We lost players to EVE because it's graphical and fancy, and it's very similar to TW.

Never played EVE or WoW, but have seen screen shots and they are pretty nice. A few of the long time players that left for EVE asked me to join, but I was really just getting into scripting and enjoying it, or I probably would have. Graphics vs ANSI text and graphics wins the eye candy trophy.

               / Promethius / Enigma / Wolfen /

"A man who has no skills can be taught, a man who has no honor has nothing."

John Pritchett,
I just found this thread. Yesterday I started the following thread, please express your thoughts. Thank you for raising some very important points. I agree with you that this game is not commercially valuable in its current form but still want to see the game exist in the future and be playable on modern hardware while still preserving human vs. human game play. That is a tall order to fill.

There are so many ways to go about this and we could talk for years... but I want to express my feelings about automation.

In game automation for some tasks is a healthy notion. Tradewars is about resource management after all and that can be micro or more global in scope. When doing any form of automation please realize the mis-understood beauty of TW 2002. Graphics, yes I said Graphics, even ANSI ones. People love (although they may not be able to verbalize this) to see movement. That is the first thing that attracted me to TW 2002, the ANSI colors just flying by. However ANSI graphics are a relic of computer history more loved by programmers than the average user. This is why I feel a DirectX/OpenGL based GUI must be implemented as I state in my other thread.

Since you and I agree we want more human vs. human play, or at the least allowing for casual play your going to hit the psychological problem you're having with people resistant to change, it is all about advantage. Back in the day knowing how to script gave one a sense of accomplishment, an advantage, a ticket to winning if you can think hard and express yourself textually. These people feel like that if you hinder custom automation that you're taking that away. I think the right approach is to take something away but give something back. If custom scripts are no longer an advantage what then becomes the new advantage?

There has to be a sense of advantage!

With modern computers scripting is not an advantage, it only serves to kill new players. If you take away scripting, or make it useless you will lose some programmers. But that is not the real concern. I am a programmer, if you take away scripting, just give me a new challenge. I can tell you that adding micro management is not the answer. I can't play 8 hours a day. Also to much automatic ingame automation would bore me to tears. I want to see and feel the movement. I want to enjoy space!

I propose that this new challenge be a clever merger of two games styles into one. Unbridled scripting, check, newb protection, check, an adventure game with objectives to complete, check, kill everybody in deep space because you’re a trillionaire, check. Please read my post.

Thread found here:
viewtopic.php?f=13&t=26166

I looked at EVE and I guess I am really a geeky nerd at heart, the graphics of my imagination playing TW are far superior to anything fancy graphical games can produce.

I did play a little, I don't know what you want to call local War Craft and Space Craft before it was on the web as a multi player game. I got board quickly with those. When Diablo II came out, my son and his friends had a lan party here. More kids than computers, so after they each had a turn, I asked when could I play. Most moaned, then my son and one of his buddies who knew I gamed talked the others into letting me play. Then they got a kick out of how fast I could level-up. I actually wore out at least one mouse playing that game, but again it got boring and predicable. (Before online Multi-Player) Those games are heavily botted or scripted now as well, I'm not interested.

Like I say, the appeal TW has for me is the live interaction of people vs people. Always entertaining and full of surprises!

lol you prove your point without meaning to! its starcraft!

Yeah, if I really liked the game I'd remember it's name! LOL

doesnt eve cost money to play while tradewars is free? all the grafix in the world, even if its nude bondage pics of famous women cant trump free.

heh um waves cash heh

We used to have to pay to play, usually $5 per month per server. But hey, we were addicted to TW.

We need to find Edwin D. Boogie, USAF, he had a pic he told everyone was of me. I wish I still had a copy somewhere. It was a large breasted woman pressing her bare breasts against a porthole. He passed that around telling everyone that was me.