
                      I A G O' S  W A R  M A N U A L

                               for playing

                      TradeWars 2002 v1.03 and v1.03d


                "The winds of Hell, have a sulphur smell,"
                     Reads a card from the late Iago.
                 And the brownish haze, on the warmer days,
                     Reminds him of Chicago..

                                                     -Jim Bianchi (Iago)
                                                      sysop, Garbanzo BBS
                                                      (707) 539-1279

                               o    o    o


     I'd like to acknowledge (among others) Joel Downer, Albin Gersich, 
Fred Polli, Dan Roseen, Leonard Adolph, Steve Genardini, Stephen Whitis, 
Dave Myers, Woody Weaver, Eugene Hung, Kris Lewis, David White, Jason Boyd, 
Carol Barela, Jim Pittman, Mark Cothram, and, of course, Gary and Mary Ann 
Martin, the author(s) of TradeWars 2002. I'd like to thank you one and all 
for providing much of the mat'l for this file and helping to make the game 
of TradeWars a most entertaining diversion. 

     Much of what follows was obtained from the files TWTIPS12, TWINFO, and 
from monitoring the FIDO and RIME TradeWars conferences. And from playing 
the game itself.

CONTENTS:

(IAGO1)                    (IAGO2)                     (IAGO3)
   HISTORY                    ATTACKING                  QUICK 'N DIRTY
   QUESTIONS                  BUGS                       REFERENCE
   TACTICS                    MORE BUGS
   EVIL ISS                   PLANET CLONING BUG
   MORE ON SHIPS              USING BUGS
   ALIGN AND XP CHANGES       MAPPING
   5XP SELL/STEAL             ATTACKING
                              FERRENGAL
                              COLONISTS

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
                            --[ HISTORY ]--
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

     The latest release of TradeWars 2002 is v1.03d. Many sites are still 
running v1.03; this older version has many ..ah, bugs, in it that are cons- 
idered to be extremely destructive to game play, most notably the infamous 
planet cloning bug and the multiple colonist jettisoning bug. v1.03d fixed 
both of these in the course of improving the DESQview timeslicing. The new 
v1.03d mods are supplied as an archive containing only the four executable 
files: TEDIT.EXE and TEDIT.OVL and TW2002.EXE and TW2002.OVL. Since there 
is no player data stored in these files, they can be installed (dropped in) 
over a running game with no loss of player assets or points. 


-- by Carol Barela:

First I would like to give you a brief history of the Trade Wars games.
This will help you and others understand where the game has been and where 
it is going.

Trade Wars first game into being as a programming assignment for the Unix 
system. (Authors unknown.) Much like the great old DND game Moria first 
came about.

Then it was ported over to the IBM world and Chris Sherrick and Alan
Davenport had a go at the game and we had TW 500 and TW 1000 (there may be 
a few other numbers in here...memory fails me at times). These games were 
the jewels of BBS door games. Everybody played them.

BTW, the style of play in all of these games remains pretty much the same,
the look, feel and playability. This very echo used to be filled with
information on these early games.

Then for some reason Chris and Alan parted ways. Chris teamed up with
John Morris and they have gone on to TW 1114 (I think is the last version
number). They have many features new to the game, multi-node play, etc.
But the game still retains the TW look. Alan Davenport came up with
Yankee Trader.

That game was also in the TW tradition and also had the same playability.
Only this time instead of battling the evil Cabal, you had the Xannor after
you. Alan's game was a big hit, and still is in many parts of the country.
He is still upgrading and improving the game and his latest version is
YT35.

Alan's game Yankee Trader soon took over this [FIDO] echo. It reigned 
surpreme for a long time. Until Gary Martin's version, TW2002 hit the 
BBS's. This game too, had some improvements and captured the fancy of all 
the TW and YT players that it soon took over this echo. But like all the 
others before it, it had the same look, feel and playability of the orig- 
inal Trade Wars game. His evil alien race were the Ferrengi. He added 
planet defenses and a different way of moving planets, and some nice ship 
types. All in all a nice improvement upon the game. Now this game holds the 
attention of the echo.

So to answer your question, all of the above are the REAL Trade Wars. None 
of them are clones, just natural progressions of one of the finest space/ 
war trading strategy games. The credit for concieving this great game goes 
to some anonymous programmers who are more than likely stockbrokers some- 
where with no time or thought to what they started. Everyone else has made 
improvements. Even Gary Martin who DID NOT CREATE THIS GAME, only improved 
upon the original concept. The game you are asking about is TW2002, and the 
latest version of it is v1.03d.

Gary Martin may or may not finish this beta version (v2.0) he is slowly and
reluctantly working on. And from what I hear in this echo is considering 
reneging on his one time registration fee, and perhaps going to charge for 
this new version. Tis not enough that he let us all sit here for 2 years 
waiting for an updated game (read the docs). Or that he felt an obligation 
after getting so many $$$'s in registration fees for the game that he would 
not or perhaps could not fix the over 100 bugs in the game.

Must stop now, or I shall say something that perhaps I should not...why
burst your bubble. Anyway I hope that answers your questions about Trade
Wars, who created the game, where it has been, and where it is going.

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
                            --[ QUESTIONS ]--
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

To answer some of the most often asked questions: 

Question: If I am a CEO and I buy a Corp Flagship, then I quit the corp, do
 I get to keep the flagship?  Wondering if corp members could all be CEO for
 a day and buy flagships and then rejoin the corp, each retaining the prize
 ship?

 (1) Yes, you can keep the FlagShip when you quit, but (2) no, no one
with a FlagShip is allowed to join a corp.

---
  1. To rob, you need to have -100 alignment or lower. Then, in a 
sector with a port; (P)ort (R)ob (R)ob credits or (S)teal products. 

  2. To figure how much you can likely get away with when you steal,
it's your experience divided by 20, for easy figuring. The real numbers
are less, but use this one. For robbing, its your experience times 8. 

  3. In version 1.03(d) THERE IS NO WAY TO KILL A FED! PERIOD. No MATTER 
what the odds are, whether or not you p-missile, etc... Maybe in an earl-
ier version you can, but not 1.03!!! Stardock, Class 0, or Sol are POSSIB-
LE, but VERY difficult. 

  4. ISS means Imperial Starship. You need +1000 or greater alignment to 
get an ISS. If you have +500, you can get a Federal Commission, which auto- 
magically raises your align to +1000. But then you can turn evil and keep 
it if you're skillful enough. 

  5. Colonists do regenerate as they're removed from Terra. 

  6. The average amount of colonists for peak production is 1000 in each 
group (+/- 1 in Ore, +/- 6 in Org, +/- 12 in Eqp). This will make 55 fight-
ers a day. 

  7. "Computer Upgrade" is a HOAX. It DOES NOT EXIST! PERIOD. The Combat
Scanners showing an opponents shield level is NOT the fictitious upgrade. 

  8. To track someone talk to the Grimy Trader in the Tavern. Ask him 
about TRADER. He'll say I can tell you <blablabla>: answer no. Then he'll 
say "Well, is it a particular trader your interested in?" Say yes and enter 
the name. 

  9. To get the password to the underground ask the Grimy Trader about 
MAFIA or UNDERGROUND. Once you have the password, the StarDock command is 
"U". 

 10. To lower alignment, go to sector 1. Land and take colonists. Go 
out of Fed Space and (J)ettison the colonists. In v1.03 games, you can
(Q)uit the game then go back in and repeat as necessary. In v1.03d games,
you can do this only once per game day.

 11. To have an invincible planet, get 16390 ship shields and put them on
a level 5 planet. 

 12. To get the extra 32 holds, get busted stealing 365 holds of Equip or
660 holds of Organics.

---
     If you take damage points (from any source) while carrying a ptorp,
it MIGHT go off sympathetically. If it does, the only effect on you will be 
that all the remainder of your turns for that game day will be lost. ALWAYS 
carry a cloak when you're carrying a ptorp. (A scanner is handy too. <g>)

-- Originally by David White:

 - How can I find Stardock?
Type "V" at the main Command line, ask another player, post a universal
announcement, use Joel Downer's FINDSGA, included in TWUTIL10.ZIP, or use 
Dave Myers' CLASSZER (in LDTxxx.ZIP).

 - What is FedSpace for?
Any players with a non-negative alignment, less than 1000 experience points, 
and less than 50 fighters can log off overnight in sectors 1-10 and the 
Stardock sector completely safe from being killed by other players. 

