This Month's Review: TradeWars 2002 V.2 Beta 7 (TW2002)
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Opening Comments:
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  Well, this is my first column for Door World Magazine, so bear
with me. It may take me a few issues to get into the "grove" of
things. Since this is my first article, let me tell you about
myself, just so you don't think some loony from Mars is writing
all this. I am a high-school student living in the Ottawa,
Canada, area. I'm turning 16 shortly, and I operate a single node
BBS in the area by the name of Myles' Games Extravaganza. As the
title of the BBS implies, I love door games, which is one of the
many reasons I've chosen to write for Door World. I have the most
online doors in my area, and don't run 10 different versions of
Tic-Tac-Toe like some SysOps do. My BBS has been operating for
approximately 2 years, and I've been calling local BBSs for
probably 5 years now. A few months ago, I was able to put
together numerous Inter-BBS Leagues, and these have done very
well in my opinion. (Interested? Write 1:163/114 (FidoNet) for
info on joining, or FREQ "116" for info on the leagues.) But
that's enough about me.. You've got an article to read! :)

  For my very first column, I've decided to review TradeWars
2002. I reviewed version 2 beta 7, which was released July 29th,
1995. I chose this game to review, because, frankly, this was the
very first door that I ever played, and is probably true among
many of the "seasoned" gamers. TradeWars 2002 is a space-trading
game. Your object is to make money through trading, buy weapons
and other goodies, and basically rule the galaxy. Planning and
diplomacy are key in getting ahead in this game.

SysOp's Point Of View:
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  The installation of TW2002 is relatively simple. Unzip the file
in a directory, and run an batch file that comes with the
package. One quirk of TW2002 is that is requires a line in your
autoexec.bat file. Not to worry, this line doesn't gobble up
nearly any memory and there's no extra switches to set on it.
Once installed, the "BigBang" program must be run to create your
universe. As of version 2, your universe can be configured in
some ways to your liking. The number of sectors, planets, ships
and more can all be set by you now. Of course, the larger you set
these settings, the longer it will take to complete your
universe. There's even a warning in the documentation warning
slower machines to have a couple of extra minutes handy. 
  Unfortunately, maintenance is NOT automatically run by TW2002,
and a special program must be run every night to keep things in
order.
  Once the game has been registered, a full featured editor
becomes available for use. Pretty much every aspect of the game
can be edited, including players, planets, and aliens. "Little"
things can also be edited in the game, such as how fast the
ferrengi and aliens move, the cloak fail rate, etc. Of course,
once the game has started, you wouldn't want to mess with these
settings.. you just might upset a user or two.. <G>
  The registration cost of this game is $20.00 U.S., inside or
outside the U.S.A. In my opinion, this is very reasonable as it
is quite a large and well developed game.

Player's Point Of View:
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  The entire game is based on one thing: trading. As a player,
you must visit ports scattered throughout your universe, buy
products cheap, and sell products for as much profit as possible.
If you can't master this skill, then don't expect to be
conquering the galaxy. A good strategy is to find 2 ports side by
side, and keep trucking products back and forth between the two,
until the ports stop buying those products from you. 
  Your choice of ship is very important. Most players will only
have 1 ship, but if you become rich and powerful, a variety of
ships might be better suited for you. Clearly, the Imperial
StarShip is the all around best ship, but you need to be a good
guy to use it. Besides ships such as this one which stand out,
even in price, the ship you choose is clearly your decision, and
depends on your character. Peaceful merchant? Try the CargoTran.
Vicious warlord? Take a Correlian Battleship. Keep in mind, the
ship you choose to pilot can make a difference in your success or
failure!!
  Now, no universe is complete without planets, and TW2002 lets
you own them too. (Curiously, stars are of no matter though..)
In my own personal experience, I've always marshaled a planet.
Planets can make products to sell, as well as fighters to defend
yourself and the planet. Of course, planets themselves don't do
any work, therefore, you need to import colonists from Terra
(Earth). This can be a rather tedious task to build up a descent
population, and the more cargo holds you have, the better. One
key point here is to balance trading, and colonist runs. Too much
trading, and you'll never get any people moved. Too much
transporting, and you'll be overrun by a more powerful adversary.
Different classes of planets are also now available. 7 in all,
although only about 4 are really useful. Mountainous tends to be
my personal favorite, while Earth-type planets are also pretty
good. Building a port in the sector is also a good idea. Class 3
ports I find are best as you can sell your organics and
equipment, and buy fuel ore (for your Qcannon, etc.) for your
planet. One key note to point out - Never do a planetary trading
agreement, as you get far less money then if you sell it from
your ship. It's well worth the time and effort to sell it
yourself!! Also, don't forget to invest in your newly founded
port, or you'll soon overrun the port's trading capacity.
  Teamwork. And important aspect in any game that incorporates
it. As the saying goes, Two heads are better then one, and in
this case, 5 is even better. Especially in games where there are
many, large teams, a corporation (as the game calls them) can be
essential to one's success. Most parts of the game can be shared
between cooperate members, and thus can be beneficial. Assigning
special tasks to each member can help each player. For instance,
making one person trade for money, another transporting
colonists, and a 3rd scouting for enemies can be very helpful to
all players, assuming they share their labor with each other. Of
course, watch out for back-stabbers, as any cooperate member can
steal most of the other member's possessions, and quit, thus
leaving the rest of the corp. in a rather vulnerable situation
(and pretty steamed too!). It's important to keep the lines of
communication open between team members. If your not
communicating, organizing, and planning, then really, what's the
point of having a team??
  Now, all things being equal, the game does get a bit
repetitive, and can be frustrating at times, especially in large
universes (3000+ sectors). The trading can get tedious, and your
opponents predictable. Fortunately, a company by the name of
SimSoft has taken the liberty of programming a few "spices" for
the game. Most of these add-ons give TW2002 a distinctive Star
Trek taste, with things like the BORG, "Q", and the Crystalline
Entity. One of the best ones was for version 1.03d called
TWMissons (not by SimSoft). This program periodically gave
players tasks to fulfill for money and experience, adding a bit of
flare to the game. I am unaware of whether a copy of this program
has been made for this version.. 

