LP, I think we are going for the Farmville crowd with TW from what I have seen in the posts. "Let me build and farm my planets" - we will need to add a few alien animals and crops to the fuel/org/equ that the planets produce though and some messages in the daily log like "An alien goat wandered onto Lewdpotato's planet and was fried by a quasar cannon - dinner at 8".

But as long as the ability to have games the way they currently are w/o some of the bugs such as alien farming, rogue planet ore issues, and cby cashing then it will be good. Who knows maybe the Farmville type player will get the blood lust and venture into all out TW warfare type games. I see the players first reaction being similar to those who have only played truce games - "Why are you attacking me on day one?".

One thing is certain, if players don't like certain settings, they will vote with their feet and hopefully let the Op know why.

               / Promethius / Enigma / Wolfen /

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

if people use some bugs to the point where it isnt really a bug anymore then the bug gets fixed it is changing the game we play.

I think that is a great point, I have been playing this game since the bbs days and I like that the game keeps changing with bug fixes and what not.
Its a challege and it keeps the game fresh. I also understand why some people left and others want an old school feel to the game, different strokes.
Just my opinion on why peeps left is there is just so many other things to do online than the bbs days. I don't think it has anything to do with someones ability to code or not to code or exploit bugs or whatever.
I do believe that if the game had an even playing field more people would play. for example to use baseball as a metaphore, If I have a baseball team and you have a baseball team and we play against each other, we have different players with different talents, however, if when your team is up to bat and we use a baseball and pitch from the mound and when my team is up to bat your pitcher gets to stand 10 feet closer and use a marble its not an even playing field. In a nut shell I think people felt that if they could not code or didnt want to learn how to it was no longer about the game of tradewars it was about who was the best coder.
Everything changes, but tw is still a great game that I will prob play for a long time regardless of the changes being made Ill just try to adapt.

ahh but you also said



im just pointing out that even in a bug fix the game does change. im not trying to pass judgement on said bug fixes or changes, in my humble opinion i like fixes... but these fixes will cause the game to change.

Clarification, probably not for the last time, any "bug" fixes of longstanding and accepted "bugs" will only be applied to a special mode, will therefore be optional, and will only be done if necessary to achieve the overall goal of keeping players like those in this thread from "turning an old school mode into a new school mode". Bugs and unintended behaviors have accumulated over the years to create a game that's completely unplayable for the majority of people who might otherwise be interested, and I'm just saying that the solution is to fix those bugs IN THAT SPECIAL MODE. And by way of further clarification, a "bug" is any behavior that was not intended and which effects balance in a negative way. Considering that gameplay today is based primarily on bugs and unintended gameplay, I can understand the point that fixing these bugs would be creating a different game. But on the other hand, not fixing the bugs allowed modern players to turn the game into something that it was never intended to be, so that my inaction on those bugs was equivalent to creating a different game. And since my only interest in this game is to preserve it as a relic of early online gaming, primarily for those who remember the game or anyone who wants to learn what it was, the only real point of doing anything with the game at this point is to attempt to restore it to what it was intended to be. Be satisfied that I am keeping your gameplay intact. Please. That should be enough. I'm expending a great deal of energy defending my right to make the changes that I feel are worthwhile based on the input I have received from many TW fans over the years.

By some estimates, over 1 million people have played TW, mostly during the early 90s. I don't expect large numbers of them to be avid players of the game again. I simply want there to be the possibility of any returning player to find a game that in some vague way resembles the game that they remember. There is a very legitimate view of TradeWars today, that it is a dead game, not worth playing. I hear this all too often from people who came back to the game expecting one thing and finding something very different. It is my duty to conserve TradeWars, and to my mind, that means putting the effort into creating a game mode that is closer to what these players expect. It frankly has nothing to do with those of you on this forum. That I'm here at all should demonstrate to you that I am interested in maintaining "your game" as well, and not simply stepping on you to satisfy the wishes of others.

So will the New mode have optional settings?

