''Trade Wars'' is a series of
video game
Video games, also known as computer games, are electronic games that involves interaction with a user interface or input device such as a joystick, controller, keyboard, or motion sensing device to generate visual feedback. This fee ...
s dating back to 1984.
The video games are inspired by ''
Hunt the Wumpus'', the board game ''
Risk
In simple terms, risk is the possibility of something bad happening. Risk involves uncertainty about the effects/implications of an activity with respect to something that humans value (such as health, well-being, wealth, property or the environme ...
'', and the original space trader game ''
Star Trader''.
History
The first game with the title, "Trade Wars" by Chris Sherrick, was developed in
BASIC
BASIC (Beginners' All-purpose Symbolic Instruction Code) is a family of general-purpose, high-level programming languages designed for ease of use. The original version was created by John G. Kemeny and Thomas E. Kurtz at Dartmouth College ...
for the
TRS-80
The TRS-80 Micro Computer System (TRS-80, later renamed the Model I to distinguish it from successors) is a desktop microcomputer launched in 1977 and sold by Tandy Corporation through their Radio Shack stores. The name is an abbreviation of '' ...
, and immediately ported to the
IBM PC
The IBM Personal Computer (model 5150, commonly known as the IBM PC) is the first microcomputer released in the IBM PC model line and the basis for the IBM PC compatible de facto standard. Released on August 12, 1981, it was created by a team ...
for the Nochange BBS system in 1984.
[History of Trade Wars Variants](_blank)
/ref> Sherrick conceived his game as a cross between Dave Kaufman's BASIC program '' Star Trader'' 1974, the board game ''Risk
In simple terms, risk is the possibility of something bad happening. Risk involves uncertainty about the effects/implications of an activity with respect to something that humans value (such as health, well-being, wealth, property or the environme ...
'', and Gregory Yob's '' Hunt the Wumpus'' 1972.
Because Sherrick released his earliest versions with a free license, many variations of the game appeared over the next few years, including ''TWV - Galactic Armageddon'', '' Yankee Trader'', and ''TW2'' (a development of the original by John Morris who took over from Chris Sherrick).
The most definitive version was the ''TradeWars 2002'' series (Gary Martin, John Pritchett, 1986). ''TW2002'' was designed originally as a WWIV
WWIV was a popular brand of bulletin board system software from the late 1980s through the mid-1990s. The modifiable source code allowed a sysop to customize the main BBS program for their particular needs and aesthetics. WWIV also allowed tens ...
chain
A chain is a serial assembly of connected pieces, called links, typically made of metal, with an overall character similar to that of a rope in that it is flexible and curved in compression but linear, rigid, and load-bearing in tension. A c ...
(a way of calling external programs which was a part of Turbo Pascal
Turbo Pascal is a software development system that includes a compiler and an integrated development environment (IDE) for the Pascal (programming language), Pascal programming language running on CP/M, CP/M-86, and DOS. It was originally develo ...
3 - and one that often required the source code
In computing, source code, or simply code, is any collection of code, with or without comments, written using a human-readable programming language, usually as plain text. The source code of a program is specially designed to facilitate the wo ...
to work, which is why so many people were able to get copies) in September 1986 by a sysop with the handle
A handle is a part of, or attachment to, an object that allows it to be grasped and manipulated by hand. The design of each type of handle involves substantial ergonomic issues, even where these are dealt with intuitively or by following tra ...
"Lord Darkseid" (his BBS was called Apokolips, and he was apparently a DC Comics
DC Comics, Inc. (doing business as DC) is an American comic book publisher and the flagship unit of DC Entertainment, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery.
