LakeTravisBum.com is run by Ryan D. Smith free for the Trade Wars online gaming community. The address of our TWGS server is telnet://twgs.laketravisbum.com port 23. We are attempting to put together a good fast and fun server for the whole community. The TWGS server is running on a Pentium 4 3 Ghz. machine with 1GB of memory running under Microsoft Windows XP Professional.

	This page. Site map, history of Trade Wars and a basic primer for new Trade Wars players.
	I recommend using SWATH but this buttom will attempt to launch your local telnet; many newer operating systems will not allow this. The server address is "twgs.laketravisbum.com" port 23 so you may configure your connection.
	Detailed game descriptions of the various game settings and custom edits. If you don't find the game you are looking for please let me know and I will do my best to add/create it for you.
	Information on various game helpers for Trade Wars. New players please download one of these... it helps a lot.
	Detailed information on the Standard Tradewars Gold Ships.
	Detailed information on the Standard Tradewars Gold Planets.
	Detailed information on the Standard Stardock and other game costs.
	Trade Wars Forum on Babylon Station (yes we could have our own forum but this one is used by several TW related sites and your sysop helps run the TW Forum there).
	E-mail ryan@laketravisbum.com

1. HAVE FUN
2. NO DUPES; No duplicate players in the same game. We check IP addresses. Duplicates = Cheating; If more than one member wishes to play from your household please just drop us a line letting us know. Voice verification may be required.
3. SCRIPTS ARE ALLOWED; You may use any helper you choose.
4. SEVEN DAY TRUCE; Allow new players to get started... help build the Trade Wars Community... don't scare players off. This means do NOT attack anyone for any reason until "V" = day 7. As it seems everyone has a different idea of what a attack is the following actions will be considered truce violations:
   
   • No blockading FedSpace, Stardock, Space Lanes or any other class 0 port.
   • No Ship Denial / Ship Buyouts during the truce.
   • No Planet Denial / Planet Buyouts during the truce.
   • No invading another person's base; this includes scripts "passing thru" another player's base sector. All players will be responsible for the actions of their own scripts. Players have the right to have offensive fighters, mines, etc... in their own base.
   • No capturing of other traders ships.
   • No excessive navigational hazard.
   • No excessive fighters outside of your base(s). Generically this means one fighter; however the marking of an area with a few (you should be able to count on one hand) fighters is understandable. All these fighters should be in toll or defensive mode (if you are using defensive fighters for gridding expect a lot of dead fighters).
   • A captured Alien Planet is a base. Do not attack it if another player has already captured it. The capturing player has the right to use fighters to defend this asset even in open alien space. If another player is hunting aliens and trying to capture them in their alien space work with each other; remember everyone is at peace for seven days.
   • No Interdictor Generators unless hunting aliens. Make sure to timely release any player you accidently capture.
   • No Armid mines in open space (unless it is a captured alien base in the above example).
   • No blowing of ports in open space (your own base is acceptable).
   This is not a complete list; it is to be considered a list of examples for clarification. We expect players to honor the intent of the rules.
5. KEEP IT CLEAN; There is no place on this board for childish name calling and posting. This includes but is not limited to naming ports, planets, ships or beacons with abusive remarks or language, or using the same in announcements, FedCom etc... Take such talk to the forums if you feel the need.
6. MY SCRIPT DID IT IS NOT A EXCUSE; Remember you started the script. This is no more a defense than claiming you were not speeding because your car has cruise control. We understand some limited accidents may occur; the offending player should make reasonable reparations without having to be told to do so.
7. SYSOPS & GAMEOPS ARE GODS; in the game and on the system so respect us and always be friendly. We are all here to assist and help you and are not here to be a pain in your rear (You get sooo much further with kind words and by showing SOME appreciation over what we do for FREE for you and all the other users).
8. NO BUG USE; if it seems too good to be true it most likely is. If you are not sure if it is a bug ask before doing it.
9. RULES CAN CHANGE; LakeTravisBum.com reserves the right to revise these rules at anytime without reason or prior notice.
10. NO ACCESS POLICY; LakeTravisBum.com reserves the right to refuse access to anyone at anytime without reason or prior notice.

