From TradeWars Museum
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TW-WINNER (C) 1994, 1995 SimSoft Professional Computer Services.
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
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Version 1.4
WE HAVE TESTED THIS ADD-ON REPEATEDLY WITH TRADEWARS VERSION 2
WIDE BETA 6 AND HONESTLY BELIEVE THAT ALL BUGS HAVE BEEN HAMMERED
OUT. PLEASE REPORT ANY UNDISCOVERED BUGS TO SIMSOFT PCS AT THE
ADDRESS OR PHONE NUMBER LISTED BELOW.
If there is an option that you believe would enhance the
TW-WINNER, please let us know. We are always looking for ways to
improve our products for our users!
THANX!
SimSoft Professional Computer Services
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Disclaimer
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Neither David R. Sim, nor SimSoft Professional Computer Services,
nor any person or entity affiliated with either, will assume any
responsibility for any situation which occurs as a result, be it
direct, or indirect, of the use of this program. THE USER
ASSUMES ALL RISK WHICH MAY BE ASSOCIATED WITH THE USE OF THIS
PROGRAM.
There are no warrantees whatsoever, expressed or implied, as to
the usefulness or effectiveness of this system for any particular
purpose. This software is sold as is, and is not guaranteed to
work on any particular machine, or under any particular hardware
or software configuration.
This program has been tested on our hardware under numerous
configurations to perform as described in this documentation.
USE OF THIS SOFTWARE IN ANY WAY CONSTITUTES IMMEDIATE ACCEPTANCE
OF THESE TERMS BY THE USER.
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Reverse Engineering Notice
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You MAY NOT disassemble, reverse engineer, hack, change, modify,
alter, mutate, refashion, vary, or catalyze this program or its
documentation in any way, manner shape or form.
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Shareware Registration
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TW-WINNER is a commercial software product, distributed via
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TW-WINNER (C) 1994, 1995 SimSoft Professional Computer Services.
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
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Shareware. If you like it and are keeping a copy for your
personal use, please send your registration fees + S/H, along
with a filled in copy of the ORDER.FRM file to the address below.
By doing so you will receive the following benefits:
1. Registered Key that will enable all features of
TW-WINNER.
2. Support for the program by mail or phone.
Whether you register or not, we encourage you to make copies of
TW-WINNER for any friends, acquaintances and associates you feel
may enjoy the program, if the executable, this document, and all
other distribution files have not been modified in any way.
If you have a modem, please feel free to upload TW-WINNER to your
favorite BBS. They will appreciate it and so will we. Please
include all files on any copies you make. This will help ensure
that future users of TW-WINNER will get maximum enjoyment from
our product.
Please send your registration fees, S/H, and the completed
ORDER.FRM to:
TW-EXTENDERS
SimSoft Professional Computer Services
P.O. Box 69
Otto, NC 28763
(803) 638-5017
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Product Description
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TW-WINNER is one of the many add-ons available for TradeWars 2002
version 2 from SimSoft Professional Computer Services. We have
paid very close attention to detail in an attempt to make
TW-WINNER appear to be an actual part of the TradeWars game, even
down to the colors of the messages that are sent to traders when
they receive any messages. If you notice something that you
believe could make TW-WINNER appear even more as part of the
actual game, please drop us a note or give us a call.
TW-WINNER was created to replace the bulletin capabilities of
Trade Wars 2002 version 2. As is well known, Trade Wars will
only update bulletins that it creates if a player goes to the
computer and selects List Traders by Value, or List Traders by
Title. This is not necessarily done by all players and can lead
to old and outdated bulletins. TW-WINNER will create these
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TW-WINNER (C) 1994, 1995 SimSoft Professional Computer Services.
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
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bulletins for you, in the exact appearance of the ones generated
by the game. Not only will it do this, but it gives you the
option of ASCII, ANSI, and @CODE bulletins (PCBoard or WildCat).
Trade Wars 2002 will NOT create a bulletin of the Daily Journal,
and trying to use the data file that contains the Daily Journal
is no longer even possible with the release of Wide Beta 6.
TW-WINNER will create bulletins for you of the Daily Journal in
ASCII, ANSI and @CODE colors (PCBoard or WildCat).
TW-WINNER also has a unique ranking feature of its own which is
completely customizable by the Sysop. As we all know, a users
ranking should not solely be based on their experience and
alignment. With a file called TWWINNER.VAL, you can set point
values for a wide variety of options which TW-WINNER will use to
calculate rankings for all of your users. See the TW-WINNER file
description section at the end of this document for details.
