoard ----- ------ ------- -------- ------- Fuel Ore Buying 1810 100% 0 Organics Buying 860 100% 10 Equipment Selling 980 100% 0 Stop in this sector (Y,N,E,I,R,S,D,P,?) (?=Help) [N] ? P Ucella is buying organics, which happens to be what you have in your holds. So it is worth your while to port and trade in Ucella. So this time, at the prompt "Stop in this sector?" you answer P for port and trade...... <A> Attack this Port <T> Trade at this Port <Q> Quit, nevermind Enter your choice [T] ? {T is the default so hit enter for trade} <Port> Docking... One turn deducted, 155 turns left. Commerce report for Ucella: 07/16/03 11:45:40 AM -=-=- Docking Log -=-=- The Merchant Marines docked 3 day(s) ago. Items Status Trading % of max OnBoard ----- ------ ------- -------- ------- Fuel Ore Buying 1810 100% 0 Organics Buying 860 100% 10 Equipment Selling 980 100% 0 You have 640 credits and 0 empty cargo holds. We are buying up to 860. You have 10 in your holds. How many holds of Organics do you want to sell [10]? After you decide to trade (attacking space ports is not advised), the computer tells you how many turns you have left, then who the last ship was to dock in the port, then it gives you the port report you just saw. You have organics and they are buying. They ask how many holds you want to sell, and the amount in your holds is the default value. To sell all 10 holds worth of organics, you hit enter, and the computer names a price. You then proceed to haggle with the port buyer.... Agreed, 10 units. We'll buy them for 741 credits. Your offer [741] ? 900 We'll buy them for 775 credits. Your offer [775] ? 850 We'll buy them for 785 credits. Your offer [785] ? 840 We'll buy them for 788 credits. Your offer [788] ? 830 Very well, we'll buy them. For your great trading you receive 2 experience point(s). You have 1,470 credits and 10 empty cargo holds. Hehehehe, you laugh, because you got a good price out of that bastard, and received 2 experience points for your efforts. Not to mention the tremendous profit on this moldy produce you paid 150 credits for yesterday in sector 631. Now you have 1,470 credits and 10 empty holds, it is time to fill those holds for the next trip..... We are selling up to 980. You have 0 in your holds. How many holds of Equipment do you want to buy [10]? Agreed, 10 units. You're in luck, we're having a weekend special. We'll sell them for 352 credits. Your offer [352] ? 300 We'll sell them for 342 credits. Your offer [342] ? 310 Our final offer is 339 credits. Your offer [339] ? 320 Agreed, and a pleasure doing business with you! For your great trading you receive 2 experience point(s). You have 1,150 credits and 0 empty cargo holds. Shutdown Autopilot and stay here? (Y/N) [N] No Now that you've made money and filled your holds with equipment, which brings in more cash than any other commodity, you're ready to continue on your way, so you say N for no to the prompt "Shutdown Autopilot and stay here?" and the autopilot takes off..... Auto Warping to sector 710 Sector : 710 in The Slogovian Estates (unexplored). Warps to Sector(s) : 918 - 561 - 922 - 996 Auto Warping to sector 561 Sector : 561 in The Federation (unexplored). Beacon : FedSpace, FedLaw Enforced Ports : Stargate Alpha I, Class 9 (StarDock) Traders : Civilian Death, w/ 50 ftrs, in Death I (Mainstay Ltd Merchant Cruiser) Lieutenant J.G. Hell's Puppy [2], w/ 11 ftrs, in Hell Ship 2000 (Markham Space Tech StarMaster) Warps to Sector(s) : 167 - 358 - 710 - 498 - 423 - 258 Command [TL=01:10:28] (?=Help)? You've arrived! Much to your satisfaction, that trader -- Hell's Puppy as a matter of fact -- was telling the truth. Unfortunately, you really don't have enough money to do anything at the moment, so you might as well go on and find someplace where you can make some more money. You go on by typing in the number of a sector you want to go to, whether because you know there is something good there, or just because you haven't been there before, and might run into some good ports along the way. So you cruise on around for a while, buying and trading, until it is time to head back and find a place to stop for the night. Being new in the game and with only a few fighters, FedSpace is the obvious location. So from your current sector, you punch in 1 at the command line to engage the auto-pilot for sector 1..... Command [TL=01:08:08] (?=Help)? 1 <Move> Warping to Sector 1 That Warp Lane is not adjacent. Computed. The shortest path from sector 888 to sector 1 is: 888 > 949 > 868 > 366 > 246 > 10 > 2 > 1 Engage the Autopilot? (Y/N/Single step/Express) [Y] <Auto Pilot Engaging> Auto Warping to sector 949 Sector : 949 in The Maxentian Empire. Warps to Sector(s) : 138 - 346 - 868 - 888 Auto Warping to sector 868 Sector : 868 in The Maxentian Empire (unexplored). Ports : Nutema, Class 3 Warps to Sector(s) : 764 - 366 - 949 Stop in this sector (Y,N,E,I,R,S,D,P,?) (?=Help) [N] ? You have a few turns left, so you decide to see what this port has to offer you. You type R for the port report, and the computer displays..... Commerce report for Nutema: 07/16/03 11:55:32 AM Items Status Trading % of max OnBoard ----- ------ ------- -------- ------- Fuel Ore Selling 1340 100% 0 Organics Buying 910 100% 0 Equipment Buying 1010 100% 10 Stop in this sector (Y,N,E,I,R,S,D,P,?) (?=Help) [N] ? P Well, they will take the equipment off your hands and you can buy some fuel ore here, so you decide to port and make the transaction. You dock and..... <A> Attack this Port <T> Trade at this Port <Q> Quit, nevermind Enter your choice [T] ? <Port> Docking... One turn deducted, 16 turns left. Commerce report for Nutema: 07/16/03 11:56:54 AM -=-=- Docking Log -=-=- No current ship docking log on file. For finding this unused port you receive 1 experience point(s). Items Status Trading % of max OnBoard ----- ------ ------- -------- ------- Fuel Ore Selling 1340 100% 0 Organics Buying 910 100% 0 Equipment Buying 1010 100% 10 You have 1,150 credits and 0 empty cargo holds. We are buying up to 1010. You have 10 in your holds. How many holds of Equipment do you want to sell [10]? Well, cool! No other ship has docked here, so you pick up an easy 1 experience point. Now that you are here, you start the process of bickering again. Agreed, 10 units. We'll buy them for 1,390 credits. Your offer [1,390] ? 1500 We'll buy them for 1,394 credits. Your offer [1,394] ? 1490 You drive a hard bargain, but we'll take them. For your great trading you receive 2 experience point(s). You have 2,640 credits and 10 empty cargo holds. We are selling up to 1340. You have 0 in your holds. How many holds of Fuel Ore do you want to buy [10]? This guy was easy! Heheheh, took him again, and tripled your money! So you figure you can bust his chops on the fuel ore and walk away with ten holds for next to nothing. So you start in on him..... Agreed, 10 units. We'll sell them for 65 credits. Your offer [65] ? 40 These are not free! Get lost... You have 2,640 credits and 10 empty cargo holds. Shutdown Autopilot and stay here? (Y/N) [N] No ARRGGHHH!!! You hate that when they don't want to bargain! So the guy throws you out of the port, and you say, "Ah, the hell with it, I'll just head on to sector 1!" No, you don't want to stay here, and on your way you go....... Auto Warping to sector 366 Sector : 366 in The Ghengis Empire (unexplored). Warps to Sector(s) : 116 - 868 - 146 - 713 Auto Warping to sector 246 Sector : 246 in DragonStar (unexplored). Warps to Sector(s) : 723 - 548 - 633 - 10 - 575 - 204 Auto Warping to sector 10 Sector : 10 in The Federation. Beacon : FedSpace, FedLaw Enforced Warps to Sector(s) : 275 - 283 - 246 - 529 - 2 - 9 Auto Warping to sector 2 Sector : 2 in The Federation. Beacon : FedSpace, FedLaw Enforced Warps to Sector(s) : 9 - 10 - 3 - 1 - 7 - 8 Auto Warping to sector 1 Sector : 1 in The Federation. Beacon : FedSpace, FedLaw Enforced Ports : Sol, Class 0 Planets : Terra (M) Traders : Staff Sergeant Mad Jackson, w/ 45 ftrs, in Enforcer I (Animoso Merchant Cruiser) Warps to Sector(s) : 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6 - 7 Command [TL=00:17:34] (?