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1991-08-02
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Sherrick & Morris'
C L A S S I C
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* RADE **** ****
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* * ARS VERSION 2
SysOp Reference for release 11.10
The most popular door game of all time!
From the Creator of the original TradeWars game: Chris Sherrick
Software & Documentation updates by John Morris
Copyright (c) 1989 - 1991 by John Morris
All Rights Reserved
Page 1
Retraction Notice:
I apologize for and explicitly retract any and all comments or writings
of mine pertaining to Tradewars 2002, Marteck Software, or Gary or Mary Ann
Martin. I expressly affirm that Tradewars 2002 does not infringe any
copyright or trademark associated with my version of Tradewars or any
copyright or trademark owned or created by Chris Sherrick or John Morris.
Signed,
John Morris
Page 2
CONTENTS
1 About TradeWars version 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Future Directions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
* System Requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
Thanks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
License . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
Warrantee . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
Acknowledgments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
2 Files. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
Program control . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
3 Getting Started . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
BBS modes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
RBBS-PC mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
PCBoard mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
Opus 1.03 mode. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
QBBS & FoReM & TPB & T.A.G. mode. . . . . . . . . . . 12
Wildcat 1 or 2.x mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
GT Powercomm mode. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
Phoenix mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
GAP & Wildcat! 3.x mode. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
Spitfire mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
WWIV mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
Opus 1.10 mode. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
Switching over to TW2 11.10 . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
Problems? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
4 Appendices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
* Appendix A - TW Philosophy. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
Appendix B - How to interface an unsupported BBS to TW . . . . 15
Appendix C - Using the new programs. . . . . . . . . . . 17
* Appendix D - Release History . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
Appendix E - TW DEBUG mode. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
* - Changed since last release of Tradewars version 2
Page 3
ABOUT TRADEWARS version 2
TradeWars was conceived out of the need for a good on-line game that
anyone could play. Not everyone has the need for, or can afford to call,
a major on-line computer network to play a game. So, Chris created
TradeWars. It was written originally on a TRS-80 and had a whopping
60 sectors! It didn't have planets, Cabal, probes, mines, teams, or
any of the other new-fangled gadgets found in the newer releases. It had
Ports for Trading and Fighters for fighting. A player with 100 fighters
was invincible!
Later Chris started using a Nochange system in the Reno area run by
Jim Leenan. This was back in the days of version 5 or 6 of Nochange
which included source code, and ready made communication code. Chris
decided this would be a great step-up from the TRS-80 days, and ported
TradeWars (1) over to the IBM basic format. TradeWars 1 was short-lived
and was soon replaced by the new-and-improved TradeWars 2 (known to
everyone nowadays as TW2) This version included Planets, 99 sectors
and the dreaded Cabal! About the time TradeWars 2 was really catching
on, Chris left the Reno area for school in southern California. Before
going Chris gave me an early copy of the software for me to modify for
RBBS-PC use. (His idea was, the more BBS types getting TW2 the better!)
Well, at that time I was 20 and definately -NO- programmer! So, primed
with my knowledge of RBBS-PC programming, and some other little tid-bits
I picked up, I started creating my own communications code. Also I had
the monumental task (to me at the time!) of converting the TW2 code from
a pretty strict Nochange program to a more modular one which interfaced
with my comm routines. These were the days when doors were just starting
to come out, and -zero- doors code was coming out. At the time, doors
were talked about a lot, and weren't much of a reality. In three weeks
time I had TW2 actually up-and-running on my RBBS 14.1B system, getting
all my comm info from the dreaded MESSAGES file (some of you'll know
what I mean by that!) Anyways, It wasn't almost till 4 or 5 months later
that I had something halfway decent ready to go. I decided before I put
it out that I'd make my copy unique and got permission from Chris to up
the total sector count to 200! Thus began the race for ever larger sizes
'galaxy-wise'. Jim Leenan and I got the 200 sector galaxy well distr-
ibuted and I started work on things Chris had left provision for in the
data files. The biggest among these were Teams. By the summer of '87
all kinds of folks were wanting TW2, and different BBS programs meant
different interfaces, which at that time meant different TW2 programs!
Of course, this led to all kinds of chaos (which still exists today in
the form of unauthorized copies of TW) By 1988 someone had beat me to
the 1000 sector punch, so to keep the official version of TW competitive
I went to 1000 sectors. To get things under control I had started making
TW less dependent on the BBS it was running under and introduced release
5.x with the new multi-bbs interface. The next releases featured probes,
mines, networking capability for multi-node systems, and finally a
semi-non-scrolling ANSI graphics mode in release 6.31. About the time I
put out 6.31 I had started working on the next MAJOR revision of TW.
This major revision was to make the change from Bascom 6.0 to Microsoft
C 5.1. Once again TradeWars was my programming lesson. I had an init
program done in about a month, and an editor done in another two or
Page 4
three weeks. Then, the actual conversion of TW2.EXE took place in about
two weeks . Time was taken to recode the logic to be far more straight-
forward. In about 2 months I had the new programs ready for test, and
gave it out to a few guys for a test. During the next 4 months or so, I
had VERY few bug reports (in fact, none for a two month period) which
should have made more paranoid than it did. Come the middle of December
1989 I put out 10.00. Bug reports damn near overwhelmed me! (remember,
its only a one man operation at the moment! And that man really has no
idea whats going on! hehe!) Anyways, after correcting the major bugs,
I held off on TW2 10.01 until January 14, 1990. I decided I had to get
it out to calm some fears, so I did so. I did manage to calm some fears
and create new ones! Mainly networking ills. So, for the last 2 months
I have been working diligently on getting ALL bugs nuked! As I write
this, all the networking problems have been squashed, and quite possibly
DOZENS of other not so noticeable bugs. I'm not afraid in the least to
admit 10.00 and 10.01 were really pieces of garbage.. I'll just chalk it
up to experience. And I'll work harder in the future to keep problems to
a minimum. Well, enough -About TradeWars-! For updates to this, check
the 'Version History' section.
