At the extreme top right hand corner of the Main Screen, there are five buttons, to access these, press the left hand mouse button on all occasions other than the quit option which requires you to press both buttons.
Info Button (I)
---------------
This gives you a report on your current status in terms of what cargo
you own, what ships you control, number of crew, weapons strength,
money, date, total cargo space and free cargo space.
This is the screen you are presented with at the end of every year.
Opponents (O)
-------------
This button gives you access to information on your opponents, it
tells you how much money and how many of each type of ship they own.
Credits Button (C)
------------------
This leads you to the credits and greeting screen, exit by clicking on
Exit
Releases Button (R)
-------------------
This leads you to the list of croft softs releases, exit by clicking
on Exit
Quit Button (Q)
---------------
Use this button to quit, you will be asked to confirm this. NB, you
You begin the game with ú1000, this will increase or decrease
throughout the game depending on your actions. You must pay wages and
docking fees at the beginning of every month.
Weapons
-------
There are four different types of weapons in Trader 2, they all weigh
different amounts and each one has advantages:
Weapon Weight Hit Points
Cannon 4 Tonnes 10 HP
Gun 3 Tonnes 6 HP
Bow and arrow 2 Tonnes 2 HP
Swords 1 Tonnes 2 HP
The total strength of you weapons depends on many factors:
No of each weapon type
No of ships
Number of crew
The more ships you have, the greater the area you must protect and the
less effectve each weapon is. Weapons can be used more efficiently the
more crew members you have.
Battles
-------
You may be attacked while at sea, if this occurs, you will be given
the opportunity to retreat. If you retreat, you lose out on any ships
you may gain by attacking the enemy. On some occasions, the enemy
ships may be travelling faster than yours, if this is the case they
may catch up with you and attack even if you do attempt to retreat.
If you decide to attack, the computer works out who wins based on the
number of ships, weapon strengths and number of crew members each
fleet has.
Upon winning, you can capture the enemy ships for your own use.
Usually, the enemy will lose some ships in the battle and therefore
you may not have any ships to salvage. To prevent you from stealing
their weapons and goods, on most occasions the pirates will discard
these items before you board the ship.
If you lose a battle, you will lose the game.
Random events
-------------
Throughout the game, it is likely that various random event will
occur, these could be almost anything, some will be useful, others
will be detrimental to your success.
Later on
--------
As the game progresses, the economies of the different towns will
change, therefore, it is likely that you will have to change your
strategy fairly often. As you make more money the threat of attack
increases, you will therefore need to make sure your ships are well
defended.
Credits
-------
Programming, Graphics, Idea, STE, Falcon and PaCifiST Testing and Design - Colin Polonowski
STFM Testing - Kevin Wilcox
Additional Testing - Croft Soft Testing Group
Programmed in STOS
Graphics in Crackart.
Full source code is included with this program. IT MUST NOT BE ALTERED
AND RESOLD.
SHAREWARE
---------
Trader 2 is shareware with a ú5 registration fee. If you enjoy playing the game then please show your support by registering with Croft Soft Software.
To register, please send a cheque made payable to 'C J Polonowski' to:
Croft Soft Software
The Croft
Hope Rd
Nibley
Nr Yate
Bristol
BS17 5JH
This game is exclusively distributed in North America by the Computer Dungeon. If you have purchased this game from the Computer Dungeon, you are not required to register.