=Help)? So now you are back where you started out this morning, almost out of turns, and with your holds empty. You made a little money, found out where StarDock is, scouted a couple of the other traders (in 1 and 561), and explored a few new sectors that you hadn't seen before. All in all, not a bad day's work. With this little scout marauder and not many fighters, you are in no position to go attacking aliens, so it is probably a good thing you didn't run across any Ferrengi, and you didn't miss out by not seeing any aliens. Now you might go into your computer and check out the trader listing, or the aliens listing to see if there are any new evil aliens out there to attack. You might look at your ship information, any number of things to check out before quitting the game and returning to the BBS. But for now, we'll stop. That was a short run just to give you an idea of what happens in a typical game session. It all happens pretty fast in the game, bang bang, you go here and here, port, trade, bargain, go on, do it again, and you watch the numbers go. As a beginning player you will probably stick to auto-warps and trading where you wind up along the way. When you run into an alien, if you have the fighters, you might attack, or you might prefer to leave him alone, not sure if he is a good guy or a bad guy (later you will know by his title), and fearing that he may have stuffed his ship to the gills with corbomite. If you run into Ferrengi, the best thing might be just to surrender and let them take your cargo. As you get into it, you will do more. GOAL OF THE GAME: There are really many different goals you can have. Most serious Trade Warriors have as their goal universal domination. Your goals, however, can be as simple as to tool around the galaxy, minding your own business and trading, or as grandiose as master of the universe. Basically, in Trade Wars you port and trade in Fuel Ore, Organics and Equipment. With the money you make you go to the class 0 ports and buy cargo holds, fighters and shields for your ship, or you can go to StarDock (which you have to find) and buy a bigger and better ship, all kinds of bells and whistles such as long range scanners and transwarp drives, or you can buy a Genesis Torpedo and create a planet to colonize and develop. You want to stay alive, most of all, and to explore the 1000 sectors in the Trade Wars universe, looking for ports to trade with and hidey holes to put a planet in. But beware the Ferrengi Homeworld! The trader who innocently blunders into this sector usually winds up floating in his escape pod wondering what happened. BASICS: THE MENUS There are three menus in ordinary play, and a few others in special situations. The most commonly confronted menus are the Main Menu, the Computer Menu, and the Corporate Menu. The Computer Menu is called up by hitting "C" in the Main Menu, and the Corporate Menu by hitting "T" at the Main Menu. The Computer Menu, hereinafter referred to as "going into your Computer", is where you keep track of what is going on, and where you plan your moves. The Corporate Menu is where you can check out the rankings of active corporations, keep up to date with what your corporation is doing, and perform special corporate functions. (More about corporations later). The Main Menu is where most actions are performed. From this menu you can Move to another sector, Land on a planet that is in the sector, Port and trade at a starport in the sector, deploy Fighters to defend the sector, and many other things. Get to know these commands well, and remember that just as in other computer programs you use, all roads lead back to the Main Menu. Other menus you will access from time to time are the Auto-Pilot Menu, the Planet Menu, the Citadel Menu, and the StarDock Menu. Each of these will be explained in turn. SECTORS, WARPS, PORTS and AUTO-PILOT When you first come into the game, you see the following screen: You have 54 turns this Stardate. Sector : 1 in The Federation. Beacon : FedSpace, FedLaw Enforced Ports : Sol, Class 0 Planets : Terra (M) Warps to Sector(s) : 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6 - 7 Command [TL=03:16:21] (?=Help)? This is called the SECTOR DISPLAY. It displays the sector of the universe that your ship currently occupies. A sector can be visualized as an area of space that a solar system would fit in, but many of the sectors are empty space. You travel from sector to sector through WARPS. Most warps are two-way, but a few warps are one-way warps. Be careful of those, they can really mess you up. The top line of the display tells you the sector number and what part of the galaxy it is in. The second line, Beacons:, is shown whenever you are in a sector in which a marker beacon has been placed. This one informs you that this sector is in FedSpace (more on that later). Players can post beacons in open space to say whatever they want to. The third line, Ports: tells us that the port Sol is in this sector, and that it is a class 0 port. The port classes are based on what is bought and sold in the port. A class 0 port sells cargo holds, fighters and shields. A class 9 port, one in each game, is the StarDock, which will be explained later. Class 1 through 8 ports buy and sell the three commodities upon which all wealth in the universe is based: fuel ore, organics and equipment. The fourth line, Planets: tells us that this is one of the few sectors with a planet in it. This one, Terra, is where players pick up colonists with which to develop planets they make with Genesis Torpedoes. At the start of a game there are only two planets, Terra, and the Ferrengi Homeworld. Try to stay away from the Ferrengi Homeworld until you have a Starship and about 20,000 fighters! Other lines that may or may not appear in a sector display, depending on what is present in the sector are Aliens: which will be displayed if an alien (computer-controlled characters who serve as cannon fodder for the players) or a Ferrengi trader (nasties, the enemies of humanity, watch out for these guys!!!!) is in the sector, and Traders: which will be displayed if another player-character is in the sector. The two final possibilities are Mines: and Fighters: if you or another player have deployed any in the sector. Frequently you will learn of the presence of mines before you see the sector display when "12 space mines detonate near you" and you say "BUGGER!!" The last line lists the other sectors that are "adjacent." They are not necessarily adjacent like Oregon and California, but it only takes one warp to get there from here. If you have ANSI, the sectors you have not explored yet will be listed in red and the ones you have explored will be in bright cyan (light blue). The only two lines that will be in every sector display are the first and the last, Sector: and Warps:. The others will be present only when the designated item is present. You can move to any sector in the universe from any other sector. If the sector you want to move to is not adjacent, then AUTO-PILOT mode is engaged. The computer figures out the most direct route to get there from here, prints it out for you, and prompts you to decide if you want to engage auto-pilot. Generally, you will want to hit enter for Y, which will zoom you along, but will stop whenever you come to a sector with anything of interest in it. A typical auto-warp stop looks like this: Auto Warping to sector 551 Sector : 551 in uncharted space. Ports : Caloran, Class 4 Warps to Sector(s) : 4 - 56 - 645 - 231 Stop in this sector (Y,N,E,I,R,S,D,P,?) (?=Help) [N] ? This is the AUTO-PILOT MENU. If you hit the ? it will give you the list of available commands. Generally, you will want to hit R to get a port report on port Caloran, to see how much of what they are selling, and if you can do any trading there. A port report looks like this: Commerce report for Caloran: 07/15/03 04:43:18 PM Items Status Trading % of max OnBoard ----- ------ ------- -------- ------- Fuel Ore Selling 3120 100% 0 Organics Selling 3127 95% 0 Equipment Buying 2886 89% 0 Stop in this sector (Y,N,E,I,R,S,D,P,?) (?=Help) [N] ? This report tells you that the port is selling fuel ore and organics, and buying equipment. The "Trading" column tells you how many holds of each the port is buying or selling, and the next column tells you how much trading the port has left. For example, say you have a port that is going to buy a total of 3000 holds of equipment. You come along and sell them 60 holds, now they will only be buying 2940, which is 98% of the total trading they are going to do. Why is it important how much and what percentage? Because the higher that percentage reading is, the better the deals you can get. In other words, you will get a much better deal when they are trading at 98% of max than when they are trading at 18% of max. Haggle with them, you get experience points for good trading. By using the R command before you port, you can see if the port has anything to offer before you spend a turn docking. Remember, though, that if you don't see the prompt: "Stop in this sector (Y,N,E,I,R,S,D,P,?) (?