 - What are the tricks to stealing?
A player with -100 or lower alignment can steal credits and goods from
ports. There is ALWAYS a chance of being busted while trying to rob a
port, but some good guideline ratios are,

  your experience / 20 = holds you can steal
  your experience * 10 = credits you can steal.

 - What's the "steal/sell" cycle?
With a full load of equipment (or any other commodity), dock at a port that
buys that commodity and sell it to them.  Then steal it back, and sell it
to them again. Repeat.

 - What's the "holds bug"
A player with -100 or lower alignment who gets caught stealing 365 units of
Equ. or 660 units of Org. will be fined -32 holds (meaning the player will
GAIN 32 holds) and will lose 10% of his or her experience points. This
trick can be repeated up to a maximum of 32 holds more than the maximum
amount of holds allowed for that particular ship  (e.g. 182 holds for an
Imperial StarShip (ISS), 102 for a Starmaster, etc.) These holds will be
lost as soon as the player ports, unfortunately, unless the technique below
is used.

 - How can I keep an extra 32 holds on my ship?
Using the above technique, get the maximum + 32 holds on your ship. Go to
earth and get a load of colonists. Port, and steal ONE unit of organics
(or another commodity you don't plan on using any time soon). Continue to
your planet and drop off the colonists. You will now be able to trade and
steal/sell with 32 extra holds PROVIDED you do NOT try to buy, steal, or
pick up organics (or whatever commodity you chose) and you do not get
busted or destroyed, and you do not S)urrender your cargo to the Ferrengi.

 - What's the "shield bug?"
A planet with a level 5 citadel and 1639 or more planetary shields cannot 
be successfully invaded by other players.

 - What's the fighter overloading trick?
Join a corporation, then go to the same sector with a corp member with at
least as many shields/fighters as you want. Transfer a negative amount of
fighters/shields to the corp. member. Repeat as often as you like up to a
maximum of 32,767 fighters/shields. This trick is especially useful with a
Scout Marauder, which fights at 2:1 odds. Docking at a port, however, will
cause the excess shields/fighters to vanish.

 - What's the shield overloading trick?
Use the above technique, or transfer a negative amount of shields to a
citadel that already has as many ship shields (planetary shields * 10) as
you need. Docking at a port still causes you to lose any extra shields,
however.

 - What are the rules to successfully Transwarping (T-warping)?
Transwarping your ship to a sector that contains at least one of your
fighters is always safe. Blind ship transwarps are possible only if the
destination sector is completely empty of ANYTHING. Blind planetary
transwarps are not possible. Ship transwarping costs 3 units of Ore per
sector jumped, and planetary transwarping costs 400 units of Ore per sector
jumped. Transwarping takes 1 turn regardless of distance traveled.

 - If I'm busted, can I ever return to that port again?
Yes, your name is removed from the port's busted records in 14 day cycles 
or as soon as another player is caught there, whichever comes first. Until 
one or the other of these two events occurs, do not try robbing OR trading 
at that port. If you divide <gamedays> by 14, and multiply any decimal rem-
ainder by 14 (round up), you'll get the number of ELAPSED days in the cur- 
rent cycle. 

 - When can I be commissioned?
You can be commissioned if you have an alignment of at least +500.

 - Can an evil player have an ISS?
You must be commissioned to purchase an ISS, but after you have it, you can
become evil and still keep the ISS. Running into any of the three Federals
(Zyrain, Clausewitz, Nelson) however, means certain death.

 - Can I kill the Federals?
No. Zyrain, Clausewitz and Nelson are indestructible. However, you can
trap them in a dead-end sector by placing a fighter right outside the
dead-end, since Federals will not travel into a sector that has deployed
fighters in it. As long as the fighter stays there, all three Federals can
be trapped, though Captain Zyrain will automatically warp out of the sector
to rescue players who qualify for protection in FedSpace.

 - Can a non-CEO have a Corporate Flagship?
You must be a CEO to purchase a Flagship, but you can quit as the CEO of
your corp. and keep the Flagship. You will not, however, be able to join
another corp.

 - Can I be killed while my ship is cloaked?
No, while you are cloaked, you are absolutely invulnerable until your next
login (contrary to the documentation, cloaks do not lose their effect- 
iveness over time.) However, if some player were to figure out which
sector you were cloaked in, he or she could mine your sector. The mines
would explode as soon as you logged back on.

 - What are all the settings for my planetary defenses?

Examples:

Military Reaction level: 20% -- 20% of all the fighters on the planet will
attack (at 2:1 odds) any player who moves into your planet's sector. The
remaining 80% of the fighters will attack (at 3:1 odds) only if the player
attempts to land on your planet.

Quasar cannon sector level: 30% -- 30% of all the Ore on the planet will be
used to fire on a player entering the sector with your planet, causing 1
point of damage to the player per 3 units of Ore used.

Quasar cannon atmosphere level: 60% -- 30% of all the Ore on the planet
will be used to fire on a player who attempts to land on your planet,
causing 1 point of damage to the player per 1 unit of Ore used.

 - What are the hidden options in the Stardock?
 "U" -- Underground, where players with 100 or less alignment can change
        their name, and post and collect bounties on other players.
 "+" -- Library, useful only for determining which ships are currently
        being used by the Ferrengi. Data on alien derelicts is useless.
 "B" -- Single's Bar, where you can get robbed. Nothing more.

 - What is the computer upgrade the Grimy Trader talks about?
It doesn't really exist. It's just a hoax.

 - What is the secret message in "Vulcan Thunder?"
The secret message (if it exists) seems to have something to do with the
characters "9C." Gary Martin has hinted to its existence, but as of yet,
no one has found any significance to it.

 - What's the secret to winning Tri-Cron?
Contrary to what the Grimy Trader says, the winning numbers seem to be
completely random.

 - What is Computer Interrogation Mode (CIM) ?
From your "Computer Command?" prompt within TW, using the numeric keypad,
type <ALT>-200, <ALT-201>, <ALT-202>, <ALT-203>, <ALT-204>, <ALT-205>, to
get a : prompt.  From there, typing "I" (without the quotes) will give you
information on all explored sectors, and "R" will give information on all
explored ports. ("Q" will quit CIM and "F" will give a path-calculator
similar to the one on your ship's computer). To use the information, open
a capture file for both sets of info, then use a utility like TWVIEW or 
TWASSIST that reads the data and arranges it into something useful.

---
     You should be aware that as long as you have a positive alignment you 
will be assessed a 10% "tax" if you have 50,000 creds or more on your ship 
each time you log in to the game -- NOT just once each game day -- and in 
return, you are given some neato positive align points; +1 for every 1500 
creds you pay in taxes.

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
                            --[ TACTICS ]--
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

-- by Joel Downer:

Question: In a new game, what should be your goal in the first few days?

     Let's assume a corporate strategy, for a corp of 3-5 players, to keep
this simple. (That's what I've usually been playing these days anyway.)
Let's also assume that we're playing a game with *no* treaties or rules
about the shield bug.

I plan on playing evil wherever I play. I expect to find the StarDock
the first day of the game -- if it isn't displayed in the Game Status
screen, I or one of my corp-mates will run FINDSGA to locate it. As
soon as we find StarDock, we trade in our Merchant Cruisers for Scout
Marauders (with the trade-in value of the average Merchant, you can buy
a Scout with 25 holds and a density scanner, and have a little left over
with which to go out to dinner <grin>). The Scout is the single best
ship in the early stages because of its move rate.

My choice from that point depends on the game configuration. If
FedSpace is open to squatters, my teammates and I will spend the first
3 - 4 days parking in FedSpace and working trade pairs to build up
experience. I like to use the evil Imperial StarShip, so I will try to
upgrade to a StarMaster the second day, a Mule the third or fourth, get
my commission by the fifth or sixth day, and keep the StarShip from then
on. My teammates will typically turn evil by the fourth day (after you
have about 375 experience, stealing will be *substantially* more
profitable than trading); one way I'm likely to get a quick commission
is to coordinate logins with one of my future teammates so that I can
blow my *future teammate* up.

Objectives for the first 4 - 7 days (depending on the turn rate): to get
myself into an Imperial StarShip with slightly less than 1,000 experience,
and to get the team members who *won't* be in StarShips stealing in Star-
Masters with at least 1,100 experience. We do *not* usually set aside turns
for exploration; when we need to find new trade pairs or dead ends, we use
ether probes.