DC Comics is one of the largest and oldest American comic book companies, with thei ...
fan). Its original name was ''TW2 for WWIV'' - and it shared no source code with the Sherrick version, which was written in Basic. Another WWIV sysop - B0b "OM" Mosley - made additional modifications, including porting the code to Turbo Pascal 4.x specifications, numerous bug fix
A patch is a set of changes to a computer program or its supporting data designed to update, fix, or improve it. This includes fixing security vulnerabilities and other bugs, with such patches usually being called bugfixes or bug fixes. Patches ...
es, a series of cosmetic changes to allow the game to reflect a ''Star Trek
''Star Trek'' is an American science fiction media franchise created by Gene Roddenberry, which began with the eponymous 1960s television series and quickly became a worldwide pop-culture phenomenon. The franchise has expanded into vari ...
'' theme, and development of a map editor that allowed for both larger maps and the ability to randomly generate new maps as well as reinitialize the game's databases to reflect the new map data. High school student Dylan Tynan ("Sorcerer" and "Alex and Droogs"), worked with Mosley during the rewrite, serving as the primary tester, as well as contributing source fixes and additional features. After two years of development, Mosley released the source code for the game and editor, which allowed fellow WWIV sysop Gary Martin to make his own changes to the included source code. Gary's first version was '' Trade Wars 2001'', and it contained many of the base features. It also used exactly the same TWSECT.DAT file (the file which contains the information on all of the warp points in the game) as Trade Wars 2002.
While ''TW2001'' was well received, Gary decided to expand the game further. In addition to the port in Sector 1 where you could buy fighters/shields/holds, another port was added called the Stardock where you could buy new types of ships. Over a period of time, feature after feature was added, so that ''Trade Wars 2002'' v0.96 was a very different game than ''Trade Wars 2002'' v1.00. ''TW2002'' v1.00 was released in June 1991. One of the major design choices made was influenced by changes in the BBS software — WWIV author Wayne Bell had rewritten the WWIV BBS System using Turbo C instead of Turbo Pascal. This meant that classic Chain
A chain is a serial assembly of connected pieces, called links, typically made of metal, with an overall character similar to that of a rope in that it is flexible and curved in compression but linear, rigid, and load-bearing in tension. A c ...
programs would no longer work, and Trade Wars 2002 v2 used a general purpose door
A door is a hinged or otherwise movable barrier that allows ingress (entry) into and egress (exit) from an enclosure. The created opening in the wall is a ''doorway'' or ''portal''. A door's essential and primary purpose is to provide security b ...
library which allowed the game to be run under other brands of BBS software for the first time.
''TW2002'' v1, v2, & v3 were BBS mainstays throughout the 1990s. In 1998, Gary Martin sold the Trade Wars license to John Pritchett, who had written ''Tradewars 2002'' v3 and its gold expansion. John and his company, EIS, developed a stand-alone game server, ''TradeWars Game Server'', which has allowed Trade Wars to survive beyond the BBS era.
Gameplay
Though specifics vary between versions, in general 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 resources: usually fuel ore, food, 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 star bases.
Since the basics of the game structure are numerical, these games are not reliant on high resolution graphics or rapid processing, which makes them ideally suited to low-resource computing platforms.
Today, classic Trade Wars is primarily hosted by Windows NT/2000/XP computers running the Trade Wars Game Server (TWGS), which accepts incoming telnet connections and launches the Trade Wars ANSI game. Trade Wars is also run by many of the surviving BBSs, and variations have been ported to the web
Web most often refers to:
* Spider web, a silken structure created by the animal
* World Wide Web or the Web, an Internet-based hypertext system
Web, WEB, or the Web may also refer to:
Computing
* WEB, a literate programming system created by ...
, cell phone
A mobile phone, cellular phone, cell phone, cellphone, handphone, hand phone or pocket phone, sometimes shortened to simply mobile, cell, or just phone, is a portable telephone that can make and receive calls over a radio frequency link whil ...
s, and the Palm OS
Palm OS (also known as Garnet OS) was a mobile operating system initially developed by Palm, Inc., for personal digital assistants (PDAs) in 1996. Palm OS was designed for ease of use with a touchscreen-based graphical user interface. It is provi ...
