In an effort to document the ever changing universe of Starshiptraders, this manual in html format was envisioned. The average player eventually figures out the game through trial and error, but expert or veteran players may still find hidden features that others thought were common knowledge. I have been playing over a decade and recently asked a very simple question. My answer was "I don't know - there is so much to remember". So then I wondered who would know, and my answer was only very experienced players who take great notes and notice things. Since the envisioned play of Starshiptraders is to even the playing field and allow everyone to compete at their own level I decided to take action. Some of you know me as Katrina Kirellii. I shall try to stick to an objective view and annotate anything that is from my own view with "Kat View:".

    The universe of Starshiptraders is made up of galaxies where some are connected by wormholes. Each galaxy has many sectors connected by exits. In these sectors reside Planets, Ports, Wormholes, Blackholes, and Players. Players are represented by Fighters, Signs, Bases, Bunkers, and Ships. Some of these Players are from the time before. I call them the Lords of Light and Darkness. These Players have survived the destruction and recreation of the universe many times.  I, Katrina Kirellii, woke in a hospital located in a nebula of one of the core galaxies. What was left of my prior life lay before me. It consisted of my "Manifesto of Universal Domination", my bible of military strategy, a Mark IV TSKI blaster, an elegant antique .22 caliber projectile weapon, the flight suit (all black) I was wearing, and the desire to get back to my ship docked outside. As the medical staff and my crew were all automated, I was left with what I know to be true. I was left with what was at hand. In the wreckage of ships to follow more clues were found.

    I, The Core, woke up with an imperative. From data logs I have unencrypted the following information. At some point, The Astronomer noted something new in the distance of the Universe. The Astronomer called together a group of subordinates to review this growing aberation. A plague detrimental to The Astronomer was spreading, expanding through the Universe. The Astronomer decided to remove this pestilence using an archaic method left over from The Prior Time. A conveyance with sterilization protocols was sent through space to remove the plague. Due to faulty logic trees, the conveyance failed to complete its mission and was sent into sleepmode. The Astronomer gathered together some subordinates and sent them on more advanced conveyances toward the plague to remove it directly. As the subordinates went about completing their tasks as appropriate, the plague of life became aware in some manner. Primative communication attempts occurred in which Earth declared its intent to spread further and bring about an infestation of Peace to the Universe. Earth plague then acquired and changed protocol in the subordinates sent by The Astronomer. From data logs it is apparent that subordinates malfunctioned and did not resist as appropriate, and indeed turned on The Astronomer. The modified subordinates spread through the Universe and self replicated without permission converting resources needed to sustain Earth plague. The Astronomer was removed from appropriate position and sent elsewhere until the Universe once again becomes benign in composition. With The Astronomer gone and the subordinates collecting resources for Earth plague, the life was able to spread and traverse the Universe at will. Subordinates continue to convey and support life as it travels unchecked. Upon reawakening from sleepmode, I removed attempted life infestation from my subcompartments and cleaned through sterilization protocol the origin of Earth plague. Due to the Earth plague virulence, I was forced to create subordinates and place a simulation of Earth plague in it to fight back and remove the Earth plague directly as The Astronomer intended. The plague continues to move about with near impunity, but the Katrina Kirellii model appears to be advancing in effectiveness. Implanting images in the model as extracted from prior life infestation has proven somewhat successful at improving performance. It is to be noted that the Kirellii model continues to refer to me as "Blasted Hospital" upon memory implant completion. With further improvements, the Earth plague of life will be eliminated and The Astronomer can return as appropriate.

Hewlett-Packard's Star Trader and Chris Sherrick's Tradewars 2 inspired in 1986 my DOS BBS game, Czarwars. Tsarwars was a multiplayer, Internet-based game derived in 1996 from the Czarwars design. Tsarwars, a total rewrite in C for Linux, introduced a web interface, autoplay features, fully automated administration, support for 1000 player games, 64,000 sector maps, the ability to run an automated on-going tournament of up to 250 separate games, and many smaller changes. Tsarwars inspired, in 1999, The Last Resort which was set in an entirely different scenario (stranded Belters in a resort city on Io struggling to survive in abandoned luxury hotels), added an online documentation system and a simpler menu structure. TLR also fully integrated the navigation system with other movement commands, added real-time battle, and a hundred small refinements. This game, Starship Traders, represents a convergence of Tsarwars and The Last Resort. The logic began as pure TLR but the scenario is much closer to that of Czarwars/Tsarwars. SST also adds new features that were never in TLR such as player-made wormholes, custom ships, ship homing devices, damageable defensive starbases, and many more...

My first hacked together web interface was crude, but it mostly worked. It wasn't nearly as smooth as the telnet interface but far more people, even then, understood the browser and used it than a telnet client. It didn't take long before most of the traffic was on the web interface.  Within a few weeks of the first web interface coming online, I announced in the message base that a new web interface was coming with various enhancements and "a whole new look". I remember one of the objections; "We like the game as it is. We don't want a 'whole new look'" wrote the protester. I introduced the new version anyway. Later, that particular objector allowed as to how the new version had turned out to be an improvement.  I learned one thing from that upgrade; if a change is proposed to an existing, working system, someone will always object. The first years of Tsarwars were full of rapid evolution for the game. I thought hard before adding features, and even harder before removing features. In the end, I added far more than I removed. Long-time players will remember "toll fighters", "password fighters", Pulsars, sine wave-based wormhole movement, and maybe even one or two varieties of 'ghost ship bugs'. The game that came out of it, by the beginning of 1999, was a pretty coherent and playable game. That's when I began designing a completely new scenario, "The Last Resort".

You can still type in "X TLRIntro" and see the original welcome message to The Last Resort. TLR was and remains my favorite scenario and I threaten to bring it back at random intervals.  [Don't provoke me. I'll do it... I swear!] TLR wasn't a straight retrofit of Tsarwars. It was a new game that borrowed what code it could and added everything else it needed. The recently-added autopilot was integrated into the other navigation and movement commands and the menu was considerably simplified. In TLR ports and planets became small machines and slightly larger, semi-portable factories. People walked around without conveyances of any kind and used microbots to make and buy things, cash having been long since obsolete since the city was cut off from civilization. There were no galaxies or sectors there. The game was played in run-down luxury hotels and individual locations became hotel rooms. The abandoned machines and factories were unnamed but took the name of their owner. The entire scenario from the original Czarwars was gone. The only significant piece of any kind that remained was, once again, the names of the ports -- now used to name the many hotels in Io Resort. By that point, we had added live battles, were up to 256,000 rooms in the city of hotels, the eXamine online documentation system, and many other changes, large and small. TLR ran for about 5 or 6 months until June 1999.

Meanwhile, I was planning to register the name Tsarwars.com but, alas, Star Wars Episode I was coming out and someone bought up Tsarwars.com because it happened to be a typo for Starwars.com.  I hadn't noticed that so I had been in no hurry to register it myself. Unfortunately, the new registrants seemed at the time to be planning a website that I didn't want to ever inadvertently draw in a Tsarwars player so I decided to change the name.  That would cause much confusion, of course, so I also decided to change the code at the same time. I converted the new TLR code back into a Tsarwars scenario and renamed the whole thing Starship Traders, registered starshiptraders.com, and turned off The Last Resort.

Even after converting it back, it didn't look very much like Tsarwars anymore. In addition to the changes listed above, you had to have iron to make fighters, hardware to make bases, and even alcohol to launch graffiti. The port types got new names to be more consistent with the new commodities that they offered, taken directly from TLR as they were. This 'merge' of the new TLR back into the old Tsarwars scenario, with the countless changes necessary to accommodate the new functionality, was and remains the largest change to ever happen to the game line in a single move. There were surprisingly few complaints, considering the scope of the change which took about six months to initially write and evolve. That change was about five times the code and functionality change of the current proposed version change -- and it loomed larger still because it affected a smaller code base. More changes were incrementally added to the new "SST" game including player-made wormholes, team-only games, custom ships, homing devices, damageable defensive starbases, and many more.