Objectives for the next 2 - 4 days: to build a well-concealed planet
and stock it with 3,000,000 colonists. I will deploy a fighter in a
dead-end sector and create a planet there. I will frequently ask my
future evil teammates to deploy fighters and mines *in the sector
immediately adjacent* to the dead-end. The fighters and mines protect
the planet; I enter and exit the sector using TransWarp.

Objective for the succeeding 1 - 3 days:  to assemble the corporation in
final form. I dump colonists to turn evil, start stealing conservatively,
and "bust planets" (create and destroy empty planets) to try to build my
experience up to 2,250, where I can steal 150 holds. My teammates steal
aggressively.

Objective for the succeeding three weeks:  to build a planet to level
five, preventing our enemies from building or defending a planet to a
level II citadel. We use ether probes and search aggressively whenever
new citadels appear in the game status screen (find as many uses as you
can for TWView's OFFLINE program, using version 0.91 if you can; you
also may want to look at my FINDHOLE utility). Because of my p-missile
capabilities, I can destroy *any* planet that doesn't have a level II
citadel at a trivial cost. We upgrade our single planet aggressively,
placing the maximum defenses on it at any given time (32,000 fighters;
1639 shields the day it turns level V). If the relative strengths of
the teams in the game justify the move, we may invade Ferrengal and
either (a) destroy it, or (b) defend it, to prevent our enemies from
seizing a ready-made level III citadel.

End-game objectives:  If we have a level V citadel, and we can prevent
our enemies from building or defending a planet, we expect to control
the game. We continue to steal full-speed, and stockpile money in our
shield-bugged citadel until the combination of our stealing and treasury
interest is overwhelming.

Through this process, we probably spend 95% of our turns stealing from
ports. We use the five-point stealing cycle, but we don't otherwise
worry about experience unless our score is low enough to interfere with
our stealing. We kill only when absolutely necessary:  we expect
competant opponents to stay cloaked unless they have a reason to *want*
to be attacked.


-- by Stephen Whitis:

> Can someone tell me a successful way of earning money and ruling the
> universe in the shortest time possible?

The info below doesn't discuss using holds-bug, but if no unbug utilities
are running, you should consider it. Later, after you have a citadel, you
should run CMH bug (again, assuming no unbug utilities are running.)

 Read the FIDO-TradeWars echo daily. You'll learn a lot there. When you
 ask questions, try to be specific, and try to read the FAQ first. Save a
 copy of the FAQ for later reference.

 Get a copy of TWAssist, TWView or a similar utility and use them. You
 can't be competitive in a quality game without them. These are utilities
 which parse out the ton of information and make it useful. See the end of
 this section. Also look for TWTIPS12, a collection of tip files for TW's
 which covers most of the bugs and basic strategy.

 If possible, try to join a game that hasn't been going long. A game
 that's been around for awhile is hard (or impossible) to succeed in if the
 players who were in it at the beginning are any good at all. You might
 learn some things in that situation (that's how I started) but to win, you
 really need to get in near the begining and PLAY EVERY DAY.

 DON'T SELF-DESTRUCT!  There is always a better solution. You don't get to
 start from scratch if you self destruct, and you'll have to sit out of the
 game for two days, so it's not worth it. If you don't know where stardock
 is, and get stuck in an escape pod, attack a port at the end of your turns
 for the day. The next day, you'll start in a scout.

 DON'T ATTACK ALIENS OR FERRENGI! They are a distraction. Attacking, or
 running from Ferrengi ships will put a grudge against you, and you will
 probably regret it later.

 Don't give up. Everyone gets blown up from time to time, and when you are
 learning the game, it can happen quite often. Learn from each mistake,
 ask questions, read the FIDO-TW echo, and come back for revenge!

 The docs are available throughout the game at the main menu, and some
 sysops have them available for DL. Capture them, read them. But beware
 that the docs are sometimes wrong.

 Fedspace includes sectors 1-10 and the sector with Stardock. No other
 sectors are fedspace, regardless of the fact that someone may have created
 a beacon which claims a sector is fedspace.

 The first day you play, your #1 goal is to find the stardock. Use the V
 command at the main menu to see if it's listed. If not, run FINDSGA
 (distributed as part of TWUTIL10.*), a utility written by Joel Downer
 which often helps locate it. If that doesn't work, try posting a public
 msg asking for the location (or private messages to traders in any ship
 other than an escape pod or the default merchant ship. Players in scouts
 may have gotten them due to getting an escape pod blown up.)  Warping over
 long distances, with ANSI on so you can tell which sectors you haven't
 visited yet, will usually help you find it, as it usually has one or two
 warps in and five or six warps out, and that makes for a fairly high-traf-
 fic sector. If you have to look for it this way, the sectors you explore
 will be useful later, and perhaps you'll find some good trade pairs. Don't
 explore randomly. Turn on ANSI, and travel down long paths with lots of
 red (unexplored) sectors using the autowarp. 

 As soon as you locate the Stardock, trade in your ship for a scout. It
 won't have a lot of holds, fighters, or shields, but it has a high turn
 ratio. If you drop your fighters in the sector just outside the sector
 containing stardock, you can pick them up after trading ships. Fighters
 don't have much trade in value, so that saves you some money.

 Buy a scout (for the high turn rate), maximum holds (25), and you can
 probably afford a density scanner, which is worth the money. Don't buy
 anything else the first time you are there unless you've already been
 trading while you hunted for stardock. Try to put a little money in the
 bank on stardock, for emergency use. Eventually, have 100,000 there.

 If you are planning on playing Evil (recommended) then find a port which
 will buy Equipment and sell Fuel and Organics. You want it to be adjacent
 to a port which does the opposite (sells Equipment, buys Fuel and
 Organics.) Trade at these ports, and at the port which sells Fuel/
 Organics, use half of your holds for one, half for the other. Always
 bargain prices, and you should be able to get 2 experience points each
 time you make a deal. That will raise your experience pretty fast (it's
 called triple-trading, since you trade three types of equipment during
 each set.) You need experience to be able to Steal effectively, so triple
 trading can help you get that experience. You can triple trade whether
 you are evil or not. It takes some practice to get 2 pts per trade
 regularly, especially in a scout with max 25 holds, but it's worth it.

 Use the V command at the main command prompt. If ships are allowed to
 stay in FedSpace overnight, then plan on using FedSpace until either you
 turn evil or (if planning on staying good) you can afford to cloak
 nightly. You will be protected there if you have 0 or higher alignment,
 under 1000 experience, and less than 50 fighters. Until you go evil,
 FedSpace is your safe haven when you aren't playing. Just save your money,
 don't buy a lot of fighters and shields. If the Ferrengi want to rob you,
 let them. You do want to buy holds, though.

 In the early part of a game, when you are using Fedspace for protection,
 you can drop extra fighters (over the 50 ftr limit) in a sector outside of
 fedspace, to pick up later. Someone *may* kill them, and if you leave
 them in a major space lane (such as the route to Stardock from Terra and
 back) the feds will remove them. But it's an option I find useful.

 Don't go evil until your experience is at least 375-400. Then you can
 jettison colonists or post bounty's in the underground to turn evil. You
 need to have a -100 or less alignment to Rob/Steal. Some players prefer
 to keep trading (or triple-trading) until their experience is much
 higher, say over 1050, so they can steal-sell 70 holds in a starmaster.

 Once you've turned evil, FedSpace isn't going to protect you, so start
 cloaking every night. (In some games it may not be needed, but in
 general, plan on it. Once you start running a Steal/Trade system, you can
 easily afford it.)  If you divide your experience by 20, you have a good
 idea of how many holds of equipment you can steal without getting caught.
 Exp / 15 is a little more risky, but still pretty safe. Regardless, there
 is *always* a chance of getting busted. If necessary you can steal
 equipment several times to fill your holds, and sell it all at once.

 To run the Steal-Sell loop, start with equipment in all of your holds. Go
 to a port which buys equipment. Sell your equipment. Steal equipment
 (5%-6.6% of your experience or so) until your holds are full. Sell it
 again. Just keep doing that, and always bargain prices. Your experience
 will go up as you do this, so eventually you will be able to steal more at
 a time. Five point trading means selling your equipment for 100% best
 price every time. It's maximum profit, and raises your experience five
 points each time you sell, so it's worthwhile. It will be explained
 elsewhere in the FAQ.

 I keep using the scout until I have enought experience to steal 70-85
 holds at a time safely, and then move to another ship. Usually your
 choice is between a starmaster and a corp. flagship, if you are head of a
 corporation. If not, the starmaster is almost always the best ship. For
 advanced players, the evil ISS is the way to go.

