I know what a script is, so that's not the issue.

What I'm in need of knowing is, how does someone use scripts with TW? Are they player side scripts to interact with the game? Scripts that the game makes use of to add functionality? Both? How do I install/use them?

I'm sure this has been answered before, so a link to existing information would be wonderful.


(Below is off topic, just a FYI type blurb.)
Just a little history on me and this game. I played it back when 1.03 was out (and the planet cloning bug was around). I had stumbled across it one day, purely by accident, and ended up DOWNgrading the planet I was on, which happened to belong to the Corp I was in. I was like "aww crap" and when I told the leader what had happened, I thought he was going to kill me. I mean, hunt me down, destroy my ship and then destroy my escape pod. Then repeat each day after that. Instead, he signed onto a BBS and researched it and found out that it was a known bug and how to use it to our advantage. Anyway, talk about "oldest forums" actually brought up the discussion of BBSes and got me tinkering with the game again.

Anything that you can do playing by hand, you can do using a script. The difference is that is inhumanly fast, and it saves the user from monotony in the case of repetetive tasks, examples being colonising, or buying down a port using reverse haggle in MBBS mode (check tw-cabal.com for explanations of any term that you do not understand). There are also many scripts used for attack and defense, example, someone enters a sector with one of your fighters, a script can warp a planet to an adjacent sector if you have a fig there, and have you photon the opponent from the citadel causing them to lose all their turns and leaving them vulnerable.

There are several terminal programs which can be used to connect to a game, all of which have their own scripting language. There is also TWX proxy, to which the terminal program connects, and then TWX connects to a game, making the vast public library of TWX TW scripts usable in addition to any you write for your terminal program. The most popular terminal program is probably ZOC, whose scripting language is basically OS/2 REXX. Qmodem used be popular, don't know about now. Telix used also be popular but AFAIK I am the only one still using it. It's language, SALT, is more or less C. It has another language, SIMPLE, which is similar to Telemate and ordinary english, but it is limited. I can write in all 3 but obviously I prefer SALT. ZOC is probably the easiest to learn. I do not like TWX, just a matter of taste.

An important advantage using a script is the interactivity. It can read a line of text from the screen and extract information to make decisions, e.g. sector number, price a port asks or offers, colos left on terra, what to change cannon settings to as the ore gets used up, etc. etc.

Ask Helix for info on where to get TWX scripts, I havent a clue.

There is also a helper called SWATH, which in addition to it's own inbuilt tw2002 functions (they are considerable) can also run REXX scripts and I believe Java but will stand corrected. http://www.swath.net/

Hope the above helps, feel free to ask if anything above unclear.

Kav

This should help get you started:

http://www.navhaz.com/dny_tw_tutorial.txt

And here's TW-cabal that Kav spoke of, also very valuable info. http://tw-cabal.navhaz.com/

Swath is a complete package, you can connect to games and play with the scripts that are built-in. Currently, this is the only TW "helper" that supports a graphical representaton of a map. Mongoose is working on a new helper called WeaponM.

TWX-Proxy is a collection of very powerful scripts, and does involve some time learning how to use these. TWX is NOT a telnet terminal program, so you must run a telnet program, such as Swath, Zoc or Putty, then have the telenet terminal program connect to TWX locally (localhost or 127.0.0.1), then TWX connects to the game - IP address & port.

To answer your question, so far I've been talking about player side scripts.

Now, TWX also is capable of server side scripts and there are some very talented sysops who have done some very interesting edits with the games they host. The two public servers that come to mind are Ice-9 and Vid's World.

I also have a server, but keep things slow, nearly stock, low turns and I have some settings that discourage some of the most aggressive scripts. Mine is a good place to get reaquainted with the game, get comfortable with the helper or scripts you want to use before heading out into more aggressive type games.

In game P I do play, enough to have assets to take out players who are too aggressive, or interfere with returning players just trying to get their "chops" back. That game is high turn, 5k and has a lot of rogue bases to practice invasions on. In all my games, the Ferrengi are fairly aggressive, and will kill a sector fig and leave 50k of their own.

