OS/2 Professional/OS2PRO194.ISO/os2/com/bbs/tw2/twinstr.doc

Text File | 1992-07-04 | 25.8 KB | 633 lines

TradeWars 2

Brought to you by the Creators of the original TradeWars games:

Chris Sherrick & John Morris

TW2 Game & Documentation Updates by John Morris
Copyright (c) 1989-1992 by John Morris  All Rights Reserved

For the Latest TradeWars 2 Release call:
The Abandoned Land
[phone]
[phone]

Player Instructions for Release 11.14


TradeWars originally came out in 1985 as a poor-mans way to play a
Compuserve MegaWars type game. TradeWars 1 didn't have Teams, Planets,
or even Cabal!  All it had was 60 sectors, ports and multiple players!

TradeWars 2 has since become a multi-player game that is a cross between
a war game, and a space trading game.  Players compete against one another
and are able to attack and destroy each other!  You start with a ship
that can roam the galaxy, from space port to space port, trading Metal Ore,
Organics, and Equipment to earn credits.  Once you have earned some credits
you can buy yourself fighters and more cargo holds.

By using fighters, you can attack and destroy other players ships, and steal
cargo, and cargo holds from them. You can also use the fighters to defend
your ship from attack by enemy players. Your fighters can defend a space
port, or a series of sectors and space ports, which would give you exclusive
trading and get you even more credits!

Getting more cargo holds allows you to carry more merchandise and earn more
credits.

As you can see, the goal of the game is simple: Control of the entire galaxy.

GETTING STARTED

If you are reading this from inside TradeWars 2 itself, then you have
already logged on, gotten your ship, some cargo holds, and some credits
to start trading with.  You also should have a small fleet of fighters.

Just think, you're already on your way to becoming the most powerful
player in the galaxy!

ONCE YOU'RE IN...

The game will remember every move you make. If you get yourself into a
sticky situation, and try to hang-up on the game, or try to exit in some
way, you will be put in the same situation the next time you log on!

It pays to be careful, and avoid any nasty situation.

Your SysOp will define how much time, and how many turns you get in
TW2. A turn is when you move from sector to sector, or dock at a space
port.  There are also special circumstances when a turn is deducted. We'll
cover that later.

Entering a sector can sometimes be difficult.  If another player has left
some fighters to defend the sector you are trying to enter, then you can't
enter the sector unless you defeat them all!  If you can't defeat those
fighters, then you have the option to retreat back to the sector you came
from. Mines can also be left in sector which will inflict damage to your ship.

However, once you are in a sector, you can trade at space ports, take or
leave fighters to defend the sector, even attack another player. Nearly all
possible commands are done once you enter a sector.

The best way to learn is to experiment with the commands.  Feel free to
wipe someone out! But be careful, they might return the favor.

THE CABAL

Unfortunately you're not alone in the galaxy. The Cabal, a race of evil,
warring creatures, wander around seeking players to kill. These warriors
dwell in a certain area of the galaxy, but are sent out to other parts
of the galaxy to attack anything they can.  The Cabal exist solely to
cause hate and discontent. Destroying a Cabal fighter entitles you to
some bounty credits. The amount of credits in the bounty changes every day.
An outstanding player can, in time, defeat the entire Cabal hoard! Your
victory is short lived though, the Cabal have a device which will completely
regenerate the whole hoard if they are defeated. At that point, you
better run, regroup, and try to defeat them another day.

IN A SECTOR

Once you are in a sector, you are given a display of what is in the sector.
This is also where most of your commands are taken. Lets cover the commands.

A - ATTACK ANOTHER PLAYER

This is the command you use to attack another player. You will be asked
who to attack, and after you choose the player, you will be asked how many
fighters you wish to use.  If there is no one in the sector, or you don't
have any fighters, then you can't attack.

Once you have chosen the number of fighters to use in the attack, the attack
will start presently.  Attacks are done automatically, and you will have
the results very quickly. The more fighters in the attack, the slower the
results. Each attack is figured like this, one of your fighters will attack
one of the enemy fighters, someone will lose. The chances of winning or losing
is generally 50/50 with slight swings above and below that. Once someone
has lost, the next two fighters attack, and so on, until all the fighters
you sent have attacked, or until someone loses.

If you destroyed all the fighters protecting an enemy ship, you automatically
attack that ship, salvage some of its cargo, and cargo holds!