 Whenever you buy a new ship, you should have enough money to buy the ship,
 maximum holds, a new density scanner (or holo scanner), and a cloak.
 Otherwise, you should probably stay in the ship you are already in a
 little longer (unless it's an escape pod. Never stay in an escape pod.
 You can trade it in for a scout right away, and you should.)

 When you buy a ship you plan to keep for awhile, buy a holo-scanner.

 Cloaks don't fail unless an external utility is causing them to, and you
 should cloak nightly unless you qualify for fedspace. Even in games where
 cloaks do fail based on a low %, use the cloaks. But if they can fail,
 you may want to move to a dead end to cloak.

 Use the density scanner any time you are moving to a sector you haven't
 visited, and use it when the surrounding sectors are unexplored. It will
 tell you when a port is adjacent, and help locate dead ends, planets, and
 other ships.

 If you (or a corp. member) plan on using a ship with transwarp you should
 drop single fighters regularly. Especially in dead ends, where they will
 tend to survive longer. These fighters will also slow your opponents who
 try to Eprobe to explore. I drop them even when I don't plan on using a
 ship with Twarp capability.

 Once you've located stardock, don't use a lot of turns exploring. 95% of
 the time (or more) you want to be making money with your turns. This is
 very basic, but many players use turns warping around, chasing aliens, or
 being sidetracked by Ferrengi. Use your turns to make money. To explore,
 spend money on Etherprobes and use them.

 The database utilities will allow you to get a list of sectors which not
 only have you not explored, but which no sector you *have* explored has a
 warp to. By eprobing these sectors, you will gain info on at least two
 sectors. If you use the computer F command with ANSI on, you can look for
 paths with lots of unexplored sectors, which is useful mainly in the early
 stages of the game when you haven't explored very much.

 In a corporation, usually only one person needs to do much exploring...
 The other players just make money. Eventually, you'll need that money!

 Your long term goal is to develop a well defended planet, while keeping
 your opponents from doing the same. Ideally, your planet will be shield
 bugged. In games where shield bug isn't allowed, you want max shields and
 32,000 fighters on the planet. With a well defended planet, you can stock
 money in the citadel, which will gain 4% interest a day. When that amount
 is high enough, no one without a similar source of income will be able to
 harm you. If you can shield bug a planet, you probably only need 1. If
 you can't, you may need a few, but most players build more planets than
 they need, and when a planet is partially developed, it's high-risk. An
 opponent might steal the level-4 planet, Twarp it away, and then all the
 work is in their hands...


-- by Jim Bianchi:

     Teamwork is the key to winning games. A four or five man corp can 
easily clear 2.5 -- 3.5 million creds/day once established. To start, one 
of the corp members should, after SD has been located, spend most of his 
time there, where he has easy access to a source of eprobes. (Note: Dave 
Myers' TWFT and the mapping routines in TWASSIST may modify this somewhat.) 
Using the eprobe mapping routines in PWRMACS or TWFT, this person maps the 
universe, providing data to the other members on paired ports.

     Meanwhile, the other members should pound ports, triple trading them 
right down to the ground if possible. The objective is obtaining xp and 
creds, NOT exploring. The creds should be funneled to the member who is at 
SD, either directly, or through the galbank. As the universe approaches 
100% mapped, the members start building up their own galbank accts. 

     Ships: The usual policy seems to be to, once SD has been found, go 
there and trade in your merchie for a ScoMar, a dscanner, max holds and 
enough to get started trading again. This should prob be the course the 
mapper should take, as he'll need to physically investigate places where 
eprobes have been destroyed. The rest of the crew should prob stay with a 
stock merchie until they can get into a StaMas with max holds (as soon as 
they have the necessary creds). With close teamwork, transferring ftrs and 
shields is easy between corp members. (It is possible to tfr a neg amt of 
shields or ftrs to temporarily overload a fellow corp members ship while 
you trade in the one you have and buy another.) Esp in the early stages of 
the game, every cred saved when buying ftrs/shields can make a difference. 
However, don't let not having a close-by teammate stop you from buying a 
new ship. And ALWAYS buy at least one ftr with your new ship. I once got a 
new StaMas, a few shields and max holds, and zero ftrs. On my way out of SD 
to the sector where I'd "parked" my ftrs fm the old ship, I entered the 
wrong sector number and ended up running into 'prox 50 offensive ftrs left 
by someone else. Fortunately, my <esc> pod was functioning normally..

     Good vs evil: For the first few days, game parms permitting, you 
should plan to park overnight in FedSpace. You can stay uncloaked in Fed- 
Space overnight as long as your xp is less than 1000, the number of ftrs on 
your ship is 50 or less, your align is +1 or greater and the number of squ- 
atters in the FedSpace sector you end up in is less than the nr posted on 
the V screen -- otherwise, when the extern pgm runs, you'll be towed out 
into space (nothing else will be done to you by the Feds).

     Under some circumstances, this can be exploited to aid in exploring 
the universe in the very early days of a game. If the Feds tow you out to 
space for one reason or another, you will usually end up somewhere on one 
of the MSLs. In a low turns game, this can be used to give you a "running 
start" on exploration. Log on very soon after midnight, however, to get 
yourself into a more protected area where you won't be attacked by other 
traders.

     In a game with no squatters allowed overnight in FedSpace, there seems 
little need for remaining good (unless, of course, you WANT to be). Recom- 
mended ways of turning evil are: jettisoning colonists, killing good play- 
ers or game generated good aliens, placing a hit contract on another good 
player in the underground, cursing the grimy trader in the tavern, blowing 
up starports and blowing up planets. Once you have -100 align you can start 
robbing creds fm ports (use xp x 7 = creds to rob in any single attempt); 
or stealing product (use a max of xp/20 = nr of holds to steal). Each suc- 
cessful robbery will gain you xp and neg align points. 

     A tactic that has been used VERY successfully in one local game in- 
volved four corp partners who started the game as above. The "mapper" early 
on discovered Ferrengal. Further mapping, combined with some course plotter 
investigation revealed that Ferrengal was in a dead-end tunnel and that 
there was an empty sector behind it. By the time this was discovered, the 
leader was almost done with mapping the universe, so he bought an ISS 
(buying his pos align with creds supplied by the rest of us). Then he 
bought a ptorp and a gtorp (several gtorps, actually), used the ptorp to 
temporarily neutralise the Ferrengi ftrs while he moved THROUGH that sector 
without otherwise disturbing them to get to the one BEHIND, where he fired 
off his gtorps and placed ftrs so that each of the rest of us, as we in 
turn bought our commissions and got into an ISS, could twarp there.

     In this way, our planets were (more or less) safe from detection dur- 
ing the critical phase while they were upgrading, as they were in a dead 
end tunnel with Ferrengal as the "front door." We each then turned evil by 
dumping colonists and busting planets (and killing good aliens/players when 
avail). One of us juggled his align so that it was only -1 (so as not to 
drag down the xp of the others in the corp). Upon logging in each day, the 
normal increase of one align point was sufficient to bring the align up to 
neutral (0) and allow safe access to Terra for colonising the planets. Us- 
ing twarp, it was possible to bring out nearly 1 million new happy campers 
each session. To get down to neg align again, this person would jettison 
one hold of colonists each day at the end of his play.

     As the corp grew stronger, Ferrengal itself was eventually invaded and 
added to our list of corp planets. By this time, we had each of the five 
sectors in the tunnel heavily mined (99) and those sectors with planets had 
30,000 defensive ftrs (the rest only had 5000). We've successfully blockad- 
ed SD several times with ftrs/mines and have caught just about everyone at 
least once. The game is rather boring for in spite of us leaving taunts and 
hints in the Tavern conversation, there is NO organised resistance. There 
are NO other planets and the only other corp folded a week ago. The vast 
majority of the ftrs and mines in the universe are ours. We have six L5 
planets, each w/1638 shields (by agreement they are not invulnerable).

     One tactic we use is to build a class 4 (ssb) port in the same sector 
with our planets and as the port is completed, move a planet one sector up 
the tunnel to support construction of another class 4. In this way, we can 
each run sell/steal in a totally secure area and cancel each others busts 
if necessary. Hey, four or five players, each in an evil ISS (150 holds), 
can make a LOT of creds when all they need worry about is hold replacement 
when getting busted. I log in to the game, fill my holds w/equip, lift off 
and run sell/steal at the port that is right there for 66 turns (on a bust 
free day), land on the planet and deposit my 'prox 700,000 creds inna tre- 
asury. It's almost boring! It is perhaps a commentary on the quality of the 
local competition that when one of us is busted, we LOOSE more xp than the 
highest ranking non-corp player has TOTAL! 

