Even though I have written a general guide that covers a lot of games, such as LORD, Tradewars (TW) requires its own guide due to the sheer size and complexity of the program. Due to this, I am simply covering the process of installing TW and configuring it enough so that a user may play it online. I will not be covering any of the editors, or even the general configuration options. I am also assuming that your BBS is functional and that users may either dial-in or telnet to your BBS.

Please read your TW documentation before hand to get a general idea of what is involved. There are some command line options in the documentation that I do not even mention in this guide.

One more thing, I am writing this guide using my own configuration as a template. The settings I recommend are based on my experiences, and there might settings that work better for you. Feel free to experiment with different settings and if you do get better results with them, please inform me so I may try them myself.

Okay, lets begin. First you might notice that there are two different versions of Tradewars. One archive is named 2002V309.ZIP and the other is named 2002D309.ZIP. The first version (the one with a V), should only be used if the other version will not work with your OS. It should only have to be used on either very early versions of DOS, or a program like DOSEMU. The second version (the one with a D), is the DPMI version that uses memory much better under today's operating systems. It isn't restricted to the memory limitations of DOS. I recommend that you use the DPMI version. This version is also necessary if you want to run TW Gold. If you are running OS/2 or Windows NT/2k then be sure to use the DPMI version or you will see your memory resources disappear.

Make a directory that you would like to run the game from. For example, I place all of my doors in a directory called D:\DOORS. So, I create a directory called D:\DOORS\TW. Extract the contents of the TW archive into that directory.

When it has finished, run INSTALL.BAT. This batch file will create the needed directories and copy all of the files accordingly. It will then ask you if you have registered the game. If you have then say yes, and enter your registration information when prompted. If not, say no.

It then loads the BIGBANG universe creator. If you have registered your copy, then you can edit the sectors and other options here. For the guide, I am not changing any settings. Press 'Z' to begin the universe creation. It will then place you back at the DOS prompt when it has completed.

Now you want to run TEDIT.EXE. This is the editor to change all of the settings in Tradewars. You now just need to edit the nodes for the BBS. So, in TEdit, press 'O' to enter the node editor. It will ask you for which node to edit. You'll need to edit the settings for each node of your BBS. I run a four node BBS, so I have to edit the settings for TW nodes 1-4. I will explain each of the options now and how to edit them for different nodes.

I'm editing node 1. Every sysop has a node one, or it wouldn't be a BBS. So type '1' and press enter.

A) Path to Data Files - This is the directory that TW looks at to find the Tradewars files. I have never had to change this option from <default directory>.

B) Path to Drop Files - This is the directory that TW looks at to find the drop file for user information. You want to edit this option so it looks like: D:\VA\TEMP\N1. Of course change the names of the directory to point to your BBS. For node 2, you would change the N1 to N2, and so on. VBBS and VADV places all of the drop files in these directories to keep each of the BBS channels separate. I always recommend that you use the DOOR.SYS drop file, which I'll explain in a minute.

C) BBS Drop File Type - This is where you tell TW what drop file you are using and you will also setup the fossil or modem information here. So, press 'C' and a menu will appear. Select option 7, which is the DOOR.SYS drop file type.

You now have a few more options that just appeared on the screen...

D) Hardware Handshaking - Leave at YES.

E) Active Node - Leave at YES.

F) Comport - This varies. If this node of your BBS is a dial-up line, where you use a modem, then you need to set the comport as one used by the modem. If your BBS is being access by telnet with a program like Netmodem, then you need to set this for the comport that was specified in Netmodem as node 1. My node 1 is set at COM5. When you setup the other nodes in Tradewars, then change those comports to match either the modem comport for that channel or the comport that was configured in Netmodem for that node. (My node 2 is COM6, node 3 is COM7, and node 4 is COM8.. just like in Netmodem).

G) Override Port Address - You shouldn't have to change this unless your modem is using weird values. It does not matter what it is set for Netmodem.

H) Override Port IRQ - You shouldn't have to change this unless your modem is using weird values. It does not matter what it is set for Netmodem.

I) I/O Type - If you are using a fossil driver for this node, then set it for fossil. Otherwise, leave it at standard. If you do not know what a fossil driver is, then leave it at standard. Netmodem 1.0 beta 4 users need to set it for fossil. Netmodem 2.0 alpha 3 users should set it to match the configuration of Netmodem. You may want to look at your configuration in VConfig to see if that node is using a standard comport or if it is using a fossil driver.

Okay, that is all there is to configuring the nodes in TEdit. Now exit that program. Now we just need to make a quick batch file that will load Tradewars and pass the proper information. I created mine in the D:\DOORS\TW directory and named it TW.BAT. It looks like:

@ECHO OFF
SET RTM=EXTMAX 1024 <-- DPMI version only
D:
CD\DOORS\TW
TW2002.EXE TWNODE=%1
D:
CD\VA

Basically this file changes the directory to the Tradewars directory, and then loads TW2002.EXE and gives it the BBS node number that is calling it. Just make sure that your batch file runs TW2002.EXE with the parameter TWNODE=%1.

If you are using OS/2, then add the parameter MULTITASK=NO after the TWNODE=%1.

Save this file.

Almost done. We just need to add the entry to VConfig now.

Goto your BBS directory and run VConfig. Press 'A' to enter the Doors Configuration. Press Insert to add a new entry. Then highlight the new entry and press enter.

1) Program Name - Make it what you want, I like Tradewars 2002.

2) Command Line - This is where you call the batch file you wrote a moment ago. It should look like:

D:\DOORS\TW\TW.BAT %1

Just remember to add the %1 to the end. This will send the BBS node to the batch file so that Tradewars knows what user is running it!

3) Security Level - You can set this so only certain users can run the door.

4) Access Flag - You can set this so only certain users that have the flag can run the door.

5) Single User - Set it to NO. Tradewars now lets players interact while online together.

6) Credit Cost - If you run a credit based BBS, you can set it to charge users a certain amount of credits to play.

One more thing! While in VConfig, setup a nightly maintenance entry that runs EXTERN.EXE in the Tradewars directory. This must be run on a nightly basis!

This pretty much covers it. You should now be able to exit VConfig and then login to your BBS and run Tradewars!

Some other things you might want to do is add a line to the TW.BAT file that will copy the scores file to your bulletin directory so users can see who is winning!

If you have further questions, email me.