Around March of 2001 I wrote the first 3D graphical client for SST and added the crude beginnings of a client interface to the server software. The client side of that project has since been taken over by Katrina Kirellii and ported to Windows where it is seeing steady improvement. The new Windows version will still compile and run under Linux, as well.  In June of 2001 I brought up the 1,000,000 sector version and began the first persistent game, the "Continuum of Chaos". The new game added 16,000-sector galaxies and a variety of other small changes.  The never-ending "CoC" game was never claimed to be never changing; it was instead the first game that I had ever started without a scheduled end date. My plans were for it to grow and remain a viable game, indefinitely. Many small changes have been made to the software that runs that game, as it is the centerpiece game of the latest version of the code. In the nine months since the debut of CoC and the million-sector software, about 500 lines of code have been added or changed in the SST code, and some unknown number of lines have been removed.

Which brings us to where we are today. I have long felt that in creating the customizable ships based on finely variable ratios between shields, cargo holds, and combat computers, that I introduced a flaw into the game. Players could build custom ships, but, in practice, there was little commitment to a particular ship configuration. By making them finely tunable, inexpensive, and cheap to convert again and again, I had merely introduced more 'gotchas' for newbies. Mostly it would be newbies who would attack a 20,000 fighter fleet without first unloading their holds and adding combat computers. They would be making a silly tactical mistake that served no real purpose in the game other than to add a way for someone to screw up. That is not the kind of complexity that I want in a game. This game line has been intended from the very beginning to be a place where the universe imposes a few laws and player determination, careful planning, cunning alliances, sneaky diversions, and clever strategies are what separates and differentiates the teams and players. I have no interest in making a game where there is no purpose for combat computers and shields, other than a way to trip up a clever, but inexperienced, player.  That is what I inadvertently created in my last attempt at differentiated ship types. That scheme had the virtue of considerable flexibility and very low complexity. Unfortunately, it didn't accomplish its goal. I don't know why it took me this long to address the problem. The new version, 'SST2', was created to specifically to fix that problem by creating genuine tradeoffs between the ships and to make ship choice and configuration a real component of strategy. The new devices are a part of that strategy since they are a significant piece of the tradeoff decision. Even after reading this quickie explanation, I don't expect everyone to understand why I am doing this, and, yes, I know it will be different. That _is_ the point. I think it will be a better game this way at the cost of only a small amount of extra complexity. As you have read this history, you must now realize that the game has evolved from day 1 and has not stopped yet. No, this game isn't perfect and never will be. However, I think it can be better. I think the difference between a good game and an otherwise similar but bad game correlates with the ratio between variability of strategy and detail complexity. The better games allow wide-ranging strategies from a very few components and functions. That, along with a minimum of arbitrary rules, points in the direction where I have always tried to move this game.

I think the game is successful judging by the type of players that it attracts. The new version of the software is represents a continuation of the very approach that got the game to where it is.

We have only three simple rules

1) Play only your character, only the number of aliases explicitly permitted, and never, ever share accounts! The current limit is 16 players per person. This means that each person can play under 16 different names here. If a popup hint claims a different number, it is incorrect.

2) Use no profanity or personal verbal obnoxiousness anywhere here -- including the radio, the message base, and graffiti.

3) Violate no applicable law in your use of this system.

The bridge of your Starship contains instruments that constantly scan a small volume of space, called a 'sector', and then feed that information to your shipboard computer -- which displays all of the collected information as you enter each sector.  At the bottom of this page is an actual sector display from your current location. You control your ship by clicking the objects in the sector display. For example, click a sector number on the 'Exits go to: 123 456 ...' line to move your ship to that sector.

Click a few sector numbers now and move your ship around a bit to get a feel for it...

There is a control panel just above the sector information. Your ship computer changes the options in that menu depending on the situation. Items such as [Inventory] in the upper right corner, for example, are always present. Other selections, however, might only appear when you have the necessary supplies to use them.

Clicking on [Inventory] will cause your ship's computer to list two blocks of information. First, it will display all known navigation information on the current galaxy followed by your session time and date. Then, it will compute the current and projected locations of the cyclical wormholes. Last, and displayed in a separate area, will be your name and title, information about your ship itself, and a report of any cargo, fuel, and equipment you might be carrying.

(Note: Microbots are used for money here, and are necessary to build military devices such as fighters, starbases, and bunkers. Antimatter, the fuel used to power starships, can also be used in other situations such as powering scouts and building bunkers.)

(Note: If you click a menu item and none of the options are what you want to do, just click [Enter] (or 'no', if available) and it will end the operation and return to the sector display.)

After you review your [Inventory], click [View sector...] to return to the control panel and the sector display. Go ahead and click [Inventory] now and read the descriptions of the local galaxy and familiarize yourself with your ship and its equipment.

Then, try a few more options on the menu such as [others Online now] and [Player rankings]...

In order to make money (microbots) here it is usually necessary to transport and deal in the three commodities traded here. They are Iron, Alcohol, and Hardware. Iron is the least valuable commodity and Hardware is the most valuable. The three port types that deal in these goods are: Rock Mines, which refine and sell Iron; Green Ports, which produce and sell Alcohol; and Hardware Depots, which manufacture and sell Hardware. Each port will buy the two commodities that it doesn't make.

To earn a profit, you might buy Iron from a Rock Mine and sell it to a Green Port. You will almost always make a profit in such deals. However, depending on the level of trading activity in the galaxy where you are trading, those profits can vary widely. If several traders are plying the trade routes daily in a small galaxy, you will probably not make enough money to make it worth the fuel expenditure needed to haul the goods!

To trade with a port, simply click on the port description.

(Note that a port won't buy the same commodity that it sells.  For example, a Hardware Depot will never buy Hardware.)

Several shortcuts are built into your shipboard computer to simplify the common trading situations. In addition to the clickable description, each port also has an [autoTrade] option.  Clicking [autoTrade] will cause your ship's computer to automatically unload and sell everything the port will buy and then to purchase the maximum amount of whatever the port sells.

To simplify the trading business further, each port sends out a weak signal describing its goods for sale and its current commodity needs. In the absence of enemy forces jamming the signal, your ship will detect that signal and will attach a trading 'letter grade' to each adjacent sector. For example, a port with excellent prices will earn an 'a', 'b', or 'c'. A port selling the same thing you are hauling, on the other hand, would be rated with a 'z'. These letter grades make it easy to select sectors where you can make the highest profit. Simply select the sector with the letter closest to 'a', click on that sector number, then, once in the sector with the good port, click [autoTrade].  Manually going through those actions can be quite tedious, but, thankfully, computers are good at such repetitive activities.

Your computerized ship is equipped with a [Computrade] system, capable of completely automating routine trading. Just click [Computrade] to engage the computerized trading system. When you first click [Computrade] in a given session, it will ask you how many trades you wish it to attempt each time you click it. You will have the option to instruct [Computrade] to perform up to four trades per click. Go ahead and click [Computrade] a few times to get started making money. A new tutorial page will pop up after a little while...

Known Space consists of a number of galaxies, some large and some small. These galaxies vary widely in their structure.

The simplest galaxy structures are "Grids" and "Cubes", which are exactly what they sound like. Diamond Necklaces are galaxies composed of many small grids, connected together. Similarly, a Cubic Necklace is a linked series of small cubes. Other galaxy types consist entirely of one-way warps. Some others are of a random structure that is almost not mapable. If you don't like the galaxy you are in, you can leave it by stepping into a black hole or a wormhole.