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
                             --[ EVIL ISS ]--
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

-- by Jim Bianchi:

     The ISS (Imperial StarShip) is considered to be the most potent ship 
in the TradeWars universe because of its combo of 150 holds, twarp drive, 
and the ability to carry and use a photon torpedo. It can also carry a lot 
of shields (2000), ftrs (30,000) and mines (150).

     A player who is "good" can just ignore most of what follows. Much of 
it is concerned with avoiding the three Feds, who will repossess an evil 
ISS on sight.

     To get an ISS requires the player to have a minimum +500 align and to 
go to the FedPolice sta at SD and apply for a commission, after which their 
align will automagically increase to +1000 and they'll be permitted to buy 
an ISS.

     To get the initial +500 align, you can kill other evil players or game 
generated traders ("Annoyances" or Ferrengi), create planets or starports 
or you can "buy yourself good" by posting a bounty on an evil player in the 
Fed Police sta at SD. The first method is expensive in terms of ftrs and 
shields used and can be somewhat uncertain. The second and third methods 
are simply not cost-effective for these purposes and can potentially result 
in assets that can be exploited by hostile forces. The last method, posting 
a bounty on evil players, is the way most seem to do it. 

     When posting a bounty on an evil player, of course, it's nice if you 
know definitely where one is, for then you can go and kill him, then run 
back to SD to collect it. BTW, if you blow away a player who has a "good"
align, you might want to check in the UG to see if there has been any hit 
contracts placed on him; or if he is evil, at the Fed Police sta to see if 
there are any bounties.

     It's expensive and not really cost effective, but I once found myself 
dab in the middle of Ferrengal, taking out Ferrengi ftrs by the bushel, as 
well as Ferrengi assault traders. When I finally managed to disengage, my 
<esc> pod was functioning normally and I was headed back to SD. I noticed 
when I did "I" that I now had something like +600 align and enough creds to 
get an ISS straight off, which I did. On the way back to my home sector, I 
was jumped by four angry Ferrengi who "have been looking for you, HooMan!" 
Fortunately, my <esc> pod was functioning normally.. <sigh> (They're STILL 
looking for me ..diamonds and Ferrengi blood feuds are forever.)


-- Originally by Joel Downer:

Keeping an Imperial StarShip when evil:

  Avoid FedSpace as completely as possible. *Never* travel through sector 
1-10, and only travel to the StarDock using the strategy described below. 
Be *very careful* in all areas adjacent to FedSpace, and spend as little 
time on the Major Space Lanes as possible. 

  Deploy single toll fighters wherever possible when you travel. The Feds 
cannot travel through sectors with fighters in them, so (a) when you're in 
a sector with a fighter in it, you are *completely* safe from the Feds, and 
(b) the more fighters you have scattered outside the Major Space Lanes, the 
less the Feds will be able to *travel* outside the Major Space Lanes. 
Imprisoning Admirals Nelson and Clausewitz would be wonderful, but an evil 
StarShip captain should *never* try it him/herself. It's altogether too 
dangerous. 

  Travel by TransWarp whenever possible. When you *must* travel by convent- 
ional warp, use the following pattern: move-deploy-scan, deploying a toll 
fighter immediately in each sector you enter. Whenever you visit the Star- 
Dock, buy a full complement of ether probes and cloaks: ether probes are 
necessary for blind TransWarp, and cloaks can bail you out if you get stuck 
somewhere (even Zyrain can't attack a cloaked ship!). Carry at least 750 
shields and keep mine disruptors, in case someone tries to mine you to 
death; don't carry more than a few thousand fighters -- they won't help
you if you run into the Feds. <grin> 

  Find out how many entrances the StarDock has -- usually, it'll have one 
or two. If it has one, the approach to the StarDock is pretty simple: fire 
an ether probe into the StarDock, blind TransWarp into the *completely 
empty* sector nearest SGA. Deploy a fighter immediately, warp in, and do 
your business. If you see one of the Federals at or near the StarDock, put 
off your business until he leaves the vicinity -- you may want to restock 
your shields or holds at Rylos or Alpha Centauri. Don't try to deploy a 
fighter AT the StarDock; DO deploy a fighter at Rylos or Alpha Centauri 
when you go there. 

  *NEVER*, unless you have some special reason (e.g., hiding the path to 
your planet), remove your fighters when you're done in a sector. Forget 
about the 200 credits. You won't miss them. 

  *BEWARE OF MARKER BEACONS*!!!  Marker beacons and wandering aliens are 
the two greatest dangers to blind TransWarp. Never place them, and destroy 
them when you can. 

  Don't take unnecessary risks with corbomite. If someone leaves you bait 
-- e.g., if a hated enemy parks in a major transit sector with 0 fighters 
in a Scout Marauder -- politely decline the invitation. Well, not *TOO* 
politely. Leave 99 mines in the sector to let him/her know you still 
care... ;> 

  When you choose stealing sites, look for places where a port that sells 
equipment, a port that sells fuel ore, and a port that buys equipment are 
in close proximity. TWView and my "EVILPAIR" utility are both useful for 
finding these ports. 


-- Quoting Dan Roseen:

Here's some evil ISS tips we have in our trainer:

EVIL IMPERIAL STARSHIP (EVIL ISS):

A trader that received a Federal Commission and bought an ISS will have
an evil ISS by keeping their ship and changing their alignment to negative.
Keeping an evil ISS requires taking precautions to ensure that you don't
move your ship into a sector with a Fed in it, because any one of the
three Feds will destroy your ship immediately if this happens.

The following precautions will help you keep your evil ISS by helping
you avoid the Fed ships (keep in mind that the precautions listed are
'above and beyond' normal precautions like carrying cloaks and protecting
yourself against fully mined sectors).

  -  Deploy a defensive fighter everywhere you go (do not attempt to deploy
     a fighter in Federation sectors 1-10 or the Stardock, in fact avoid
     these sectors as much as possible). In most cases, deploying the
     fighter will be the first thing you do after you have scanned the
     sector and moved into it. Toll fighters should rarely be used
     because many traders will either pay them and leave you mines for
     when you transwarp, or destroy them anyway. The Feds will not move
     into sectors that have a deployed fighter or a mine.

  -  Be sure you have a transwarp drive. Use your transwarp drive as
     much as possible for your transportation. Always carry fuel when
     going into suspicious territory.

   - Know how to blind transwarp. Blind transwarping is usually safer
     than single-stepping your evil ISS through sectors without deployed
     fighters, and more efficient.

  -  Always have MORE than 37,000 credits on your ship. If you have no fuel
     to transwarp out of a hazardous situation, you will be able to build a
     class 4 port, steal enough fuel to transwarp, and continue with your
     turns, hopefully ending up in a safer location, and won't have to use
     another 25,000 credits to replace the cloak you would need to use if
     you cloaked hoping you might be in a safer situation later in the day.
     Since all ports under construction have products when they are first
     created, you can immediately steal the fuel you need (you are evil,
     you don't have to wait until the port is open for normal trading).

     After stealing the fuel, you can easily destroy the port to deny its
     use to hostile forces and increase your own xp and negative align.
     Initial Port construction DOES NOT REQUIRE a planet in the same sect-
     or. Upgrading (and "opening for business") DOES. 

   - v1.03(d) BUG: A trader must have more credits than the cost of the
     port in order for TW to let the trader create the port. For example,
     a 30,000 credit port would require 30,001 credits or more onboard,
     even though only the 30,000 credits would be used for port construct-
     ion.

  -  Use a good TW database utility. In addition to the regular
     advantages a TW database will give you, a TW database program will
     help you tremendously in avoiding sectors that Feds can move in.

  -  Always use your scanner unless you are absolutely sure that the next
     sector is safe (e.g. if you have just been there and you know there
     is a fighter or mine in the sector). Be aware of the different
     densities of the Fed ships.

     The Fed ship densities are:
                                    Captain Zyrain . . . . 489
                                    Admiral Nelson . . . . 462
                                    Admiral Clausewitz . . 512

  -  When going to the Stardock, first attempt to send an etherprobe there
     to take a preliminary look for Feds. If you see any in the vicinity
     of the Stardock, try to hold off your business there until a later
     time or date. When at the Stardock, fill up on etherprobes, cloaks
     mine disruptors, and mines so you can make as few visits as possible.