=Help) [N] ?" you are not in auto-pilot, and you have to go into your computer and hit R from there to get the port report. Auto-pilot is the easiest way to get from one place to another, and when you first come into a game, is the easiest way to start exploring the universe. A little later, you may, depending on your goals, want to get into some more advanced techniques. If you are not a fanatic, stick to auto-pilot. FEDSPACE AND THE FEDERATION You will notice the line "Beacon : FedSpace, FedLaw Enforced" in the sector reports of sectors 1-10 and the sector with StarDock in it. The Federation is like the Federation of Planets in Star Trek, a bunch of government types with the biggest ships and the most fighters who enforce laws on the galaxy. In the FedSpace sectors these laws include: limited armaments regulations, limiting traders who wish to park in FedSpace overnight to less than 50 fighters; a regulation limiting the number of traders who can stay overnight in each FedSpace sector (this parameter is set by the sysops, so it can vary from 0 to however many want to. Check the Game Configuration and Current Status screen for the setting in your game); and a non-aggression regulation that does not allow traders to attack anyone of a positive alignment who is in FedSpace, unless the target has a high enough experience that the Feds figure he no longer needs protection. You also cannot deploy mines or fighters in FedSpace. FedSpace is a good refuge for the beginning player, but be careful once you have added some fighters, or if your alignment drops below 0. If you have too many fighters or stay in a sector despite the warning given when you quit the game (if there are too many traders in a sector), you will be towed out of FedSpace that night by a Federation starship and dropped off somewhere in the major space lanes. Once you have been dropped off, you are out in the open, and odds are that someone will come across you and have the opportunity to blow you away -- at least in a busy game. The other thing about the Federation, and the reason it is hated by many traders, is that if you have more than 50,000 credits on your ship when you come into the game, you are TAXED 10% by the Federation. People don't like to be taxed in Trade Wars any more than in real life. SHIPS AND TRADERS Every new trader starts out with a merchant cruiser. This cruiser is a pretty nice ship and you can make a lot of money in it, but a lot of traders will move on to other ship types as soon as they find StarDock. Each type of ship is good for different things. If you press I from the main menu or the auto-pilot menu, you will get a reading that looks like this: <Info> Trader Name : Warrant Officer The Voice Rank and Exp : 99 points, Alignment=10 Tolerant Ship Name : Forked Tongue Ship Info : Bofors Merchant Cruiser Ported=43 Kills=0 Date Built : 03:37:41 PM Sat Jun 25, 2003 Current Sector : 765 Turns left : 40 Total Holds : 66 - Equipment=19 Empty=47 Fighters : 30 Shield points : 9 Credits : 62 Command [TL=03:11:12] (?=Help)? This is the ship of a trader who has been around for a day or so. Actually, a really good player can get to this point on his first day of trading. When he started out, he had 20 holds, 30 fighters, no shields, and 300 credits. He had no experience points, and 0 alignment. Since then, he has managed to make the money to buy the additional holds and the shields. When you buy a new ship you trade in your old one. You don't get as much money as you paid for the holds, shields, fighters and gadgets you put on it, but you do get something, and the holds and shields you bought for other purposes enable you to trade up and walk away with some money. Fighters can be left behind, so it is suggested that you deploy your fighters in a sector on your way to StarDock (NOT in any FedSpace sector. I tried once, and Admiral Zyrain fired upon me!), trade in your ship, then come back and pick up your fighters. Different traders will want different ships. If you are not in a corporation, you probably want to avoid the cargotrans and others like that that are extremely vulnerable, and go for either a merchant cruiser, a StarMaster (my current favorite) or even a battleship, all of which offer a good combination of firepower, protection and money-making ability. TRADING The game is called TRADE Wars, so trading is a major part of the game. Exploring is important, but the main purpose of exploring is to find the ports. Combat is a part, but most of what you will be doing in the game is going to one port, filling your holds with what they are selling, and carrying the cargo to another port to sell it, and buy what they are selling. A port buys OR sells each commodity. No port buys and sells the same thing, so you need to get that report before you dock. Each time you buy and sell, you should have more money than before... although if you sell fuel and buy equipment, it may look temporarily as if you lost money. Each of the commodities is of different value. Fuel ore is the cheapest commodity and equipment the most expensive. While you can triple your money -- or more -- on fuel ore, you can make many thousands more credits per load of equipment. The ideal situation for making money is to find two ports right next to each other that will buy what each other sells, and to find a pair that trades in organics and equipment. When you want to make a lot of money for some purpose, find one of these pairs and go back-and-forth. Perhaps the best part about trading is haggling with the merchants. NEVER take their first offer! They are a ruthless bunch of chiselers. I always come in about 10% off their offer and work towards them. Don't worry about the insults, just get the goods. The time to start thinking compromise is when they say "Final offer." Then you either come to a good price or they say get lost sucker. If you get close enough to the best deal the trader was willing to give, you get experience points. While killing aliens and traders can get you a bunch of experience in a hurry, the vast majority of experience points are gained through clever trading. EXPERIENCE AND ALIGNMENT If you have checked the trader listings you have noticed that there are two columns of numbers titled Experience and Alignment. The first one is the measure of a trader's performance. When you make a good deal, find an undiscovered port, or destroy another ship, you gain experience points. When you get blown up, you lose experience points, although you cannot drop below 0 in experience. Experience points are how traders are ranked. There is a table of ranks, ranging from civilian to Prime Evil or Fleet Admiral, depending upon the path you choose. Each rank is reached at a specific level of experience points. Whether you are a dread pirate or a Lieutenant, however, depends on your alignment. Like in most games, alignment is the measure of how good or evil you are. There are many activities that effect alignment, but the main one is whom you blow up. When you blow up an evil character, whether a trader, an alien or a Ferrengi (no such thing as a "good" Ferrengi), you gain positive alignment points. If you blow up a good character, trader or alien, you gain negative alignment points. Other actions such as blowing up or robbing space ports gain negative alignment, as do trying to enter a corporation with the wrong password, or self-destructing. Actions such as creating a planet or building a space port gain positive alignment. When destroying other characters, keep in mind that the amount of alignment and experience change is directly proportional to the alignment and experience of the target. For instance, if you blow up an alien with a -350 alignment and 400 experience points, your alignment and your experience will rise far more than if you blow up Joe Blow Evil Trader with -4 alignment and 31 experience points. Sensible. If you want to get the