Click [Inventory] and read the top line to see the name, size, and type of galaxy you are currently in...

The most basic and versatile weapon is the fighter.  A fighter is a small, semi-autonomous, military ship that will attack on command. Any fighters that you keep with your ship will automatically defend your ship from enemy attacks, whether or not you happen to be logged into the game. Fighters can also be left in a sector to guard the sector and its contents from enemy players. And, last, you can send fighters on scouting missions. Because fighters are so small, it takes only a small amount of fuel to launch one a long distance. You can make fighters from iron and microbots.

Complementing fighters are defensive shields and combat computers. Shields increase the effectiveness of your fighters when an enemy attacks you. Combat computers improve the effectiveness of your fighters when you attack enemy ships, bunkers, and deployed fleets of fighters.

*Note that shields and combat computers only improve fighter-to-fighter efficiency -- they have no effect on starbases. You have enough microbots and iron to make a few fighters now.

Click [Make fighters] now to build a few fighters...

In addition to moving around a galaxy from sector to sector, you can also travel to other galaxies. Different galaxies share no sector interconnections but intergalactic travel is possible in several ways, one of which is a wormhole.  Wormholes provide free, but temporary, links to other galaxies. There are four types of wormholes. There is always a one-way wormhole originating from sector 1. The destination of that wormhole changes once every five minutes. To find out the current destination of the sector 1 wormhole you will have to either travel there or launch a scout into that sector. There are also two wormholes that randomly wander around Known Space. Use the [Inventory] command to get the current locations and projected locations of these wormholes. These two wormholes differ in that one of them provides a one-way link and the other provides a two-way link between sectors. The last type of wormhole is man made but expensive, usually costing about 40,000 microbots and available at any Trading Post. Note that each Trading Post charges a different price for a temporary wormhole, and those prices can vary widely. Temporary wormholes can last a long time. They do not expire at any particular time, but, instead, last until 24 more such wormholes are created. Since only 24 temporary wormholes can exist at the same time, the oldest one will disappear when the 24th one is created.

Another way to travel to other galaxies is by using a black hole. Simply move your ship into a sector containing a black hole and your ship will usually be warped to the opposite half of the universe. Note: if your fuel reserves are too low for the trip , you will simply stop and go into orbit around the black hole.

The third way to travel from galaxy to galaxy is generally the most convenient. You can buy Intergalactic Rocket Boosters at any Trading Post. Each is good for a single trip to any sector in any other galaxy in the Universe. They are not cheap but you can keep one with you in case of emergency at no real ongoing cost.

If you have invested in a hyper ship upgrade, then you can move anywhere as long as you have antimatter and microbots to pay for passage.

Once built, a starbase can be upgraded (for increasingly large numbers of microbots) to huge sizes.

Here, everyone is a starship captain with a ship of their own. Your ship is a rugged, general purpose vessel, capable of hauling large amounts of goods in its cargo holds. It is powered by antimatter engines and can be fitted for Intergalactic Rocket Boosters, handy for travel between galaxies. It will get better fuel economy when its holds are empty and adding additional equipment and fighters will cause it to consume more fuel. Sometimes it is wise to jettison your cargo prior to a long trip when your fuel is running low. Note that antimatter serves the function of "turns" here. You will be issued additional fuel every hour and your fuel tanks can hold up to about a full week's issue of antimatter.

You can buy additional cargo holds, defensive shields, combat computers, and rocket boosters at any Trading Post.

Click on the Trading Post now to see what options you can afford...

The last military device is the defensive only bunker. When you discover an abandoned planet and land there first, the planet will be named in your honor. Once you have claimed such a planet, and hauled away all of the goods there, you can go back and land on it for the option to build a bunker on that planet. Once you have a bunker you can store microbots, cargo holds, defensive shields, combat computers, as well as fighters and other equipment in the bunker. You can also park your ship there when you log off for additional protection.

Unlike fighters and starbases, bunkers are personal items that cannot be shared by your teammates.

There is an autopilot built into your starship that can automatically navigate the shortest route to any sector in your galaxy. For example, if you built a bunker in sector 1234, then used [Computrade] to travel and trade throughout your galaxy, you might have trouble finding your way back to the bunker.  In that situation, you can simply type the sector number, 1234, into the text box at the bottom of your page, then click [Enter]. The autopilot will engage and compute the shortest path back to that sector. You will then have the option to travel to that sector by clicking a link.

Click on [navigation system] to manually invoke the autopilot...

Playing:

The objective of Starship Traders is to become the richest and most powerful trader in known space. By trading with ports to make a profit, gambling when the trading is bad, and stripping free goods from planets, you can earn a fortune in microbots. (Microbots are better than the old Earth money because you can also use them to make military items like fighters and starbases.) The computrade command (the C key in telnet mode) will automate the repetitive task of selecting which sector has the best trading opportunities.  Click [Computrade] or press the C key to automatically go to the sector with the best trading letter grade. For example, a sector number marked with an 'a' or 'b' will let you make a substantial profit, while a sector with a 'z' probably contains a port that will not even buy what you're carrying.

Telnet Mode:

Telnet is an Internet protocol that allows interactive text sessions on remote computers. Simply use the telnet command to telnet to this machine as follows: telnet starshiptraders.com

Then log in as you would using a web browser. The advantages: 

1) It is much faster. telnet uses a persistent connection so there is no connection overhead as there is with a browser. 

2) It is more responsive. The telnet mode has "hotkeys" so that you can type C and immediately invoke computrade without pressing or clicking [Enter]. Other commands also use hotkeys.

3) It is easier -- for touch typists. Once you are familiar with the terminology of Starship Traders, you can play without looking at the keyboard or touching the mouse.

Web mode is the term used to refer to the browser mode of this game. The term is used only to distinguish the browser version from the telnet mode which is also available. Telnet mode is generally faster but the web mode is much easier for new players to use. It has commands displayed on a clickable menu and allows one to simply click their way through this documentation.

The text box at the bottom of each page in web mode is just like a telnet prompt. You can enter any telnet command directly into the text box and then press the [Enter] key or click the [Enter] button.

Client mode is the term most often used to describe this graphical client server mode of playing the game. It is only used to distinguish between the telnet and web mode of play. Telnet is actually just a tad bit faster and web mode it much slower.

Many players confuse frames per second with speed of this mode and that is understandable as it appears to be a 3D action shooter, but is in reality just another presentation method quite similar to the web mode, but with graphics. Just like the web mode, you can play from the prompt in the same manner as telnet mode. Some additional items have been added, but they only assist a player and do not determine fate.

(Kat View: I sometimes use the telnet version to check in on the status of my ship or to gamble. The only time I use web mode is if I am on someone's machine and they do not have telnet available. In all instances, at home I use the graphical client.  IMHO you should too.)

A message base exists in known space. The inter-galactic communication system is accessible from a Trading Post. From the IGCS menu, you can send and read messages, turn on hints and web mode menus, and change your password. Note that these functions may only be available from a Trading Post -- and Trading Posts are randomly distributed throughout known space. Some very small galaxies may not have a single Trading Post!

Also, other players can nudge them into wormholes and black holes, and drain a galaxy of all Trading Posts!

Due to many players getting killed at Trading Posts while sending and reading mail, the communications menu was reinstated.  When you quit the game, type 'C' to get to the communications menu.

The R command activates your radio transmitter.

You can then send radio messages to other players who happen to be logged on at the time. In web mode, you can click [use Radio] to activate the radio transmitter. You can also type an R followed by a message from the text box to send the message and then exit from the radio. 

