Games - TradeWars 2002

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	Games - TradeWars 2002

TradeWars 2002, also known as Trade Wars 2002 or TW2002, is a space game developed in the 1990s by Gary Martin for play as a BBS door game. The player is a trader in a galaxy with a fixed set of other players (either human or computer). The players seek to gain control of a limited set and amount of resources (specifically fuel ore, organics, and equipment) and travel through sectors of the galaxy trading them for money or undervalued resources. Players use their wealth to upgrade their spaceship with better weapons and defenses and fight for control of planets and starbases.

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

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

The TradeWars 2002 universe

A TW2002 galaxy consists of at least 1,000 interconnected sectors. These sectors can contain planets, ports, ships, mines, fighters, and beacons. In addition to human traders, three types of computer-generated characters inhabit the galaxy:

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

Planets

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

Level 1 - Treasury (stores credits at 2% daily interest)
Level 2 - Combat Control Computer (deploys fighters at 3:1 combat odds)
Level 3 - Quasar cannon
(blasts invaders)
Level 4 - TransWarp drive
(moves planet from sector to sector)
Level 5 - Shields (deploys shields at 20:1 combat odds)
Level 6 - Interdictor generator (prevents invaders from fleeing the sector)

There are seven different types of planets:

Class M (Earth type)
Class K (Desert wasteland)
Class O (Oceanic)
Class L (Mountainous)
Class C (Glacial)
Class H (Volcanic)
Class U (Vaporous/Gaseous)

Starports

Ports buy and sell products, making them the primary source of income for most traders. The most important port is the Stardock, which houses the Federation Shipyards, the Stellar Hardware Emporium, and other crucial establishments. There are also three ports - Sol, Rylos, and Alpha Centauri - that specialize in selling fighters, shields, and cargo holds.

Ships

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

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