ftp.wwiv.com

home *** CD-ROM | disk | FTP | other *** search

/ ftp.wwiv.com / ftp.wwiv.com.zip / ftp.wwiv.com / pub / DOOR / 2002V305.ZIP / WHATSNEW.DOC < prev

Wrap

Text File | 1997-11-09 | 21KB | 476 lines

1 Trade Wars 2002 v3 What's New! For the hypertext version of this document, please visit our web site at http://www.martech.net, and follow the link to the Trade Wars 2002 v3 home page. You can download it from the "Downloads" section, or visit the "Whats New!" section to browse the contents. Introduction .......................................................... 2 Overview .............................................................. 2 General - New Integrated chat ..................................................... 3 "Who's Playing" ..................................................... 3 Real-time messaging ................................................. 3 Global messaging .................................................... 4 NavPoints ........................................................... 4 Quick-stats ......................................................... 4 "Backtrack" key ..................................................... 4 General - Updated Interactive combat .................................................. 5 Cooperative play .................................................... 5 Real-time ship movement ............................................. 5 Independent Aliens, Ferrengi, and Feds .............................. 5 Turn recovery every hour ............................................ 6 Daily taxation ...................................................... 6 Real-time stats ..................................................... 6 "New Mail" notification ............................................. 6 Stabilized planet and port updates .................................. 6 Works with DOS and MBBS helpers ..................................... 7 SysOp - New Auto v2 to v3 data conversion ....................................... 8 FOSSIL driver support ............................................... 8 Modify real-time move delays for all player ships ................... 8 Self-cleaning real-time message file ................................ 8 Online system status report ......................................... 8 SysOp - Updated TEDIT and EXTERN run concurrently with Trade Wars sessions .......... 9 Seperate message and mail files ..................................... 9 Alien, Ferrengi, and Fed processing distributed ..................... 9 Some player activities limited to once daily ........................ 9 Improved TEDIT prompting ............................................ 10 Various code optimizations .......................................... 10 2 Introduction Version 3 brings multiplayer interaction to the popular DOS BBS game, with fully integrated chat systems, real-time global messaging, status reports and combat. A completely new file system should remove all known "cheats" from the game and make loopholes a thing of the past. Overview of Changes The most notable changes in Trade Wars 2002 v3 are its interactive capabilities. Trade Wars has always been a "multiplayer" game, but the DOS version was never designed to handle multiple players in the game simultaneously. This new version upgrades the DOS Trade Wars game to the level of the Major BBS "interactive Trade Wars". For example, In previous versions, a player entering the game would receive a "snap-shot" of the universe. The player was essentially alone, because, even though others occupied the universe, they were "frozen" for the duration of the game session. Aliens, Ferrengi, and Feds only existed within that player's universe, and their movement was triggered by the player's movements. The new version breaks down the barriers between you and the other players. While playing, you will see other players and non-players moving from sector to sector, landing on ports and planets, and even attacking one-another. Previously, there was no need for a means of communication beyond simple e-mail. The new version requires a more instantaneous, interactive form of communication. These needs are met with not one, but four modes of communication in addition to the improved mail system. And these new chat modes aren't even available in the Major BBS version. For SysOps, the Trade Wars utilities (TEDIT and EXTERN) can now run concurrently with the game sessions. All changes made with these utilities will be represented in the games instantaneously. One feature that hasn't been updated is the reasonable cost of registration. At $25 for new registrations, its still an unbeatable value. And did I mention that it's FREE to all registered owners of Trade Wars 2002? 3 ------------------------ New Features - General ------------------------ Integrated Chat Talk to other players through the three globally accessible chat functions or a fourth available at the Lost Trader's Tavern. Send one-line quick messages, or enter a line-wrapping multiple line mode (perfect for those sessions when you'd rather talk than work). Federation Comm-Link Messages sent over the Fed Comm-Link will be visible to all players unless they've disable the channel. Sub-Space Radio Messages are sent over a specified radio frequency. This is useful for corporate conferences. Conversations are semi-private, but be wary of channel surfers. Hailing Frequencies Use this feature to communicate directly to another player on a secured channel. A two-way comm-link can be established through this function if both players open the channel. Tavern Chat Engage in conversation at the Lost Trader's Tavern. A good place for corporate meetings, but you never know who's lurking in the crowd. ------- "Who's Playing" List Display a list of all online players. For example, Who's Playing Private John Captain Gary There may be many more players in the game, but these