NOTE:
TW-WINNER creates a file when it is run called PADLOCK.$$$. This
file is created to ensure that another node running TW-WINNER
does not attempt to write to the bulletins that it is creating.
If another node tries to run TW-WINNER while it is currently
running on another node, a message will be displayed informing
you that the bulletins are currently locked and the second copy
of TW-WINNER will drop out and end. When the first copy of
TW-WINNER ends, it will delete this file so the next time it is
run (on any particular node), it can update the bulletins.
If your bulletins seem to be out of date, it is possible that a
power outtage or something may have caused TW-WINNER to terminate
unexpectedly, and the PADLOCK.$$$ file to remain intact. If this
is the case, simply delete PADLOCK.$$$.
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Running TW-WINNER
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To run the TW-WINNER add-on, you can place it in the TW2002
directory and type: TWWINNER /option /option /option, where
/option is a specific option that you would like to use. See the
parameter descriptions following this section of the
documentation. It is best run however, in your TradeWars batch
file, directly after TW2002.EXE.
Another option is to place the TW-WINNER files in a different
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TW-WINNER (C) 1994, 1995 SimSoft Professional Computer Services.
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
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directory if you do not like to mix your different programs in
the same directory. If this is the case, you will need to add
the /DP command line parameter so that TW-WINNER can find the
TradeWars data files.
Example: TWWINNER /DP:C:\DOORS\TW2002
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TW-WINNER Command Line Options
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There are several command lines parameters that are available to
modify the way TW-WINNER acts. The more useful of these however,
are only available in the registered version. The command line
parameters are listed below, with the registered features marked
with an asterisk.
/DP:[path]
Allows you to set the path to the TradeWars data files. The
following example would run TW-WINNER, telling it to look for the
TradeWars data files in the C:\DOORS\TW2002 directory.
Example: TWWINNER /DP:C:\DOORS\TW2002
* /DAY:[days]
S p ecifies the Day to actually run. 1=Sunday, 2=Monday,
3 = Tuesday, 4=Wednesday, 5=Thursday, 6=Friday, 7=Saturday,
A=Always. The day numbers can be in any order and in any
combination. R will cause the program to run randomly, "A"
will cause it to run always. If "A" is specified, the day
numbers will be ignored.
The Unregistered version will only run on Fridays.
The following example would run TW-WINNER, telling it to run
Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.
Example: TWWINNER /DAY:246
The following example would run TW-WINNER, telling it to run
everyday.
Example: TWWINNER /DAY:A
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TW-WINNER (C) 1994, 1995 SimSoft Professional Computer Services.
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
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/ASCII
Specifies you would like TW-WINNER to create an ASCII bulletin.
The filename of the bulletin that will be created, by default, is
TWE1BULL.ASC.
Example: TWWINNER /ASCII
/ANSI
Specifies you would like TW-WINNER to create an ANSI bulletin.
The filename of the bulletin that will be created, by default is
TWE1BULL.ANS.
Example: TWWINNER /ANSI
* /PCB
Specifies you would like TW-WINNER to create a PCBoard BBS
compatible bulletin. The filename of the bulletin that will be
created, by default, is TWE1BULL, without an extension. This
parameter cannot be used in conjunction with /WC.
The following will generate a PCBoard compatible bulletin.
Example: TWWINNER /PCB
* /WC
Specifies you would like TW-WINNER to create a WildCat BBS
compatible bulletin. The filename of the bulletin that will be
created, by default, is TWE1BULL, without an extension. This
parameter cannot be used in conjunction with /PCB.
The following will generate a WildCat compatible bulletin.
Example: TWWINNER /WC
* /JOURNAL
Specifies that in the previously specified formats (/ASCII,
/ANSI, /PCB or /WC), you would also like TW-WINNER to create a
bulletin for the Daily Journal. You must specify at least one
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TW-WINNER (C) 1994, 1995 SimSoft Professional Computer Services.
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bulletin format, ie. /ASCII, /ANSI, /PCB, or /WC. The default
filenames for the JOURNAL bulletins are as follows:
TWE1JRNL.ASC, if /ASCII is specified.
TWE1JRNL.ANS, if /ANSI is specified.
TWE1JRNL, if /PCB or /WC is specified.
The following example will, along with the regular bulletin,
create a journal bulletin both in ASCII and ANSI format.