   - Use the two class 0 ports that are not in Fedspace sectors (Rylos 
     and Alpha Centauri) as much as possible when you want to get class 0
     items. (Holds, ftrs, shields.)

  -  If you must go to the Stardock, and other traders seem to continually
     have Zyrain trapped at the Stardock (or other Feds) with deployed
     toll fighters, you can either try desperately to get into TW
     immediately after maintenance or you can release the Feds yourself.
     To release them yourself, create a route of mines from the
     Stardock where there are fighters. You may be creating a tunnel for
     the Feds to move in so you will need to make sure there are not any
     ways for the Feds to get out of this tunnel and end up in your face.
     And then go next to Zyrain's sector (remember you MUST be in a sector
     that has a fighter and a mine) and destroy the fighter. Then go to
     the next sector away from the Stardock and disrupt the mine. Continue
     this, until you lead the Fed away from the Stardock enough to where
     you cannot run into him when going around him to the Stardock. You
     may have to cycle throught the command prompt many times until he
     warps into the sector you want. You can safely watch him move into
     the desired sector with your scanner since you will still be in a
     sector that is protected by a mine and/or fighter. You may want
     to block his path to the Stardock while you are at it, however, if
     you have made it safely to the Stardock and get off the Stardock and
     notice a Fed has moved into the sector, realize that he won't attack
     you at that moment, but you are strongly advised that your next move
     is to transwarp immediately out of the Fed's vicinity.

  -  Have at least one other trader without an evil ISS that can help you.
     If you have an ally you can trust, your ally can help move Zyrain to
     different parts of the universe by starting to attack a trader that
     is safe in Fedspace, and then changing their mind when Zyrain
     warps in to protect the trader. A corp partner without an evil ISS
     can help with this also, and can additionally help with things like
     getting colonists from Terra, buying mines from the Stardock, etc.

   - Realize that without a trusted helper, and without a safe home, that
     a lone evil ISS will most likely have very difficult times against
     good competition, because the the trader needs to cloak or have a
     safe place to rest the ship.

   - Your helper can also help you out considerably by trapping Admiral
     Nelson and/or (preferably 'and') Admiral Clausewitz so they cannot
     move about the universe. They can be trapped with deployed mines
     and/or fighters. Captain Zyrain will transwarp over a trap when
     a Fed-protected trader needs his protection.

  -  If you are going into an enemy sector that appears to be of some
     special value to your enemy, and you suspect it to have one or more
     other warps into it, and if you cannot check out the contents of the
     other warp(s), use a photon when going in so the fighters remain in
     the sector. Your enemy may have one or more of the Feds trapped in
     an adjacent sector and if you destroy the fighters you will be in a
     very precarious position.


-- by Joel Downer:

     Some additional comments. First of all, as I probably said in
EVILSTAR.TXT, if you're not comfortable with ether-probing and blind
TransWarp, don't use an evil I.S.S. I have had people disagree with me,
but in my personal opinion (a) intelligent use of blind TransWarp is
necessary to keep the ship against any competition worth beating, and
(b) blind TransWarp is the biggest reason to buy the ship in the first
place. It can save you 15-18 moves a day -- even more if you're
following up destroyed probes in search of a planet. Without blind
TransWarp, the I.S.S. is a less efficient stealing ship than the
StarMaster; with it, the I.S.S. is much *more* efficient. (And yes,
I'd be willing to argue that with anyone who disagrees. <g>)

Second, the main difference between playing in an evil I.S.S. and
playing in another ship is that you've got to pay more attention to
every move and choice in the evil StarShip. I assume you already
density-scan wherever you go, and I know you're comfortable with
database utilities. You also have to make a lot of cost-benefit
decisions. For example, if you don't have good competition, it's always
wise to deploy a fighter in the sector where you cloak, because
(assuming you're not in an MSL) doing so virtually guarantees that you
will not have a Fed waiting for you when you log in. Against a smart
enemy, though, the fighter may do more harm than good. Is it safe to
cloak at your stealing site?  Maybe not, even if your ship is named "The
Merchant Marines" (it's possible to track "The Merchant Marines" using
date docked; it's just harder and more expensive). Is it better to
cloak a couple sectors away, with no fighters in the sector?

Against the very shrewdest opponent, you may even want to take the precaut- 
ion of TransWarping on your last turn and cloaking in the sector to which 
you TransWarped. Why? If your enemy creates a multisector trap for you, and 
you're forced to retreat as soon as you uncloak, you will retreat into the 
*last sector visited*, even if that sector is halfway across the universe. 
Sound arcane? By an interesting series of coincidences, that feature of the 
game saved my ship once when I was playing against an extremely devious 
enemy named Tony Cichan.

An intelligent enemy will probably make the elimination of your StarShip
one of his/her top priorities. If you don't have teammates, you will
have to show extreme care around the StarDock, and *extreme* care if you
need to invade a planet -- what better defense for a planet than herding
Clausewitz and Nelson into the sector and trapping them with a fighter?
An enemy may also create planets directly off FedSpace, banking on your
reluctance to travel through sectors 1-10 -- someone did that to me in
the last game I played, and I barely caught on in time to keep him from
putting together something defensible. What you're doing is assuming an
enormous vulnerability in exchange for a ton of freedom. Against a weak
enemy, you'll have no trouble covering up the vulnerability. Against a
good enemy, you've got to do everything you can to exploit the freedom,
because the vulnerability will nag at you.

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
                           --[ MORE ON SHIPS ]--
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

-- by Jim Bianchi 

     Wanna provoke an arg on one of the Tradewars conferences? Write a msg 
of type: "the very best ship is an xxxxxx." Second only to calls for inf- 
ormation on the "bugs," that topic seems to take up most of the bandwidth 
there and it's a pity, really, because after the first few exchanges, there 
is never anything new in the way of using xxxxxx ship, or real detriments 
in one type or another ship shown (with the exception of the Tholian Sent- 
inel).

     What is the "ideal" ship? For each stage of the game, this author is 
convinced that there is an ideal choice or range of choices, but in this as 
in most things, there is ample room for alternatives and outright disagre- 
ement. For instance, I prefer the CorFla to the ISS, esp when playing 
alone. Perhaps it's because I've had four of them shot out from under me by 
Ferrengi on a blood hunt (and those things are EXPENSIVE!) and maybe it's 
because I like to be able to warp around and not worry about running into a 
Fed and loosing my ship.

     Another very serious thing to consider is, is this a game in which 
bugs are allowed? If so, the obvious choice is a ship most of us would 
never consider otherwise: the Havoc Gunstar. It is inexpensive. It can 
carry enough firepower to adaquately defend itself. It has twarp capabil- 
ity. It can be swopped in a citadel. And when "hold bugged," it can carry 
an impressive payload. Since you needn't be evil to run the Corporate Mega 
Holds bug, a CMH bugged HavGun is the ship of choice for use in games that 
allow exploitation of bugs; at least until an ISS can be purchased.

     Since I play almost exclusively in non-bug games (where bug use isn't 
engaged in by agreement or bug use is monitored), my choice is the CorFla. 
I like it. It's like a StaMas with twarp and 15 extra holds.

     When starting in a new game, I tend to think that the basic default 
"merchie" is much underrated. It can have fifteen more holds than a StaMas, 
and while it doesn't have near the ftr or shield capacity of a StaMas, 
these things aren't (or shouldn't be) very important in a just starting 
game anyway, when the objective is to make creds and xp. (Leave the "shoot 
'em up, bang-bang" to the kiddies). I first try to improve my merchie to 
max holds, then max shields. I figger that, by the time I loose it to enemy 
action -- as I eventually always do -- the universe has become too danger- 
ous to warp about in without some serious protection and I get into a maxed 
out StaMas, or if I'm CEO and have the creds, a CorFla.

     The ScoMar has the benifits of having a much larger base turn rate, 
and the highest combat odds of any ship in a non edited game. It is these 
odds that make the ScoMar the ship of choice in bugs-allowed games, for if 
it is overloaded with ftrs and shields (up to 32767 of each), it is nearly 
unstoppable and is capable of (two times out of three) destroying SD and 
most of the other class 0 ports. In a non bug game, it still possesses a 
large base turn rate and this makes it attractive to many who prefer to go 
see for themselves, as opposed to sending an eprobe.

    The StaMas has what is generally accorded the best ratio of firepower 
and cargo carrying ability to moves of any of the other ship types.