FUTURE DIRECTIONS
For the near future I have a few things planned. First of all, until
the bugs are fixed, I won't be adding any goodies. Bugs have first pri-
ority! After the bugs have been effectivly nuked, I'll add new additions
to the game.
SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS
Starting with release 10.10 you are required to use DOS 3.0 or above.
(Network users, DOS 3.3 or above) There are several reasons for this,
a big one is the plain fact it may not work under 2.x of DOS because of
some of the calls I make. DOS 3 has been out for 5+ years now, so it is
a well proven product, if you don't have it you should go get it.
Memory requirements have jumped up for release 11.10. You will need
256K to load TW2 into memory. (TWedit, & TWMaint need about 192k)
In your CONFIG.SYS file, make sure you have a statement something like:
FILES=30
TradeWars version 2 usually has up to 5 or more files open at once. So, you
have to allow DOS to open more files than normal!
For communication, TW2 can use a FOSSIL driver if you have it installed
(this is the most 'stable' option) or it can use it's normal com routines.
The normal com routines work automatically with COM1 and COM2. For info on
how to set up COM3, or COM4 please read the information in Appendix C.
Page 5
THANKS
I would like to thank every who has helped put together TW version 2.
Chris Sherrick -- The creator of the original TradeWars game
Jim Leenan Andrew Hoag Rick Hines
Roger Reesor Paul Waldinger Charlie Smith
Gary Funk David Friedman Rob Lerman
Eric Carr John Zimmerman George Lungu
Rich Hackney Rick Box
And to everyone else who called in with bug reports. I can't name you
all, but you know who you are!
LICENSE
TradeWars version 2 is copyrighted by Chris Sherrick and I (John Morris).
This means that our rights to the program are protected under National law,
and International Treaty!
All users of TradeWars version 2 are granted a limited license to use,
copy, and distribute TradeWars any way they see fit as long as a few
rules are obeyed:
1 You may use this program for any commercial or non-commercial purpose.
Use it on your company, private, or school BBS, or in any other way,
I leave it up to your imagination.
2 You may copy and distribute as many copies of this program as you
like, as long as you don't charge any money for the program itself. A
small fee is allowed for copying, handling, mailing, and the diskette
containing the copy, but it is not expected to exceed the real costs.
In other words, you aren't supposed to make a profit.
3 The program is used, and/or distributed unmodified, with complete
documentation.
WARRANTEE
I'll keep this section of the docs real short. TradeWars v.2 is not
warranteed in any way, shape, or form. This program is provided AS IS.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Certain portions of TradeWars 2 are made possible by:
Microsoft Corporation (Microsoft Quick C 2.5, C 6.00A, and MASM 5.1 & 6)
Donald Gloistein (FosLib Version 2.0)
Greenleaf Software (Greenleaf Comm Library 3.0)
Mike Dumdei (MCOMM & ANSIDrv)
PKWare (PKZip & PKLite Professional)
My thanks to them all for making my life easier with their great software!
Page 6
FILES
TradeWars v.2 is distributed in one file. The file is in the following
format:
TW2-xxxx.ZIP where 'xxxx' is the release number. In this case, the
filename TW2-1110.ZIP would contain TW2 release 11.10
TW2-1110.ZIP contains the following files:
I.ZIP which contains:
I.EXE -- this initializes the whole game from scratch
I.DOC -- Doc on the I.EXE the Install/Initialization program.
PRTNAMES.DAT -- contains port names for 323 ports
EDTEXT.ZIP which contains:
EDTEXT.EXE -- Multi-language text editor
EDTEXT.DOC -- Doc on how to use EdText to change the TW text
TW2TEXT.DAT -- Text for TW2.EXE (compiled into TW2.ENG)
TWMTEXT.DAT -- Text for TWMAINT.EXE (compiled into TWMAINT.ENG)
CLASS?.DAT -- Graphics data for use in graphics mode
REGISTER.DOC -- info on how to register TW2
PREQ.DAT -- Player request text file (for use in networked game)
SYSOP.DOC -- this document
TREQ.DAT -- Team request text file (for use in networked game)
TW2.CMD -- Graphics command file
TW2.ENG -- English text for TW2.EXE
TW2.EXE -- this is the game itself
TW2G.ENG -- English text for TW2 while running in Graphics mode
TW2NET.ZIP -- contains docs on the registered 'BBS network' features.
TWCLOSEA.DAT -- ascii closing text file
TWCLOSEC.DAT -- color closing text file
TWEDIT.DOC -- docs on how TWEDIT works
TWEDIT.EXE -- the TW2 editor program
TWINSTR.DOC -- player document
TWMAINT.ENG -- English text for TWMAINT.EXE
TWMAINT.EXE -- this is the daily maintenance program
TWOPENA.DAT -- ascii opening text file
TWOPENC.DAT -- color opening text file
After 'I' has been run, you'll notice that quite a few more files
now exist on your disk. They include the following:
TW2MAP.D?? -- contains map for a certain plane of sectors.