Example: TWWINNER /ASCII /ANSI /JOURNAL
* /ENDBYDATE:[date]
Specifies that you would like the game to officially end at the
date specified. If this parameter is specified and the ending
date is reached, a notice will be added to the bulletins and
TW-WINNER will create a file in its current directory called
ENDGAME.@@@. By checking for the existance of this file, you can
have your batch file that runs Trade Wars react accordingly.
See example at end of this document. (Be sure to delete this
file after you run your next BIGBANG!)
The date field must be 10 characters long, with a 2 digit month,
a 2 digit day and a four digit year, separated by either forward
slashes (/) or hyphens (-).
The following example would cause the game to end on January 1st,
1999.
Example: TWWINNER /ENDBYDATE:01/01/1999 or
TWWINNER /ENDBYDATE:01-01-1999
* /ENDBYSCORE:[score]
Specifies that you would like the game to officially end when a
player reaches the specified score. If this parameter is
specified and a player reaches the score, a notice will be added
to the bulletins and TW-WINNER will create a file in its current
directory called ENDGAME.@@@. By checking for the existance of
this file, you can have your batch file that runs Trade Wars
react accordingly.
See example at end of this document. (Be sure to delete this
file after you run your next BIGBANG!)
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TW-WINNER (C) 1994, 1995 SimSoft Professional Computer Services.
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
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The range for the score is 1 - 2,147,483,647.
The following example would cause the game to end when a players
score reached 2,000,000,000 (two billion).
Example: TWWINNER /ENDBYSCORE:2000000000
* /SENDMSG
Specifies that you when the game to officially ends, you would
like a message sent to all players, informing them that the game
has ended.
The following example would cause a message to be sent to all
players once the game has officially ended.
Examples: TWWINNER /ENDBYDATE:01/01/1999 /SENDMSG or
TWWINNER /ENDBYSCORE:2000000000 /SENDMSG
/MODE:[mode]
Specifies which mode you would like the bulletins created in.
Mode choices are BYRANK, BYTITLE, and BYCALC. If you choose
BYCALC, then you should take a close look at the TWWINNER.VAL
file. This file contains your specifications as to how you would
like to rank the players by their achievements and posessions. A
sample of this file is included at the end of this document,
along with descriptions for each field.
Examples: TWWINNER /MODE:BYRANK or
TWWINNER /MODE:BYTITLE or
TWWINNER /MODE:BYCALC
* /BLTNAME:[FileName]
Tells TW-WINNER to create the ranking bulletins using this for
the filename. Do NOT include an extension. The ASCII filename
extension will be .ASC, the ANSI filename extension will be .ANS,
and the PCBoard and WildCat filenames will not have an extension.
The following example would run TW-WINNER, telling it to create
an ANSI rankings bulletin named TWE1BULL.
Example: TWWINNER /ANSI /BLTNAME:TWE1BULL
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TW-WINNER (C) 1994, 1995 SimSoft Professional Computer Services.
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* /JNLNAME:[FileName]
Tells TW-WINNER to create the daily journal bulletins using this
for the filename. Do NOT include an extension. The ASCII
filename extension will be .ASC, the ANSI filename extension will
be .ANS, and the PCBoard and WildCat filenames will not have an
extension.
The following example would run TW-WINNER, telling it to create
an ANSI daily journal bulletin named TWE1JRNL.
Example: TWWINNER /ANSI /JOURNAL /JNLNAME:TWE1JRNL
* /BLTDIR:[Path]
Tells TW-WINNER to create the bulletins in this directory. The
following example would run TW-WINNER, telling it to create an
ANSI daily journal bulletin in the directory C:\BBS\BULLETIN.
Example: TWWINNER /ANSI /JOURNAL /BLTDIR:C:\BBS\BULLETIN
* /JLINES:[MaxJournalLines]
Tells TW-WINNER not to pull more than xxxx lines from the Daily
Journal. If the Jorunal is longer than xxxx, then the program
will read xxxx lines from the bottom of the journal, in an
attempt to keep the most recent activities in the journal
bulletin.
The following example would run the TW-WINNER, telling it that
the max lines for the Daily Journal bulletin is 800.
Example: TWWINNER /JOURNAL /JLINES:800
/@[filename]
Tells TW-WINNER to look for all other command line optionsin the
file [filename].
The following example would run the TW-WINNER, telling it that
all command line options are in the file TWWINNER.PAR.
Example: TWWINNER /@TWWINNER.PAR
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TW-WINNER (C) 1994, 1995 SimSoft Professional Computer Services.
