* Originally by David White

 - What's the latest version of Trade Wars?
Version 1.03.  Coming very soon will be version 1.10, which will correct
all of the bugs listed below.  v1.10 will be the last version of TW2002;
after that, Gary Martin will begin releasing Trade Wars 2112, a somewhat-
similar-but-different game.  This posting, while correct for all versions
of Trade Wars in some cases, is only completely certain for v1.03 and
assumes the game is unmodified and no external utilities (The Mall,
AEXTERN, etc.) are being run.

 - How can I find Stardock?
Type "V" at the main Command line, ask another player, post a universal
announcement, or use Joel Downer's FINDSGA, included in TWUTIL10.ZIP

 - What is FedSpace for?
Any players with a non-negative alignment, less than 1000 experience points, 
and less than 50 fighters can log off overnight in sectors 1-10 and the 
Stardock sector completely safe from being killed by other players. 

 - What are the tricks to stealing?
A player with -100 or lower alignment can steal credits and goods from
ports.  There is ALWAYS a chance of being busted while trying to rob a
port, but some good guideline ratios are,
your experience / 20 = holds you can steal
your experience * 10 = credits you can steal.

 - What's the "steal/sell" cycle?
With a full load of equipment (or any other commodity), dock at a port that
buys that commodity and sell it to them.  Then steal it back, and sell it
to them again.  Repeat.

 - What's the "holds bug"
A player with -100 or lower alignment who gets caught stealing 365 units of
Equ. or 660 units of Org. will be fined -32 holds (meaning the player will
GAIN 32 holds) and will lose 10% of his or her experience points. This
trick can be repeated up to a maximum of 32 holds more than the maximum
amount of holds allowed for that particular ship  (e.g. 182 holds for an
Imperial StarShip (ISS), 102 for a Starmaster, etc.)  These holds will be
lost as soon as the player ports, unfortunately, unless the technique below
is used.

 - How can I keep an extra 32 holds on my ship?
Using the above technique, get the maximum + 32 holds on your ship.  Go to
earth and get a load of colonists.  Port, and steal ONE unit of organics
(or another commodity you don't plan on using any time soon) Continue to
your planet and drop off the colonists.  You will now be able to trade and
steal/sell with 32 extra holds PROVIDED you do NOT try to buy, steal, or
pick up organics (or whatever commodity you chose) and you do not get
busted or destroyed, and you do not S)urrender your cargo to the Ferrengi.

 - What's the "shield bug?"
A planet with a level 5 citadel and at 1639 planetary shields or more
cannot be successfully invaded by other players.  This bug will be
corrected in v1.10.

 - What's the fighter overloading trick?
Join a corporation, then go to the same sector with a corp member with at
least as many shields/fighters as you want. Transfer a negative amount of
fighters/shields to the corp. member.  Repeat as often as you like up to a
maximum of 32,767 fighters/shields.  This trick is especially useful with a
Scout Marauder, which fights at 2:1 odds.  Docking at a port, however, will
cause the excess shields/fighters to vanish.

 - What's the shield overloading trick?
Use the above technique, or transfer a negative amount of shields to a
citadel that already has as many ship shields (planetary shields * 10) as
you need.  Docking at a port still causes you to lose any extra shields,
however.

 - What are the rules to successfully Transwarping (T-warping)?
Transwarping your ship to a sector that contains at least one of your
fighters is always safe.  Blind ship transwarps are possible only if the
destination sector is completely empty of ANYTHING.  Blind planetary
transwarps are not possible.  Ship transwarping costs 3 units of Ore per
sector jumped, and planetary transwarping costs 400 units of Ore per sector
jumped.  Transwarping takes 1 turn regardless of distance traveled.

 - If I'm busted, can I ever return to that port again?
Yes, your name will be removed from the port's records in 14 days or as
soon as another player is caught there, whichever comes first.  Until then,
do not try robbing OR trading at that port.

 - When can I be commissioned?
You can be commissioned if you have an alignment of at least +500.

 - How can I alter my alignment quickly?
To become evil quickly, get a load of colonists,take them out of FedSpace,
jettison them, log off Trade Wars, log back in, and repeat (-1 alignment
per colonist jettisoned.)  To become good, attack evil
traders/aliens/Ferrengi, or post a reward on a trader in the Police HQ at
Stardock (+1 alignment per 1000 credits posted.)

 - Can an evil player have an ISS?
You must be commissioned to purchase an ISS, but after you have it, you can
become evil and still keep the ISS.  Running into any of the three Federals
(Zyrain, Clausewitz, Nelson) however, means certain death.

 - Can I kill the Federals?
No.  Zyrain, Clausewitz and Nelson are indestructible.  However, you can
trap them in a dead-end sector by placing a fighter right outside the
dead-end, since Federals will not travel into a sector that has deployed
fighters in it.  As long as the fighter stays there, all three Federals can
be trapped, though Captain Zyrain will automatically warp out of the sector
to rescue players who qualify for protection in FedSpace.

 - Can a non-CEO have a Corporate Flagship?
You must be a CEO to purchase a Flagship, but you can quit as the CEO of
your corp. and keep the Flagship.  You will not, however, be able to join
another corp.

 - Can I be killed while my ship is cloaked?
No, while you are cloaked, you are absolutely invulnerable until your next
login (contrary to the documentation, cloaks do not lose their
effectiveness over time.)  However, if some player were to figure out which
sector you were cloaked in, he or she could mine your sector.  The mines
would explode as soon as you logged back on.

 - What are all the settings for my planetary defenses?
Examples:
Military Reaction level: 20% -- 20% of all the fighters on the planet will
attack (at 2:1 odds) any player who moves into your planet's sector. The
remaining 80% of the fighters will attack (at 3:1 odds) only if the player
attempts to land on your planet.

Quasar cannon sector level: 30% -- 30% of all the Ore on the planet will be
used to fire on a player entering the sector with your planet, causing 1
point of damage to the player per 3 units of Ore used.

Quasar cannon atmosphere level: 60% -- 60% of all the Ore on the planet
will be used to fire on a player who attempts to land on your planet,
causing 1 point of damage to the player per 1 unit of Ore used.

 - What are the hidden options in the Stardock?
 "U" -- Underground, where players with 100 or less alignment can change
        their name, and post and collect bounties on other players.
 "+" -- Library, useful only for determining which ships are currently
        being used by the Ferrengi.  Data on alien derelicts is useless.
 "B" -- Single's Bar, where you can get robbed.  Nothing more.)

 - What is the computer upgrade the Grimy Trader talks about?
It doesn't really exist.  It's just a hoax.

 - What is the secret message in "Vulcan Thunder?"
The secret message (if it exists) seems to have something to do with the
characters "9C".  Gary Martin has hinted to its existence, but as of yet,
no one has found any significance to it.

 - What's the secret to winning Tri-Cron?
Contrary to what the Grimy Trader says, the winning numbers seem to be
completely random.

 - What is Computer Interrogation Mode (CIM) ?
From your "Computer Command?" prompt within TW, using the numeric keypad,
type <ALT>-200, <ALT-201>, <ALT-202>, <ALT-203>, <ALT-204>, <ALT-205>, to
get a : prompt.  From there, typing "I" (without the quotes) will give you
information on all explored sectors, and "R" will give information on all
explored ports. ("Q" will quit CIM and "F" will give a path-calculator
similar to the one on your ship's computer).  To use the information, open
a capture file for both sets of info, then use a utility like TWVIEW that
reads the data and arranges it into something useful.