Federation commission and drive the Imperial StarShip, then you want to get lots and lots of positive alignment points. When you have 500 alignment, you can go to the Police Station and apply for a Federal Commission. If you want to rob space ports and strike fear into the hearts of good traders, then you want to get lots of experience points and lots of negative alignment points. COMBAT IN TRADE WARS There are many hazards in the universe. While you are cruising around you might run across some mines laid by other traders, or in the Ferrengi homeworld sector. You could run into some fighters that have been deployed to attack the first ship to enter their sector (the Ferrengi do this). Or, you could run into a Ferrengi Assault Trader (or two). Between your turns, the other traders make their moves, and if one comes across your ship, he might decide to blow it up, if he thinks he has enough fighters to overcome your defenses. As of yet, it appears as though the Ferrengi do not attack players who are not currently active, but the version is new and we still do not know all the new features yet. :) Makes things interesting even for the sysop. You will want to defend yourself against all these threats, and probably set yourself up so that you can do some threatening yourself. The main implements of defense and offense are shields and fighters. Shields are purely defensive, as the name implies. You wouldn't buy fighters just to take damage, because shields do a better job, but they do protect your ship. Fighters are mainly offensive. When you attack someone, you commit a certain number of fighters to try to overcome their defenses and destroy their ship. Another form of ship defense is the corbomite device. This nasty creates a nuclear explosion reaction when your ship is destroyed, and if you have stockpiled enough, it could destroy the attacking ship. The prudent trader buys five or so units of corbomite every time he or she goes to StarDock. Corbomite is good as a deterrent, or for vengeance. In addition to protecting your ship from enemy attacks, shields absorb the damage from mine explosions, corbomite reactions, and quasar cannon blasts (more on these later). So it is good to gradually build your shields up to the maximum for your ship. One last means of attacking is the photon missile. Only two kinds of ships can carry these awesome weapons, the missile frigate, and the imperial starship. I am not sure exactly how one works, but apparently they neutralize all defenses and systems, except conventional shields, so that the target is completely undefended. The wave is a powerful thing, and has not been used in one of our games, so it is still an unknown. Different ships have different odds when in combat. When you look at the ship catalog you will see a category, offensive odds. This determines how well your fighters do against the enemy's fighters. There are other places where odds come in, but we will get to that later. THE FERRENGI While on the subject of combat, let us speak of the Ferrengi. They figure in two ways: one, their Homeworld is a heavily defended sector that spells death for the unwary beginning trader, and is impervious to invasion by all but the most powerful corporation. Not only does the Homeworld start out the game as a powerful sector, but as the game goes on, the number of fighters on the planet surface increases. The second way the Ferrengi figure is with their traveling Assault Traders. The Ferrengi are the enemies of the humans, and they will do everything they can to disrupt and destroy humans, and the Federation. What does this mean to the individual trader? It means that while you are out trading, you may at any time run into a Ferrengi ambush. Usually you have warning, and the decision to attack, flee or surrender. If you attack, beware, they might have corbomite, many shields, and they usually have well over 150 fighters. Tough nuts! If you flee, they will try to chase you, and they might gradually wear you down as you flee until you are destroyed. To surrender might just be the best option for you until you are quite powerful. Sometimes they travel in packs, and sometimes they attack with no warning. Apparently, they will hold grudges against particular traders. So, the wise trader tries to stick close to FedSpace until he or she has a good complement of shields at least. PLANETS The building and defense of planets is a large part of the game, and it is here that corporations have their greatest advantage over the individual traders. It takes a great deal of work to drag colonists from sector 1 to the planet, to make money for buying fighters to defend the planet and the sector, to bring materials for the construction of a citadel. Planets are targets of plunderers and invaders. Until a citadel is well under way, a planet is defenseless except for the defenses of the space sector it occupies. A wise colonizer finds a sector that is a dead end, at the end of a tunnel. Basically, it is a one-way-in and one-way-out proposition you are looking for. If you don't understand, you'll know it when you find it. Then you get the Genesis Torpedo from StarDock, and fire it off in the sector. Once the planet is created, you can Land, and then you will get the Planet Menu. Use the ? to get the menu, and if you hit ! you will get an explanation for each item (every menu is this way). Then you have to bring colonists. Go to sector 1, Land on Terra, grab all the colonists you can cram into your holds, and go back, drop them on your planet. When you drop colonists, you post them on one of the production groups, to make fuel ore, organics or equipment. For every 3 groups of colonists on fuel ore, one unit of ore is created each day. For every 7 groups on organics, one unit of organics is constructed, and for every 13 groups of colonists, one unit of equipment is produced. There is a formula based upon the production of the commodites by which the number of fighters produced each day is figured. Basically, add the daily production of the three, divide the sum by ten, and that is how many fighters are produced. In order to defend your planet, citadels are constructed. A level one citadel is not worth much, except you can store credits in its treasury. A level one citadel, however, provides no defenses, and anything on the planet surface can be taken by anyone getting beyond the sector defenses. A level two citadel has a combat control computer that coordinates the fighters on the planet surface as a defensive force. Once the computer is built, any prospective invader must destroy all the fighters before they can land on the planet surface. Fighters in defense of the citadel fight at better odds than other fighters. A level three citadel has a quasar cannon. A quasar cannon fires a blast based upon the amount of fuel ore on the planet. This blast can be set to start firing when an enemy enters the sector, or to wait until they try to land on the planet. Then, the amount of fuel ore to consume with each blast can be set. A quasar cannon is an extremely powerful weapon, but it is dependent upon its supply of fuel ore. A level four citadel has a planetary transwarp drive. This means that you can move your planet from one sector to another. Not real useful, in my opinion. A level five citadel has a planetary shield system. Very useful, and the only defense against photon missiles. Once you have a citadel, use C from the planet menu to enter the citadel. Then you are in the Citadel Menu. Use the ? to check it out. You can enter the Corporate Menu from the citadel menu, but to get to the Main Menu, you have to back all the way out to the sector. CORPORATIONS The independent trader can achieve quite a bit in Trade Wars and can build planets, buy ships, whatever. But there is a limit to what one person acting alone can do. By banding together and sharing resources, players can increase their power, and a well-coordinated and knowledgeable corporation can dominate a universe that does not contain an opposing corporation. One member, the trader who originally forms the corporation, is the Chief Executive Officer (CEO). He has a couple of special privileges. One: he can send corporate memos to all the other members simultaneously. Another, he can remove a member from the corporation, and he can change the password. Finally, he is the only one who can