but many more bugs in v2 than was in v1.03

Messed with game delays again, ay?

I belive the only delay I had to worry about was ping times across the network.

Anyone remember when he updated it?

I remember an update back when I used to play Vader and RIver Rat's servers. I don't remember anyone complaing about delays, additional bugs yes, but not delays.

So your telling me if I did want to come back my RamR, Oz bot, and Cherokee scripts probably would not work?

As for John, he has always been on aging off again about this game. Always thought EP would be the next in line to take over the code.

I never minded the BBS days, had fun hunting aliens and ferengi. I was able to hold my own back then with out corp, even got kicked off a few BBS's because people complained to Sysop.

So you say I'm better off playing BRE?

Yes

In the end the game was changed for the vocal minority (e.g. Cruncher) vs. the actual majority (Singularity, etc..) that played the game at the time. The developer convinced himself that his player base wanted features we never asked for. While initially change was exciting in the end it's a heap of dog poo and the community that existed dispersed.

Currently you cannot utilize any of the advanced strategies that made this game fun.

I've asked him multiple times if he would sell or release the game open source and allow the community (assuming thats possible) to pick up his legacy. He continues to say he will eventually return, though I highly doubt it. His attempt to remonetize the game via subscriptions failed and his only add-on bot-link is in unfinished alpha.

We still don't have the promised bug-free version. There really is no reason he can't devote a-few hours a month to this project (Doesn't even have to be coding) but yet he chooses not to. Which really just reinforces that we the player-base of 20+ years mean less than dog-shit to a man who is really only in it for the money vs. the love of the game

I was not in the minority, I was just the only one thick skinned enough to take the flamewars in this forum. LOL

How do the changes affect players who would choose to play the previous version, which still exists?

Please explain, as you would to a child.

Kavanagh.

That's pretty harsh. It can be tough finding any time at all to work on personal projects. And a few hours a month would get us nowhere. At that rate, he'd spend all his time just trying to remember where he left off. I know all too well how that goes. You also haven't seen any updates for my helper in about two years, but that doesn't mean I'm not working on it.

Do you actually think JP is in this for the money? How much do you think he makes from TWGS licenses these days? The worst you can assume is that he takes some neurotic pride in owning Trade Wars and doesn't know when to let go.

Besides, the game is essentially free to play. If that's not good enough for you, clone it! Game art can be copyrighted, names can be trademarked, but how games work cannot. Or you could break the mold and write a whole new space game designed around your own idea of fun advanced strategies.

I'm actually interested in the possibility of cloning a particular version of TradeWars. The problem is that I don't know anything about these critical timings that "serious" players are so concerned about. The details are not obvious to casual players, and those who are in the know aren't willing to share because the knowledge is the entire basis of their expertise. So the knowledge dies with their interest in the game, and nobody else cares.

I googled "games like trade wars"

It's been done many times in different formats. I think many left to play Eve online, the highly graphic space game. (Personally, I don't have the video card for that one.)

There's Star Traders RPG - http://www.corytrese.com/games/startraders/

Tradewars Rising tried and failed - http://www.tradewarsrising.com/

Google Multiplayer Space games - there's quite a few of those.

There's just something about playing the classic game that can't be beat or improved upon.

TWR is so slow that it is basically unplayable, and they never finished adding the basic features of TW into it.

...and currently DOWN!!!

What flamewar, ppl don't give a crap about this game or its players anymore. Here is a hint Linda, if 5 people tell you something works as is and you say it's just isn't working anymore perhaps the problem lies with you. Scale that to TW and you might see where I'm going with this.



For once I agree with you. If only you actually followed your own beliefs.

Hypocrite.



Does it, so I'm insane when I think Owner shut down shop as a result of frustrations in relation to v2 and lack of support/players during the after-mass of said frustrations?

--Daddy and Mommy fight, Daddy thinks Mommy doesn't love him anymore. Mommy says she loves Daddy but wants to see other men. Daddy sticks it out hoping he can refind a spark in the marriage. When it becomes clear that Mommy was all talk Daddy decides to leave. Daddy could have choosen to stick it out in hopes that she would eventually see that he loved her dearly but that would be silly.