     If a secure area is provided (preferably containing a class 0 port), 
the ColTra, with its 250 holds, can prove a real money maker for one who is 
sufficiently evil to be able to sell/steal 250 holds at a whack.

     The only advantages that I can see to a Missile Frigate are that it is 
cheap, can be had by anyone, and can carry a ptorp. It is only nominally a 
trading ship. 

     Here are the shipspecs:


-- Originally by Jason Boyd:

                      Min  Max        Max   Max    Max  Max Max  Max Max    
            Cost  %Mv Hold Hold  Odds Ftrs  perAt  Shld P-M Mine G-T Bcn L P T
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
esc pod 0  free    50    1    5  .8:1    50    10    50   0    0   0   0 Y
MerCru  1  26300  100   20   75 1.0:1  2500  1000   400   0   50   5  50 Y Y
ScoMar  2  13200  200   10   25 2.0:1   250   250   100   0    0   0  10 Y Y
MisFri  3  28800  100   12   60 1.3:1  5000  2000   400  10    5   0   5
BatShi  4  40500   83   16   80 1.6:1 10000  3000   750   0   25   1  50 Y Y
CorFla  5  71000  100   20   85 1.2:1 20000  6000  1500   0  100  10 100 Y Y Y
ColTra  6  54400   58   40  250  .6:1   200   100   500   0    0   5  10 Y Y
CarTra  7  59400   67   40  125  .8:1   400   125   800   0    1   2  20 Y Y
MerFre  8  36200  150   30   60  .8:1   300   100   500   0    2   2  20 Y Y 
ImpSta  9 128600   83   40  150 1.5:1 30000 10000  2000   5  125  10 150 Y Y Y
HavGun 10  29500  125   10   40 1.2:1  3000  1500   500   0    5   1   5 Y   Y
StaMas 11  48000  133   30   70 1.4:1  5000  2000  1000   0   50   5  50 Y Y
ConSte 12  40500  100   20   70 1.4:1  5000  2000   750   0   25   2  50 Y Y
TkhOri 13  36000  133   30   60 1.1:1   750   250   750   0    5   1  20 Y Y
ThoSen 14  27000   90   10   50 1.0:1  3000  1000  1000   0   50   1  10 Y 
TauMul 15  53600   83   40  150  .5:1   300   150   500   0    0   2  20 Y Y

L P T: Long Range Scanner, Planet Scanner, TransWarp Drive.
Only the Missile Frigate and ISS can carry a ptorp.
The Feds will destroy on sight an ISS used by a player with neg align, no 
questions asked. (Just make sure they don't SEE you..)


-- by Leonard Adolph:

I figured out hold cost some time ago. Just for fun, here it is again.

      SUM(216+20*(x-1),a..b)

Where a is the number of holds on your ship and b is the number of holds
desired. Add up all values for the formula (SUM) replacing x with all
values from a to b.

The above formula works in a program called Ultimate Calculator.

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
                       --[ ALIGN AND XP CHANGES ]--
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

-- by Jim Bianchi:

     To get the initial +500 align required for a fed commission (and an 
ISS) you can kill evil players; you can kill evil game generated chars; you
can post bounties on other evil players; you can build ports; you can build 
planets; you can upgrade ports; or you can pay taxes.

     The surest method is prob to post a bounty on another evil player. 
You get +1 align for each 1000 creds posted. This is esp effective if you 
have found an evil player who is vulnerable -- you can go to SD, place the 
bounty, blow up the evil player, and return to collect the bounty you post- 
ed (plus any other bounties on that player). Your align goes up for posting  
the bounty in the first place and again for killing the evil player. 
 
     To gain neg align, you can kill good players; you can kill good game
generated chars; you can post a hit contract on a good player in the under-
ground; you can destroy starports; you can jettison colonists; or you can 
destroy planets. 

     The formula for the amt of align shift when killing other players or 
game generated chars is:

     Same align -- you get 1/4 their align subtracted from yours
     Different align -- you get 1/2 their align added to yours

     You can land on Terra (or any populated planet) with empty holds, take 
on a load of colonists, warp to the closest non FedSpace sector and jettis- 
on them for a shift of -1 align per hold of colonists jettisoned. In v1.03 
games, you can repeatedly quit the game, come back and do this again and 
gain neg align each time. In v1.03d games, you can only get neg align once 
per game day. 

     The fastest method is prob to post a hit contract on another good 
player. You get -4 align for every 1000 creds posted. This is esp effective 
if you have found a good player who is vulnerable -- you can go to SD, 
place a contract, blow up the good player, and return to collect the 
contract you posted (plus any other contracts on that player). Your align 
goes down for posting the contract in the first place and again for killing 
the good player.

    If you go to the underground and repeatedly attempt to enter and give 
the wrong password each time, eventually you'll be knocked unconcious and 
all creds you have stolen (deposit all creds in the galbank or leave them 
in a citadel first). Keep attempting to enter and you'll be killed and ret- 
urned to the BBS. The next day, when you log into the game, you'll be in a 
ScoMar, with 0 align and 0 xp. All personal and corp assets will be undist- 
urbed. If you are a CEO and have a CorFla, sell it first, get a ship with 
minimum holds or use your existing ship to "moth" an enemies planet and get 
killed in an <esc> pod.

     To gain xp, you can kill anyone; triple trade; create or blow up  
starports; create or "bust planets." For evil traders, the latter course
is prob the fastest and surest method. You buy a gtorp (25,000 creds) and 
an adet (15,000 creds), "take them outside and set them off." Which is to 
say that you use the gtorp right at SD and then land on the newly created 
planet and destroy it with the adet. You'll get 75xp for creating the plan- 
et and 50xp for destroying it, for a total of 125xp. The align change will 
be +10 for creating it and -50 for destroying it for a net change of -40. 
Total cost per iteration: 40,000 creds.

     It should be noted that once you're evil, planet creation shifts align 
by -10 instead of +10.

     Blowing up ports is an effective way to gain both xp and neg align. 
You'll get 50xp and -50 align for each port destroyed. I typically use 1000 
ftrs from an ISS, CorFla or a StaMas on ports with no shielding. I've enco- 
untered a few with "class one" shielding -- on these I use 2000 ftrs. I've 
not been zapped yet. Typically, I loose 'prox 55-80% of the ftrs when at- 
tacking "no shielded" ports, and from 40-75% when doing the "class one" 
shielded ports. 

     One way to gain xp, pos align and creds is to attack Ferrengi ftrs, 
assault traders or Ferrengal itself. I once found myself dab in the mid- 
dle of a cloud of Ferrengi ftrs. When the smoke cleared, I'd knocked down 
close on 5000 ftrs and was in my trusty <esc> pod, headed for SD, with more 
than enough pos align to get a federal commission and sufficient creds for 
an ISS. Wheee! Unfortunately, this was my first ISS and not only didn't I 
know how to drive one, I couldn't fight one effectively, and got bounced by 
several angry Ferrengi on a blood hunt on the way home. I finally got there 
in an <esc> pod. Had I had this file then, things would've gone quite dif- 
ferently. At any rate, as a means of gaining xp, align and creds, deliber- 
ately attacking Ferrengi isn't acceptable for many reasons, most having to 
do with the cost/benifit ratio. The bounties paid you for killing Ferrengi 
ftrs simply aren't enough to cover the replacement cost of the ftrs you 
expend. And there is always the chance that your attack won't succeed and 
YOU'LL be the one in an <esc> pod -- in which case, you'll have to add the 
repl cost of the ship you were in to the equation. However...

     One possible way to rapidly shift align and xp toward zero and make a 
lot of creds in the process is to run several CT hold bug loops. This 
involves buying a ColTra and nothing else (except possibly a cloak) and 
getting busted attempting to steal 365 holds of equip or 660 holds of 
organics at eight different ports. Each time you do this, you gain 32 
holds, but loose 32 align points. 8 x 32 = 256 + the original 40 holds
= 296 holds. Optimally, one will plot a "robbing course" involving eight 
ports with SD as the terminus. When you reach SD, you sell the ship to
the shipyards for a truly incredible number of creds. Apparantly, it's
that last "bust" (the last 32 holds) that really puts you over the top. 
NOTE: the holds gained in this way will disappear if you port normally,
or if you jettison cargo or are bounced by the duty Ferrengi. You CAN
sell them at the shipyards, however. Hmmm, lessee, an <esc> pod w/33
holds is worth..

