The objective of Galactic Trader is to earn 1 billion credits in 2000 years or less and safely return to Galactica. You begin the game at Galactica, the trading center of the Empire (as well as the governmental center). Your initial resources include a scout ship and a small sum of money.
Color Graphics: To have the color graphics work, you must be using system 6.0.4 or later, and have 32-bit color quickdraw. Note: There is a small bug in the program that doesn't release memory if you frequently change your monitor from black-and-white mode to color and back while the program is running. I can't find it anywhere at this time, so I recommend that you don't change from color to black-and-white too much when running this program (don't worry - you can still do it once or twice without problems, or increase the memory setting for the program).
If you are running Galactic Trader in black-and-white mode only, you can set the memory size to 320K.
Use the '+' or '=' key to speed up the scrolling story on the title screen, and the '-' or '_' key to slow it down.
New Game: To start a new game, simply select this command from the File menu.
Resume Game: To continue a game that you have previously saved, use this command from the File menu.
Save Game: If you want to save a game in progress (you need to do some real work), select this command from the File menu.
Save Game As: Same as Save Game, but you always get to specify the file name (and this must be used the first time a game is saved).
End Game: To end a game in progress without quitting the program, use this command from the File menu.
Quit: Once you get tired, bored, hungry, or mentally deficient, use this command to regain sanity.
Windows: There are four windows which contain specific information related to the game in progress. You can move these window as you please, or even close them (though I don't know why you'd want to). To make a particular window active (and you can't click on it for some reason), you can select the name of the window you want to show from the Windows menu. If you still can't find the window, maybe it's off screen (somebody else saved the window positions far, far away from your puny monitor). Go out and buy a bigger monitor! Of course I guess you could always use the Default Window Positions command from the Preferences menu (described in more detail later in the Preferences section), but you may be less satisfied.
Skill Levels: There are ten skill levels for playing Galactic Trader. The skill level determines things like fuel and ship prices, commodity weights, how many credits you start the game out with, and various trading parameters (planets are much more generous at easier skill levels than at harder ones).
Commodity Tutorial
There are eight commodities freely traded in the galaxy, and each commodity has a planet of origin (a planet that actually makes that commodity). The production planet has the highest supply of that commodity in the galaxy, and thus the lowest price. The further away a planet is from the production planet, the more scarce and expensive the commodity. It is to your advantage to seek out the "production" planets and buy low so that you can sell high at the other end of the galaxy.
Since the galaxy operates in a capitalistic way, you must pay a premium when buying commodities (so that the planet makes a profit), and must sell commodities at a discount (so that the planet makes more profit). Trading offers the best deal, but there's still a little profit in it for the planet. In order to help you out, the computer stores four different commodity prices for each planet (this information is available only after you visit that planet). They are the reference price, the purchase price, the sell price, and the trade price.
Reference Price: The reference price of a commodity is fixed throughout the game. The production planet of a commodity will have the lowest reference price. The reference price is directly proportional to the distance from the planet of production. Thus, the farther away a planet from the production planet, the higher the reference price.
Purchase Price: The purchase price of a commodity is the price at which you can buy that commodity. It is originally based on the reference price of a commodity. Note that Galactica's markup is lower than the other planets due to the fact that it's the trading center of the galaxy. Every time you purchase a commodity, its price will increase since you will have lowered its supply (except on Galactica, where volumes are so high that your actions won't affect prices). Buying will not affect the sell or trade prices.
Sell Price: The sell price of a commodity is what you can get in cash for selling that commodity. It is also originally based on the reference price of a commodity. Again, Galactica offers a much better deal since they print the Empire currency and thus have no shortage of Galactic Credits. When you sell a commodity, its sell price decreases since you will have increased its supply at that planet (no effect of Galactica, though). Selling will not affect the purchase or trade prices.
Trade Price: The Trade price of a commodity, when used in conjunction with the reference price, will determine how much of a commodity you can get for your goods (see Trading later on). Every trade lowers that particular commodity's trade price at that planet, except at Galactica. Trading will not affect a commodity's purchase or sell price.
Ship Types
There are four different types of ships in Galactic Trader: scout, transport, cargo, and carrier. Each ship has a different capacity for carrying cargo, and have the following cargo capacities: scout - 10000, transport - 50000, cargo - 200000, carrier - 400000. The higher the cargo capacity, though, the heavier the base ship weight. This means that it takes more fuel to move larger ships (even if empty) due to their additional weight. Your ship can take damage in space (pirates or meteor storms), which will decrease their cargo carrying capacity.