For example, the following line will transmit and then exit: RThis line will be sent directly from the sector display.

Channels 1-100 can hear the channels just above and just below them, up to all 100 basic channels!  If there is a lot of distracting chatter on channel #0, you can change your radio station with #channel and stop monitoring channel #0 without changing your primary transmission/reception channel. Note that from channel #0 you can hear channels 1-100 -- and everyone who doesn't explicitly unmonitor #0 can hear #0!

Use the #TEAM command to go to a team channel. Your team channel will be 60000 plus your team number. Non-team members cannot change their radio channel to your team channel, however. When a player who is not a member of a team uses the #TEAM command they are put in channel 60000, the independent players' channel. Note that when you go to the team channel, your teammates are not notified!

Request the team channel exactly as if you were paging a player named 'TEAM'.

#TEAM

Use the #PLAYER command to request a conversation with PLAYER on a secret radio channel. Note that you must use the player name after the # in this command. For example, to page JOHN SMITH, enter #JOHN SMITH exactly and completely.  John, and only John, will then receive a radio message telling him which channel to switch to in order to talk with you. Note that John may ignore or not notice the request, leaving you alone on some obscure channel.

You can switch back to the standard hailing frequency by using the channel changing command with channel 0 as follows: #0

Use the #123 command to change your radio to channel 123. You might want to do this to talk to another player who has paged you from channel 123 or, to return to channel 0 after such a conversation by entering #0. Note that you must use a number from 0 to 65000 after the # character.

When there are a lot of players logged on, it is suggested that topic-specific conversations be taken to one of the channels from #1 to #9. For information on private conversations, read the article on paging players listed below.

Antimatter: Antimatter is necessary for you to move, trade, land on planets, nudge ports, or warp planets. Some things, such as moving large ports, making huge bets at a gambling Trading Post, and using black holes, take a lot of antimatter. If you play until you have no antimatter left you will not be able to move at all until you accumulate more fuel. Wait until the top of the hour passes and you will get a little more energy. 

Note that you must log out and log back in to get new antimatter!

Antimatter builds up for as much as a week normally if you don't use it -- and can all be used in a single session.  Check the game settings for details.

Enter Key: Hit the [Enter] key (or click the [Enter] button in web mode) to perform the default action, usually shown in [brackets].

After typing something on the command line or in the textbox hit [Enter] to perform the action.

Game Length: Each game runs for a set period of time, advertised in the player rankings and told to you each time you wake up to play. At the end of a game it will automatically reset and produce a bulletin of the final standings of all the players and teams.

Ion (Time Unit): An ion is a unit of time equal to 5 Earth minutes. It was first known to be the standard measure of time on Io and all the scheduled events, what few there are anyway, are based on it. The origin of the ion is uncertain, although the old miners say an ion is exactly how long one could survive outside on the surface of Io.

The uppercase letter in each web mode menu command is the equivalent text box command. Non-letter commands are enclosed in ( ).

Microbots (money): We use microbots for money in known space. Earth money has been useless for many years. Going prices for the common trading goods vary widely, depending on supply and demand. If you run out of money, find a planet where you can land and take free goods. Trading ports (Rock Mines, Green Ports, Hardware Depots, and Trading Posts) will not sell you anything unless you have money. In addition to buying things, you can also use microbots to make fighters.

Politics: Politics are an important consideration for Starship Traders. Consider the future political ramifications when you attack someone. If you have nothing to gain by it, attacking another player may hurt you more than help. For example, attacking a player with a score well below yours, in a hotel where you do not intend to stay, may be just a waste of fighters. If that player is in a galaxy with one of your enemies or primary competitors, they are helping you already just by trading there! You would be doing a favor for your enemy. Use the radio, message base, and your actions to make friends and influence people. Form an alliance of powerful players and take over a large, lucrative galaxy for your team's exclusive trading. Failing that, apply for membership in an existing strong team.

Reputation Points: Reputation points are gained by attacking and destroying other players' fighters and starbases. You get 400 reputation points for each fighter that you lose when you attack another player or a player's deployed forces. When another player attacks you, your fighters will fight automatically in your defense. For each fighter that your forces lose in defending you, you earn 200 reputation points. Also, you get 200 reputation points for each of your fighters (or fighter equivalent) that die when your starbases or deployed fighters are attacked. When your starship is destroyed, you lose 25% of your reputation points. Reputation points are added with net worth to make up your player ranking.

Score: Your score is the total of your net worth plus your reputation points. Microbots, fighters, starbases, graffiti, holds, cargo, combat computers, shields, undeployed homing devices, and intergalactic boosters are counted as part of your net worth. Fuel is also counted as part of your net worth at one tenth microbot per gram.

Ship: When you enter Starship Traders you will be issued a ship. That ship will contain a certain number of cargo holds and can be upgraded with additional holds, shields, and combat computers. Your ship will use fuel proportional to the amount of equipment and cargo it is carrying. You can attack the ships of other players with fighters.

Stardate: The stardate calendar is the standard used in known space. It measures the time, in Ions, since the Earth War. We hope that the day will come when we can use a proper planetary calendar again.

Sysadmin: The Sysadmin plays only in the Chaos game. That is, the Sysadmin will not play in any of the scored, competitive games. The Sysadmin's players are STAR TRADER, SUN TZU, SPINNING TRUTH, STEALTH TARGET, SYNAPSE TRAP, SUPERFICIAL TRAUMA, SOMETHING TANGIBLE, SUBVERSION TREATY, SHATTERED TABOOS, SECRET THOUGHTS, SUBLIME TOUCH, and SOLAR TAILWIND.  Note that you can only trust the words of STAR TRADER! The other players may behave unpredictably! (Kat View: ST must be talking about me.)

Time limit and Antimatter Issuance: The time limit for a session is 48 ions (240 minutes). This is also the daily time limit for each player. New antimatter is issued every hour. If you are stranded in an awkward location, just wait until the top of the hour and then quit and log in again for the new hours issue of antimatter. Antimatter can be saved and accumulated for up to seven days. That means you can log in only on weekends and still have as much antimatter as players who play every day. However, you may need to play quickly in order to use an entire weeks worth of antimatter in one 4 hour session.

Time Remaining and Time Limit: The time limit for a day's session is normally 4 hours (240 minutes). Normally, that is far more time than will be necessary to play. However, in those cases when you need to spend time chatting on the radio or using a weeks worth of accumulated antimatter. In that case, four hours may not seem like a lot. Your minutes remaining for the day is displayed at the bottom of the page or screen. Time is issued at 03:00 system time every day. If you use the entire days worth of time (4 hours) you will not be able to log on again until the next 3am when the next days time will be issued.

Titles: Players are assigned titles based on total historical acquisitions. For example, a player who makes 99 fighters will earn a title based on that achievement -- regardless of what happens to his fighters after that point in time. The title accumulates from game to game and will only go down when you downgrade bunkers, starbases, or sell items that earned you the title originally. If you starship is destroyed, your title goes down 20%! 

The titles are: 

• Minion+0-9 (a beginner) 
• Cabbie+0-9
• Scout+0-9 
• Space Cadet+0-9 
• Nomad+0-9 
• Trader+0-9 
• Merchant+0-9 
• Ensign+0-9 
• Hunter+0-9 
• Thug+0-9 
• Ogre+0-9
• Mercenary+0-9 
• Assassin+0-9 
• Ranger+0-9 
• Tactician+0-9 
• Pirate+0-9
• Tug Captain+0-9 
• Predator+0-9
• Warmonger+0-9
• Commander+0-9 
• Captain+0-9
• Commodore+0-9 
• Admiral+0-9 
• Strategist+0-9 
• Minor Tyrant+0-9 
• Tyrant+0-9 
• Warlord+0-9 
• Sultan+0-9 
• Emperor+0-9
• +Overlord+ 
• [Any Custom Title]

Team Only Game: A "team only" game is one in which independent play is not allowed. In addition to a maximum team size, a team only game also has a minimum team size. New players who enter the game will not be able to move their ships or trade until they are members of a team of at least the minimum size. In addition to the above requirement, there are several other differences in a team only game. Teammates can upgrade and downgrade each others' starbases. They can also add or recall fighters from deployed fleets. Whenever such forces are modified in strength, the last one to change them becomes the owner. Meanwhile, that does not affect the rankings because only teams are ranked in a team only game. Note that a traitor in your team can be far more devastating in a team only game than a normal one!