If you have kloaking device energy, and had the kloak turned on when you
attacked, it will be turned off. You can't attack while kloaked.

You can attacked a kloaked player, even if you can't see them in your sector
display!  Just use the attack command, and if someone is sitting kloaked
in the sector, you can attack.  But if you use the attack command in a
sector where there are no players, you will have one turn deducted.

B - BANK AUTO-TELLER

Credits in the bank are used to buy some high priced items. You can also
put some extra credits in the bank so they earn some interest.  When you
buy goods which require banked credits, the credits are transferred direct
from the bank to seller (in other words, you don't always need to withdraw
credits).

You can also withdraw credits to gain more cash on hand.  This will result
in a 15% penalty charged to your account.

C - COMPUTER

This is your ships on-board computer. Once you have accessed your computer
you use several functions

    A - AUTO-PILOT

    You use the auto pilot to find the shortest route between the sector
    you are in, and the sector you wish to get to.  You can also instruct
    the computer to use the course shown to take you directly to that
    sector.  You can also use this function to help make a map of the
    galaxy.

    If you run into any fighters defending a sector along the way, or
    you run into a wormhole, your autopilot automatically shuts down.

    You can buy an expansion module for the auto-pilot which will help
    you find a route from sector to sector that does not have any fighters
    blocking your path!  This is the Super-Search module.  It costs a few
    extra credits, but being able to avoid the nasties sure makes it worth
    it. The Super-Search will not detect any mines in your path!

    To use the Super-Search module, first you need to buy it at a class 0
    port, like Sol.  Second, when the computer asks which sector to get
    to, enter the letter S in front of the sector number. For instance,
    if you wanted to find a clear route to 816, you would enter S816

    F - FIGHTERS THAT I DROPPED

    This command will tell you where all of your defense forces are.

    G - GALACTIC NEWS

    This is a fine publication which lists recent happenings in the known
    galaxy. It can give you some important information if you look hard
    enough.

    M - MESSAGES

    Read messages currently held in your computer.  These messages are
    broadcast thru the known galaxy, and are held in your ship computers
    memory. You use this command if you were told you have mail waiting!

    You can also get some nasty messages from the Cabal!

    Remember to delete all the old mail you no longer need.

    P - SPACE PORT REPORT

    This command will give you the current trading status of a port that
    you input. It will ask which sector the port is in, and will then
    display the information.  A port report will not be given to you if
    another player is occupying the same sector as the port you are checking.
    It will instead say, "no info on that port".

    R - RANK PLAYERS & TEAMS

    This command will rank players according to their net worth. Net worth
    is the adding up of everything the player owns. This includes planets,
    factories, defense forces, etc.

    S - SECTOR SCAN

    This function will allow you to see into sectors which are 1 warp
    away from you.  You will be shown a list of sectors you can scan,
    or ALL, for all sectors.  This command can be used for many different
    purposes, one of them being checking for sector mines.

    T - TRANSMIT MESSAGE

    Here is where you can leave a message to other players. You will be
    asked who the message should be sent to. You have several options here:

        1. ALL  - Can be read by any player
        2. TEAM - Can only be read by your team mates.
        3. Player.  You are asked which player to send the message to. You can
           give all of their name, or part of their name.  You will then be
           asked for comfirmation on the correct user to send the information
           to. A message to a player is considered private, and can only be
           read by you or the other player.

    You are then asked for the subject of the message. After you have
    entered the subject, you will be able to start the actual writing
    of the message.  To get the 'Message Edit' prompt, hit enter on an
    empty line. You will have 8 options here.

        A - ABORT MESSAGE

        This will exit the message editor, and get you back to the
        computer.

        C - CONTINUE

        Continue to type in message lines from where you left off.

        D - DELETE LINE

        Here you can delete an unwanted line in your message.

        E - EDIT A LINE

        If there is a typo in one of your lines, or you simply wish to
        change what a line says, then use this command. You will be asked
        what string to look for, and what string to change it into.

        I - INSERT LINE(S)

        Here you can insert lines into the middle of your message.

        L - LIST MESSAGE

        Use this command to see what your message looks like.

        R - REVISE SUBJECT

        If the subject you originally type isn't what you really wanted,
        you can change it here.

        S - SAVE MESSAGE

        This will save your message. If the receiver of the message is
        currently playing on another node, then they will be told of
        their new mail immediately.