.
Reception
''Computer Gaming World
''Computer Gaming World'' (CGW) was an American computer game magazine published between 1981 and 2006. One of the few magazines of the era to survive the video game crash of 1983, it was sold to Ziff Davis in 1993. It expanded greatly through ...
'' in 1993 rated ''Trade Wars'' two points out of three, stating that for many players "there is no
other on-liner than ''Trade Wars'' ... This game will be around for a while, in one form or another".
Legacy
''Trade Wars'' is cited as an influence by some game developers. Examples include Paul Sage, lead designer of ''Ultima Online
''Ultima Online'' (''UO'') is a fantasy massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) released on September 24, 1997 by Origin Systems.
Set in the '' Ultima'' universe, it is known for its extensive player versus player combat system. ...
'', Josh Johnston, lead programmer of ''Jumpgate'', and Eric Wang, producer of ''Earth and Beyond
''Earth & Beyond'' was a science fiction massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) developed by Westwood Studios and published by Electronic Arts (EA). The game was released in in the United States. EA shut down ''Earth & Beyond'' ...
''. In 2013, the designers of ''Star Citizen
Logo Cloud Imperium Games
''Star Citizen'' is an in-development multiplayer, space trading and combat simulation game. The game is being developed and published by Cloud Imperium Games for Microsoft Windows. An extended retry of unrealized plans ...
'' listed ''Trade Wars 2002'' among the games that inspired the design of their in-game economy. Games that are often compared to TradeWars include ''EVE Online
''Eve Online'' (stylised ''EVE Online'') is a space-based, persistent world massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) developed and published by CCP Games. Players of ''Eve Online'' can participate in a number of in-game profess ...
'', ''Jumpgate'', ''Rebel Galaxy'', ''Elite Dangerous'', ''Earth and Beyond'', '' Pardus'', and ''Spore''. ''Trade Wars 2002'' was named the 10th best PC game of all time by ''PC World Magazine
''PC World'' (stylized as PCWorld) is a global computer magazine published monthly by IDG. Since 2013, it has been an online only publication.
It offers advice on various aspects of PCs and related items, the Internet, and other personal techn ...
'' in 2009.
A major online game based on ''Trade Wars 2002'' was under development in the early 2000s under the name ''TW: Dark Millennium'', later renamed ''Exarch''. When the developer, Realm Interactive, was acquired by their publisher, NCsoft Austin (Richard Garriott
Richard Allen Garriott de Cayeux (''né'' Garriott; born July 4, 1961) is an American video game developer, entrepreneur and private astronaut. Although both his parents were American, he maintains dual British and American citizenship by birth. ...
/Destination Games
Destination Games was an American computer game development company created in April 2000 by Richard Garriott, Robert Garriott and Starr Long, following their departure from Origin Systems. ("Destination" is a play on "Origin", the company the G ...
), the development of ''Exarch'' was discontinued. What started as TW: DM was eventually released by NCsoft as ''Dungeon Runners
''Dungeon Runners'' was a medieval fantasy, often satirical MMORPG developed and published by NCSOFT. It featured gameplay similar to the '' Diablo'' series of games.
Development
Development on the title first began in 2001 as ''Trade Wars: Dar ...
''.Trade Wars: Dark Millennium Q&A - PC News at GameSpot
/ref>
See also
*Space combat simulator
A space flight simulation is a Video game genres, genre of flight simulator video games that lets players experience space flight to varying degrees of Reality, realism. Common mechanics include space exploration, space trade and space combat.
...
References
{{reflist
External links
Official TradeWars Museum
TradeWars tribute website
EIS, owner and developer of classic TradeWars
Official EIS TradeWars forum
Door games
1984 video games
TRS-80 games
Massively multiplayer online turn-based strategy games
Space trading and combat simulators
Space massively multiplayer online role-playing games
Browser-based multiplayer online games
Video games developed in the United States