TW2RANK.TMP -- temporary rankings file
TWCABAL.D?? -- contains cabal information
TWCHAT.DAT -- contains node/chat mode information
TWMAIN.DAT -- this contains TW2 configuration and game options
TWNEWS.DAT -- contains current events in binary format
TWSCTR01.D?? -- contains sector warp info
TWSCTR02.D?? -- contains info on contents of each sector
TWPLANET.DAT -- contains info on each planet
TWPLAYER.DAT -- this contains player info
TWPMESS.DAT -- contains info on game messages to each player
TWPORT.D?? -- contains info on each port
TWTEAM.DAT -- contains team info
That should be about it. Most files are static in length, others will
grow slightly as time goes by. TW2 will try its best to keep the file
sizes from getting out of hand.
Page 7
AUTHENTICITY VERIFICATION
TradeWars version 2 uses the new Authenticity Verification feature of PKZip
1.10.
Make sure the Auto-Verify message (-AV) comes up for every file, then
check to see if the TRADEWARS SOFTWARE AUTO-VERIFY message appears upon
completion of the unpacking.
If you don't see this message then the ZIP file has been modified after I
released it.. and I wouldn't use it!
The EXE files are protected from hacking by using PKLite Professional 1.12.
PROGRAM CONTROL
There are two different ways to control behavior of the TW2 family
of programs. These include command line switches and run-time control
keys.
Control keys:
F1 -- Exit TW2 immediately. TW2 will do its routine end of game
clean-up, then exit. Both TWEDIT and TWMAINT will exit NOW!
F2 -- The program will try to load a copy of COMMAND.COM on top of
itself. COMMAND.COM should be in the same directory.
F9 -- This toggles the display on/off. RBBS and PCB SysOps will be
familiar with this feature.
F10 -- Invokes chat mode. Hit ESCape to get out of the chat.
PGDN -- These two keys will DEcrease a users time limit. PGDN will
CTRL-PGDN subtract one minute for each press, CTRL-PGDN will subtract
10 minutes for each press. You can view the result in the
lower right corner.
PGUP -- These two keys will INcrease a users time limit. PGUP will
CTRL-PGUP add one minute for each press, CTRL-PGUP will add 10 minutes
for each press.
Command Line Switches:
x -- Where 'x' is a node number. If you wish to tell TW which node
it is running on, you must specify it as the FIRST parameter.
This switch does not use a slash '/' or dash '-'!
Node numbers are 1 character in length, with 36 nodes possible
in RBBS mode, numbers 0 thru 9, and letters A - Z are okay.
Used in this order, 12..90AB..Z to get 36 nodes.
In Wildcat! or LAN mode, node numbers up to 99 can be used.
The number '23' would be used as node 23 in this mode.
Command line switches begin with either a slash ('/') or a dash ('-')
/B -- Tells the programs to run in 'batch' mode. This means it will
not ask for a name when used in conjunction with the /L switch
This MUST be used when running TWMAINT in an event batch file.
/Cx -- This tells the program which port to use. /C1 would tell the
program to use com port 1. Don't use this switch if you aren't
told to do so. (see appendix C for info on com ports above COM2)
/D -- Use DOS only for input and output. This will allow redirection,
though I've never tested it. This will turn off the status line
on line 25.
Page 8
/F -- Force the program to use a FOSSIL driver. Note, if the program
fails to initialize the FOSSIL, it will use its own comm rou-
tines.
/G -- For Opus 1.03 SysOps. This forces ANSI color ON. This is not
needed for Opus 1.10
/L -- This forces the programs to operate in local mode. The program
does not need ANY BBS files to operate in this mode.
/M -- Tells TW2 that it is okay to play music on the local computer.
In some multi-tasking environments you don't want TW2 to use
the speaker, the default, therefore, is speaker off.
/P: -- Tells the program where to get info on the current user of the
BBS This switch is used in ALL modes except for RBBS mode.
/Sxxx -- This will tell TW at what speed to operate. If the program saw
/S38400 it would open the port with a speed of 38400 bps. Don't
use this switch unless you are told to do so.
/Txx -- This switch is also used for Opus 1.03 SysOps. It tells the
program how much TOTAL time is allowed for the current user.
If your BBS provides some means for TW to determine if the SysOp is on,
you will have an extra option in TW2.EXE, the 'E' command. This will
allow access to the editor from TW2. If there is no means to check for
SysOp, you will not have this option. This is for your security.
Page 9
Stack Commands
Commands in TW can be stacked. You can use four different symbols to
separate each command. These symbols are: ' ' SPACE, ',' COMMA,
';' SEMI-COLON, and ':' COLON
You could tell the program to execute something like this:
M;174;M;176
which would move you to sector 174, then sector 176. This same command
would be perfectly legal like this:
M 174 M 176 or like this..
M,174;M:176
GETTING STARTED
I'll try to make the set-up as painless as possible. First, you need
to copy TW2-1110.ZIP to the directory in which you plan to keep all of
your TradeWars files. Then you need to use PKUNZIP to get the files out
of TW2-1110.ZIP. Once you have the files you may delete the ZIP file to
keep used disk space to a minimum. The next thing you have to do is run
I.EXE. Just type I at the prompt and hit [ENTER]. You will be then
prompted for the information that 'I' needs from you. This will vary in
the Registered, and non-Registered versions.