If you break any of the rules don't be surprised if your account gets disabled or deleted or if you no longer even can connect to our servers. We have our ways to permanently ban you from the system. If you don't get the hint that you're not welcome anymore after getting your account deleted and your IP banned do NOT come back because we WILL report you to your ISPs abuse department. Also if you write e-mails or ICQ to sysop or any game-op use a nice language. If you are using obscene language or call us names don't expect to get any replies in any near future from us. You will more than likely hear from your ISPs policy department.

Below this point you may find out more than you ever wanted to know about the game!!!

TradeWars 2002, also known as Trade Wars 2002 or TW2002, is a space game developed in the late 1980s by Gary Martin for play as a BBS door game, with later versions developed by John Pritchett both for BBS and, starting in 1998, a devoted game server called TWGS (Trade Wars Game Server). The player is a trader in a galaxy with a fixed set of other players (either human or computer). The players seek to gain control of a limited set and amount of resources (specifically fuel ore, organics, and equipment) and travel through sectors of the galaxy trading them for money or undervalued resources. Players use their wealth to upgrade their spaceship with better weapons and defenses and fight for control of planets and starbases.

TW2002 takes a large investment of time compared to most door games. Some modern TW2002 tournaments allow an infinite number of turns, and the most dedicated players devote most of their spare time over several days to the race for galactic dominance. A few Telnet tournaments award cash prizes to the winner.

TradeWars 2002's combination of Star Wars and Star Trek themes, as well as its many subtleties and the potential to endlessly refine macros, scripts, and utilities in an effort to gain wealth, launch attacks, and counter the opposition, have made the game a cult classic.

A TW2002 galaxy consists of 100-20,000 interconnected sectors. These sectors can contain planets, ports, ships, mines, fighters, and beacons. In addition to human traders, three types of computer-generated characters inhabit the galaxy:

• Federation (Federation officers who enforce FedLaws)
• Ferrengi (Space pirates who prey on weakly-defended traders)
• Aliens (Mostly-harmless traders wandering space)

Players can create planets by launching a genesis torpedo. Colonists can then be imported from Terra and put to work generating products. Assembling ore, organics, equipment, and colonists allows the player to build and upgrade the planetary Citadel through six levels. Each Citadel level adds additional capabilities:

• Level 1 - Treasury (stores credits at 2% daily interest)
• Level 2 - Combat control computer (deploys fighters)
• Level 3 - Quasar cannon (blasts invaders)
• Level 4 - TransWarp drive (moves planet from sector to sector)
• Level 5 - Shields (deploys shields)
• Level 6 - Interdictor generator (prevents invaders from fleeing the sector)

• Class M planet (earth type)
• Class K planet (desert wasteland)
• Class O planet (oceanic)
• Class L planet (mountainous)
• Class C planet (glacial)
• Class H planet (volcanic)
• Class U planet (vaporous/gaseous)

Ports buy and sell products, making them the primary source of income for most traders. There are 3 product types: fuel ore, organics and equipment. Each port either buys or sells each of product at a different price. Buying ports usually pay more than selling ports charge; this arbitrage is the basic way to earn credits in the game.

Starports may be upgraded to sell or buy additional product. Typically players upgrade ore to be used to allow mobile planets to move or fuel their quasar cannons, and equipment for buying and selling. Starports, including Stardock, Rylos, and Alpha Centauri can be blown up and can be used as a valid game strategy. Ports do have defensive capabilities and may destroy the attacking player.

One of the most important ports is the Stardock, which houses the Federation Shipyards, the Stellar Hardware Emporium, and other crucial establishments. There are also three ports - Sol, Rylos, and Alpha Centauri - that specialize in selling fighters, shields, and cargo holds.

Ships allow traders to travel from sector to sector, transporting products and fighters. Each ship type has different attributes, such as speed, combat specifications, equipment it can carry, etc. The sixteen types that can be purchased at StarDock include the:

• Merchant Cruiser
• Scout Marauder
• Missile Frigate
• Corellian Battleship
• Corporate Flagship
• Colonial Transport
• CargoTran
• Merchant Freighter
• Imperial StarShip
• Havoc GunStar
• StarMaster
• Constellation
• T'Khasi Orion
• Tholian Sentinel
• Taurean Mule
• Interdictor Cruiser

• Ferrengi Assault Trader
• Ferrengi BattleCruiser
• Ferrengi Dreadnaught
• Ferrengi Scorpion