Exchanging Ships: To exchange a ship, select Exchange Ship from the Ship menu. The reason this is called "exchanging" a ship is that you must trade in your old ship for a new one (you can't pilot more than one ship at a time). Your ship's trade-in value is half the original price times the ratio of its current carrying capacity to the original capacity. For example, if your ship originally cost $1000, and its cargo capacity is 500 out of an original 1000, its trade-in value will be 0.5 * $1000 * ( 500 / 1000 ) = $250. This trade-in value will be taken into account when the new ship prices are shown. You can not buy a new ship if you don't have enough money or if your cargo won't fit into the new ship (in cases where you're buying a ship with less capacity than your current ship).
Dealing Commodities
Buying: To purchase commodities, select Buy from the Trade menu. Enter the amount of each commodity you wish to purchase. Remember that you get better deals at Galactica (less markup), but it's dangerous there!
Selling: To sell commodities, select Sell from the Trade menu. Specify how many of each commodity you want to sell. Again, you'll get a better deal at Galactica, but make sure each trip there counts.
Trading: To trade commodities, select Trade from the Trade menu. You can only trade for one commodity at a time, but you can trade many different commodities for that one commodity. For example, you can trade 50 Pez, 25 Mice, and 80 Acorns for Yarn. Enter in the number of each commodity you want to unload in the text entry fields, and select the commodity you want to get using the radio buttons. Click on Trade to see what they'll give you, and an offer will be made. If you like the offer, select Accept and the trade will take place. If you don't like the offer and want to try a different trade, select Reject. If you don't want to accept the offer and you are finished (don't want to try anything else at the time), select cancel.
Fuel and Getting Around
Getting Around: You'll need to travel a lot to make your fortune. To "embark" to another planet, you first need to select a planet. Do this by clicking on the desired planet in the Galactic Map window. Notice that the information concerning your trip will show up in the View window (destination chosen, estimated arrival time, and fuel needed). To embark, you can use the Emark command under the ship menu, use the embark smart icon in the Planet Information window, or double-click on a planet in the Galactic Map window. Once the embark command is given, you will leave orbit. While leaving orbit, you can press spacebar to cancel the embark command (in case you selected it by accident). A message will be shown in the View window telling you that you cancelled the command (and you will remain in orbit).
Fuel: Carting stuff around the galaxy takes fuel. Fuel consists of tiny pellets of nuclear material which makes it possible to carry large amounts of fuel without adding any appreciable weight to your ship. You can purchase, sell, or trade for fuel at any planet.
Buying Fuel: To buy fuel, select Purchase Fuel from the Ship menu. The price of fuel fluxuates, so don't be suprised when you could have gotten it for cheaper at the last planet (then again, it could have been more expensive). The computer will figure out exactly how much fuel you need to buy to reach your next destination, if you select that destination before buying fuel.
Selling Fuel: You can sell excess fuel if you need the cash. Don't expect to make any money on the deal, though, as you won't get as much as you paid for it.
Trading for Fuel: If you need fuel and are short of cash, you can always trade for fuel. To determine how much you'll get, compare the sell price of the commodities you're trading to the price of fuel. Enter how much you want to trade and press Trade to see what they'll offer you. You can accept or reject the offer (similar to the trading commodities). This action will affect the sell prices of the commodities you're trading.
Galactic Map
The Galactic Map window contains the relative positions of all planets in the galaxy. In addition, it visually shows which planets you have already visited (via different colors on color monitors, or by different planet pictures on black and white monitors), the planet you are in orbit around, and the currently selected planet (which is the ship destination planet and the planet that is being shown in the Planet Information Window). The selected planet will have a square around it. The planet you're orbiting has a circle around it.
Clicking on a planet in the Galactic Map window causes that planet's information will be displayed in the Planet Information window and selects that planet as the ship's destination. Double-clicking on a planet will automatically invoke the embark command to that planet. If you don't have enough fuel to make it to the destination planet, you will automatically be allowed to purchase fuel. If you purchase enough to make it to the destination planet (and, if you have enough money, the computer will put in the amount you need to purchase), you will embark to that planet.
View Window
The View window shows you which planet you're orbiting, and information concerning the planet you have selected as the next destination.
The title of the window tells you the planet you're orbiting. The distance to the currently selected planet will be shown. The ship's destination planet, estimated arrival time, and fuel needed is also shown. The current star date is located in the lower left corner of this window. Just above the star date, the probability of you being assassinated at Galactica is shown. This will increase for every trip to Galactica. Lastly, there is a thin, vertical bar at the left of the window. This bar shows you how much time remains for you to complete your mission. The longer the bar, the more time you have left. Use it as a quick guage to tell how much time is left.