Then the program will get to the BBS set-up section. This area is
pretty self-explanitory. We'll go thru each question:
Ranking filename: This is where TW will put the current rankings in a
text file. This is usually used by the BBS as a bulletin. Even if you
aren't going to use it, put a file name there.
Idle timeout: This is how many minutes TW will wait for the user to
input some data. This is usually 3 to 5 minutes.
Aliases: TW2 supports aliases. They are usually used so the user can get
a little wilder.
Maximum time: This is the maximum amount of minutes a user can use TW
per DAY. This is a TW time limit, and the minutes they have already
used are subtracted from the time passed to the program.
SysOp name: This is the guy who runs the BBS. Generally thats YOU!
BBS Name: This is the name of your system!
Modem speed: This is generally NOT used. DO NOT use this if you are
running multiple nodes with different speed modems. This can be used on
single node systems with locked com ports.
Page 10
BBS type: Here you are asked what type of BBS you are running. Enter
the number which corresponds to the interface type. Next you
will get a little note which tells you how to tell TW what
BBS info file to get info from. RBBS SysOps, you will be
asked for the drive:\path\filename of your MESSAGES file. If
you don't want TW to access your MESSAGES file, then choose
QBBS mode. RBBS SysOps, you will also be asked if you are
using GMon. Answer yes, or no.
If you are not running a BBS, then just answer 0, then when
you run the program, use the /L parameter for local mode.
Local mode bypasses use of the BBS interface file. If running
on a network, you can specify the node number with the follow-
syntax:
TW2 x /L [/G]
where 'x' is the node number (see above), and /G for color.
Maintenance: You are asked whether TW will run maintenance automatically
or in an event batch file. To run TWMAINT in a batch file you must use
the command: TWMAINT /L /B
Network mode: In this mode the program will open files in SHARED mode.
You must have SHARE loaded for network mode to work correctly. Don't
forget to tell TW how many nodes!
Lastly, the program will try to run maintenance. If it fails to do so,
you will be told to run it with the command: TWMAINT /L /B
Okay.. We are all done with initialization.
If you need to change anything, just load the editor (TWEDIT /L) and
choose 'A' for main options.
BBS MODES
0 - RBBS-PC Mode
The programs use the DORINFOx.DEF file for getting info on the
current user. Instead of using the /P: parameter to tell TW which
DORINFO file to use, TW makes an assumption according to the node
number passed to TW on the command line. If there is no node number
on the command line, TW will look for DORINFO1.DEF. If you have node
'2' on the command line, TW will look for DORINFO2.DEF. NOTE, the
node number must be the first command line parameter after the file-
name of the program (ie: TW2 2 for node 2)
Tradewars will also look for the status of SNOOP in the node records
contained in your MESSAGES file.
If you are using GMon, TW will return directly to GMon, bypassing
MONITOR1.EXE when you tell the program you are using GMon in TWRI.
Also note, that TW does file/record locking in a different manner
than RBBS-PC. You must have DOS 3 (or greater) and SHARE.EXE loaded.
Page 11
1 - PCBoard mode
First, you must be running a program which creates a PCBOARD.SYS in
PCBoard 14.x format. Next in your TW batch file, you must tell TW
where to find the PCBOARD.SYS file for each node. Do this with the
/P: parameter like so: (this line is in your batch file)
TW2 /P:C:\PCB2\PCBOARD.SYS
Searchlight mode may require the use of a conversion program to
change the format of the PCBOARD.SYS file. I 'hear' that the newest
versions of Searchlight create a correct file. In your DOORS.DEF
file, you will need a line like this:
10;0;0;?;TradeWars 2 Release 11.10;C:\SLBBS;TW2.EXE /P:PCBOARD.SYS
the '?' is the security level needed to run the door. Make sure your
/P: parameter contains the complete driver path to the PCBOARD.SYS
file.
2 - Opus 1.03 mode
First, I suggest switching over to the new version of Opus (1.1x).
The interface is much more painless. Okay, on to the directions.
You must tell TW which copy of the LASTUSER.BBS file to use. Use the
/P: parameter for this.
Also, you must specify the com port to use. Use the /Cx parameter
this.
If you have a modem at a locked speed, you must use the /Sxxx parm
to specify the locked speed.
Use /G to turn ANSI graphics on. You'll probably need to set up two
doors. One that uses a batch file with the /G parm, and one that
doesn't have the /G.
To specify the TOTAL time for this users session use the /Txx parm.
/T45 would tell TW the session limit is 45 minutes. If the user was
in the BBS for 20 minutes, TW would let the user have the remaining
25 minutes for TW.
A typical command line would be:
TW2 /C2 /S19200 /P:C:\BBS\LASTUSER.BBS /G /T30
(com 2, locked speed of 19200, graphics on, and 30 minute limit)
Lastly, I have nothing against Opus 1.03.. but GET OPUS 1.1x !!!
it'll make life MUCH easier.
Page 12
3 - QBBS & FoReM & TPB & T.A.G. mode
In this mode TW will look for the DORINFOx.DEF file just like in the
RBBS-PC mode. Unlike the RBBS mode, it won't look for the MESSAGES
file. You do NOT need to use the /P parameter.