have the Corporate Flagship, next to the Imperial Starship, the most powerful ship in the universe. Corporate ships that are in the same sector can exchange fighters, shields and credits with each other through the Corporate Menu. The fighters and mines that are deployed in defense can be set to recognize corporate members, so that the members of the corporation can pass, but nobody else. By sharing the necessary labors, a corporation can build and trade more effectively than any independent trader. With a few traders working together, a hated enemy can be hunted with a greater chance of success. And if one member loses a ship, the others can help him get into a new ship. All members of corporations should familiarize themselves with the Corporate Menu. Using A in this menu will provide a chart showing the present location of all corporate members, and how many fighters, shields, mines and credits each has on his ship. Using L will bring up a listing of all the corporation's claimed planets, with the relevant information on each planet. You can also display a list of all the active corporations in the game, either by number or by ranking in terms of corporate experience. For a complete explanation of each option on the Corporate Menu, read the TWINSTR1.DOC file, or hit ! from the Corporate Menu prompt. STARDOCK I am not going to get into the details of StarDock and everything that you can do there, because that is all amply explained in the docs. What is not explained very well is the significance. You must FIND StarDock, and until you do, you cannot buy a ship or any hardware except holds, fighters and shields. You cannot store money in the bank or on a planet, because you have to buy your Genesis Torpedo at StarDock. So you can see that it is important to find StarDock as soon as possible. Most SysOps now display the location of StarDock on the Game Configuration and Status Screen. To view this screen, press V from the main menu. I usually won't play a game where StarDock is not displayed, because it is a tedious chore, and it makes no sense that a starship pilot would not know the location of the only place in the galaxy to buy a space ship. YOUR SHIP'S COMPUTER A little bit was said about the Computer Menu earlier, and in the example you saw a couple cases where it was used. This section explains the computer in a little more detail. The computer is how you keep track of the universe, and is an invaluable aid in planning your moves. It is a good idea each time you first enter the game to go into your computer and check out the list of traders to see what is going on. Once in the computer, L selects the List Traders option, and V ranks the traders by experience points. With this listing you get an idea of what everyone is doing, and whom to watch out for. In the same way, you can get a listing of the aliens currently in the game by hitting H from the Computer Menu prompt. Also in the Computer Menu is the Ships Catalog, accessed by hitting "C" while in the computer. This function lists the 15 available ship types and lets you look over the specifications for each. Check these out to get an idea of what everyone else is flying and to start figuring out what kind of ship you want to make your living with. Some people stick with the merchant cruiser which is a good, basic ship that you can make a pile of money in, but most prefer to go on to something larger and more glamorous. It is a good idea to check this out when you first start so you can see what the capabilities of the merchant cruiser you are in are, and by comparing that to the Ship Information reading, you see where you have to go. Other functions in the computer that help in planning your moves are the Port Reports (R), the Warp Reports (I), and the Course Plotter (F). Using R will get you a current report on the trading status of any port that you have visited. Using I will tell you what sectors you can warp to from the sector you select for the report. The course plotter will tell you what path you will take to get from one sector you name to one sector you name. This feature is particularly useful when you are getting towards the end of your turns and you need to plan how you are going to get home. It is not a good idea to lose track of turns and run out before getting to a safe place! The other function of your computer is for communication. Using A you can enter a general announcement that will be put in the daily log and read by every player when they first enter the game. An announcement is displayed until midnight, and on future days can be read by entering D from the Computer Menu prompt, which displays the game's Daily Log. You may also send a private message to a particular trader by using S in the Computer Menu. For a complete explanation of each option on the Computer Menu see the TWINSTR1.DOC file, or hit ! from the Computer Menu prompt. GETTING STARTED Okay, now you've seen the pretty ANSI welcome screen (isn't it some of the best ANSI artwork you've ever seen?), if you have ANSI, you've selected the name you want to use in the game and christened your beautiful new merchant cruiser, and you are looking at sector 1: Sector : 1 in The Federation (unexplored). Beacon : FedSpace, FedLaw Enforced Ports : Sol, Class 0 Planets : Terra (M) Warps to Sector(s) : 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6 - 7 Command [TL=00:48:20] (?=Help)? Now what? Maybe seeing that ? will get you help, that is what you do. You get a menu of options that is utterly confusing. Well, fret not. One good way to start a new game is to find out what the situation is that you are walking into. First, why don't you see what your new ship looks like. To see your information, enter I.... <Info> Trader Name : Civilian Galactic Grunge Rank and Exp : 0 points, Alignment=0 Neutral Ship Name : Scrubby Sponge Ship Info : QuadStar Merchant Cruiser Ported=0 Kills=0 Date Built : 03:05:37 PM Sun Jul 17, 2003 Current Sector : 1 Turns left : 60 Total Holds : 20 - Empty=20 Fighters : 30 Credits : 300 Command [TL=00:47:45] (?=Help)? Well, you don't have much there, but it is a start, and with care you can get this baby set up to where you can start making money. The 20 holds and 300 credits are the mere beginning of your great trading empire. The 30 fighters are a meager defense against many of the other traders you may run into in the universe, so it is wise that you move carefully for now. Time enough later for bold maneuvers. Your next move when coming into a new game is to find out what the setup is, how long the game has been running, and approximately how established the overall competition is. To get this information, hit V. The following screen will come up (after a short pause while the sysop's computer searches its data banks)...... Trade Wars 2002 Game Configuration and Status Initial Turns per day 60, fighters 30, credits 300, holds 20. Inactive players will be deleted after 21 days. Maximum players 150, sectors 1000, ports 400, planets 150. The Maximum number of Planets per sector: 5, Traders on a Corp: 5, No Ships may remain in FedSpace Overnight Photon Missiles are disabled. Ver# 1.00 running under COMPUTER TALK RADIO The local display is OFF at all times. This is a REGISTERED copy of the game. This game has been running for 23 days. -=-=-=- Current Stats for 03:06:39 PM Sun Jul 17, 2003 -=-=-=- 383 ports are open for business and have a net worth of 188,325. 3 planets exist in the universe, 33% have Citadels. 16 Traders (75% Good) and 23 Aliens (43% Good) are active in the game. 14,525 Fighters and 70 Mines are in use throughout the Universe. 2 Corporations are in business. Command [TL=00:47:29] (?=Help)? There is a lot of information here. The top part tells you how the sysop has configured the game, while the middle gives the info on the game version etc., and the bottom part reports the current situation. This particular game is still small, so there is lots of room for a newcomer like yourself to get in and find a place. A game where the ports have a net worth of near a million credits or more, and where there are several planets with citadels would be more difficult. Even the number of fighters and mines, though it looks large to you as a beginner, is small, given that the Federation has approximately 5000 fighters on Terra, the planet in sector 1. Now that you know what you have and what the "playing field" looks like, it is time to check out the competition. To do that you have to go into your computer and call up the list traders report. In the following example, the letter after the question mark is what you typed to get the report: Command [TL=00:47:29] (?