    End of Transmit Message

    X - EXIT COMPUTER

    This will get you out of the computer, and back to the sector display.

D - DISPLAY SECTOR

Use this command to redisplay the current sector you are in. You will
be shown the sector number, port (if any), planet (if any), other players,
warps leading out of this sector, etc.  If you are playing on a multi-line
system, you may see a star (*) in front of a players name. This means that
that player is on-line right now!  You can attack them or they can attack
you!

F - DEFENSE FORCE

A defense force (DF) is a group of fighters meant to defend the sector
they are in from unauthorized entry.

DF's are not allowed in Union Sectors.  The Union is kind of a free area
to roam around in, and they don't want anyone causing any trouble. Sectors
1 thru 7 are always in the Union. Your SysOp can also define other sectors
as being in the Union.

You can use this command to take, or leave a DF in the sector you are
currently in.  You cannot leave a DF if the sector already has one.
In almost every circumstance, you must be the owner of the fighters to
take a DF.

When you use this command, you will be shown the total fighters available
to you or the DF.  You are asked how many of this total should be put
into the DF.  Entering 0 eliminates the DF from the sector.  Entering
250 would make a DF containing 250 fighters, the remainder of the fighters
(if any) are put into the fleet with your ship.

You are then asked what the orders are for the defense force.  Make a note
of these orders, they are also the exact same ones used in Planetary DF's.

    A - ATTACK ANYONE

    This command tells the DF to attack anyone!  The only player exempt
    from this attack is the player who left the fighters.  This type of
    DF will even attack members of the same team as the player!

    M - TEAM DF

    This is a special type of DF.  This DF can be picked up by any player
    on the same team as the player who left the fighters.  Basically this
    DF is community property. This is the only type of DF which can be
    taken by someone other than the player who left it.

    If the Team Captain dissolves the team, or is deleted from the game,
    these fighters become pirates (they no longer have a commander, so they
    go nuts)

    N - ATTACK NO ONE

    This DF will attack no one!  It also can't be attacked!

    P - ATTACK CERTAIN PLAYER

    This type of DF will only attack the player you tell it to.  It won't
    attack you, or anyone it isn't supposed to.

    R - REGULAR

    This is for a normal type DF.  It will let your team mates enter the
    sector, but will only allow you to pick them up.

    T - ATTACK CERTAIN TEAM

    This DF will only attack the team it was told to.

End of Defense Force

G - GAMBLE

This connects you to a remote gambling computer.  Kinda works like the
auto bank teller, only you use it to gamble.  Odds are 50-50, win or
lose.  Don't bet all your credits unless you are sure you want to.  You
can gamble only 20 times per day, according to New-Nevada law.

I - INFO ON MY SHIP

This command gives you all the current info about your ship. It will tell
you where you are, how many turns you have left, the time you have left,
how many fighters are with your ship, etc.

K - KLOAKING DEVICE

A kloaking device is built into your ship, but you must by special energy
for it at Class 0 ports.  You use this command to turn the kloak on if you
notice it is off. This is especially useful on multi-line BBS's where you
don't want another player currently on-line to attack you too easily.
When you use the A)ttack command, your kloak is turned off.  You can also
turn your kloak on before you quit playing for the day to help protect you
from attack.

When your kloak is on, you are 'invisible' to another player when their
sector information is displayed. But if that player chooses the attack
command, you can be attacked!  The kloak only makes you hard to see, it
does not make you immune from attack.

L - LAND ON A PLANET / CREATE A PLANET

Planets are used to produce goods. These goods are given away for free
instead of having to trade with them. This is because you may have
created the planet, and the populace is forever in your debt.

If you use this command in a sector that doesn't have a planet, then you
will be asked if you wish to create a planet.  You will need 10000 credits
to do so. Once the planet is created you must increase the productivity
of the goods in order for the planet to make you money.  Productivity
is the amount of goods produced in a day.  Initial productivity is 1 each
for Ore, Organics, and Equipment.   You can increase these by investing
credits in the planet.  There is an upper limit to productivity, set to
20 units (by default) You SysOp may change this limit though.

Once you have aplnet, you can optional build a fighter factory. Rather
than relying upon Class 0 ports for all your fighters, you can put a
planet to work building fighters for you. First you need some credits to
build the factory, then you must supply that factory with goods (Ore,
Organics, and Equipment), and credits (to pay workers).  You must also
hire workers, and tell the factory management how much to pay each worker
per day.  If you hired 20 workers, and paid them 40 credits each per day,
you must supply 800 credits per day to the factory.  Also, at full production
the factory uses 25 units each of Ore, Organics, and Equipment per day,
so you must make sure these supplies are kept up. Otherwise the fighters
won't get produced.