Trading efficiency, or TE, is a factor for comparing the overall ability of different ship types to use turns effectively. The Merchant Freighter is the most efficient in a "stock edit", having a TE of 100. Trading efficiency takes into consideration:

• "Gross trading capacity," the number of holds divided by the number of turns it takes to move to the next sector.
• Turns used at the beginning of each session, traveling to the first trading port.
• Turns used to move to a new trading pair, once a particular pair of ports has been drained. Ships with many holds lose some of their efficiency because they trade out the ports in only a few round trips and must move on to another pair much more often, thereby wasting a greater percentage of their total turns.
• Turns used to travel back home from the last trading pair of the day. T-warp ships gain a small advantage here.

A ship's safety rating represents its ability to withstand attack. It is calculated using the total fighters plus shields, multiplied by the ship's odds. This rating is equal to the number of fighters it will take to destroy a fully loaded ship of this type, assuming an attacking ship with 1:1 odds. The Imperial StarShip, for instance, has 50,000 fighters, 2,000 shields, and combat odds of 1.5:1, giving it a Safety Rating of 78,000. This makes it a much safer ship than its closest competitor, the Corporate Flagship (Safety Rating: 25,800).

Players can be aligned on the side of either good or evil. A player's alignment is represented as an integer; a positive (good) alignment is earned by doing good deeds, such as posting bounties on space pirates and destroying evildoers. A negative (evil) alignment is the result of evil deeds such as destroying planets and dumping colonists into space.

Good: Being a good-aligned player has three advantages:

• Protection in FedSpace (under certain conditions).
• The ability to enter the FedPolice HQ at Stardock.
• The chance to obtain a Federal Commission.
• The ability to save turns by transwarping direct to FedSpace for colonizing.

Evil: When a player becomes evil enough (alignment drops to -100 or lower), he can begin robbing ports. Because of this, evils have the ability to raise money quickly. However being evil has its downside as you may occasionally get caught stealing ("busted") and be fined. The "bust" rate is approximately 1 time in 50 steals. Each bust costs a percentage of holds on the ship and experience is lowered. Experience dictates the number of holds of product, usually equipment, a trader can steal.

Players can form corporations to share planets, ships, and other resources. The founder of the corporation is the CEO, who can own a Corporate Flagship and control the membership of the corp. Sometimes good and evil players team up on the same corp, with the Goods towing the Evils to various destination in order to save them valuable turns.

The simplest scripts may be made by opening up a word processor and typing in a key sequence that would otherwise be typed in the game, which usually consists of letter commands, carriage returns, and numbers, and then cutting and pasting it into the game. These "macros" are quite useful when otherwise tedious, repetitious jobs such as hauling colonists and material or trading out ports are necessary.

Since the development of TWGS and telnet-based play the level of automation has increased a great deal.

Even casual participation requires some notetaking in order to keep track of the locations of important planets, ports, and dead ends. Several "helpers," computer programs to collect and process TradeWars data, have been created to automate this task. For instance, a player can launch space probes called "ether probes" and automatically explore the TradeWars galaxy, storing data using a custom-designed database.

Some serious players put their programming skills to work developing scripts to quickly perform functions such as instantly warping into a sector and attacking or launching a Photon Missile at another ship when the ship enters the sector. Many of the "scripters" release public versions of their scripts on websites for download by the "non-scripter". The public scripts that are released are not crippled, but may not contain the latest features of the "private" script due to ongoing development and testing.

The most common scripting language in use is for TWXProxy (TWX) with the second scripting language being REXX. TWX is the easiest script language to learn and has the advantage of being designed specifically for TradeWars use. TWX provides a database that can be queried to provide additional information for scripts. TWXProxy was released by its creator with full Delphi based source code.

With the decline of modem-based bulletin board systems in the late 1990s, TW2002 enthusiasts switched to Telnet, with most games hosted through the TCP/IP game manager TWGS rather than through BBSs. These sites ranged from huge TW2002 hubs such as The Stardock to smaller servers. Some of the larger sites charge fees to cover their costs, while the small sites, often holdovers from the days of free modem-based systems, are usually free. PLEASE NOTE THAT THIS SERVER IS FREE!