=Help)? C <Computer> <Computer activated> Computer command (?=Help) ? L List by rank (T)itles or by rank (V)alues (T,V or Q to quit) ? V Ranking Traders... Trade Wars 2002 Trader Rankings : 07/17/03 03:06:55 PM Rank Alignment Corp Trader Name Ship Type --- --------------------- -- ------------------------------ ------------------ 1 380 60 2 Wizard Merchant Cruiser 2 104 4 ** NITEMAN Merchant Cruiser 3 99 10 ** The Voice Merchant Cruiser 4 85 -47 1 The Empire Merchant Cruiser 5 47 84 ** Alakh Inc. *** Escape Pod *** 6 44 2 ** phantasm Merchant Cruiser 7 20 3 ** Phantasm'S Bbs Merchant Cruiser 8 3 0 ** CYBERDOC Merchant Cruiser 9 1 1 ** Mad Jackson Merchant Cruiser 10 1 0 ** Drruth # Ship Destroyed # 11 1 1 ** anarchyper Merchant Cruiser 12 0 -20 ** Dale Canfield Merchant Cruiser 13 0 -5 ** X # Ship Destroyed # 14 0 -10 ** Mr. X # Ship Destroyed # 15 0 0 ** Galactic Grunge Merchant Cruiser Computer command (?=Help) ? That number 15, Galactic Grunge, is you. It might look from here that Wizard with 380 experience points is way up there, but you will find out later that 380 points are easy to come by, and in a game this old, is an indication that the field is open. Feeling a little better about coming into this game new, you leave the computer and are ready to start. Given that you have only a few fighters and holds, and no shields, it would be wise to stick close to FedSpace, for a couple of reasons. First: sector 1 is the only place you know of to buy holds, fighters and shields, and you are in desperate need of all three things. Holds would be your first priority, as they will pay for everything else. Second: if you are to run into some mines or a Ferrengi trader with the pitiful defenses you currently have, you would most likely be bobbing on the currents of space in your trusty escape pod! So, being a prudent and patient trader you decide to investigate FedSpace and see what ports you can find here to trade at while you get started. So we are off....... (again, what is typed after the ? is what you entered to perform the actions that follow.) Command [TL=00:46:46] (?=Help)? 2 <Move> Warping to Sector 2 Sector : 2 in The Federation (unexplored). Beacon : FedSpace, FedLaw Enforced Warps to Sector(s) : 9 - 10 - 3 - 1 - 7 - 8 Command [TL=00:46:39] (?=Help)? 3 <Move> Warping to Sector 3 Sector : 3 in The Federation (unexplored). Beacon : FedSpace, FedLaw Enforced Warps to Sector(s) : 529 - 707 - 374 - 4 - 1 - 2 Command [TL=00:46:35] (?=Help)? 4 <Move> Warping to Sector 4 Sector : 4 in The Federation (unexplored). Beacon : FedSpace, FedLaw Enforced Ports : Roget, Class 1 Warps to Sector(s) : 3 - 809 - 551 - 779 - 5 - 1 Command [TL=00:46:32] (?=Help)? The first two sectors were empty, so you go on, and in sector 4 you get lucky. You know your holds are empty, so there is no need for a port report. You hit P to port, then enter to trade, and commence bargaining with the rascally rascal at the dock. That done, you blast off and are ready to go look for a port at which to sell the produce you just purchased. BTW: you just bought 5 holds of Equipment for 290 credits, received 2 experience points, and were promoted to Private. Congratulations! Now, on with the game....... Command [TL=00:46:14] (?=Help)? 5 <Move> Warping to Sector 5 Sector : 5 in The Federation (unexplored). Beacon : FedSpace, FedLaw Enforced Ports : Ruie, Class 4 Aliens : Annoyance Shishu Koofom, w/ 159 ftrs, in Aruaw Mecicut (Yokotosaki CargoTran) Warps to Sector(s) : 1 - 4 - 580 - 6 Command [TL=00:46:11] (?=Help)? C <Computer> <Computer activated> Computer command (?=Help) ? R What sector is the port in? [5] Commerce report for Ruie: 07/17/03 03:08:05 PM Items Status Trading % of max OnBoard ----- ------ ------- -------- ------- Fuel Ore Selling 2890 100% 0 Organics Selling 3270 100% 0 Equipment Buying 3230 100% 5 Computer command (?=Help) ? What have we here?!?! "Annoyance Shishu Koofom, w/ 159 ftrs. in Aruaw Mecicut (Yokotosaki CargoTran)"?? That means that this Shishu Koofom character is an evil alien. He has 159 fighters, however, so you are no match for him. Luckily this is FedSpace (aliens don't attack anyway, but Ferrengi do). Aruaw Mecicut is the name of his ship. His ship type is listed in the parentheses. But that is of less interest to you right now than the fact that there is a port here. Rather than risk wasting a turn docking at a port that is selling what you have in your holds, you go into your computer and get the port report. Voila! They are buying equipment, you are selling, so you go ahead and port: Computer command (?=Help) ? Q <Computer deactivated> Command [TL=00:46:00] (?=Help)? P <A> Attack this Port <T> Trade at this Port <Q> Quit, nevermind Enter your choice [T] ? <Port> Docking... One turn deducted, 54 turns left. Commerce report for Ruie: 07/17/03 03:08:11 PM -=-=- Docking Log -=-=- Spellcaster docked 2 day(s) ago. Items Status Trading % of max OnBoard ----- ------ ------- -------- ------- Fuel Ore Selling 2890 100% 0 Organics Selling 3270 100% 0 Equipment Buying 3230 100% 5 You have 10 credits and 15 empty cargo holds. We are buying up to 3230. You have 5 in your holds. How many holds of Equipment do you want to sell [5]? Agreed, 5 units. We'll buy them for 591 credits. Your offer [591] ? 620 We'll buy them for 594 credits. Your offer [594] ? 615 We'll buy them for 594 credits. Your offer [594] ? 610 FINE, we'll take them, just leave! For your great trading you receive 2 experience point(s). You have been promoted to Lance Corporal! {Congratulations!!} You have 620 credits and 20 empty cargo holds. We are selling up to 2890. You have 0 in your holds. How many holds of Fuel Ore do you want to buy [20]? 0 {You pass up the fuel ore because they are also selling organics, and organics are more valuable.} You have 620 credits and 20 empty cargo holds. We are selling up to 3270. You have 0 in your holds. How many holds of Organics do you want to buy [20]? Agreed, 20 units. We'll sell them for 494 credits. Your offer [494] ? 400 We'll sell them for 472 credits. Your offer [472] ? 420 We'll sell them for 463 credits. Your offer [463] ? 430 We'll sell them for 460 credits. Your offer [460] ? 440 You will put me out of business, I'll take your offer. For your great trading you receive 2 experience point(s). You have been promoted to Corporal! You have 180 credits and 0 empty cargo holds. Shishu Koofom warps out of the sector. Command [TL=00:45:35] (?=Help)? So, now that alien is gone and you have made a little money, plus all your holds are full, which is an improvement over the last time. Well, you know that sector 4 will buy these organics off you, and sell you equipment that you can bring back here to sell, so you head back to 4 and make the transaction. Then you head back here to 5, sell the equipment, buy the organics, and head back to 4. After a couple times of making this loop, you have gathered up 5,120 credits, plus your holds full of organics, and you have been promoted to Staff Sergeant. Sectors 4 and 5 are called "paired ports" because you can take what you buy in the one and sell it in the other, and then bring what you buy in the second one back to the first and sell it. Paired ports are the best way to make money for the good, honest trader. But back to the game. Having gathered together a little bit of cash, you decide it is time to head to sector 1 and buy some more holds, so you can start making even more money..... Command [TL=00:43:18] (?=Help)? 1 <Move> Warping to Sector 1 Sector : 1 in The Federation. Beacon : FedSpace, FedLaw Enforced Ports : Sol, Class 0 Planets : Terra (M) Warps to Sector(s) : 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6 - 7 Command [TL=00:43:15] (?=Help)? P <A> Attack this Port <T> Trade at this Port <Q> Quit, nevermind Enter your choice [T] ? <Port> Docking... One turn deducted, 44 turns left. You have 5,120 credits. Commerce report for: 07/17/03 03:10:58 PM You can buy: A Cargo holds : 566 credits / next hold 8 B Fighters : 204 credits per fighter 24 C Shield Points : 145 credits per point 35 Which item do you wish to buy? (A,B,C,Q,?) A You have 20 cargo holds. Installing your next Cargo hold will cost 566 credits. How many Cargo Holds do you want installed? 