Note: There is a certain formula which results in the best use of credits,
and produces the most fighters.  You can have too many workers, and you
can pay them too much. In such a situation the factory is not a good
investment.  You must experiment to find the best use of your credits,
amount of workers, and pay each day, compared to the number of fighters
produced.

Planets can have defense forces just like sectors.  If you leave a planetary
DF, then another player must go thru it to land on the planet.  They also
must destroy the DF if they intend to destroy the planet.  Planetary DF's
can have the same 'orders' as a sector DF.  You can set your Planetary
DF up at the planet command prompt.

Attacking a planet. To destroy a planet, you must completely destroy the
planetary DF, and then completely wipe out all production of goods. This
is done automatically if you use the Attack planet command.  The attack
on the DF is first. Once you destroy that, then goods production is
attacked.  As you can see, if you use the number of fighters correctly,
you can destroy the DF, and not destroy any production, wherein the planet
basically becomes yours.  But, if you use too many fighters, the whole
planet may be completely destroyed.

M - MOVE TO ANOTHER SECTOR

This is the command used to move from sector to sector.  You will be
shown the sectors you can move to. You then input the sector you wish
to move to.

There is a short form to this command. You can skip entering the M command
and just type the sector number at the prompt to move to another sector.

The Union created a 'web' of warps to connect sectors together. Thus
making travel a lot simpler. Each move takes up a turn. And you have
a limited number of turns per day. If you move to a sector which is
protected by a defense force, you must destroy that defense force before
you can actually enter that sector.  You don't want to attack that
DF, you can choose to retreat to the sector you just came from. (See
the R)etreat command for more info)

The web is still unperfected, and on occasion you will encounter a Worm
Hole.  What sector you end up in is random chance!

Also, your ships guidance computer can't avoid all obstacles in your
path. You will, on occasion, run into a meteor, which will take away
some of your turns!


O - GRAPHICS OPTIONS

If you are playing TradeWars 2 from an IBM compatible computer with EGA or
VGA graphics, and you have the TradeWars 2 graphics shell program called
'GGGraph' (pronounced 'Graph' or 'Gee-Graph') you can use the O command
to enable the TW2 true graphics and music mode.  You must currently be
running GGGraph on your computer for TW2 to switch into graphics/music mode.

If you don't have GGGraph, see if this BBS has GGG-0100.ZIP

P - TRADE AT A SPACE PORT

This command allows you to dock at a space port and trade or purchase
goods.  Docking at a space port uses up a turn.

There are four 'classes' of ports.

Class 0 ports do not barter with the player.  They have goods which you
probably need, and they sell them to you.  Class 0 ports can be found
when you enter a sector, see a port there, and it DOESN'T say what kind
of port it is, it has the name of the port only.  Class 0 ports sell
fighters, cargo holds, turns, sectors mines, kloaking device energy, probes,
and Super-Sector modules.  The main Class 0 port is 'Sol' which is located
in sector 1.  There are 3 class 0 ports per 1000 sectors.  If you buy
fighters at Sol, which is in the Union, and you go over the maximum
limit of fighters allowed in the Union, you will be expelled form the Union
by a special device which repulses your ship to another part of the
galaxy.  The Union doesn't like people in their sectors with too many
fighters!

Class 1 ports sell Equipment and buy Ore, and Organics.
Class 2 ports sell Organics and buy Ore, and Equipment.
Class 3 ports sell Ore and buy Organics, and Equipment.

When you dock, you will say be asked how many units you wish to buy or
sell. The you will haggle over the price.  They will give you an offer,
and you make a counter offer.  If the offer isn't any good you will be told
and a new offer made.  If you make an offer which isn't close to what
the port is looking for, you will be be asked to leave the port. Haggling
goes on until either party is satisfied or dissatisfied.  By using the
port information screen, you can determine how many units of certain
goods this port can buy ro sell.  Use that information screen!  If you
trade at the same port too often, sooner or later it will 'dry up', and
that port will be no good to trade with for a few days.  So spread your
trading out a little.   The price you pay for goods, or the price paid to
you for goods varies widely from port to port, and also depends on the
amount of units that that port currently has.