Last time I checked the TPB guys would have nothing to do with doors
and wouldn't support their door interface. You can try contacting me
to see if I can be of help, but I can't guarantee anything. I know
that TPB creates an 'almost' correct DORINFO file.
4 - Wildcat! mode (Wildcat! 2.x)
Use the /P: parameter to tell TW where to find the CALLINFO.BBS file
TW will extract the needed info from the CALLINFO file.
Example:
TW2 /P:C:\WCAT\CALLINFO.BBS
If you are running multiple nodes, you need to specify the node number
on the command line. The node number is ALWAYS the first parameter, so
do it like this:
TW2 12 /P:C:\WCAT\CALLINFO.BBS
That would tell TW that it is running under node 12
5 - GT Powercomm mode
To run under GT Powercomm you need to use several command line parms
They include:
Use the /P: parameter to tell TW the name of the GTUSER.BBS file.
Use the /Cx parameter to specify the comm port to be used.
If you have your modem locked at a high speed use the /Sxxx parm to
specify that speed.
Example command line:
TW2 /C2 /S19200 /P:C:\GT\GTUSER.BBS
(com 2, locked speed of 19200)
The GTPower interface should work as of release 10.20, if you have
difficulties, yell in my direction, and I'll fix it VERY fast!
6 - Phoenix mode
Simply tell TW where to find the INFO.BBS file. Like so:
TW2 /P:C:\PHNX\INFO.BBS
7 - GAP & WIldcat! 3.x mode
In GAP mode TW uses the DOORS.SYS file from which it extracts the
needed info. Simply tell TW where to find the DOOR.SYS file:
TW2 /P:C:\GAP\DOOR.SYS
8 - Spitfire mode
Spitfire SysOps you need to tell TW where to locate the SFDOORS.DAT
file like so:
TW2 /P:C:\SPTFR\SFDOORS.DAT
The Spitfire interface should work as of release 10.20, if you have
difficulties, yell in my direction, and I'll fix it VERY fast!
Page 13
9 - WWIV mode
You need to tell TW where to find the CHAIN.TXT file. Use the /P:
parameter to do this:
TW2 /P:C:\WWIV\CHAIN.TXT
I believe you also need to use the 'shrink' out of memory option. If
I have my terminology wrong, tell me, and I'll fix it!
10- Opus 1.10 mode
You just need to tell TW where to find the LASTUSxx.BBS file. Use
the /P: parameter to do this like so:
TW2 /P:C:\OPUS\LASTUS00.BBS
NOTE: If the directions to your specific BBS type don't contain info on
how to use all of the different command line parameters, then you may
not need to use those command line parameters! Most BBS types write
all the info TW is looking for in their special file. The only real time
command line parameters like /Sxxx, /Cx, /F, /T, etc, are needed is when
that special file doesn't contain the needed info.
SWITCHING TO TW2 11.10
If you are switching to 11.10 from and release prior to 10.20 you need
to start completely from scratch. The file formats are NOT compatible!!
If you were using 10.20 or 11.00 then you just need to copy the EXE &
ENG files into your current TW2 directory. (ie:replace your current EXE &
ENG files with the newer ones.) THEN, run the maintenance program, it will
convert some TW2 data to a newer format.
If you are running TW2 in network mode,and you don't remember telling
TW2 how many nodes you are running, then go into the editor and choose
option A then change the Maximum Number of Nodes. TW2 needs that info for
internode chatting. This is -VERY- important!
PROBLEMS?
If you have found a bug in the program try to get a capture file of
the problem. As they say: "Gather enough information, and the solution
will be obvious" The solution is my problem, so I need as much informa-
tion as is humanly possible. I need to know things like release number,
BBS type, where/when the problem occurs.. etc.etc.
THE MORE INFORMATION, THE BETTER!
Of course, the only TradeWars I support is the one I put out. I will
not help get another version other than mine going.
Don't be afraid to contact me. You can get hold of me on my system,
The Abandoned Land, or by voice phone. On the BBS use either the DOORS,
TW-ECHO, or TW-BETA conferences for your problem reports. Also, you can
reach me thru the TW-BETA, and/or the TW-ECHO echomail conferences! If you
don't have them, request them! These are the official TW echomail
conferences! If you still can't get those echomail conferences, you can get
them direct from me.
John Morris
TradeWars Software
(702) 746-1358 Voice
The Abandoned Land
(702) 746-1364 Data
(702) 746-1365 Data
TW2 can be FREQed at the two above data numbers. Use the special name of:
TW2 and you'll get the latest version.
Page 14
APPENDIX A
TradeWars version 2 Philosophy (or why this version 'is the way it is')
I get complaints, and ideas sent to me all the time concerning TW2. Most
SysOps wishing me to add this or that to the program 'because another
version of TW has it'.
Though most people won't believe it, there is a method behind my madness.
Compare the way you have your game set-up to mine:
My players start with 25 fighters, 500 credits and 25 holds. They are
allowed 65(!) turns per day, max! Their maximum amount of holds is 50.
Believe it or not this is THE best way to set the game up.. The business
where a user gets 150-200 turns a day turns TW into a 'playable' game, but
it is only playable for a couple of weeks. Lets face it folks, when you
allow a user to rape ports and trade for 150 + turns, your ports will dry
up in no time at all.
The key word which has made TW2 popular (and will continue to do so) is
BALANCE! This balance is achieved by keeping the game from getting out of
hand. 150+ turns is out of hand. More than 50 cargo holds is out of hand.