As multiline BBSs became common, and then Telnet took over, Trade Wars evolved to support multiplayer interaction. Trade Wars for the MBBS, released in 1994, and followed soon after by Trade Wars 2002 v3 for all other BBSs, opened the game up to real-time interaction.

The higher number of turns permitted with TWv3 allows the games to progress more quickly; unlimited turn games or games with tens of thousands of turns often end in less than a week.

Telnet-based play has also opened up the door for aggressive multi-player tournament play. These games challenge the most advanced players in the game and often involve heavy scripting and database usage.

Also, TWv3 granted wide leeway to game operators when setting up TradeWars games. In "Gold" mode ships, planets, and even aliens may be edited. Unmodified games are often referred to as "Classic" or "Stock" TradeWars.

Unlike most online games, TradeWars 2002 does not have a built in centralized server or game list. Players have attempted to remedy this problem by creating automated game site lists.

Trade Wars traces its origins back to the early 1970s, and as we approach the 20th anniversary of the release of Sherrick's original version of the game, it is still actively played. As BBS Doors, Trade Wars variants have often been ignored in online game history, overshadowed by the more popular MUD movement. But Trade Wars, and BBS doors in general, represented an early, commercially viable mode of online gaming. While the BBS world has all but disappeared, I believe the online game model represented by these games, the public-hosted server model, has not yet reached its potential. With the popularity of Neverwinter Nights, the first mainstream persistent online game deployed for public hosting, I expect to see a resurgence of door-like public-hosted games as an alternative to the more restrictive monolithic server model of today's "online community" games.

Following is a history of the development of Trade Wars variations, as well as several other dates of interest.

1966: Gene Roddenberry's Star Trek debuts on television. Many of the fictional elements of TW variants are based on Star Trek.

1972: Hunt the Wumpus, a text-based maze game, is developed by Gregory Yob at University of Massachusetts in Dartmouth.

1974: People's Computer Company (PCC), a company that is still around today and who brought us Dr. Dobb's Journal among other things, publishes Volume 2, Number 3 of it's newsletter in January. In this publication is a BASIC source-code listing for Star Trader by Dave Kaufman. This game outlined the general details of a sector-based game with ports and a player moving between sectors trading three basic products (Fuel, Organics, Equipment) to earn credits.

1974: Empire, a multiplayer space empire game based on Star Trek, opens on PLATO. It supports 32 players.

1974: DECWAR, another Star Trek-based game, is created for VAX/VMS.

1977: George Lucas' Star Wars debuts in movie theaters. Star Wars is the second major influence behind the fiction of TW variants.

1977: A book called "What to Do After You Hit Return or P.C.C.'s First Book of Computer Games" by Hayden Book Company is published. It contains a short BASIC code listing for a game called Star Trader, which is a reprint of the earlier PCC newsletter printing of Star Trader. This book can still be found at rare book sites. Note: A conflicting source states that this book was published in 1979.

1983: MegaWars is opened on CompuServe. The design, according to S. Patrick Gallaty, is based on DECWAR.

1984: Chris Sherrick creates the original Trade Wars. Though many believe he was influenced by DECWAR or MegaWars, Sherrick has said that he was not familiar with either game at the time. Instead, the game is conceived as a cross between Kaufman's Star Trader, the board game Risk, and Hunt the Wumpus. This initial TW version has 60 sectors. It is written in BASIC, first for the TRS-80, and then ported to the PC to run under the Nochange BBS system. Sherrick makes this version (and many future versions) of his code available to the public under a restricted license, apparently to allow others to port Trade Wars to new BBS systems.

1984: Omnitrend's Universe, written by Thomas R. Carbone & William G. M. Leslie III, is released for the Atari, PC, and Apple computers. It is a single-player game, but has many elements that will become fused with the original Star Trader and Sherrick's base Trade Wars concepts to form Gary Martin's Trade Wars 2002. This early game included such elements as multiple ship systems (drive, weapons, docking, scanners, mining, trade), a starport (buy and sell, money exchange, contract house, colonist transport), and the ability to purchase multiple ships.

1984: Several games called Star Trader and variations for various systems were released at about this time. Among them, Star Trader by Steve Hartford, published by Computerware for the Tandy (TRS80) Color Computer, and Star Trader by Bug-Byte for the Commodore 64. These are stand-alone games, but follow the basic space trader model.

