The Cabal's Secret Hideout

Our General Strategy

Outlines "The Cabal's" strategic approach to playing TradeWars 2002, emphasizing a coordinated team strategy with assigned roles (mapper, furber, colorunner, and reds focused on making money) and a progression plan centered around achieving mobility through mobile planets to enable high-profit mega-robbing. Their tactics involve careful early-game mapping and resource management, with a focus on maintaining team discipline and adapting roles as needed throughout the game's different phases.

The Corporation

"The Cabal's" sophisticated corporate strategy for TradeWars 2002, focusing on their mixed-corp approach that combines Red players (focused on maximum income generation) with Blue players (providing support, mapping, and sector development). The article emphasizes the importance of player specialization, strict role adherence, and coordinated tactics like SDT (Super Density Trading) operations supported by dedicated furbers, while also covering sector development strategies and the evolution from early-game survival to mid-game expansion with mobile planets.

Blockades

Chris Kent—known online as “Traitor”—breaks down the ruthless blockade tactics corp members deploy to choke off star‑dock and Fed‑space access, from swift scout ambushes and photon‑fire barrages to fortress‑level fig walls and massive “blown‑up” dock assaults. The article not only details how each blockade type is set up and detected through logs and game settings, but also arms newcomers with a playbook of counter‑strategies—waiting for extern, exploiting back‑door routes, macro‑driven attacks, and coordinated corp maneuvers—to survive and break free from these early‑game lockouts.

The Economy of Tradewars

Traitor details advanced money-making strategies for Red players in TradeWars 2002. It covers various cashing methods including SST (Sell-Steal-Transport), SDT (Steal-Dump-Transport), SDF (Steal-Dump-Flee), and Mega-Rob techniques, along with essential concepts like furbing (restoring lost cargo holds after busting) and the critical importance of turn efficiency for Red players. The article emphasizes that "TURNS = MONEY" and provides detailed step-by-step breakdowns of each strategy's turn costs and profitability.

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 (Work in progress!)

Advanced Haggling Lessons

Advanced haggling strategies for maximizing profits in the game TradeWars 2002, specifically focusing on planet trades and port negotiations. Cherokee, the author, provides detailed formulas and lookup tables to help players determine optimal counteroffers based on port characteristics, along with techniques for navigating middle and final haggling stages to achieve the best possible prices.

TWX Scripting Help

Part 1,Part 2
An introduction to TWX scripting for TradeWars 2002, written by Traitor (Chris Kent), covering fundamental concepts like arrays and WHILE loops with practical examples from the author's own scripts. The article explains how to use arrays to store and manipulate game data, demonstrates nested loops and subroutines, and discusses security considerations for inter-script communication in multiplayer gaming scenarios.

Trader Fleeing

This page explains the conditions under which traders will automatically flee during combat in TradeWars 2002, written by Psion. The article details the mathematical formula that determines when traders will flee (when attacker fighters exceed 1.25 times the sum of defender fighters and shields), exceptions for guardian ships like Tholians, and the mechanics of where traders flee to (adjacent unblocked sectors). Psion also notes that mines, hazards, and cannons in the destination sector are not triggered when a trader flees into them.

TWGS Settings explained

Settings for TradeWars 2002 Game Server (TWGS), written by Traitor (Chris Kent). The article breaks down the Big-Bang settings (map generation parameters like sectors, ports, warps), Post Big-Bang Editor settings (game parameters like turns per day, initial resources, tournament mode), and General Editors (pricing, ship configurations, game mechanics). The author provides recommendations for optimal settings and warns about potential issues with certain configurations.

If I were an Evil Overlord - Anonymous

(if I knew who wrote this, I would give them credit. Many people have added to it tho. It doesn't directly pertain to TW, but it puts you in the proper mindset :)

This is a humorous list titled "Things I'd Do If I Ever Became An Evil Overlord," containing satirical advice for fictional villains on how to avoid common mistakes made by antagonists in movies, books, and other media. The author (unknown) presents over 100 witty observations about plot holes, logical inconsistencies, and poor decision-making often exhibited by fictional villains.

Planet Handbook

A comprehensive guide, by Paladyne, to planetary systems in TradeWars 2002 that details the seven planet types, their production capabilities for Fuel Ore, Organics, and Equipment, fighter production formulas, and strategic advice for colonization and defense. The handbook covers citadel levels, planetary defenses, invasion tactics, and optimization strategies for maximizing profits through planet farming.

Invading Bases

An article by Kemper3 about finding and invading enemy bases in TradeWars 2002, covering methods for locating opponent bases through systematic probing and dead-end analysis, as well as various invasion strategies including direct planet capture, collision attempts during extern events, and sector blocking techniques. The article provides detailed tactical advice for different scenarios, including handling shielded planets, quasar cannons, and interdictor generators, while emphasizing the importance of careful planning and resource management.

Pod Locations

Escape pod mechanics in TradeWars 2002, by Dr. Bad, explaining where pods go when players are killed and how to manipulate pod locations for strategic advantage. The article details two main rules: pods go to the "previous sector" when players kill themselves, and follow a "safe path" algorithm when killed by others, with specific guidance on movement methods that affect previous sector settings and tactical advice for avoiding being "SD#" (ship destroyed) during invasions.

Base Building

By The Reverend - base building strategies in TradeWars 2002, describing the evolution of his thinking from building multiple planet types (H-O-L) in large bubbles to focusing on minimal-effort bases with fewer planets in smaller, less obvious locations. The article covers tactical advice including using citadel beamers for turn savings, building in 1-2 deep bubbles or 2-warp sectors instead of large bubbles, concentrating defensive resources on fewer planets rather than spreading them thin, and philosophical considerations about what constitutes a "base" location. The author emphasizes adapting strategies based on game mode (MBBS vs TWGS) and opponent skill level.

Making Planets

An article by Gypsy about advanced planet creation strategies in TradeWars 2002, focusing on "micro managing" planet types and keeping sectors clean of navigation hazards. The article explains how planet creation probabilities are affected by the number of existing planets in a sector, with modifiers making undesirable planets (especially class U) more likely as sector density increases. The author describes a technique for maximizing chances of getting desired Gold edition planet types by loading sectors to their limit and systematically destroying the least desirable planets first, rather than maintaining clean sectors. The article also mentions how to determine base probabilities and modifiers through statistical testing.