8 The cost for 8 more holds is 5,096 credits. Are you still interested in buying them? Yes You have 24 credits. Commerce report for: 07/17/03 03:11:04 PM You can buy: A Cargo holds : 726 credits / next hold 0 B Fighters : 204 credits per fighter 0 C Shield Points : 145 credits per point 0 Which item do you wish to buy? (A,B,C,Q,?) Q You can see that a class 0 port looks very different from the other ports. It sells the essentials you need to survive in the Trade Wars universe. The holds you just purchased are expensive, but they will pay for themselves many times over, and you will soon see the effects of adding holds. Now what? You could go back to 4 and 5 and keep looping between them, but you decide to see what is happening in the rest of FedSpace. So at the command prompt you enter 6..... Command [TL=00:43:03] (?=Help)? 6 <Move> Warping to Sector 6 Sector : 6 in The Federation (unexplored). Beacon : FedSpace, FedLaw Enforced Ports : Mongo, Class 5 Aliens : Annoyance Shishu Koofom, w/ 159 ftrs, in Aruaw Mecicut (Yokotosaki CargoTran) Warps to Sector(s) : 7 - 1 - 5 - 757 - 575 - 730 Command [TL=00:42:03] (?=Help)? Well, well, well, look who we have here! Oh well, can't do anything to him yet, so might as well see what is going on in port Mongo. To do that, you go into your computer and call up the port report for sector 6.... Command [TL=00:42:03] (?=Help)? C <Computer> <Computer activated> Computer command (?=Help) ? R What sector is the port in? [6] Commerce report for Mongo: 07/17/03 03:12:12 PM Items Status Trading % of max OnBoard ----- ------ ------- -------- ------- Fuel Ore Selling 2750 100% 0 Organics Buying 3010 100% 20 Equipment Selling 2910 100% 0 Computer command (?=Help) ? Fortune smiles upon you and you can trade here. So you drop out of the Computer Menu and hit P for port. After this transaction is completed, you decide to head on to sector 7 (sectors 1 through 10 are FedSpace and you want to see all 10 before you quit)...... For your great trading you receive 2 experience point(s). You have been promoted to Gunnery Sergeant! You have 114 credits and 0 empty cargo holds. Command [TL=00:41:31] (?=Help)? 7 <Move> Warping to Sector 7 Sector : 7 in The Federation (unexplored). Beacon : FedSpace, FedLaw Enforced Warps to Sector(s) : 8 - 2 - 1 - 6 - 389 - 508 Command [TL=00:41:27] (?=Help)? 8 <Move> Warping to Sector 8 Sector : 8 in The Federation (unexplored). Beacon : FedSpace, FedLaw Enforced Ports : Franzen, Class 6 Warps to Sector(s) : 543 - 178 - 2 - 7 Command [TL=00:41:24] (?=Help)? In port Mongo you received enough experience points to get the promotion to Gunnery Sergeant. Sector 7 was empty, but there is a port in sector 8, class 6. Going into the computer for the port report, you see that a class 6 port sells organics and equipment; you have equipment in your holds, so Franzen won't do you any good. Time to head on to sector 9...... Command [TL=00:41:24] (?=Help)? 9 <Move> Warping to Sector 9 That Warp Lane is not adjacent. Computed. The shortest path from sector 8 to sector 9 is: 8 > 2 > 9 Engage the Autopilot? (Y/N/Single step/Express) [Y] <Auto Pilot Engaging> Auto Warping to sector 2 Sector : 2 in The Federation. Beacon : FedSpace, FedLaw Enforced Warps to Sector(s) : 9 - 10 - 3 - 1 - 7 - 8 Auto Warping to sector 9 Sector : 9 in The Federation (unexplored). Beacon : FedSpace, FedLaw Enforced Warps to Sector(s) : 638 - 10 - 2 Command [TL=00:41:17] (?=Help)? 10 <Move> Warping to Sector 10 Sector : 10 in The Federation (unexplored). Beacon : FedSpace, FedLaw Enforced Ports : Natoko, Class 2 Warps to Sector(s) : 51 - 37 - 18 - 2 - 9 Command [TL=00:41:14] (?=Help)? Now we have reached the end of FedSpace. A computer check shows that a class 2 port sells organics and buys everything else. This is good, since you have equipment in your holds. So you port..... Command [TL=00:41:14] (?=Help)? P <A> Attack this Port <T> Trade at this Port <Q> Quit, nevermind Enter your choice [T] ? <Port> Docking... One turn deducted, 36 turns left. Commerce report for Natoko: 07/17/03 03:13:00 PM -=-=- Docking Log -=-=- Spellcaster docked 2 day(s) ago. Items Status Trading % of max OnBoard ----- ------ ------- -------- ------- Fuel Ore Buying 3080 100% 0 Organics Selling 3170 100% 0 Equipment Buying 2710 100% 28 You have 114 credits and 0 empty cargo holds. We are buying up to 2710. You have 28 in your holds. How many holds of Equipment do you want to sell [28]? Agreed, 28 units. We'll buy them for 3,208 credits. Your offer [3,208] ? 3500 We'll buy them for 3,260 credits. Your offer [3,260] ? 3400 We'll buy them for 3,267 credits. Your offer [3,267] ? 3390 We'll buy them for 3,270 credits. Your offer [3,270] ? 3380 You drive a hard bargain, but we'll take them. For your great trading you receive 2 experience point(s). You have 3,494 credits and 28 empty cargo holds. {Notice how much bigger the numbers are than the first time you traded? Only halfway through your first day and already you have made great progress!} We are selling up to 3170. You have 0 in your holds. How many holds of Organics do you want to buy [28]? Agreed, 28 units. We'll sell them for 583 credits. Your offer [583] ? 500 We'll sell them for 566 credits. Your offer [566] ? 510 We'll sell them for 558 credits. Your offer [558] ? 520 We'll sell them for 555 credits. Your offer [555] ? 530 I could have twice that much in the Androcan Empire, but they're yours. For your great trading you receive 2 experience point(s). You have 2,964 credits and 0 empty cargo holds. Command [TL=00:40:49] (?=Help)? Now you might be tempted to head out of FedSpace into the universe beyond, but you remember hearing that the Ferrengi hang out close to FedSpace, and you just aren't quite ready to risk those guys yet. So instead, you decide to go back to sector 6 where you can sell this stuff, and maybe come back here..... Command [TL=00:40:49] (?=Help)? 6 <Move> Warping to Sector 6 That Warp Lane is not adjacent. Computed. The shortest path from sector 10 to sector 6 is: 10 > 2 > 1 > 6 Engage the Autopilot? (Y/N/Single step/Express) [Y] <Auto Pilot Engaging> Auto Warping to sector 2 Sector : 2 in The Federation. Beacon : FedSpace, FedLaw Enforced Warps to Sector(s) : 9 - 10 - 3 - 1 - 7 - 8 Auto Warping to sector 1 Sector : 1 in The Federation. Beacon : FedSpace, FedLaw Enforced Ports : Sol, Class 0 Planets : Terra (M) Warps to Sector(s) : 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6 - 7 Stop in this sector (Y,N,E,I,R,S,D,P,?) (?=Help) [N] ? How about that? Sector 1 is right on the way from 10 to 6, and vice versa. Right now, however, you don't have a lot of cash, so you decide to go ahead on to sector 6 and make some more. Maybe on the way back you'll stop in and pick up some more holds. So you go trade at 6, and on the way back to 10 you stop in at 1, where your 3584 credits purchase 4 more holds, bringing your total up to 32. After buying the holds, you still have 556 credits left, not enough to buy another hold, but plenty to purchase a couple shields and fighters. You have 0 shields, so you buy 3, which is all you can afford at the moment. Then you go on your way to 10. After a couple more runs on the 10-6 route, you have accumulated 6,570 credits. Leaving sector 10 for sector 6, you figure now is a good time to stop in at 1 and buy some more cargo holds. Your credits will get you 7 more holds (the merchant cruiser you are in will take a maximum of 75 cargo holds, so you have a ways to go!) and three more shields. Now you have 39 holds and 6 shields, along with the 30 fighters you started out with. Maybe not enough to take over the galaxy, but it is a good start for a lowly new trader. You still have 16 turns left, which is enough for a couple more of the 6-10 runs. You think that the 4-5 run would bring in more money, but what the hell, 6 and 10 are nice enough, adn you always have the option of dropping in on Sol on your way through 1, so you make your two more runs, and then you are sitting in sector 10 with two turns left for the day. You decide to head back to sector 1, taking two turns, and hang out there. So, with all your trading for the day completed, it is time to see how you did for yourself and where you stand..... Command [TL=00:36:04] (?