are the "live" players. ------- Real-time Messaging The Trade Wars universe is more "alive" than ever, as other online players, Feds, Ferrengi, and Alien Traders carry out their business. With real-time notification, you'll be aware of all activity within your current sector. ------- 4 Global Messaging There's no longer a need to quit what you're doing to receive or send messages. Notifications are displayed from most menus and prompts, and the chat functions can be accessed globally. There are some exceptions. For example, you won't receive notification of events in your sector when on a port or a planet (unless you're in a Citadel with a Combat Computer). ------- NavPoints Navigation has been simplified with the addition of the NavPoint menus. Set NavPoints Use this option to assign a sector to one of four programmable NavPoints. Move to NavPoint This option displays a list of all player assigned NavPoints, Terra sector, and StarDock (at SysOp's discretion). NavPoint sectors in FedSpace, or those containing at least one deployed fighter, are displayed with a current status report that includes planets and ports. Selecting one of the listed NavPoints will lay in a course for that destination. ------- Quick-stats This new global was added to put your player stats at your fingertips, wherever you might need them. Simply type </> from any prompt for a compact, 3 to 5 line overview of your Trader. As an alternative, you can toggle the Computer/Personal Settings/Persistent Info Display on. This will display the information at the top of the screen. Typing </> with this setting active will toggle the display on and off. ------- "Backtrack" Key Another feature to simplify navigation is the "backtrack" key. Use this command to retreat to the previously occupied sector. When trading adjacent port-pairs, this command is quite useful. 5 ---------------------------- Updated Features - General ---------------------------- Interactive Combat Attacking a player is no longer a simple matter of entering a sector and engaging. Tracking down and cornering an unwilling opponent is no easy task! Your intended victim will receive notification of a potential threat when your ship enters the sector, and when you power up your weapons. Since each ship has a different attacking rate, a faster ship will have time to escape before a slower ship can engage. With a Holoscanner, you may be able to track your fleeing prey. Without one, well, it's a large universe... ------- Cooperative Play Cooperative play has reached a new level. Interact with fellow corporate members discussing strategies on the Sub-space Radio. Exchange resources such as fighters, shields, and mines. Launch a large scale assault on an enemy base, or call for backup when your base is attacked. ------- Real-time Ship Movement Time has more meaning in the Trade Wars universe now that the game is interactive. In previous versions, ship movement was instantaneous and only limited by turn consumption. In version 3, each ship has a movement rate determined by it's size, power, and other factors. These rates can be modified by the SysOp (cut to 1/4, 1/2, or even doubled), but the relative speed of the ships will be the same. The movement rate also effects the attack speed of a ship, since any attack is delayed by the amount of time it takes your ship to travel to an adjacent sector. ------- Independent Alien, Ferrengi, and Feds In previous versions of Trade Wars, the other occupants of the universe existed only in a player's "snap-shot" of the game. They were driven entirely by the actions of that player, and were only visible to that player. In version 3, they become an integral part of the universe, visible to and interacting with all players in the game. Furthermore, their movement and activities are not dependent on any player's actions. You will see them moving freely into and out of your sector, or perhaps even attacking you or another trader. ------- 6 Hourly Turn Recovery Previously, turns were granted on a daily basis, and you needed to exit the game and reenter in order to receive them. Now, you will recover spent turns every hour. You will receive notification of the recovered turns, with no need to exit and reenter the game. ------- Daily Taxation You still can't escape the Federation tax collectors, but at least there's some relief. Taxes will be collected only once for each day you enter the game. Previous versions had a nasty habit of collecting the full tax rate each time you entered the game, which made "dropped carriers" quite expensive. ------- Real-time Game Stats The DOS versions of Trade Wars have always given real-time statistics for the "View Game Status" command, but the MBBS version has only given a daily update. This version, while more like the MBBS version in many ways, retains the preferable real-time statistics display. Now you'll see immediate changes in such things as deployed fighters, active Aliens, etc., and won't have to worry about the accuracy of the report. ------- "New Mail" Notification You don't have to worry about missing an important piece of correspondence. The GMS will notify you immediately when a new piece of mail has been logged to your account. ------- Stabilized Planet and Port Updates Changes in these processes have improved the accuracy of high-frequency updates. For example, when a port is accessed frequently over a short period of time, earlier versions of Trade Wars would lose or gain resources in an uncharacteristic manner. The results over a long period of time could be quite noticeable as, for instance, a significant gain in port product, or an overly large loss of colonists to natural disasters. The new approach, while a bit more "fuzzy" over short periods, results in greater long-term accuracy. ------- 7 Compatible With Popular Helpers Our goal in developing version 3 has been to maintain compatibility with DOS helpers while adding compatibility with MBBS helpers. This has often meant that apparently "buggy" behavior has been left in, and often recreated in newly written code, to maintain this compatibility. Helpers are an important part of the Trade Wars experience, and it is our intention that the most popular helpers be compatible with the new version. Any problems that have been overlooked can be brought to the attention of Martech Software, Inc. for future revisions. 