I could go on and on. The SysOp should have to set up ZERO planets. (yes,
0!) The users should have this responsibility. Tradewars v.2 was designed
to be able to run without ANY SysOp intervention. (after setting it up)
I think SysOps would be suprised just how well the game does work without
any intervention.
Of course this all just my opinion. Most SysOps will look at this little
message and start hooting and jeering, or just plain laugh.. But don't
knock it till ya try it.
TradeWars version 2 will continue on its current course of keeping the
game a challenge. The players will actually have to THINK! (wow! what a
concept, huh?) Of course new features will be added. Some will help the
player play the game, but most will be invisible to the player, and make
the game ever more interesting.
Page 15
APPENDIX B
How to interface your unsupported BBS to TW2
--------------------------------------------
Your program will need to create a small, simple text file known as the
Door Info file.
For Single node BBS's this file will be named:
DORINFO1.DEF
For multi-node BBS's this will be named like so:
DORINFO1.DEF for node 1, DORINFO2.DEF for node 2, etc.
TW accepts a command line parameter which tells it which node (if any) it
is running on. If there is no command line parameter then TW looks for
DORINFO1.DEF. If TW sees this:
TW2.EXE 2
it will look for DORINFO2.DEF, if it was a '1' then it would look for
DORINFO1.DEF.. etc. etc.
The format of the file is as follows:
BBS Name
SysOps First Name
SysOps Last Name
Com Port
Baud and Parity
Network Type
Current Users First Name
Current Users Last Name
Current Users City
Graphics
Security Level
Minutes left in session
Fossil driver present
Page 16
This file typically looks like this:
Example 1: Example 2:
---------- ----------
(remote user at 2400, even parity, (local user, in this case the SysOp
7 data bits, no graphics, and RBBS graphics are on, and a fossil driver
is NOT using fossil driver) is present)
THE ABANDONED LAND THE ABANDONED LAND
JOHN JOHN
MORRIS MORRIS
COM2 COM0
2400 BAUD,E,7,1 9600 BAUD,N,8,1
0 3
JOE SYSOP
USER
RENO, NV RENO, NV
0 2
5 20
57 119
0 -1
Typical quirks with the DORINFOx.DEF file and TW2
-------------------------------------------------
To get TW to look for a DORINFOx.DEF file, set the BBS type to 3.
1. A local user is determined when the Com Port is set to: COM0
Also a 'last resort method' is to set the bps rate to 0 (NOTE: this last
method is not used in the standard DORINFOx.DEF file).
2. When the sysop is using the game, the current users first name is 'SYSOP'
and the current users last name is '' (a null string, the only chars
found on the line are a carriage return/line feed combo)
Also acceptable is the users first name is the same as the SysOps first
name, AND the users last name is the same as the SysOps last name, but
this is only as a last resort.
3. Graphics are off when a '0' is found in the graphics field. Any number
above 0 (typically 1 or 2) is considered 'graphics/color ON' by TW.
4. Note the baud and parity field. Whatever the baud and parity it MUST be
in the above format. Some more examples:
300 BAUD,N,8,1
1200 BAUD,E,7,1
19200 BAUD,N,8,1
TW2 looks for, and parses out the ' BAUD' part of the string..
so it MUST be there.
Page 17
5. The Fossil driver field is one of two settings: 0 (not present) or,
-1 (present)
6. Though TW2 doesn't use the BBS Name, SysOps first OR last name
Network Type, Users City, and Security Level fields, these lines still
must be present in one form or another.
7. Everything in this file should be in CAPS, otherwise no telling
what will happen.
8. The space in front of the integers doesn't actually need to be present
it is just a by product of the way BASIC prints numbers into a file.
I personally like this file because of its small size and simplicity. And
I wish more BBS programs would adopt it. If this appendix doesn't contain
enough info, just call and scream at me, or drop me a line in the mail or
on my BBS telling me what I missed.. I'll fix it.. I promise!
APPENDIX C
Using the new programs:
-----------------------
TO run TWMAINT in local mode during an event, use the following command:
TWMAINT /L /B
Using command line parameters:
------------------------------
NOTE: There must be a space in between each command line parameter!
----- This operates different than TW2 versions before 10.0
Special COMx port information
-----------------------------
This is for people using TW2's normal com routines, and want to set TW2 up
for COM3, or COM4. (you might even be able to use COM ports up to 8, but
that hasn't been tested) NOTE: PS/2 users can ignore this section! Just tell
TW2 which port to use (up to COM8)
To use a non-standard port, you must tell TW2 where to find that port. You
do this on the command line using a special form of the /C command:
/Cv,ww,xx,yy,zz
v - com port you want to use.
ww - Base address of your UART chip. (COM1 uses 0x3F8, COM2 uses 0x2F8)
xx - IRQ number you wish to use. (COM1 uses IRQ 4, COM2 uses IRQ 3)
yy - Base address of your 8259 chip. (in the IBM PC or XT this is always
0x20. In the IBM AT, there is a second 8259 located at 0xA0. In
IBM PC, XT or AT's the 8259 at 0x20 has IRQ numbers 0 thru 7. The
second 8259, found only in AT-class PC's, has IRQ numbers 8 thru 15.
COM1, and COM2 both use the 8259 located at 0x20.)
zz - Interrupt Vector. COM1 uses INT 12, COM2 uses INT 11.
