Note: This game is public domain, (C)opyrighted 1985 by Pastor Bob Hoffman. It is NOT for resale! We have a national Space Commerce Club, for more information, write:
 
 Pastor Bob
 P.O. Box 931
 Columbia, Md 21044-0931
 
 You can play the TBBS version of Space Commerce on 'The Bus Ministry' call (301)-995-0032 (Baltimore) or (301)-596-0123 (Washington DC).


         *** S P A C E ** C O M M E R C E ** 2.5 ***
 
                   (Single Player Version)
 
          Docs Written by Larry Braverman (Starbuck)
 
     Welcome to  Space Commerce,  the exciting  game of  space
trading  and  combat! You  are  the pilot  of  an interstellar
trading ship.  Your  mission is  to  collect and  deliver  the
cargos  at each  of the  20 planets,  while trying  not to get
killed by the evil Berserker robot ships and the omnipotent death stars.
 
     The game is played on a 40 x 40 grid, and lasts for  200
turns.  A complete  game will  take about  1-2 hours, although
you may quit  at any time.  The ten best  scores are  recorded
for posterity in the Hall of Fame.
 
     The  program supports  any terminal  program or computer,
but you should have a screen at least 40 characters wide.
 
*** IMPORTANT NOTE ***
 
     While in the game, you **must** use capital letters!  The
game will not recognize lower case characters!
 
Supplies:
 
     You  ought to  have a pencil  and paper in  order to keep
track of planets, loads, and other information.
 
Ranking:
 
     Players are assigned  a rank, based  on their  cumulative
point  total,  and  start  with  varying  amounts  of  energy,
shields, torpedoes, and money based on their skill level.
 
Rank     Point Total   Energy  Torpedos  Shields  Credits
----     -----------   ------  --------  -------  -------
Admiral      100,000     4200      1       20%      100
Colonel       50,000     4400      2       40%      200
Captain       20,000     4600      3       60%      300
Lt.           10,000     4800      4       80%      400
Cadet       < 10,000     5000      5      100%      500
 
The Map:
 
     The  game map is a  40 x 40 grid,  with 13 planets (A-T),
Berserker robot spaceships (@), and your ship ("2").  A sector
destroyed  by a quasar is shown as "+", and a sector destroyed
by a torpedo is a  "*". The Crud shows  as a blank space,  and
the edges of the Galaxy show as "#".
 
This is a sample printout of the Map:
 
13  15  17  19  21  23  25  27  29
. . . . . . M . . . . . . . . . J . # 17
. . . . . . . . . . * . . . . . . . # 18
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . # 19
  . . . . . . . . 2 . . . . . . . . # 20
    . . . . . . . . . . + . . . . . # 21
    . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . # 22
 
     The X coordinate is the vertical, the Y coordinate is the
horizontal.  Therefore, your ship is at 22,20.
 
M is a planet located at (19,17)
J is a planet located at (29,17)
* is a sector destroyed by a torpedo hit, at (23,18)
+ is a sector destroyed by a quasar, at (25,21)
 
Sectors  (13,20) (13,21) (14,21) (13,22) and (14,22) have been
eaten by the Crud.
 
     The Map is  printed on the  screen at the  start of  each
turn.  Note: The  Map will increase  in size  as energy levels
go up, and will shrink as energy levels go down.
 
Game save feature:
     In the BBS version of the game, if you quit, or run out of time, your game is automatically saved. It will be reloaded on your next call. In regular (home) version of game you have the option of saving a game, or reloading a saved game and playing it.

Robot Berserkers:
 
     The Berserker robot spaceships  will attack you  whenever
they  see your ship.  They can be destroyed  by a torpedo hit,
and you will gain credits and points for destroying them.  But
when  they  hit you,  you lose  energy,  so be  careful! Also,
Berserkers will multiply  as the game  goes on, although  once
you have destroyed the last one they will stop multiplying.
 
Scoring:
 
     You get 20  points for each  Berserker ship you  destroy,
and  a bonus 100 points  if you destroy the  last one (if none
have been destroyed by the Crud  or a quasar). You also get  5
points  for every turn you stay  alive during the game. Points
are  awarded  for  delivery  of  cargo  to  its   destination,
depending  on  the  pay rate  for  the cargo.  The  10 highest
scores are recorded in the Hall of Fame. Destroying a Deathstar will give you 1000 points, plus the points scored while torpedoing it.
 
Commands:
 
     ALL ENTRIES MUST BE IN CAPITAL LETTERS!
 
   <S>TATUS   <Q>UIT
   <W>ARP     <T>ORPEDO
   <L>OAD     <U>NLOAD
   <D>OCK     <N>AVIGATE
   <P>OWER XFER
 
The <S>tatus Command:
 
     Gives  information  on  energy,  shields,  credits, turns
remaining, number  of  robot  ships,  and  cargo  status.  The
<S>tatus command does not use a turn.
 