8 ---------------------- New Features - SysOp ---------------------- Automatic v2 to v3 Data Conversion If you're one of the many SysOps taking advantage of the free upgrade, you don't have to worry about upsetting your players with a reset. Version 3 will convert all Trade Wars data file formats from v2.00 on. Simply install the new version into your old directory, or copy the old data into the directory of the new game (back up the data files in any case), and run TEDIT or Trade Wars. That's all there is to it. ------- FOSSIL Driver Support Trade Wars is finally supporting FOSSIL driver. You'll find options for setting up the FOSSIL ports in the TEDIT node editor. ------- Modify Ship Movement Delay Among several new TEDIT settings is this movement delay factor. It's up to you to keep the game moving at a reasonable pace, so we've given you the ability to adjust the base ship movement delay times to 1/4, 1/3, 1/2, Normal, Double, and None. ------- Self-cleaning Real-time Message File This file contains all messages passed between players. Along with lines of chat text, these messages include all notifications and synchronization information. This file could grow quite large even when deleted daily. In version 3, these messages are given a lifetime of 10 seconds, after which they can be freely removed. The file is purged of these messages whenever the record count reaches 100 or a player exits the game. This guarantees that the file will never grow larger than about 17K. ------- Online System Status Report This global command will display a report describing various aspects of the state of the game. This information can be used to determine if enough or too much memory has been allocated to the game, how efficiently the game is responding, etc. Through various TEDIT and command line options, you can use this report to optimize your Trade Wars sessions. 9 -------------------------- Updated Features - SysOp -------------------------- TEDIT and EXTERN Run Concurrently With Trade Wars Sessions You won't need to bring the game down to run the game editor, or even to handle nightly EXTERN processing. These utilities will function properly when players are in the game, and changes made by them will be reflected immediately to the players online. ------- Seperate Message and Mail Files As described in the "New Features" section, the message file is at the root of Trade Wars interaction. In order to further limit the size and complexity of this file, we've split the mail messages out into a seperate file. This file, which can be quite large and inefficient, is scanned only rarely as a player checks for mail. ------- Alien, Ferrengi, and Fed Processing Distributed In previous versions of Trade Wars, these ships have been processed by the online player. That was fine for a single-session game, but not for the multi-session version 3. The activities of these non-players are now handled by a process that is divided among all players in the game. Therefore, the overhead associated with these activities is the same regardless of the number of players online at any given time. ------- Some Player Activities Limited to Once Daily Some activities have been taken advantage of in the past to hasten ones descent on the ladder of morality. For example, unscrupulous traders wanting to "burn" their positive alignment could jettison innocent colonists into the void. While this is acceptable on occasion, we have attempted to limit it to once per day. Likewise, trying to hack into a corporation can have a negative effect on ones alignment. It too has been limited to a once-per-day event. Loop-holes that have allowed players to excessively engage in these and other similarly asocial behaviors have been closed. ------- 10 Improved TEDIT Prompting The TEDIT prompts have been enhanced to include not only the default, but the maximum and minimum acceptable values. From any prompt, pressing ENTER without supplying a value returns the default (shown in brackets), as always. In addition, pressing the "<" or ">" keys will return the minimum or maximum values respectively (shown in parenthesis). For example, when entering credits for a user, you will see a prompt like this: ... credits (0 to 999,999,999) [600] : _ In brackets you see the current amount of credits owned by the player. Pressing ENTER will leave this value unchanged. The range of acceptable values is 0 to 999,999,999, as seen in parenthesis. Pressing the "<" will assign a value of 0, and ">" a value of 999,999,999. For simplicity, these keys can be used without the SHIFT as "," and ".". ------- Various Code Optimizations Here are a few of the important optimizations of Trade Wars 2002 v3: All of the new code is object oriented, and the most important processes have been written in 32 bit assembly language, including all file accesses and record searches. The game's idle loop has been limited to a few reads and writes per second. The game's executable and overlay size has been cut significantly by pulling all text from the game into a string table. In a text based game, this makes quite a difference. 11 For a complete history of revisions since Trade Wars 2002 v2, please refer to REVISION.TXT, distributed with the program files. Thank you for purchasing or upgrading to Trade Wars 2002 v3. We appreciate your interest in online gaming, and hope you enjoy our latest release. Martech Software, Inc.