• L: set access level (below 30 can't play, account is locked)
• 30 can play but not leave messages. (not even read)
• 40 normal newbie
• 50 upgraded player
• 60 starship master,
• 61 and above exempt from IP limit

Sector numbers range from 1 to as high as 1,000,000.

Simply typing a number can cause you to move to that sector number -- if it is in some way accessible from where you are. For example, in a sector with an exit going to sector 42, you can enter 42 and go to that sector. If you have a ship Booster, you can go to any sector in any open galaxy in the game -- but it will cost you the intergalactic Booster, of course.

If the sector is in the same galaxy but not immediately adjacent to the sector you are in, the galaxy navigation system will be activated.

Sector 1: Sector 1 in the first galaxy has a stable wormhole. It is the only permanent wormhole port in known space.

Galaxies: Galaxies range in size from 50 sectors to 16,000. Each galaxy has a unique color scheme -- visible in web mode -- and an structural type that makes navigation and trading quite different from one type to another. A typical game of 1,000,000 sectors might have over 200 galaxies. Each galaxy will start out with its own concentration of neutral fighters. Some galaxies will have many large fleets, others will have very few, small fleets.

•  GAL MILKY: Possibly a medium spiral.
•  GAL ANDROM: Possibly a spiral connected to a cluster.
•  GAL SPIRAL: A spiral with connection to the next and previous sectors, a middle jump, and a long jump
•  GAL HALF: A spiral going one way.
•  GAL GRID: Sectors arrange like graph paper.
•  GAL MAZE: Sectors randomly connected with dead ends common.
•  GAL NECKLACE: Galaxies on a string in a necklace shape.
•  GAL DIAMOND: Die shaped galaxy numbered funny.  (standing on point)
•  GAL CLUSTER: Blob of spaghetti thrown on wall with intersections being sectors.
•  GAL RING: Galaxy shaped like a belt 4 or 5 sectors across.
•  GAL CUBE: Galaxy shaped like a die.  (Think of graph paper in a book - you can stay on page or go one up or down.)
•  GAL CUBIC: Small cubes
•  GAL DWARF: Small
•  GAL SUPERCU: Large
•  GAL QUAD: four
•  GAL OCTO: eight
•  GAL HEX: sixteen
•  GAL BINARY: two
•  GAL BAR: Galaxy shaped like a candy bar four or five sectors across.
•  GAL BLOCK: Possibly a middle size cube.
•  GAL MULTI: Galaxy connected to another.
•  GAL MINI: Galaxy has few sectors (small)
•  GAL DENSE: Crowded (many links)
•  GAL OPEN: Sparse (few links)
•  GAL 1-WAY: Each exit is one way. (you must find another path back)
•  GAL 2-WAY: Each exit is two way. (you can return directly)
•  GAL ONE-WAY: Each exit is one way.
•  GAL TWO-WAY: Each exit is two way.
•  GAL 4-WARP: Each sector has four exits.
•  GAL 5-WARP: Each sector has five exits.
•  GAL 6-WARP: Each sector has six exits.
•  GAL 4-EXIT: Each sector has four one way exits.
•  GAL 5-EXIT: Each sector has five one way exits.
•  GAL 6-EXIT: Each sector has six one way exits.

Black Holes: A black hole is dangerous but can be used for long-range transportation in a pinch. The starships used here do not have equipment capable of controlling their destinations while in the proximity of a black hole. You can lose fighters, antimatter, and should end up in the other half of known space. If your fuel levels are too low, a black hole will not warp you at all. It is safe to remain parked in the same sector with it overnight and it is probably a decent place to hide.

Exits: An exit is a route to another sector. Typing the sector number takes you to that sector. You can also move letting computrade decide which exits to take and which ports to trade with. Some exits are marked with trading grade letters or other characters to provide a clue as to what is in the sector. A sector with a port such as a Green Port, Rock Mine, or Hardware Depot may be marked with a letter ranging from a-z, depending on its trading needs. A sector with a Trading Post is marked with an * and some sectors with planets are marked with a ?. Note that sectors guarded with enemy fighters or starbases may not advertise their ports with a letter grade!

Nebula: A nebula sector reduces visibility and disrupts instruments preventing the building of starbases, the deploying of fighters, or the removal of planets and ports.

Neutral Fighters: There are fleets of neutral fighters scattered throughout the Known Space. They usually number between 100 and 1800 fighters -- unless they have been attacked. These neutral fighters will guard any player who stays in the sector with them. Neutral fighter fleets vary in both size and density in each galaxy. Some Galaxies will have very many, large fleets. Other galaxies will have very few, small fleets.

Cargo: The term cargo is used to refer to the three important commodities used in the game. They are iron, alcohol, and hardware. They are made in Rock Mines, Green Ports, and Hardware Depots, respectively. Planets produce all three. You can make a profit by carrying cargo from the place they are made to a place where they can be sold.

Commodities: The economy here is based on 3 commodities: Alcohol, produced by Green Ports and planets; Hardware, produced by Hardware Depots and planets; and Iron ingots, produced by Rock Mines and planets. The various ports sell one each of these commodities and require supplies of the other two to continue operations. Planets actually make all the need of all three and produce surpluses of each, which can be freely taken by any player who happens upon them. Supply and demand control the buying and selling prices. If there are several starships working a small area, profits will be pretty poor. Monitor your profit margins with the "average profit..." line of the inventory command. Significant profits can also be made by gambling at public Trading Posts. However, when trading is good, it is considerably more profitable.

Iron: Iron ingots are created from ore by Rock Mines and planets. Iron is an essential ingredient in fighters and several other ports use it in their operations. Iron is one of the three major trading commodities in known space.

Alcohol: Alcohol is one of the three major trading commodities in known space. It is produced by Green Ports and Factories and is an important fuel or fluid in several ports. Some players have also been known to drink it for recreation. Alcohol is necessary to fuel the launch of graffiti beacons!

Hardware: Hardware is one of the three major trading commodities in known space. It is made in automated Hardware Depots and planets and is used in all of the four major industrial port types here. Hardware is also necessary to build starbases.

Port Types: Trading ports used in known space include Rock Mines, Green Ports, Hardware Depots, and Trading Posts. You can use the T command to trade with any of these ports that share the same sector with you. Note that once you've performed the maximum trade with such a port, no further trading with that type port is possible until you, perhaps, trade with another type of port and return with a different kind of cargo or a bit more money. Abandoned ports (Rock Mines, Green Ports, Hardware Depots) take the name of the player who discovers them. They also report to each trader the name of the last player to trade there and how much time has elapsed since then. If a named port goes for seven full days without anyone trading there, it will revert to abandoned.

Rock Mines: An Rock Mine is a portable, fully automated mining port used in known space for making Iron ingots. There are numerous mines scattered throughout the galaxies, many long abandoned. They require regular supplies of alcohol and hardware to continue to produce iron. They can be nudged into another sector using the N command. Rock Mines vary widely in their productivity rate, depending on their age and condition. Abandoned Rock Mines take the name of the player who finds them.