1985: Trade Wars 2 is released. Improvements over the first TW include 99 sectors, an evil alien race called the Cabal, and planets.

1985: John Morris joins Chris Sherrick to work on Trade Wars. His initial task is to port the Nochange version of TW2 to RBBS.

1986: Morris takes over all TW 2 development when Sherrick leaves for college. He releases new versions under the names TW200 and TW500 (based on the number of sectors allowed in the new versions), but then returns to the TW 2 name convention to avoid confusion with other TW variations that have begun to appear.

1986: In September, the Darkseid conversion of TW2 for WWIV is completed. Also known as TW200/QuixPlus Version. It is a direct conversion of Sherrick's BASIC code to Pascal by Lord Darkseid, a software pirate and sysop of Apokolips BBS. Further modifications were made by Sorcerer, Supreme Dalek, The Omega Man, and Preston Stroud, with many new features added later by Quixotic Software.

1986: In December, Apokolips BBS goes offline, and The Omega Man opens Klingon Empire! BBS to replace it. Omega Man makes many changes to Darkseid's version, mostly to change the theme of the game to match his BBS. The Cabal are replaced by Romulans, the ability to create and destroy planets is added, the restrictions on dropping fighters in sectors 2-10 are removed, and Clark Kent is employed to keep fighters out of sector 1 (huh?).

1986: Late December, Gary Martin acquires a copy of the Omega version of TW, as well as Sherrick's original BASIC code. Around Christmas, he begins porting the Omega code. By New Year, his first version is complete, and opens on Castle RavenLoft, a Genesis BBS he runs. He then converts this to WWIV, and releases the game to the public under the title TW 2001. In this early version, Martin replaces the Romulans with Ferrengi, Clark Kent with a Federation StarShip, and adds some other new features.

1987: Alan Davenport, listed in the credits of many of the Sherrick/Morris releases, begins releasing the Sherrick/Morris code and adding his own modifications. Because he releases his code under the name TW 1000 (which is similar to TW200 and TW500 used by Sherrick/Morris), many people believe they are attributed to Morris and come to him for support. Morris attempts to get Davenport to change the name of his game or stop the distributions.

1987: TW 5: Galactic Armageddon is written by Andrew Vega and others. It is a fork of the Sherrick/Morris TW 2 code.

1989: Morris releases the first C version of TW 2. It offers online chatting, and realtime combat against other players and the Cabal. He removes the code from public domain, and all future versions of the code are closed.

1989: Martin opens the Metropolis BBS, an MBBS system, out of his home in Lawrence, Kansas. He begins to consider an MBBS port of Trade Wars. Metropolis soon grows to have 40+ lines and access from Kansas City.

1990: Yankee Trader is released by Alan Davenport. YT introduces a number of new concepts to Trade Wars, and is very popular with players and gameops.

1991: Martin releases TW 2002 v1.00 in June. TW 2002 is a complete rewrite of TW 2001, and numerous features are added. v1.03 releases in July, and it remains active until August of '92 when a patch, v1.03d, is released. v1.03d remains the standard version while Gary works on TW 2002 v2 over the next year.

1992: The first 32 bit version of TW2 is released by Morris. Also, a multithreaded 32 bit version for OS/2 2.0 is released.

1992: Seth Robinson, author of Legends of the Red Dragon, releases Planets: The Exploration of Space (TEOS), a "kind of simplified Trade Wars meets LORD" according to Seth.

1992: Martin contracts with High Velocity Software, a developer of MBBS games and utilities, to create a version of TW 2002 for the Major BBS. This is the first truly interactive version of the game. All previous versions were persistent and multiplayer, but only allowed a single player in the game at a time. HVS introduces a number of new elements to the game, with Martin's collaboration, to support the demands of multiplayer play. Development continues until release in 1994.

1993: Martin releases TW 2002 v2 in May. v2 0.93, the final restricted beta version, is released in December of 93, followed almost immediately by the first wide beta, v2b1.

During development of TW v2, Gary enlists the help of Drew Markham to create the ANSI ship images and all of the Cinema animation scenes in the game. Drew Markham later goes on to found Xatrix and create some successful titles including Redneck Rampage. Xatrix later changes its name to Gray Matter Studios where Drew and his crew release Return to Castle Wolfenstein. You may recognize Drew's name in Trade Wars 2002 v2 as one of the ship manufacturers, Markham Space Tech.