     'prox 750,000 creds can be obtained in this manner.This "CT hold bug 
loop" is best utilized by at least two corp players who run the same loop 
and "cancel" each others busts. 

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
                         --[ 5xp SELL/STEAL ]--
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

     The sell/steal cycle is a procedure whereby you sell a load of equip 
to a port, steal it back, then sell it to them again. Repeat as necessary. 
<grin> For those players with sufficient xp to steal 150 or 70 holds at a 
time (3000xp and 1400xp respectively) the sell/steal cycle should prob be 
the major source of income since it offers the greatest return for the 
least effort. You use one turn to sell the equip, you use another to steal 
it back. The theoretical max selling price of 150 holds of equip is 25,000 
creds, but in reality, this is seldom seen. In my experience, about 22,500 
creds is more commonly obtained, making each move in an (evil) ISS worth 
'prox 11,250 creds.

     5xp (and 2xp) is the amount of xp gain given for getting the current 
price for the amt of equip you're selling spot on (100%) or nearly spot on 
(99.xx%). The next segment discusses ways to calculate this "best price," 
and obtain 5xp per sale.


-- Originally by Eugene Hung:

    All ports have a BEST price, which will get one 5 experience points if 
one bids that exact number. The best price is determined by the number of 
holds, if uneven, then the best price is usually a fraction, though I am 
not sure, since I always get holds in groups of 5 and 10, up to my maximum.  
Some ports have just ONE best price, those are the easy ones.

     Let us say one is in a StarMaster with 70 holds (the most useful ship 
for robbing and attacking). Get a psychic probe to help determine the best 
price. The first time, either accept the port's initial offer for no exp- 
erience, or bid a little higher than what they offer. The psy-probe will 
tell you how far you were off from the best price, then you steal the 70 
equipment back, and use your calculator to figure out the best price and 
nail it on the head for 5 exp. each time. However, most ports have more 
than one best price (which I will explain). You must use a different strat- 
egy for this, which is an extension of the strategy I just previously out- 
lined. 

     Ok, so you have a psychic probe, and have just found out ONE best 
price. Port again, and look carefully at the initial offer. If the offer is 
within 20 credits or so of the previous time (when you sold 70 equ to them 
at an absurdly low price), the best price is the same as last time, and so 
you should bid your calculated best price from last time. You may be off a 
credit or two, but eventually you'll figure out the best price through the 
probe. Now, let us hypothesize that inital offer is substantially different 
than last time (around 50-90 credits). That means the best price has MOVED. 
But, after lots of testing, I discovered that the best price can only MOVE 
up or down in multiples of a certain number, n. THAT NUMBER IS THE NUMBER 
OF YOUR HOLDS. Thus, going back to the example, the port's best price can 
fluctuate up or down multiples of 70. Knowing this, you look at the initial 
offer, see whether it went up or down from last time, estimate how many 
multiples of n it went up or down, and bid the best price plus 70 * roughly 
how much it went up or down. This is a little confusing, so I'll illust- 
rate:

     Let us say the port offers 9600 credits for 70 equ. You accept the 
offer, and figure out with your psy probe and calculator that the best 
offer was 10199. You steal the 70 equ back. Now you port again. If the 
offer still is around 9600(9580-9620), bid 10199. Voila, 5 exp. If you 
continue to steal-sell, and the offer varies very little, this is a one- 
price port. However, if the offer ever deviates by 50 or more, it is NOT a 
one-price port. So let us say the 2nd time, the port offer 9665(65 more 
than last time). Since you have 70 equ to sell, the port's best price must 
have gone UP by 70 credits(since the offer went up around 70 creds). So one 
bids 10269, or 10199 + 70. You steal, and port. The port offers 9510 
credits, or 90 below 9600. That's around 70 below the original best price, 
so you bid 10129, or 10199 -70. You steal, and port. The port now offers 
9650, around 50 above 9600, so the best price is probably 70 above this 
time, so it's 10269. You steal, and port. The offer is now 9385. That's 
roughly 210 credits(70 * 3) below, so you bid 10199 - 210, or 9989 credits.

     As you can see, ALL THE BEST PRICES ARE RELATED by the NUMBER OF 
HOLDS. This strategy also works in other ships, such as a Corp FlagShip 
with 85 (bid up or down multiples of 85 from the first figure).

     There is a flaw, though. One may not estimate the number correctly. In 
the previous example, what if the port offered 9635?  One could not tell 
whether the best price was the same, 10199, or 70 up, 10269. IN CASES OF 
DOUBT, OVERBID. What I mean by that is, bid the higher figure, in this 
case, 10269. If it WAS 10269, I get 5 exp. If it was 10199, the port will 
raise its bid by 20-21 creds(30% of # of holds), also raising the best 
price by 21 credits(30%). THE BEST PRICE CHANGES through overbids, by 30% 
of the difference between the bids, towards your offer. So, let us say we 
misestimated, and bid 10269. The port now offers 9655, which means we were 
over by 70, so we bid 10199 + 21(30% of 70), or 10220. Bingo! Realize, if 
one UNDERbids, the port will immediately accept the offer, and you will get 
only TWO exp, for being 99.31% off or so. So always choose the higher 
figure, when in doubt. And if you overshoot by 140, the port offer goes up 
by 40 or so, so the best offer goes up by 42 credits(30% of 140), and you 
should bid 98(140 -42) credits less to get the best price. 


-- Originally by Joel Downer:

 The basic steal-sell cycle works as follows: find a port that's selling 
equipment, and steal or buy 150 holds. (When you're using ports identified 
with EVILPAIR.COM, it's actually smarter to buy, rather than steal, your 
first load. Don't risk making a port angry with you when you may need to 
buy fuel ore there the same day!) 

Move to a port buying equipment -- preferably a port at 100%. Sell the 
equipment for the best price you can negotiate (see the section on the 
five-experience point trick, below). Now, port and *STEAL BACK THE EQUIP- 
MENT YOU JUST SOLD*. Sell the equipment again, steal it, and repeat the 
process until you're caught or out of turns. When you get caught, you'll 
lose 13 holds (out of 150) and 10% of your experience. Sometimes you'll be 
caught more often than you like, but if you steal a sensible amount (no 
more than one hold per 15 experience points), you'll typically make more 
than enough to compensate for the trouble. 

Important: When you get caught, write down the location and the date. You 
won't be able to port there for at least 14 days without getting busted 
again (even if you just port to *trade*, you may get nailed). After a 
couple of weeks, you can go back and work the ports again. 

The five experience-point cycle works as follows. The first time you dock 
at a port, accept the port's first offer for your equipment. Write down the 
offer, and using a calculator and the results from your psychic probe to 
calculate and round off the best price. (E.g.: first offer was 19,200; 
psychic probe reports 96.69% of best. Best price = 19,200 / .9669 = 
(int)19857.2 = 19857. 

Steal back the equipment and dock again. If the first offer is within half 
your number of holds (75 in a StarShip) of the first offer from last time 
(19125 - 19275) bid the number that you calculated last time (19857). If 
the offer is substantially higher or lower, adjust the best price by a 
multiple of your number of holds. If the offer is 19,325 (125 higher), bid 
150 higher; if the offer is 265 higher, bid 300 higher; if it's 700 higher, 
bid 750 higher. 

When in doubt, overbid. If the port refuses your initial offer, you can 
still often get the five experience points; just understand that the best 
price will *change*, by 30% of the difference between your offer and the 
original best price. 

Example: The port offers 19,278, and you bid 20,007. Oops! The port tries 
to barter, telling you that you guessed wrong -- evidently, the best price 
was still 19,857. Your error has changed the best price by 150 * .30, or 45 
credits, so the *new* best price should be 19,902. 

This approach will not work at every port. Some ports don't seem to have a 
best price; at others, the initial estimate with the psychic probe will 
actually be a few credits low or high. If you master this technique, 
though, you'll be able to get five experience points on *every sale* at 
many ports, and on *most sales* at many others. 

Price guidelines: *very good* equipment-buying ports will pay 22,000 - 
23,500 credits for 150 holds of equipment. Spending tons of turns looking 
for the perfect port can end up *wasting* money, though, because every turn 
in a StarShip is worth at least 9,000 credits. (What's more, tooling around 
in a StarShip when evil is *dangerous*!) I'm usually content to work a port 
that offers 20,000 for 150 holds, and I'll sometimes put up with ports pay- 
ing as little as 19,000. Ports that only offer 16,000 - 17,000, however, 
are taking things a little far... <grin> 

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=[ end part one ]=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