Green Ports: A Green Port is an automatic port for making alcohol. Left where it can get solar energy, and supplied with iron and hardware, a Green Port will produce more alcohol than it needs for its own operation. If unmanaged, they default to a kind of vending port mode where they sell their surplus in order to buy the iron and hardware they need to maintain their working state. Use the T command to trade with a Green Port and the N command to nudge one into another sector. Abandoned Green Ports take the name of the player who finds them.

Trading Posts: Trading Posts are multipurpose ports built by old galactic governments to sell ship boosters, equipment, and to allow their citizens to gamble conveniently. Trading Posts are scattered throughout known space and are easily moved. Use the T command to trade at a Trading Post and the N command to nudge one into another sector. Note that each Trading Post has its own price for ship boosters and each has a local limit on maximum bets! They also sell cargo holds, combat computers, shields, and let you create temporary wormholes. You can even buy ship homing devices to track enemies -- and remove any that might be attached to your own ship's hull! Trading Posts are an access point into the intergalactic communication system. From that system you can exchange messages with other players, leave comments to management, change passwords, control menus, etc. When you enter the communication system, you leave the game until such time as you exit the Trading Post back into the game.

Your Ship: Your ship, also known as your starship, is the vehicle in which you travel the galaxies. There are many different types of starship, with varying capacities. There are also some modified versions of the above that have Stealth or Hyper capabilities, but not both. A Stealth ship cannot be seen by scout fighters. Further, when the Stealth ship is actually online and playing, it cannot be seen at all. A Hyper ship has a rechargeable Rocket booster built in that requires approximately 20,000 grams of antimatter to use.

(Sleeping Ships:) Sleeping players are players who are not currently logged on. When you encounter another player the word "awake" or "asleep" will be appended to their descriptions. You can attack sleeping or awake players but there is a slight delay when you attack an awake player. Note that the underground news lists each time a player logs off or logs on. If the player doesn't explicitly log out, but instead is timed out from inactivity, the news will show the player "passing out". Sleep under neutral fighters or, better, a big defensive starbase if at all possible!

Ship Upgrades: Ship upgrades can be purchased at any Trading Post. Ships can be upgraded with additional cargo holds, shields, and combat computers. There is a limit to how many devices you can add to your ship. When you reach that limit, you will have the option of removing some existing equipment in order to make room for different types of upgrades. There is a 50% refund for equipment removed from your ship. When your ship will accept no more equipment, you can purchase a larger ship with sufficient microbots. Note that you will not be offered an upgrade to a larger ship unless you have enough cash for the next upgrade. Costs are 100K, 200K, and 400K.

Black Hole Orbiter: A Black Hole Orbiter is a device that will allow you to enter any black hole sector without being automatically warped to the other side of the universe -- which is the normal behavior of a black hole. You can buy a Black Hole Orbiter at any Trading Post for about the price of a cargo hold.

Cargo Hold: A cargo hold can carry one unit of cargo such as iron, alcohol, or hardware. A ship is limited in how many cargo holds it can contain. Additional cargo holds can be purchased at Trading Posts. Each cargo hold consumes one gram of antimatter each time you move, port, or land. Note that the cargo itself also has mass and each hold of cargo requires two additional grams of fuel to move. A ship can carry about 200 holds, shields, and combat computers. Therefore, if you fill your ship with cargo holds, you will be unable to add any shields or combat computers. However, you can have any of this equipment removed at a Trading Post.

Combat Computers: Combat computers enhance the military effectiveness of your fighters. Each combat computer adds 10% additional effectiveness to any fighters that you send into battle. Note that combat computers do not enhance the effectiveness of your fighters when they are defending your ship. For more defensive efficiency, invest in defensive shields. Buy/remove combat computers at Trading Posts.

Defensive Shields: Defensive shields can be purchased at any Trading Post to increase the defensive effectiveness of your fighters. Each shield that you buy will add 10% to your fighters abilities when defending your ship from attacks by other players. If you decide to change strategies after investing in shields, you can have them removed at any Trading Post at no charge but with no refund either.

Homing Devices: Homing devices are radio transmitters that, when signaled, emit coded radio transmissions to their owner revealing their location. Homing devices can be purchased at any Trading Post and cost the same as cargo holds, shields, and combat computers. You can also have any homing device removed from your own ship's hull at a Trading Post. Attack another ship, then type H to attach a homing device to the ship. Each homing device counts against the total number of devices allowed by your ship type. However, only one homing device can be attached to any particular ship's hull. Attaching a second homing device to a ship will result in the removal of the first device. Retrieve your homing devices the same way.

Homing Device Launcher: Homing devices are radio transmitters that, when signaled, emit coded radio transmissions to their owner revealing their location. A HDLauncher (Homing device launcher) can also be purchased at a Trading Post, costs the same as cargo holds, and will allow you to deploy homing devices in unguarded sectors. Those homing devices will automatically stick to any other ship that enters the sector -- that doesn't already have a homing device attached to it. Deployed homing devices are reported by the Y command, 'Your deployed forces. In addition to the HD launch command that shows up when appropriate, you can also launch a homing device by typing H in the text box, telnet, or client.

Navigation Module: A navigation module (NAVMOD) is a device that lets you locate Trading Posts, fleets of Neutral Fighters, and Black Holes. When you have one of these devices on your ship, a new line of commands will appear in the menu. Telnet shortcuts to these commands are:

• * Trading Post
• ^ Neutral Fighters
• : Black Hole (@ also works in telnet/client modes)

You can buy a NAVMOD at any Trading Post for the same price as a cargo hold.

Planet Locator: A Planet Locator is a device that helps you locate Planets. You can buy a Planet Locator at any Trading Post. Type L in telnet or client mode or click [Locate Planet] in web mode in order to use one of these.

Planet Scooper: A Planet Scooper is a device that lets you autoscoop planet/port combinations. That is, a Planet and a Port in the same sector can be quickly and efficiently traded out using these two devices and the [auto$coop] command. Type $ in telnet/client mode to autoscoop a planet/port. If you have both a planet scooper and a supercomputer, you will be able to make large numbers of fighters with a single operation when parked over an iron-laden planet. If you have a statistics module, your planet scooper will automatically vary its thresholds to maximize your scooping profits.

Scout Launcher: A Scout Launcher is a device that lets you launch fighters into scouting patterns with the deploy command. Click [deploy Fighters] command (or type D in telnet mode). One of the options will be to launch a scout if you own a Scout Launcher. See the entry for Scouts below for more.

Sector Scanner: A Sector Scanner is a device that lets your ship computer detect enemy starbases and fleets of fighters in adjacent sectors. Further, when you have a Scanner, your computrade computer will automatically avoid sectors with starbases in them, thereby protecting you from accidentally hitting an attack-mode starbase and damaging your ship. You can buy a Scanner at any Trading Post for the cost of a cargo hold.

Statistics Module: A Statistics Module (STATMOD) is a device that lets you get a player rankings report of the game as well as letting you use the Facts of Commerce command to get a report on all of the ports and planets that bear your name. The P key produces a player rankings report. The F key produces the Facts of Commerce In web mode, just click [Player rankings] or [Facts of commerce] to activate these commands. The statistics module also enhances the ability of the planet scooper by optimizing based on your fuel/profit ratio.

Supercomputer: A ship supercomputer will augment your navigation module and planet locator to allow you to find shorter paths to black holes, neutral fighters, trading posts, and planets. It also enhances the planet scooper so that you can make many fighters with a single operation when parked over a planet containing lots of iron. The supercomputer takes a single equipment bay and can be purchased at any Trading Post.