I also started on HVS MBBS TW 1.03p, there have been a lot of changes over the years, but this game is still just as fun to play, and the bugs 1.03P had are gone! Welcome back!

Okay that explains it. I was seeing the various scripts but was like, "How do I install them?" Like I said, I already know what a script is, just as with any language/etc, it's a matter of knowing how to make use of the script.

[quote="Cruncher"]Now, TWX also is capable of server side scripts and there are some very talented sysops who have done some very interesting edits with the games they host. The two public servers that come to mind are Ice-9 and Vid's World. [/quote]
Are the server-side done by external programs or by TWGS directly? What are the various things that are possible with server-side?

Another little 'blurb'.. I also remember playing GWAR, when it was based solely on turns starting right at midnight, before it was changed to require someone to wait a certain period of time before they could play again. I won so many of those and only lost a few. I remember one time I had defeated someone and they sent me a message saying that since I had defeated them, that they prefer that I win the game because they'd hate to end up losing to someone else who lost too. (Along the idea of not wanting to be defeated by someone that is a bad player, because losing to them makes you a worse player.) I confidently told them I'd win. And I did. :D Between that and TW, I was having a good ol' time.

Server Side things :

I have scripts for game prep.

I move Star Dock to adj to fed (1~10) and a way back to fed from Dock.
Also make the Dock a SBB port with 15k ore for sell.

Alien planet setup is done by script to set alien planets based on turns/unlim
or I make a Wandering trophy planet and a script will run the entire game
to keep it moving till its claimed.

Giving my games an objective.

Other server side scripts used at the beginning to give in game data of ships and planets so players can see how long a planet may take to upgrade or how a ship can be used.

At Ice 9 V'Ger runs a Sysbot script that welcomes you to the game
and gives you some ideas of what to expect in that game.

Some time in the future J.P. will release a TWGS with Bot Link
a server side language to further enhance the game in ways never
possible before.

Thats it for now ...

Welcome back and may you enjoy your Tradewars stay

[quote="Vid Kid"]Some time in the future J.P. will release a TWGS with Bot Link
a server side language to further enhance the game in ways never
possible before.[/quote]
I'm hoping to be able to do things like handling account creation and such in conjunction with another database/server. Not likely to get far with it, but it's the coolness factor of tinkering with it.

[quote="Vid Kid"]Welcome back and may you enjoy your Tradewars stay :)[/quote]
Thanks. Not sure how long I'm gonna be pestering everyone, but TW has always been an interesting game.

We have some very tallented player/script writters, of which Vid most certainly is one. They have a script that you can set-up at the beginning of a game that will do any number of things, encluding logging you in at the very moment the game starts, if you plan on being the CEO, this will create the corp, make the password, set the SS channel you want, and even warp you to SD laying corp figs in your path.

Is that something like what you were thiinking of?

No more like integration with a site, where someone that wants to play could click a link which would create the account for them (if the game isn't full) and anytime someone signs into the game, have it check the site to see if that persons account still has permission to play the game.

I don't know of anything like that. Except perhaps Micro's bot that checks the status of each game that registers with his web site. But, that's not creating player accounts to play, just reading the menu and relaying stats to the web.

http://www.microblaster.net/

I guess there are still some things you must do manually.

Wolfie ; that sounds like a web side program oldtimer , from coast games wrote for me when I had a closed server.

Now a days almost no one has a closed server where you have to
sign in through a web site.

But there is one in the works that will use this web site.
Pending the release by J.P.
Its the other half of the TW password mechanism , in the TWGS
that will be in the bang area and can effect a game like a web
sign in and track the players win losses if it is developed to do that.
But this is all for future enhancements as well as the bot link.

So in short , TWGS is still growing and improving.

Vid

Writing middleware to process HTTP requests and interact with TWGS via its admin interface would certainly be possible. I don't think it would be all that hard, either. Creating accounts via a Web interface could be done with a servlet. As Vid said, access could be controlled using the TW Passport ID that's in the works. Or you could do something in-game through Botlink, like have the Feds kill banned players whenever they try to log in.