If your IRQ number is in the range 0 to 7, your 8259 address is always 0x20
If your IRQ number is in the range 8 to 15 your 8259 address is always 0xA0
If your IRQ is 3, then your interrupt vector MUST be 11, and vice versa.
If your IRQ is 4, then your interrupt vector MUST be 12, and vice versa.
EXAMPLE: Your 'COM3' port UART is located at 0x2E0, and your IRQ is 4, your
/C command would be: (remember IRQ 4 is on the 8259 located at 0x20!, also
remember interrupt 12 always goes along with IRQ 4!)
/C3,0x2E0,4,0x20,12
Page 18
APPENDIX D
VERSION HISTORY -- (All version below 10.0 have condensed history info)
***********************************************************************
TradeWars version 2 first released in June 1986
Features of TW2 release 5.x (5.0 released on 5/01 to 5.24 rel. on 06/19/88)
Several parts of the game have been completely (and I mean completely)
rewritten to run more logically, and reduce the risks of bugs. Cabal
maintenance was one of the areas that went through this. The Cabal are now
more ruthless that ever before, and to keep things interesting all 20
Cabal groups are active at least as long as the maintenance program is
running. Some groups won't survive the maintenance program, but they are
active while it is running.
Cabal Regeneration now means what it says, so be careful how high you
set the regeneration per day. Before, there was 'sort of' a limit on
how many total Cabal were wandering around in the galaxy.. This is no
longer so.
Features of TW2 Release 6.1 (10/23/88)
---------------------------
The Cabal are now totally configurable. you can set the amount of groups
(up to 50). The Cabal are still VERY ruthless in the game, and it really
takes a good player, or good team to make it up high in the rankings.
You can set the Cabal difficulty ratio, which you'll find in the
[G]eneral edit area of TWEDIT. This level can be from 1 to 10, and
a good setting is 3 or 4..
You can also set the sectors the Cabal can reside in! no more 83-85
restriction! This really makes the game interesting. There are 8 Cabal
sectors in all.
Release 6.2 (01/08/89)
-----------------------
Most important feature added in 6.2 is true record & file locking using
DOS's SHARE. If you specify Network in the TW2.DAT file, SHARE must be
loaded in every partition you plan to run TW in! Along with the file
locking a couple real time mods were added. When you are playing the game
and run into another 'actively playing user' you will see a '*' in front
of their name! The game also checks to see if the user has been attacked
by an active player, and will kick 'em out if they were killed!
Release 6.3 (04/09/89)
------------------------
Added more ANSI graphics with the addition of a third 'graphics mode'. The
first mode is plain text, second mode is ANSI colored text, and third is
ANSI color/graphics. Only the higher speed modem users will want to use
this mode (unless they are suckers for punishment). Also cleared up are a
few ambiguities and/or irregularities. Added is an appendix explaining
how you can interface to TW from your BBS system (if it does not already
have an interface built in.)
Release 6.31 (05/30/89)
------------------------
Some minor bug fixes to 6.30.. but still, as it turns out, on the buggy
side.
Releases 7.x 8.x 9.x (4/01/89 to 7/01/89)
-----------------------------------------
Internal ONLY releases of the new TW in C.. These versions led to:
Page 19
Release 10.0 (12/17/89) (First used by my TW players 7/10/89 or so)
-----------------------
First release of TradeWars in the C language. Some former 'features' were
nuked in favor of new techniques to be used in the future. For instance,
graphics are gone until a suitable method (in other words: a FAST method)
is completed. Added is support for more BBS types, Dynamic Cabal (they can
move *while* the user is on-line), and internal support for a wide variety
of future options. The game is much faster in many areas.. and about the
same in others. The EXE file is currently 60K smaller than the last BASIC
version (and 40K in the current EXE file is support for a wide variety of
communication options including FOSSIL, Non/FOSSIL support w/ BPS rates of
up to 115200). (so, I'm thinking ahead..) Also, The C version is uncrash-
able when you think in terms of 'Hit any key to return to system' seen
when a BASIC program encounters something it doesn't like. Any possible
error should result in a graceful exit.
Release 10.01 (01/14/90)
------------------------
Maintenance Release Only! Many bugs fixed! I'll try to list them:
Fix 1: Eliminated the negative trading price bug.. (worst of the bunch!)
Fix 2: Fixed GTUSER.BBS interface.. (I never did find the bug, so I
rewrote the whole thing.
Fix 3: If the SysOp did not have ANSI.SYS loaded, the local screen would
not have ANY text printed to it! SO I rewrote the local screen
routines.. They are 4 to 5 times faster now!
Fix 4: Fixed team bug. Team info was not recorded when user [M]ade a team.
To get teams back on track, simply eliminate all teams in the
editor, and make sure everone does not belong to a team, then let
them create the teams from scratch.
Fix 5: On systems inited after 01/01/90 TWMAINT would delete all users
even if they were on that day.. The program was insisting negative
numbers were greater then positive.. so I rewrote a few lines..
Fix 6: Removed unsightly debugging code in trading area.
Fix 7: Made sure when a SysOp specifies a comm port in TWEDIT that the
program actually uses that port number!
Fix 8: Made sure bulletin was completely printed out every time!
Release 10.10 (05/01/90)
------------------------
Lots & Lots of bug fixes.. some pretty apparent, others not so apparent.