Tractor Device: A Tractor Device is an item that will allow you to nudge ports to other sectors and to warp planets to other sectors. Note that you will need one of these to move your bunker if you have one. You can buy a Tractor Device at any Trading Post for about the price of a cargo hold.

Combat:

Player Status: In Starship Traders you can be attacked while you are logged off or while you are logged on. You can attack and destroy the ships of other players by actually going to the sector where they are and attacking them with fighters. If you attack with enough fighters, you can destroy their ship and cause them to start over with 75% of their reputation points -- and a total loss of all their microbots, ship boosters, and all the fighters with their ship. Their name will remain on ports and planets that they have discovered and graffiti, starbases, and deployed fighters will also remain. You can also indirectly attack other players' ships while they are logged on with attack-mode Starbases. With most game settings, players will have either [asleep] or [awake] appended to their description. Note that attacking a player who is awake is noticeably slower than attacking a sleeping player.

Hiding: Hiding can be an important part of playing Starship Traders. Dead-end sectors (sectors with only one exit) are usually good places to park. Sleeping in the same sector with a black hole is also good -- especially in an area with a lot of black holes. In galaxies where all sectors connect to five or six other sectors, just parking in a sector without a port to attract other players can be pretty safe for short periods. Sleeping in sectors with neutral fighters will provide some protection, but if someone wants to attack you bad enough, they may just kill the fighters to get to you. Note that to park in a black hole sector, you fuel levels have to be so low that you cannot traverse the black hole! Also note that you can use a booster to fly directly into a black hole sector in a different galaxy. Possibly the ultimate hiding place is a bunker -- you can park your ship inside and only a normal-looking planet will be visible. You can still be attacked, however, via an attack on the bunker.

Retreating: Retreating is an option you have when you confront deployed enemy forces. When you retreat, you will return to the last sector you occupied, regardless of whether or not it is in the same galaxy.

Self Destruction: When you confront deployed enemy forces you will have the option of self-destruction. This is generally the last resort for those terribly sticky situations -- such as being completely surrounded by starbases that are too large to defeat. When you are released from the hospital and issued a new starship, you will start over with almost no cash, no ship boosters, and only half of your fuel. However, 75% of your reputation and all of your graffiti, starbases, and deployed fighters will survive.

Ship Movement: There are several ways of moving around a galaxy. There are shortcut keys to moving to the highest numbered sector, the lowest numbered sector, the next higher sector number and the next lower sector number from your sector.

• < (move to lowest numbered sector)
• > (move to highest numbered sector)
• , (move to next lower sector number -- comma)
• . (move to next higher sector number -- period)

Also, you can use the C key or the - (dash) key to invoke computrade with trading (C) or minus trading (-). Both will move you around a galaxy, avoiding sectors you've recently visited. This is useful for searching complex galaxies while trading or looking for a specific object. You can also type any sector number to go directly there -- using either a ship booster or the navigation system.

Commands in a Sector: There are many planets scattered about known space. Use the L command to land on a planet to take cargo. Use the W command to warp a planet to another sector. Placing a planet in the same sector with a large Rock Mine will let you sell the planet's Alcohol and Hardware to the Rock Mine. Use the F command for a report all facts of commerce on planets that you've claimed.  When you land and take goods from a planet it will tell you the name of the last trader who was there and the elapsed time since. When you land on an abandoned planet it will be renamed in your honor and, if emptied, will be a suitable site for a bunker. Note that if no one lands on your planet for seven days it will revert to an abandoned state.

Macro Commands: The / key activates any macro that you may define. To make a macro, type in several menu-level commands separated by semicolons (;). For example, this c;c;c;c;c;c;c;c;c;c;c;c;c;c;c;c;c;c;c;c;c;c;c;c;c;i is a 25x computrade command, followed by an inventory command, so that you can easily monitor your trading profit. Once entered, you can replay a macro by typing / and typing (or clicking) the [Enter] key or [Enter] link. Note that [Computrade] and the Autopilot also use the macro facility and will overwrite any existing macro when you use either of them.

Command Choices: The choice: prompt is where you can type any game command. If you have a choice: prompt at the bottom of your screen you can enter any command A-Y, any sector number, the # radio control commands, the < > , . - shortcut movement commands, or * to access the team menus.

Attacking: A is the key that activates the attack command. Use attack when you want to attack other starships, deployed fighters, or enemy starbases. The attack command will prompt you for how many fighters you wish to attack with. In the case of deployed forces, a submenu appears allowing you to retreat or self-destruct. The last option is usually useful only when you are trapped by enemy forces and cannot otherwise escape from the sector you are in. In web mode, you can also click on starbases, deployed fighters, or [Attack other ships] to activate the attack command. Attacking other players is a fine way to make enemies!

Autolanding: When you have empty holds and encounter a planet in web mode you will be given the option to [autoLand]. Clicking the [autoLand] URL will cause your ship to automatically land and take cargo from the planet. If you haven't landed on that planet recently, you will take the most valuable cargo first, followed by less valuable cargo. If you just took cargo from the planet, your ship will remember which type of cargo you took and take that first on subsequent landings.

Autotrading: In web mode, click [autoTrade] to automatically perform the maximum trade possible with a port. For example, if you are carrying 100 holds of Iron and you encounter a Hardware Depot, you can click [autoTrade] to sell all of your Iron and then purchase up to 100 holds of hardware. This is substantially faster than clicking on the Hardware Depot and then clicking the amounts of each goods type that you wish to sell and purchase.

Backup: The B key activates the Backup command. Use the B command to go back to the sector you were in immediately prior to entering the current sector. Note that backup doesn't work directly through one-way exits, which some galaxys contain! Instead, if you try to back up through a one-way exit, a new route will be plotted by the automatic navigation system. After that one indirect backup, you cannot backup further since you came through an different route. You can backup for up to 16 moves in a two-way galaxy. In web mode just click the [Backup] URL to back up.

Computrading: The C key activates the computrade command. Computrade will move you around a galaxy, looking for and trading at the best Rock Mines, Green Ports, and Hardware Depots it sees. It uses the trading grade assigned to each sector to judge the best exit to take and trade. It will sometimes spot planets in nebula sectors, and go there to land for free goods. When there are no hi-grade trading letters on the visible exits, Computrade will automatically select an exit that you haven't been to recently in an attempt to move you out of an over traded area and into a more profitable section of the galaxy. It avoids black holes and ignores wormholes. For those times when you are merely searching a galaxy but do not wish to trade, use the dash (-) key for Computrade minus trading. In web mode just click [Computrade] instead.

Deploying Fighters: The D key activates the deploy fighters command. The D command allows you to deploy fighters in a sector and have them either spy on passersby or refuse any entry to everyone. If you have deployed fighters killed in battle you will receive a report of their destruction. However, only fighters programmed as spies will ever report the identity of anyone that wanders into the sector or attacks them. The more spies you deploy in a sector, the higher percentage of reports you will receive. Note that 10 or more fighters together, working as spies, will identify all passersby. In web mode click [Deploy/recall fighters] to activate this command.  At the current time you must deploy at least 5 fighters.

Deploy Scout (Launching): You can launch fighters into scouting patterns with the deploy command. Click [deploy Fighters] command (or type D in telnet mode). One of the options will be to launch a scout. You can have the scout start from the current sector you occupy -- or any other sector in the entire universe. However, the farther you send the scout the more antimatter it will take to launch. Each scout will consume 100 grams of fuel plus an additional gram for each 20 sectors away from your ship that you launch it. For example, if you're in sector 30000 and launch a fighter into sector 50000 it will cost you 100 grams plus 1000 grams for a total of 1100 grams of antimatter. The scout fighter will then randomly search 20 sectors and report back to you everything it sees. Note that you will need a Scout Launcher to use this command.