Scores:
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(All scores based on 10 - 10 being the best.)

DOCUMENTATION: 10
  In depth player and SysOp manuals describe nearly everything
you need to know. Notably, there is a listing of error level codes
in the SysOp documentation explaining what these errors mean.
Very helpful!!

INTERFACE: 8
  The interface is pretty straight forward, colorful and
simplistic. Beginners should not find much difficulty finding
what they want (once they know WHAT they want), and there are
ANSIs here and there to add a bit of vigor.

FUN FACTOR: 6
  Repetition mainly makes this score lower, but it mostly depends
on the type of game your playing, and whom your playing it with.
Hard settings with players that never play makes this game very
boring, while challenging to moderate settings with persistent
players can give you a run for your money.

UNIQUENESS: 8
  As this was my very first door game, this is a little hard to
mark. With the exception of the Star Trek motif, to idea is
pretty original. Many "clones" have emerged from TW2002 over the
years, which may lead you to think this rating should be lower,
but as this was the very first one, the score is upped a bit.

LONGTERM PLAYABILITY: 4
  The repetition in this game makes it hard to play forever. Most
will get tired of the constant trading necessary to achieve
victory. All but the most dedicated of players will probably
washout after around 3 full games, and move onto something else.
Of course, it also depends on your level of competition as well..

OVERALL SCORE: 7.2
  A solid game, excelling especially in documentation, makes the
score rise. However, repetition hurts it's score. A few quirks
could be worked out here and there, but overall, I feel this is a
great game, and would recommend it to anyone with a descent
amount of patience.

Closing Remarks:
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  TradeWars 2002 is truly a classic in my opinion. I grew into
the world of BBS gaming with it, and played it for many years. My
first couple of games were exceptional, with fierce competition
all around.. (I lost..) :( As the years passed by, the
competition died off, and it is usually difficult to find a game
with a great set of players now a days. Most have moved on to
more current hits such as LORD and USURPER. However, despite all
the new doors arriving daily, TW2002 will never die. As long as
people like me remember the "good old days", and people like
yourself give there ongoing support, it shall reign forever as
one of the great BBS door games.

Stay tuned! Next month, I review: LAND OF DEVASTATION (L.O.D.)
Don't miss it!

Miscellaneous:
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This door was tested by the writer using the following:
Maximus V.3.00 (BBS)              DORINFO1.DEF (Dropfile)
X00 V.1.53a (Fossil)              Front Door V.2.12 (Front End)
486DX4/100Mhz (Computer Type)     8Megs RAM (614k free conv. mem)
Qemm V.7.52 (Memory Manager)      

Comments? Suggestions? Want to compliment the author on an
astonishing article, or complain about a piece of garbage he
wrote? Or would you just like to request him to review a special
door game? Well then, here's how to contact him:

InterNet Address: LBUNBURY@OTTAWA.NET
FidoNet Address: 1:163/114
Myles' Games Extraviganza (BBS): (613) 825-9016

And don't forget to join up with BRE League 116! If you're a
SysOp, just write me and I'll sign you up! If you're a user, why
not bother some local SysOps and convince them to join? All BBSs
are welcome, just let me know you want to join! 

Until next month, this is Myles Bunbury, saying TTYL!

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