Thanks to TradeWars legend Hekate, I’m able to present a fully intact archive of twlinks.com. The old site is back online with as many working links as I could salvage.  As part of the restoration, Hekate also sent copies of TW Nationals 2004, Terra, and old copies of twlinks.com.

To celebrate, Hekate shared an old interview that I’m posting here (from the old website, Black Sun):

How and when did you get started in Tradewars?
In 1993 a friend gave me a modem (2400 baud), installed it on my 8088, and got me signed on a Local DLS BBS named Dreamscape. He and a few others took me into this game of TradeWars, told me what to do, made me evil, sent me twHelper, and somewhat guided me along. It wasn’t until 1996 when I got tired of dying on local BBS’s that I ventured out in search of learning, where I ended up on ECN. Shark (author of TWATS) was game op and they had some good competition. Over time I hooked up with TheGuru and Angel who then took me to FAMENT in 1997. My first game there I was corped up under a great CEO named Monday. Just prior to that time, bbs.paul.com died and those “great” players moved to FAMENT – so there I was, playing with the best of the best. I left TW in Oct. 1998 and went on “Vacation” for a couple years, returning after TWGS was released (somewhere around end 2000)

Who has been your major influence/influencers in the game?
My play has been influenced by MANY great players over the years, but the ones that stick out are:
SHARK – he guided me with use of his helper TWATS and personal tips along the way
ANGEL – who invited me along to FAMENT and gave me the chance to corp with some of the best HVS players of all time. She also taught me lots, although I don’t think she ever really liked me
Jack Box – for being my first main corp mate. We played and learned together for many years before parting ways.
hELLCAT – he’ll never know how much I learned from him just by watching him play. hELLCAT’s gotta be the most influential in my TW career. I was honored to corp with him many times and be the “backup” picking up peaces and reminding of those little things…like….don’t forget you got a photon on board…or…you may wanna get more figs! (as he’s flying around with 3 figs on ship) heh probably the most fun player I’ve corped with.

Who do you normally corp with?
I have corped with many great players (and taught many players) over the years. I’ve had two permacorps of my own and currently have joined up with TimboRulez to help run Star Endeavors.

Who have been your favorite people to play with over the years? why?
I couldn’t possibly list all my favorite people to play with/against – or this would be 30 pages long. But the highlight players are:
GraveDigr – Above all, my favorite corp mate. He quickly became my right hand man after accepting him to a TWLeague training corp. He rose to being the only player to date to win all 4 main tourneys in a row.
Jack Box – for being there attitude and all for as long as he was. The years were enjoyable
Xide – for being Xide, great player, great scripter, great guy overall…and the silly things…like killing corpies by accident (hehehe)
Vader – he gets the job done, doesn’t complain much, and is fun to chat with – in or out of TW

Are there any individuals you would like to play with but never had the opportunity?
I think I have played with just about everyone I set out to play with. I like to corp with everyone, especially those that have a desire to learn the details of the game. I have more fun teaching then just playing.

Any Major games you have won? when and with whom?
BOTE 03: Blue Adept, Phoe6e, Angus Thermopyle, Big12ozHog, Nudo, Reaper
USO 02: Xide, Gravedigr, hELLCAT, Hekate, Speedy, Rave
WTC 01: Prestone, The Reverend, Res Judicata, hELLCAT, Hekate, Gravedigr (+16 others)

What programs/helpers are part of your TW arsenal?
SWATH, ZOC, and TWX trio

Where are the main servers you play now?
I play where the tourneys are, or where good games may be – no specific server is home

Which servers are your favorite to play and why?
In today’s tradewars I don’t have a favorite server.

Any advice you could give to a newer player just entering TW?
Keep an open mind and gain any knowledge you can from EVERYONE. Don’t get an ego that your better then everyone else – cuz there is ALWAYS someone better you can learn from.