The <W>arp Command:
 
     This  command is used to move  your ship. Maximum warp is
5 sectors per  turn (horizontal, vertical,  or both). You  may
not  move into a sector that is occupied by anything but a "."
Also, the  maximum warp  depends on  your energy  levels.  The
less energy you have, the lower your max warp is.
 
The <T>orpedo Command:
 
     Torpedos  have a range  of 10, and  you can fire  up to 3
torpedos in one burst at a  target sector. A torpedo hit  will
replace  anything  in  the target  sector  with a  "*"  - even
planets! Torpedos  will always  hit anything  which your  ship
can  see, but will sometimes miss  a target farther away. Your
ship can carry up to 10 torpedoes at a time.
 
The <L>oad and <U>nload commands:
 
     These commands  must be  executed within  1 sector  of  a
planet (adjacent to it).
 
  . . . . .
  . . 2 R .
  . M . . .
 
     In the above example, you could Load or Unload at planets
M or R.  You can only get one load from each planet.  Once you
have  accepted a load from a  planet, no further loads will be
available at  that  planet,  although  a  planet  may  be  the
destination for more than one load.
 
     When  you enter the Load command, the computer will offer
you a load. It will tell  you the destination and the rate  of
pay  for  the load.  You may  choose  to load  or not  at that
point. Turning down a  load will cost you  10 points, but  you
may  continue to  attempt to get  a load at  that planet. There is a maximum of 6 atempts to load at a planet, the game will tell you how many attempts are remaining. Each
attempt takes a turn.
 
     Loads pay from 1 to 500 credits when delivered (Unloaded)
at  the destination planet. The Status  command may be used to
check on the  destinations of  cargo that has  been loaded  in
each of your two cargo bays.
 
     Cargo  is delivered by moving adjacent to the destination
planet, and entering  the Unload  command. The  cargo will  be
unloaded, and the pay will be credited to your account.
 
NOTE:  If the destination planet  is destroyed, you will never
be able to unload that cargo bay!
 
The <D>ock Command:
 
     The Dock command may be used whenever you are adjacent to
a  planet. You may purchase  up to 500 units  of energy, for 1
credit per  5 units  purchased. You  also get  a torpedo  free
anytime  you buy  100 units or  more (only 1  torpedo per Dock
command.) There is  no limit to  the number of  times you  may
dock (although you must have sufficient credits to do so.)
 
The <N>avigate Command:
 
     This command can be used to locate any planet on the Map.
It may  also be  used to  locate a  Berserker robot  ship.  If
there  are no robot ships on the Map, or if the planet you are
trying to locate  has been  destroyed, the  computer will  say
that it cannot be located.
 
The <P>ower Xfer Command:
 
     This  command  is  used  to  transfer  power  to  or from
shields. 10 units  of energy are  equal to 1%  of shields,  so
full  shields would be  1000 units of energy.  The only way to
get negative shields is  by being hit  by enemy torpedo  fire.
To  lower shields, enter a  negative number, to raise shields,
enter a positive  number. NOTE: Ship's  energy cannot go  over
5000!  If you lower  shields, and the  energy removed from the
shields would put ship's energy  over 5000, the excess  energy
is lost!  Shields cannot be set to over 1000 units.
 
     Shields  cost  up to  50 units  of  energy per  turn when
warping. You may  wish to  lower shields  when travelling  any
distance to conserve energy.
 
The <Q>uit Command:
 
     This  command will end the game and print out the scores.
The game ends automatically after 200 turns.
 
The Creeping Crud:
 
     The Crud appears as  a blank space on  the map. It  grows
slowly  during  the game,  and  can swallow  robot Berserkers,
planets, or even  your ship!  Anything swallowed  by the  Crud
(or moving into it) gets eaten.  Anything other than your ship
is destroyed!
 
     If you get swallowed  by the Crud,  you will lose  energy
and  be  displaced to  a random  location  in the  Galaxy. The
higher your shields are, the lower your energy loss will be.
 
     Be careful  that the  Crud doesn't  swallow one  of  your
destination  planets! You  will never  be able  to unload that
cargo!
 
Random Catastrophes:
 
     Fire on your  ship! Torpedo explodes  on deck!  Sabotage!
These  are a few examples of  the random catastrophes that can
occur during the  game. They  cost you  energy, torpedoes,  or
even  money. It can happen at  any time, but usually only once
or twice during a game.

Death Star:

     There is a Death Star in all games rank of Captain, Colonel, and Admiral. Unfortunate Cadets and Lts might also find one in their games. Little is known of these dreaded 'planets'. They will destroy everything in their paths, but they CAN be destroyed! Destroying one is worth 1000 pts! The problem is getting to it before it gets to you! The death star may be navigated, but it moves each turn. If you can get it below 50% power it is disabled, but can still attack. The computer will tell you where the deathstar was LAST turn, but if it has moved, the coordinates might not be accurate.
      
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