That is your opinion, a few hours a month is not allot in my opinion. JP is not the only computer programmer/IT here. I don't know anything of your project so no comment. Yes I think JP is still trying to recapture a market that was initially profitable at (90$ +/- a license * X-Servers). He prolly doesn't make allot, I can see no other reason to change the business model.

The game is not free for ops so your point is mute. Regardless if it is a one time purchase or a subscription to # of nodes. The sale of any software is a implied/actual service contract at the time of sale between the user and the game developer/s. The very fact that he would leave 2.0 in a unfinished state regardless of sales of the servers should be proof positive how much he truely cares about his player base.

Why would you think I would want to create my own game. Technically he hasn't either has he?? He wrote a portable version of a game that predated his purchase. I responded to a thread, suggesting I make my own game is silly, I don't have time and unlike this dev I wouldn't take on any new or existing projects given my current work timelines.



That is so blatantly false I don't even know where to start. Wait yes I do, search my post history and you will see I have harped this "advanced" strategy to death.

I will make it easy and state it again, when JP admittedly changed the process of events from commands per second to batch processing he didn't bother to time existing timings (admitted by him) and instead gave everything a flat timing.Beyond the apparent bugs in 2.0, this essentially removed any sembalance of balance in player to player combat.

Reality is casual players don't want to do the work that the more serious players have, don't play the sheer number of concurrent games, but want the game to be "fair" and complain when truces are broke or players who spend significant more time due to bots or live action invade them and then cry about it because their precious egos were hurt by losing a bubble.

This is factual in almost any game you play today, there are players who are "hardcore" and casual. The casual want to feel like they can compete but lack the time, money or dedication to make that a reality. So companies including this one make changes to facilitate a more casual player to have the ability to compete.

Unlike this game though developers of said games that make those changes don't break the game to a point where it's unplayable except for from only one perspective (building)

I keep trying... my entire involvement with TWGS was to help make it emulate the highly popular HVS MBBS version. But, somewhere in 2000 - 2002, players who prefered to write reactive trigger scripts to play the game for them convinced JP to make changes that allowed for that type of gameplay. (abort on space was NEVER a part of the HVS MBBS game)

So, I'm not the hypocrite you and others keep accusing me of being. I just enjoy playing an old text bbs game, and getting as close to the HVS MBBS model has always been my involvement with TWGS. It's really just that simple.

My point is that you can't realistically work on software a few hours at a time. It takes at least a few hours just to get your head in the right mode and re-familiarize yourself with the last thing you were working on.



No. It's definitely not an implied service contract, and there's generally not even an implied warranty. I'm not sure if the TWGS license explicitly disclaims implied warranties (or if it even has a formal license at all). But you can try before you buy, and when you buy any software, it's always foolish to count on it ever being anything other than what it was the day you bought it.



Because in my world, that's what people do when they're not happy with the software they have.




I remember you harping on it. I don't remember you ever explaining it. But I will search your post history.




And... so what? You haven't explained how that fundamentally alters the game. Why is one timing right and the other one wrong? Because software is never allowed to change? MMOs go through all kinds of changes, some of them quite radical. The players whine about it for a couple weeks, then they adapt their strategies and go back to enjoying the game. JP does not owe you an unchanging game. Get over it.

Because they use scripts that depend on milliseconds accuracy and prefect timing to demolish their opponent before his script can attack back or even try to escape. I have no idea why the TradeWars community ever consider these types of tactics to be acceptable game play. Do you know of any other games that openly allow 3rd party helpers and/or full automation of game play?

That's exactly the thing that makes TW interesting to me. But I still don't understand why people can't or won't adapt their tactics and scripts to suit the game.

Exactly, and there are only a few players left who still do write scripts. The vast majority of players cannot compete against those with advanced scripts. I'm getting some old-school Elite coming to play on my server now. It's a beautiful thing!