Ship Status Window
This window shows you important information concerning the status of the game and your ship. The title of the window will tell you the type of ship you currently have. The contents of the window tells you things such as how many credits you have, your ship's current capacity and weight, your cargo weight, the total weight of your ship and cargo (used to determine fuel usage), and finally, detailed information concerning your cargo (it's unit weight, the amount you have, and the total weight of each commodity).
Planet Information Window
The planet information window contains information concerning the prices of commodities at the selected planet, as well as several buttons for taking action on the planet the you're currently orbiting. Note that you can only take actions on the planet you're orbiting (except Embark). If you are viewing a planet other than the one you're orbiting in the Planet Information Window, all actions (except Embark) will be disabled. To quickly select the planet you're orbiting, press [Return], [Enter], or [Spacebar].
Hazzards
The galaxy is not always a safe place. The following is a list of some of the things you might encounter out there. Note that the longer the trip, the higher the probability you will "encounter" something in space.
Meteor Showers: The weather is often unpredictable in space, and you can't always avoid colliding with space objects. If this happens, your ship may get damaged, and a damaged ship can't hold as much cargo as it originally could. If your ship is damaged to the point where your cargo weight exceeds the ship's capacity, you will be forced to jettison some of your cargo. When this happens, a dialog will pop up allowing you to eject valuable goods into the void of space.
Space Pirates: As you can probably guess, space pirates are out to steal some of your cargo. If you meet up with any, there's always the chance they'll shoot up your ship a bit (especially if you have no cargo to steal - it makes 'em angry).
Assassination at Galactica: The Empress has hired assassins to make your life short, but fortunately for you, they can only operate at Galactica. The probability an assassin will strike increases with every trip to Galactica, so make each trip there count.
Smart Icons
These smart icons, located in the Planet Information window, can be used to issue commands (so you won't have to use the menus). Note that all but Embark will be disabled if you're looking at a planet other than the one you're orbiting. Embark is only enabled when you have a planet selected other than the one you're orbiting.
Preferences
The Preferences menu allows you to turn sound on and off, select the way the windows will be arranged on the screen, and look at the high scores.
Sound: Users of system 6.0.2 and later will have the option of digitized sound. Use this menu item to toggle sound on and off.
Arrange Windows: This command will move (and size the Galactic Map window) the game windows back to their original, or "saved" positions. Use this command to rearrange the windows after you may have moved them around. If the windows don't arrange well, maybe someone else saved their positions in places not too great for your monitor (maybe they had a bigger monitor). If this is the case, use Default Window Positions to at least get the all arranged on your screen. Then you can save them where you like.
Save Window Positions: Use this command to save the current window positions (and size for the Galactic Map window). Once saved, the windows will always start out in the saved positions for new games, or go back to the saved positions when Arrange Windows is selected.
Default Window Positions: Use this command to have the windows move to their default positions. You may not like them here, but at least they'll all be on the screen. Make sure to save the window positions if you want them to start here for new games or when using the Arrange Windows command.
View High Scores: The top 10 high scores for each skill level is kept. Selecting this command will bring up a window that allows you to see them all, one skill level at a time (the currently selected skill level is displayed when first bringing up the high scores window). To change the skill level you're currently viewing, click on the skill level number you want to see, or press that number on the keyboard (0 will show you skill level 10).
You can clear the high scores for the skill level you're currently viewing by clicking the Clear button. If you want to clear the high scores for all skill levels, click Clear All. Pressing return or clicking OK will dismiss this screen.
Your final score is based on a number of things, including whether or not you win, when you win (the sooner the better), and the total number of credits you have.
Export Scores: This feature allows you to save the high scores to a file.
Import Scores: This feature allows you to load a previously saved high scores file. This allows you to share high scores with a friend, or keep your high scores when upgrading to a new version of Galactic Trader. When loading scores, you can either replace all the current high scores with the scores in the file, or combine the two lists. A combined list keeps the 10 best scores for each skill level from the two lists.
Quick Summary
Here's a quick summary of some of the game commands/displays:
• The planet you're orbiting has a circle around it.
• The selected planet has a square around it.
• Press [Enter], [Return], or [Spacebar] to select the planet you're currently orbiting.
• Double-click on a planet to embark to that planet (you'll automatically be allowed to purchase fuel if you don't have enough to get to the selected planet).
• You can cancel an embark command when leaving orbit by pressing [Spacebar].
• You can only take planet actions on the planet you're currently orbiting (exchanging a ship, buying/selling/trading for fuel, and buying/selling/trading commodities).
• The thin, vertical bar at the left of the View window tells you how much game time remains.
• If you can't embark due to a lack of fuel, the fuel required will be highlighted in the View window.
• Use the '+' or '=' key to speed up the scrolling story in the title screen.
• Use the '-' or '_' key to slow down the scrolling story in the title screen.