1993: Iago's War Manual and the TW 2002 Bible are released. Both are compilations of valid tactics and bug cheats for TW 2002 v1 gathered from Fido and other sources. Iago's War Manual is compiled by Jim Bianchi, and the TW 2002 Bible is compiled by Justin Curry.

1993: Morris discontinues development of TW2.

1993: Work begins on Outpost Trader by Greg Watts (MegaWatts Computing). It is a fork of TW based primarily on Martin's TW2002 v1.03d which was widely played while TW2002 v2 was in beta. A group of TW players and gameops, many of whom contributed to Iago's War Manual, are credited with inspiration and play testing. Among them is Joel Downer.

1993: Iron Ox, by Joel Downer, begins development. It is released in 1994. Downer is an avid fan of TW2002, but his game focuses more on planetary colonization than trade.

1994: Martin releases TW 2002 v2b5 in February. Beta 5 remains active for over a year while the Martins are busy with other projects.

1994: HVS releases their version of TW 2002. From this point until the HVS version ceases development, new features are added to both versions of TW 2002 in parallel.

1994: Martin sells Metropolis BBS to Multi Service, a Kansas City based company, at the advising of Ed McCullough. Gary and Mary Ann Martin are hired by Multi Service to host the BBS, and Ed is named head of the new BBS department. Metropolis soon grows to include each city of the Big 12 college conference. It eventually changes its name to Gameport and diversifies its mission to include game development and sales, game hosting, and general online entertainment. In 1998, Multi Service purchases Legends of the Red Dragon and TEOS from Seth Robinson.

1994: Slice's War Manual is compiled and released by Harold Weiss between TW2002 v2 beta 5 and beta 6. It is an updated manual of TW 2002 v2 game tactics, similar to Iago's War Manual, again compiled from various online sources.

1995: John Pritchett joins Gary and Mary Ann Martin and takes over debugging of TW 2002. Martin releases TW 2002 v2b6 in May.

1996: Pritchett and the Martins leave Multi Service to begin work on a new space opera project. The game is extensively designed, but work never begins. Because TW v2 is still in beta, it is agreed that Pritchett should attempt to write a final version of the game, adding multiplayer features. Pritchett begins work on this new version, and the new project is shelved.

1997: Martech releases Pritchett's multiplayer version of TW 2002, TWv3.00, in April. It incorporates many of the features found in the multiplayer HVS version, but runs under any DOS BBS system.

1998: Martech releases Pritchett's Gold add-on for TW 2002 as part of TWv3.06, in March. In December, Martech releases TWv3.09.

1998: In December, Pritchett starts his own company, EIS, and releases TWGSv1.00, a TCP/IP game management system that hosts the latest version of TW2002, v3.10. TW 2002 is no longer supported under DOS BBSs. It is ported to a Windows 16 bit executable that interfaces directly with TWGS.

1999: TWGSv1.01/TWv3.11, the current major revision of TWGS and Trade Wars 2002, is released. This is the first truly 32 bit version of TW 2002. This version is still under development. The minor revision is up to 55 as of this writing.

2000: Martech sells TW 2002 to Pritchett's company, EIS, in April.

2000: In October, Pritchett is contacted by Realm Interactive, a start-up game company in Phoenix, that wishes to use the Trade Wars name on their new game. A contract is signed, and Realm Interactive gives their game the working title of Trade Wars: Dark Millennium.

2002: In July, TW: Dark Millennium is picked up by NCsoft (publisher of Lineage), a major player in online game development. The company is based in Korea, and the US division is headed by Richard and Robert Garriott, formerly of Origin.

2002: In September, Pritchett is invited to join the Realm team for 6 months on the TW:DM project. He accepts the opportunity and relocates to Phoenix for the winter.

2002: In October, Realm hires Joe Madureira, a well known comic book artist (Battle Chasers, Uncanny X-Men, and others). His distinct style transforms the visuals of the game. By this point, development of the game has diverged from the original Trade Wars influences. Because of this, it is mutually agreed that the Trade Wars association should be dropped. The game title is changed to Exarch.