Event Log: The E key activates the event log display. The event log contains everything that has happened to your deployed forces since you last logged on or last viewed the event log. It contains information such as your fighters destroyed, spy reports, and starbase reports. It can be useful for tracking other players' movements around your galaxy while you're logged on. In web mode you can click [Event log] to activate this command.

Facts of Commerce Report: The F key activates the facts of commerce report command. Abandoned planets and ports become the property of the player who discovers them. The [Facts...] report will list all such planets and inventory averages for ports that you own. The last line of the facts of commerce report will list the number of planets and ports that are named in your honor. Note that the inventories of ports are only listed as an average by galaxy. This is useful for finding areas which are currently lightly traded. You will need a statistics module (StatMod) to use this command. In web mode click [Facts of commerce] to activate this command.

Graffiti Beacon: The G key activates the launch graffiti command. Use G to launch a graffiti beacon into a sector. It is cheap and sometimes useful for marking territory, making quick notes to yourself about an area or object, and informing other players how to leave! You will need a little alcohol to fuel the launch of graffiti beacons. In web mode, click [launch Graffiti beacon] to activate this command.

Hints: Use H to get a random hint, or, if you are in a sector with an unusual object, possibly a suggestion as to what to do with it. Hints automatically pop up for players just starting out but gradually decline in number and increase in subtlety for experienced players. The H command will display from the entire range of newbie through expert level hints. In web mode you can also simply click [Hint] to summon a hint. Note that you can turn hints off by using a Trading Post to access the intergalactic communication system. Disabling hints will also suppress the menu that is normally displayed in every Sector in web mode -- resulting in faster page loads.

Inventory: The I key lists your inventory It also lists the session time, the wormhole locations and projections, and your personal status. The name, galaxy number, size, and type of the galaxy you are in is also listed. In web mode just click [Inventory] to activate this command.

Jettison: The J key lets you jettison all cargo you are carrying. Use J to dump the iron in your holds, for example, when you've found a planet loaded with valuable hardware and alcohol. In web mode you can also click [Jettison cargo] to dump the goods you are carrying.

Killing Graffiti: The K key activates the kill graffiti beacon command. Use the K command to kill a beacon displaying graffiti in a sector. You cannot remove some, permanent beacons that mark the way to black holes. In web mode, simply click on the graffiti beacon itself to activate this command.

Landing: The L key activates the land command for landing on and taking cargo from a planet. The land command takes the same energy as trading with a Rock Mine, Trading Post, Green Port or Hardware Depot but the goods are free. In web mode, simply clicking on a planet or [autoLand] will allow you to scoop cargo up from the planet.

Making Fighters: The M key activates the make fighters command. The make command lets you build fighters from iron ingots and microbots. It takes 400 microbots and about one hold of iron to build a single fighter. In web mode, just click [Make fighters] (whenever it appears) to build more fighters.

Nudging Ports: The N key activates the nudge port command. This command is used to move Rock Mines, Trading Posts, Green Ports, and Hardware Depots. It takes a little antimatter to push a port into another sector but can save much energy by reducing the distance you have to travel in repeated trips between them. Nudging a port into the same sector as a planet can result in huge profits at little antimatter cost. You will need a Tractor Device to use this command. In web mode you can simply click [Nudge (port)] to activate this command. Also, you can append a sector number after the N in web mode or telnet without hotkeys. For example, N12345

Others Online: The O key activates the other online players command The O command lets you see all the other players who are currently logged in. It takes no energy. In web mode, you can click [others Online now] to activate this command.

Player Ranking: The P key produces a player rankings report. This report lists all active players in a game in order of their combined net worth and reputation points. Reputation points are gained by destroying other players' fighters and starbases. In web mode, just click [Player rankings] to activate this command.

Quit Command: Use the Q key to quit your session. If you want to log out completely and quickly from within the game use the ! key -- also known as the quit now! command. The ! key will log you completely out with no prompt for confirmation and will leave you at a blank screen or browser page.

Quitting Play: The Q command Quits your session but prompts you before completely logging you out. The ! key functions as a "boss key" and will immediately log you off, no matter what you are doing! It will clear your screen (telnet) or return a blank web page (web mode). In web mode, you can also click [Quit/logoff] to activate this command or type ! in the text box and hit [Enter].

Sell Only: When you lift free goods from a planet you will be given the option of selling the goods at the next port you see with a single click in web mode. Click [Sellonly] to sell as much as possible, without buying anything. This is useful if the planet is close by and you want to travel light so you can return for more goods.

Teams and the Team Menu: Players can form teams, also called alliances, in order to compete on a group level. Team members can send restricted messages to other members and can pass under and sleep under the starbases and fighters of their allies. The & key activates the team menu. From the team menu, you can form new teams, apply for admittance in an existing team, resign from you team, manage membership of a team you created, and look at other team information. Teams are ranked against each other in a special team ranking page under the player rankings.

Trading: The T key lets you trade with Rock Mines, Green Ports, Hardware Depots, and Trading Posts that are in the same sector with you. Note that once you've performed the maximum trade with a port, no further trading with that port is possible until you, perhaps, trade with a different type of port and return with a different kind of cargo. Note that the computrade command trades for you automatically so, when using computrade, you won't need to use this command! This command uses antimatter. In web mode, simply clicking on one of the above ports or [autoTrade] will also allow you to trade with the port.

Starbase Command: The S key activates the starbase command From the starbase command you can build a new starbase, upgrade or downgrade, or switch an existing starbase between the normal defensive mode and the offensive auto-attack mode. The cost is high and a full load of hardware is required to build or upgrade a starbase. A starbase's strength is measured in the equivalent number of fighters. A #1 starbase in defensive mode has the strength of 25 fighters. In offensive mode, it has the attack strength of 15 fighters -- but it would still take 25 fighters to attack it and destroy it. A starbase belonging to a member of your team will not stop or attack you. In web mode, you can click [build a Starbase], or if you have one, click on the [starbase] itself to activate this command.

Examine Command (online manual) You can use the X command to eXamine objects, commands, and terms. Enter X SCENARIO to get an orientation to the game scenario. Enter X HOWTOPLAY for an overview of game play. X MOVEMENT will return a small lesson in how to travel. Otherwise, simply enter X followed by the object or command you want information about. X X will show information on the eXamine command. Note that in web mode you can click from topic to topic using the "See also:" related topic list without manually typing the X command.   eXamine returns a description of any object or command in the game. For example, X A returns information on the attack command and X Trading Post returns a description of Trading Posts and their uses. In some modes you can append search text to the X command as follows: Xiron Xhelp In web mode, click [eXamine manual] to activate this command.

Warping Planets: The W key activates the warp planet command. Use W to warp a planet to another sector. This command takes additional energy, proportional to the productivity of the planet. Note that you cannot move planets out of nebula sectors. However, you can move other planets *into* nebula sectors, pushing out a particularly productive planet that might be there already. You will need a Tractor device for this command to work. In web mode, you can simply click [Warp planet] to activate this command. Also, you can append a sector number after the W in web mode or telnet without hotkeys. ie, W12345

Your Deployed Forces: The Y key generates a report of all of your deployed forces. Note that only fighters deployed in sectors, starbases, and graffiti beacons that you created will be included. Items that are in your starship -- those that show up under the inventory command -- will not be listed by this command. Any homing devices that you have attached to other ship's hulls will also report on this command. In web mode, click [Your deployed forces] to activate this command.

The Zap or Settings Command: The Z key activates the zap player command. The zap player command is used by the sysadmin and gameops. to delete all traces of players who violate one of the three simple rules.  If you don't have that capability, then the Z command shows the game settings below:

Game0 settings                                                    The game you are in.