Trading is the name of the game, so it is good to become a good haggler.

Q - QUIT SESSION

Use this command when you want to quit playing for now, and return to
the BBS.  You could also hang-up, but that isn't recommended, your SysOp
wouldn't appreciate it.  If you quit, and you haven't used up all of
your turns, or time, you can come back later in the day to play.

R - RETREAT

There are 2 'R' commands.  Both are available from different prompts.
When you enter a sector defended by a defense force, the R command
is used to retreat.  When you retreat, there is a 50-50 chance that you
will escape with no harm. One the other hand, you will be counter attacked
by the DF, and you will suffer major losses, and sometimes even die!
That is when you notice that the 'S)can adjacent sector' command comes in
handy.. that way you don't get into a situation where you have to
retreat.

R - SECTOR PROBE

Available from the main TW2 command prompt when you have entered a sector.

You can use a sector probes to scout a route ahead, or any other reason
you can think of.  You are asked which sector to send the probe to, as
the probe heads towards that sector, you are shown the what the probe
finds along its path, from ports, to planets, to other players. There
is a 10% chance that you can recover your probe, that is, as long as it
doesn't run into a hostile fighter force where it most assuredly will
be destroyed.

S - SECTOR MINE

You use this command to lay a mine in a sector.  These mines are smart.
If you wish, you can make them leave you alone, or allow you and your
team mates to pass thru without setting the mine off.  If anyone runs
into a mine, they will lose all of their cargo, and some of their holds.
If they don't have very many holds, then they will be destroyed!

T - TEAM MENU

This is where you can create, join, quit, or dissolve a team.

Teams can have up to 4 players. Team mates can swap credits, and fighters
between each other, which may help out a team mate who is in trouble.
Players on a team have a very slight disadvantage in an attack against
non-team players. If you are on a team, and you attack a player who is
on another team, then odds are even.

Commands preceded with a star (*) can only be used by players already on
a team.

*   C - TRANSFER CREDITS TO OTHER TEAM MEMBER

    You must be in the same sector as the team member you wish to
    give the credits to.  You cannot transfer credits from the other
    team member to you. It is always you to them.

*   F - TRANSFER FIGHTERS TO OTHER TEAM MEMBER

    This is the same as a credit transfer, only your a giving your
    fighters to the other player.

    J - JOIN A TEAM

    You will be asked which team you want to join. If there is a sport


    M - MAKE A TEAM

    To make a team, you will be asked for a team password, and a team
    name. Thats it.  When you make a team, you are the 'Team Captain',
    and you do not need to join it.

*   Q - QUIT A TEAM

    This allows you to get out of the team you are in. You then become
    a non-team player.  WHen you quit a team, you cannot rejoin a team,
    or create another team for at least a day.  This prevents players from
    taking a bunch of stuff from his/her team mates then forming another
    team and killing of the old one, etc.

*   R - REMOVE A TEAM MATE (For Team Captains ONLY)

    This command allows you to remove an unwanted team member.

*   S - SCAN FOR TEAM MATES

    This command will allow you to locate the sectors your team mates are
    in. (If they aren't dead...)

*   T - DEFENSE FORCE TRANSFER

    This will allow you to transfer some of your fighters over to a team
    mates defense force.  You cannot get these fighters back unless the
    team mate gives them to you.  Note: this is not the same as a Team
    Defense force.

    X - EXIT TEAM MENU

    This gets you back to the main TW2 prompt.


H or ? - HELP!!

    This will give you a short list of valid commands.

Z - INSTRUCTIONS

    Asking for instructions prints this text file out to you.


OTHER INFO

When you log into TW2, you will occasionally be the victim in an act
of sabotage by the Cabal.  You will lose all of your cargo and 1/5
of your cargo holds!

Attacking and destroying entire Cabal groups cause the Cabal to come
after you, while you are playing. They don't like that!

You can stack commands together so you shorten your time entering commands.
You could type at the TW2 command line:

M 312 M 415 P

This would move you from 312 to 415, then enter the space port to trade.

C S ALL

This command would invoke the computer, and scan all sectors.

C R

This would give you player rankings.

T Q Y

This command would enter the team menu, quit your team, and verify that you
wanted to quit.

Q Y

Would cause TW2 to exit. (Quit, with verify)


TH-TH-TH-THATS ALL!

Now get out there and have some fun!