Added to the program are an Opus 1.10 interface, and a way for players
to chat across nodes. Also starting with release 10.10 TW will be 'Auto-
Verified' everytime you unZIP the package. This is using the authenticity
verification feature of PKZip 1.10. If you didn't see an auto-verify
message when you unZIPped the file, then I'd do a couple things. First,
I wouldn't use the files (this is for security reasons). Second, I'd
complain to the SysOp of the bulletin board system that modified the file.
The Auto-Verify message serves one main purpose: It makes sure that the
file has not been modified since I ZIPped it up. This should make us both
breathe a little easier. My thanks to Phil Katz for that wonderful
feature!
Page 20
Release 10.20 (08/26/90)
------------------------
Main change.. Two versions. Registered, and unregistered. With the registered
version you get the possibility of more than 1000 sectors. Added was multi-
language capability. Fixes: Rankings completely rewritten to be a lot
faster, this is because with the possibility of many sectors, rankings
could have taken FOREVER in their former incarnation. A couple BBS interface
bugs were nuked, included therein are the Spitfire minutes->seconds bug,
and a rewrite of the GTUSER.BBS interface (I'm keeping my fingers crossed)
Flow control problems were fixed (when NOT using a FOSSIL driver) except
for the problem where the program ends before the buffers are cleared.. I'm
working on that.. On multi-node systems, teams, planets, and players could
get cross linked, for instance, sector 12 and sector 783 could have the same
planet. This happened when two players on separate nodes would make a team
or create a planet.. TW now checks to make sure it gets a separate record.
(note, TW won't fix the problem if already done, that must be done manually).
I redid the stack command routines. Try some stack commands, and tell your
users about them. Also fixed, Messages to TEAMS sometimes being seen by
users not belonging to that team. Porting in a sector that has no port,
after sending a probe to a sector with a port. Surrenduring actually works
when turned on. Reports of fighters remaining weren't correct in the beta
releases of TW2 10.20.. fixed for the real release.
Release 11.00 (02/10/91)
------------------------
New message base, and BBS networking capabilities. Fixed Super-Search screw-
up. 'Dynamic Cabal' are now much more dynamic considering they weren't
working at all. Worked on modem flow-control, team data errors, duplicate
planet names. Maintenance is now more 'talkative'. Cabal maintenance has
more checks for fighters, and now must attack a DF (defense force) before
entering a sector or attacking a planet. Fixed 'I' program so its upper
sector limit is now 32,000 sectors (registered ver.). Also added are
planetary defense forces.
Release 11.10 (08/04/91)
------------------------
One major addition.. Graphics Mode. TW2, in conjunction with another one
of my programs, GGGraph, will display true graphics to the remote caller.
(The remote caller must be running GGGraph to see the graphics) GGGraph
operates in video mode 16 (640x350,16 color mode) so the user must have
an EGA or VGA adapter. GGGraph is not specific to TW2. This will mean that
even if TW2 changes the graphics the users will see from time to time, they
will most likely never need a new version of GGGraph. They will just need
the graphics command file from that new release of TW2. Wrote a sound
subroutine similar to BASIC's PLAY statement. A user using GGGraph can also
receive this music.
Bug fixes: Once again, new com port routines. Apparently, not all modems
work the same, and the CTS signal is sometimes worthless. TW2 now checks
to see how many bytes are left in the output buffer, and doesn't try to
write anything to the com port unless there is room. Also, I rewrote the
FOSSIL driver interface in C and 'in-line assembler' using MSC 6.00A.
Rewrote the 'Dynamic Cabal' routine. The roving Cabal group was destroying
any existing defense forces. Date now being completely overwritten in the
lotto log. Kloak no longer displayed at Sol if not allowed. Msg base was
skipping a message if you killed a msg while reading forward. TWMaint was
generally screwing up when the Cabal attacked and/or destroyed a planet.
Put in some more error checking into the networking-betwixt-BBS code. TW2
will now accept node numbers upwards of 256 in PCBoard or Wildcat! mode.
All EXE files are compressed with PKLite Pro, and cannot be uncompressed. Page 21
Problems I am aware of:
-----------------------
Planet bugs. I cannot get any real straight information on this one. Planets
just seem to dissappear. A real intermittent problem which I was unable to
physically locate in the code, so I tackled the problem in another way. I
recoded a lot of the code that has anything to do with planets. These fixes
are in an on-going test.
TRADEWARS version 2 DEBUG MODE
If you are having some errors you can also try the TradeWars DEBUG
mode. By turning on DEBUG (option X in main editor options) you'll see
TW print out some information when the user logs on, and throughout the
session.
When the session starts you will see a screen of info. I'll type out an
example screen and put comments about each line. Here goes:
Command Line:
1: 'C:\DOORS\TW2\TW2.EXE' the first parm is always the program
2: '1' this would be an RBBS node number
3: '/L' this would mean local only mode
Local only mode is true this confirms the above switch
User is : the users name would be here
TIME is : 45 time left would be here
BBS BPS is : 2400 current BPS rate from the BBS file
PGM BPS is : 0 TW locked rate would be here (if any)
CMD BPS is : 0 /Sxxx command line BPS rate is here
BBS PORT is: 1 current BBS port from BBS file
PGM PORT is: 0 TW com port would be here (if any)
CMD PORT is: 0 /Cx command line port number is here
SYSOP FALSE! means TW won't allow 'E' command
TEXT! no color mode
LOCAL! means local mode
8 BIT! means port parms are N,8,1