What would you like your legacy in TW to be after you are gone from the community?
Gone from Tradewars? Are you nuts? It’s not possible!
I guess I’d be best known for teaching those willing to learn…and hosting the 2nd longest lived tradewars site… www.twlinks.com

Are there any TW projects you are a part of that you are excited about?
Most of the main helpers have some sort of idea feature I had input on. I also help JP directly on how players would react to changes he has in mind and if the change is for the better of the game.

Any last thoughts you would like to give?
Port ROB formula is ohhand/.9 Ports ALWAYS give you exactly 90% of actual amount

I’ve always valued the wealth of information on the defunct TW Cabal website. It contained classics such as Cherokee’s famous haggling guide and numerous guides written by Traitor. So, I decided to resurrect it.

I pulled the last capture from the Wayback Machine. With Claude’s help, I updated the site to be more readable and modern—but not too modern—as if it had been maintained all this time. I used Gemini to create a new header graphic based on the original and added an Imperial Starship.

I held true to the original’s design: dark and green. The old site was difficult to read, so I updated where necessary. More work could be done, but it’s functional. This digital archaeological project is complete.

View the site results here: The Cabal’s Secret Hideout

It only took a decade or so, but it’s back.

A recent request for some old audio has reminded me of some archives I have that I’ve never posted.

I captured the audio streams of some old internet radio broadcasts regarding Trade Wars.  

Here they are…

WEJL – Host: Soul, Guest: Space Ghost

WEJL – Host: Soul, Guest: Gypsy

WEJL – Host Soul, Guest: Big D, Topic: That Jerk Eleq 
(there are problems with the stream – it skips.  Here is an edited version trying to clean it up)

Radio Planet – Host: Silver Dragon, Topic: USO 2002

A user named Amiskell posted instructions on how to get TWGS running in one of the most difficult ways possible.  But hey, it’s easy if you know what you’re doing!

Reminds me of the days I was running TWGS under WINE on Linux before Linux was semi-easy to use.  All sitting behind my custom BBS software, eleqtriqBBS!

… back in August!  I forgot all about it.  Not many websites out there can lay claim to being online for 20 years, but this site can.  

No one really comes here anymore, since I don’t post (and there are no players).  This site is barely getting 30-50 visitors a day.  I expect over the next few years, people will notice The Stardock has had an anniversary.

I found the original 10 year anniversary post.  I took the time to update the links in it so they work!  Unfortunately, I haven’t posted much in the decade since.  I closed my TWGS three years before the 10 year anniversary, and shortly after it I updated the website to what you see today.  I’ve been wanting to update the look of it for about five years, but I can never find a theme I like.  A lot of themes today require thumbnails and most of this site’s news has no thumbnails.  They simply won’t work.  

Looking around the forums I found out the TWGS software is nearing death.  It requires some special maneuvering to work in Windows 10,  TWGS and TWX Proxy both rely on a version of Delphi that doesn’t exist anymore, and every server I visited was mostly empty.  That’s OK, I’ll keep the site around for nostalgia.  There is a lot of good stuff deep in this site.  Good times.

Eleq

First post in three years!  After nary a picture of JP in all these years, now we have a video!

I think it’s obvious by now I’m never going to update it.  I’m now redirecting the old pages to Micro’s TWGS Search.  He’s doing a good job of it.  Please check him out if you haven’t already.

The Latest Tournament to Establish itself ICE Created and promoted by Big D . Information about the Tournament Can Be found at The Official ClassicTW Forum. Teams From Ground Zero and Boo! inc. have already declared entries.  Good Luck to Everyone

A new article from PC Magazine states:

“TradeWars 2002 is a space trading game based on a classic gaming formula: buy low and sell high. Mix in ship to ship combat and a horde of Star Trek references, and you have yourself a potently addictive strategy game.

TW2002 originated as a BBS door game designed to run on dial-up Bulletin Board Systems. It has since escaped its BBS shackles and made its way onto the Internet at large thanks to the TradeWars Game Server.

You can play TW2002 on dozens of free servers today. The author recommends the ICE9 server for starters, which can be reached via telnet at ice9-tw.com port 2002.“

Read more at PC Magazine