Like:
Started............: 08/16/22
Sectors............: 5000
Turns..............: 1000 Turns
Time Limit.........: 6hrs
Closed Game........: False
Gold Enabled.......: True
MBBS Enabled.......: False
Bug Enabled…….-True

And then have another set of the bugs that will be allowed or disallowed?

Shield Riding…….-ON
Planet farming……-OFF
TL Blocking……..-OFF
Mega Rob…………-ON
Planet/Ships tpw= Same

Ect……???????

Or will it all be wrapped up in 1 predetermined setting where everything considered a “bug” is on or off?


If ya want to watch T.V in black and White when color is available then so be it.


Game play today is Primarily based on Scripts, designed to expedite points in the game. Is unintended gameplay= Scripts?


“time machine”


O.K. Thank you…..

You are here making Statements and Soliciting Impute…….are you not….so why would you expect anything else from the most active and knowledgeable player in the game of TW as it is to day. When the word “CHANGE” get’s thrown around in any way, shape, or form people Psychologically will get defensive.

They say that based on the lack of players. I believe that is how I would take the statement “the game is Dead” they are not saying “The game is unplayable”

Don’t think I’m trying to stop you even if I could… I all for you making people like cruncher their own little version. My post are for both inquisitive as well as informative base on Questions and answer YOU are making in your own posts. From my own player prospective as the biggest noob in TW today.

On this one I beg to differ sorry man… No I don’t think you are here “simply to step on us to satisfy the wishes of others” so don’t get me wrong…. BUT I do think you are here because you need a few things.

1) Impute from people that play the game today.
2) Impute from the Sysops that run the servers as they are today.
3) Players willing to test the “NEW software”

Yes, it does demonstrate you interest and (from more resent posts) a willingness to find a way of maintaining the game as it is played to day, but if you really don’t want the feed back why bother making post that will inevitably solicit feed back whether positive or negative ?

Creating an option that wasn’t there before is a CHANGE! Good or bad, not what my point is here. How it will be use once released will be up to Sysops….but yet still will be and cause changes.




Yes SG it IS change, but you obviously DON’T GET IT ,you should let JP respond him self. He doesn’t need you to stand up for him he does very well on his own and he actually reads what he is writing.

lol

Kewl, you got me. I am actually changing the game. Sorry. I'm not sure how to avoid that. I'll try not to break anything I don't have to break, and I am interested in hearing about how the things I have done are effecting the game, but it is a debate and I will decide to do things that some won't like. All I can promise is that I'll do my best not to break anything that I don't have to break. To my mind, as long as changes and additions are options, that's not going to break anything. Of course, some things are just plain broken, like the mail file, and shouldn't be optional changes. Fixing some serious alien bugs shouldn't be options. There's just too much that goes into fixing that to make it an option. But if I add functionality, it'll be optional, and if I change gameplay, it'll be optional, unless there's a very good reason why it can't be. I promise you it won't be solely for the purpose of ruining your day

And that's why I'm here. So I can hear what people have to say about the things I do, and I know the repercussions of doing it. I may not know how some seemingly subtle change will effect your game, so you gotta tell me. But be aware that after you make your case, I might not agree. I'm balancing a lot of considerations here.

I haven't actually started any of this new mode stuff, and when I do, I'm going to float it here in beta first, so at that point, let's talk about what I'm doing wrong and straighten it out then. Right now my primary focus is on two things. 1) fixing bugs for everyone, and 2) making improvements to TWGS. If anything I've done is a problem, feel free to point it out. But speculating on future changes isn't very productive. It's all talk at this point.

Now I need to get busy making extern scheduling a local setting so Timberwolf can open his beta botwars game.

yay botwars

Why can't we have 1 thread that doesn't have Cruncher's Name in it?

The so-called shield riding bug is something that should be left alone. I believe it has valid uses and really don't understand why it is called a "bug" unless it is because of its unintended use. I use it as often as I can for a specific purpose when applicable. If it goes away, I will adapt to it though just as many of us will adapt to whatever is done, up to and including avoiding an upgraded TWGS if necessary (although that extreme is unlikely).

               / Promethius / Enigma / Wolfen /

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