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NOTE: The format for the parameter file is simple. Just place
each command line option on a separate line. See the file
SAMPLE.PAR for an example.
/?, /H, /HELP
Will display a list of all command line options.
Examples: TWWINNER /? or
TWWINNER /H or
TWWINNER /HELP
All parameters can be used in cunjunction with one another.
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TWWINNER.VAL file field descriptions:
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This file contains the number of points to add to the players
score for each of the following fields. Field names must be
exactly as shown. Section headers are only used for clarity of
reading and are not necessary.
Positive vaules will be added to the players total score, and
negative values will be subtracted from the players total score.
If by accident, you mess up the TWWINNER.VAL file, just delete it
and a new one with the following default values will be
re-created next time TW-WINNER is run.
[Planets]
ColonistsInOre=1 ;Points per each colonist in fuel ore.
ColonistsInOrganics=1 ;Points per each colonist in organics.
ColonistsInEquipment=1 ;Points per each colonist in equipment.
OreOnHand=1 ;Points per each unit of fuel ore.
OrganicsOnHand=1 ;Points per for each unit of organics.
EquipmentOnHand=1 ;Points per for each unit of equipment.
FightersOnHand=2 ;Points per each fighter.
CitadelLevel=50 ;Points per level of citadel.
ShieldLevel=10 ;Points per shield unit.
TreasuryCredits=0 ;Points per each treasury credit.
TransporterLevel=5 ;Points per each transporter level.
InterdictorGeneratorOn=25 ;Points per interdictor on.
[Sectors]
DeployedFighters=10 ;Points per each deployed fighter.
DeployedArmidMines=10 ;Points per each deployed armid mine.
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TW-WINNER (C) 1994, 1995 SimSoft Professional Computer Services.
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DeployedLimpetMines=10 ;Points per each deployed limpet mine.
[Ships]
Kills=10 ;Points per each kill.
Shields=10 ;Points per each shield point.
Fighters=10 ;Points per for each fighter.
Holds=10 ;Points per each hold.
OreInventory=10 ;Points per each hold of fuel ore.
OrganicsInventory=2 ;Points per each hold of organics.
EquipmentInventory=2 ;Points per each hold of equipment.
Colonists=2 ;Points per each hold of colonists.
TranswarpAvailable=25 ;Points for transwarp being available.
CloakingDevices=5 ;Points per each cloaking device.
Cloaked=10 ;Points for the ship being cloaked.
LongRangeScanner=25 ;Points per each type of lr scanner.
GenesisTorpedos=1 ;Points per each genesis torpedo.
ArmidMines=5 ;Points per each armid mine.
LimpetMines=5 ;Points per each limpet mine.
Beacons=1 ;Points per each beacon.
Photons=10 ;Points per each photon.
Detonators=-10 ;Points per each detonator.
CorbomiteLevel=10 ;Points per each corbomite level.
EtherProbes=1 ;Points per each ether probe.
MineDisruptors=10 ;Points per each mine disruptor.
PsychicProbes=1 ;Points for having a psychic probe.
PlanetScanner=10 ;Points for having a planet scanner.
AttachedLimpets=-20 ;Points for having a limpet attached.
InterdictorOn=10 ;Points for having interdictor on.
[Users]
SectorsExplored=1 ;Points per each sector explored.
BountyAmount=0 ;Points per total bounty amount.
NumberOfBounties=-5 ;Points per each bounty.
ContractAmount=0 ;Points per total contract amount.
NumberOfContracts=-10 ;Points for each contract.
BankBalance=0 ;Points per each credit in bank.
TimesBlownUp=-5 ;Points per each time blown up.
InCorp=10 ;Points for being in a corp.
Alignment=1 ;Points per each alignment point.
Experience=1 ;Points per each experience point.
CreditsOnHand=0 ;Points per for each credit on hand.
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Sample Batch File
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What follows is a sample batch file utilizing /ENDBYDATE.
(the same would hold true for for /ENDBYSCORE).
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TW-WINNER (C) 1994, 1995 SimSoft Professional Computer Services.
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
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@ECHO OFF
CLS
CD \DOORS\TW2002
IF NOT EXIST ENDGAME.@@@ GOTO GameStillActive
{do whatever you want here, like, display your bulletins}
GOTO End
:GameStillActive
TW2002.EXE
TWWINNER.EXE /MODE:BYCALC /ANSI /JOURNAL /ENDBYDATE:01/01/1997
:End
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