=Help)? I <Info> Trader Name : 1st Sergeant Galactic Grunge Rank and Exp : 48 points, Alignment=0 Neutral Ship Name : Scrubby Sponge Ship Info : QuadStar Merchant Cruiser Ported=19 Kills=0 Date Built : 03:05:37 PM Sun Jul 17, 2003 Current Sector : 10 Turns left : 0 Total Holds : 39 - Organics=39 Fighters : 30 Shield points : 6 Credits : 8,646 Command [TL=00:35:57] (?=Help)? Hey, that's not bad! In one short day, you made it all the way to 1st Sergeant, picked up 48 experience points, increased your holds from 20 to 39 (almost double!), grabbed 6 shields (not much, but a start), and best yet, your 300 credits you started out with is now 8,646, AFTER all the stuff you bought. Tomorrow when you start, you can go ahead and buy a few more holds. Now it's time to check out where you stand compared to the competition..... Command [TL=00:35:39] (?=Help)? C <Computer> <Computer activated> Computer command (?=Help) ? L List by rank (T)itles or by rank (V)alues (T,V or Q to quit) ? V Ranking Traders... Trade Wars 2002 Trader Rankings : 07/17/03 03:18:37 PM Rank Alignment Corp Trader Name Ship Type --- --------------------- -- ------------------------------ ------------------ 1 380 60 2 Wizard Merchant Cruiser 2 104 4 ** NITEMAN Merchant Cruiser 3 99 10 ** The Voice Merchant Cruiser 4 85 -47 1 The Empire Merchant Cruiser 5 48 0 ** Galactic Grunge Merchant Cruiser 6 47 84 ** Alakh Inc. *** Escape Pod *** 7 44 2 ** phantasm Merchant Cruiser 8 20 3 ** Phantasm'S Bbs Merchant Cruiser 9 3 0 ** CYBERDOC Merchant Cruiser 10 1 0 ** Drruth # Ship Destroyed # 11 1 1 ** anarchyper Merchant Cruiser 12 1 1 ** Mad Jackson Merchant Cruiser 13 0 -5 ** X # Ship Destroyed # 14 0 -10 ** Mr. X # Ship Destroyed # 15 0 -20 ** Dale Canfield Merchant Cruiser Computer command (?=Help) ? Hey! Look at that! All of a sudden you are number 5 and a trader to be reckoned with as far as the future goes! You chuckle as you pour yourself a beer and kick back in the officer's lounge. Man, these guys! Well, I am here, and I am ready. Not much else to do. You could muck around in your computer a little, but there is really nothing to be gained by it, so you go ahead and decide to quit and head back to the BBS...... Computer command (?=Help) ? Q <Computer deactivated> Command [TL=00:35:16] (?=Help)? Q NOTICE: If you remain in this sector you will be in violation of U.F.P. Regulation number FS-32.4b which limits the number of ships that may remain parked in a FedSpace sector. Violation of this regulation will cause immediate eviction from the sector of FedSpace as soon as a Federation Ship becomes aware of the infraction. FS-32.4b limits squatters to 0 per sector. <Quit> Confirmed? (Y/N)? What?!?!?! Oh, man! You know that sometime between now and tomorrow when you play again, you are going to be towed out into the wider universe. That's a bummer, since you don't have a lot in the way of defenses, so you probably should get into the game as early as you can the next day to get out of this situation. Hopefully, nobody will blow you up between the time you get towed and the time you come into the game again! SUMMATION AND CONCLUSION (finally!! you say) The above scenario was just one way you could decide to begin a game. That strategy has worked for me, so it must be pretty good, but there are certainly others, and I am sure that other experienced players will tell you there is a better way to go about it. Whatever..... One alternative would be to pick some random sector number from the first sector and go on a long auto-warp out into space. While there are advantages to such an approach, it is risky and you will not make very much money, especially with only 20 holds. Without holds you cannot get much of anything else, so buying holds is always my first priority. My second priority in a new game is buying shields in case I hit the Ferrengi homeworld by accident when I start exploring, or I run across a Ferrengi assault trader and have to flee. After a day or two of mucking around in FedSpace, however, you would be ready to get into the outer universe with a good chance to survive a single encounter, and with 75 holds you can start making some serious cash while you explore. So once you have the holds and a few shields, then you set out to explore the universe, and your next priority is to find StarDock. Until you can find it you are stuck with your merchant cruiser, and if you do happen to get blown up (it happens frequently, so don't worry if it happens to you), you will have to try to find a way to get rid of your escape pod and get into a scout marauder. Many people self-destruct, and it is an option, but you lose 10 alignment points, which could make you evil, and you have to skip a day of playing. Generally, it is not a good idea. If mines were your end, or especially the Ferrengi homeworld, just run your pod into the sector and it will be history. Tomorrow you get a new Scout Marauder, and don't lose any alignment. hehehehe, neat little trick, that one. But a scout is a real small ship and can only have 25 holds, so you probably want to find the StarDock fast and get into another ship. By the time you find StarDock, you probably will have explored a good chunk of the universe, and made some good money. Make sure that each time you make 20-40,000 credits that you get to sector 1 or another class 0 port and buy some fighters and shields. You also want to scout out a little hidey-hole since you won't be able to hang out in FedSpace forever. Look for a dead end, at the end of a three-or-four sector tunnel. When you find StarDock, get a density scanner. This handy device will tell you the relative density and number of warps from each of the adjacent sectors to your present location. From the relative density you can generally tell if there is a port in the sector, a planet, lots of defenses, or nothing. A reading of 0 is an empty sector, 40 usually means a trader, 100 usually means a port, and several hundred to thousands means you probably do NOT want to enter unless you are very powerful (or have a holographic scanner). I hope that you understand the game a little better now, and are not simply MORE confused than before. I also hope that I have not simply bored you to death, although if that were the case you would not be reading this paragraph. The best way to learn the game is to play, but hopefully this text will have given you enough information and examples to get you started, to give you the confidence to get out there and try it out. Once you have done it, you will start to feel more confident, and might even start challenging the established players. BEWARE! There is a great deal of subtlety to this game, and many little tricks that experienced players learn. Many people play this game almost religiously, and they are not to be challenged lightly. But for the most part, you will be left alone by most of the really good players at least until you have established yourself as competition. Some of the top players also take pity upon new players and offer protection and alliance (especially when that player is sysop of the board trying to get new players involved!). It is usually the fair-to-middling players who pick on the new people, and if you concentrate, learn, and take it easy, you will eventually be able to get your revenge on the little bastard who blew you up. Maybe you will come upon him in open space some day, and even if you don't have any fighters, you can post a general announcement (A on the Computer Menu), and some powerful trader who has been WAITING for a chance to grease that sucker will do the honors. Generally a scumbucket who would attack an innocent novice trader has garnered many enemies! Final suggestions for learning the game are to get a copy of the player's guide (TWINSTR1.ZIP or .DOC) and print it out, and to ask questions about anything that is confusing. Also, another good thing to do might be to try and join an established corporation. Once on board, the other players will be glad to help you out. Maybe you can go over to the house of one of your teammates, and you can take turns playing from the same computer. That way you get to watch, and get on-the-spot guidance while you play. Beware corporations where they make you pay money to join! Say no thanks, and ask another one. Eventually you will find some nice people. Ask around. So, without further ado.... GOOD LUCK AND HAPPY TRADING!!!!!!