Outpost Trader Helper 1.2 Commands The following are the introductory commands. Commands are case sensitive. That is, /b is different from /B. /? Displays a menu of all commands on a single screen. /a Displays the Adjacent sectors to three levels with outpost or other status info. A later page contains more details about the display generated by this command. * /b Displays the BBS file notes for review or editing. There is one set of notes for each BBS data file consisting of three pages of 20 lines each. /c Displays the Configuration file notes for review or editing. There is one configuration file for notes common to all games. /d Displays a single path with complete detail to a Destination sector from the current sector. The destination sector is entered following the /, for example /23d. Enter /330,23d to view the path from 330 to 23 when 330 is not current sector. /e Issues the command to Explore the closest unexplored sector. After you have explored most or all of the sectors, enter /0e to clear the explored status for each sector and thus begin a subsequent exploration of the universe. The outpost and warp to information is not cleared. This commands is available to registered users only. /i Displays the five closest Isolated sectors. This is based on the known universe and unexplored sectors may warp to those listed. An isolated sector has only one sector warping to it and warps only to that sector and is often referred to as a dead end sector. Like many of the displays, this one show the path of sectors in columns. Read down, not across! Enter /& for the next five closest isolated sectors. * /k Gets the sector warp to information for all Known sectors using the Computer Interrogation Mode (CIM). Use this and the /r command first to initialize the database (just once per BBS data file). /n Allows entry of up to three Notation characters for the current sector. For example an 'M' might indicate mines or 'P' a planet in the sector. The notation characters are displayed with the other sector information. Enter /N to search for sectors that match specific notation characters. The first position is automatically set to the planet class letter. * /p Displays the five closest sectors with a specified outpost capability. Enter /& for the next five sectors with the same capability. * /q Quits the OT Helper program without quitting Outpost Trader itself. Normally you just enter 'q' to quit both OT and OT Helper. In either case the database is saved to the disk file. Page 1 /r This command is used to Record the product quantity available at each known outpost according to the CIM. Because this information is so volatile, this command is generally issued at the beginning of each session. Unregistered usage is severely limited. /t This exceedingly useful command will negotiate a Trade on your behalf with the outpost in the current sector. It assumes the holds are either empty or the most expensive product in them will be sold. The command will then buy the most expensive product that has sufficient quantity when a outpost is selling multiple products or by entering /T (capitalized) the least expensive product will be purchased. Entering a sector number after the /, for example /23t, initiates automatic cross trading between the sector specified and the current sector. You must have product in your holds to sell at the specified sector before entering this command. At the end of each trade, you will be given one second to halt the trading by pressing the SPACE BAR key. When the more expensive products are exhausted, the program will continue to trade for less expensive products if possible. Automatic cross trading is available to registered users only. If you have a ship equipped with a HyperSpace Drive, and you specify a nonadjacent sector containing your fighters, the HyperSpace Drive will be engaged. HyperSpace trading is available to registered users only. /u Displays the five closest Unexplored sectors in columns with their paths. Enter /& for the next five closest unexplored sectors. * /w Displays information on the current sectors outgoing and incoming Warps. Also shows total sectors explored and other data. * /x Displays the five closest sectors with cross trading outposts in adjacent sectors. This means you can trade back and forth between the outposts. Enter /& for the next five closest sectors with cross trading outposts. Multiple paths cause pairs to appear multiple times. * * For those commands marked with an asterisk, entering a sector number after the /, for example /23a, displays the data for the specified sector instead of the current sector. If you run the program without being online, you must enter the sector number since there is no current sector. Page 2 The following are the lower case advanced commands: /2e Begin autoexploring. Select Run Time Option 10 for details. /f Displays the paths to a destination sector from its nearest five sectors containing Fighters. The paths are proceeded by the number of hops from the current sector to the fighters. The destination sector is entered following the /, for example /23f. This command is available to registered users only. /g Goes to the sector specified following the /, for example /23g. A ship equipped with a Dynamic Scanner or better will scan along the way and stop when the next sector contain an entity corresponding to a value set via a Run Time Option (RTO). You can manually enter that sector and then enter /g without the sector number to continue onward to the original destination. Other RTOs specifies whether a fighter is deployed, if trading is to be done along the way and if unexplored sectors are to be MRI scanned. This command is available to registered users. /h Used to Haul colonists or product from one planet to another. You must be on the receiving planet with empty holds. Enter the other planet number following the /, for example, /3h to haul from planet 3 to the planet you are on. Enter /3,223h to haul from planet 3 in sector 223 to the planet you are on when the planets are not in the same sector. You will be prompted for what to haul. The ship's HyperSpace Drive will be engaged if available and there are fighters at both sectors. Energy will be replenished on the originating planet. This command is available to registered users only. Page 3 /o This command is used to enter the Run Time Options. All RTOs are saved in the BBS data file and can thus be set different for each game. The number assigned each RTO is the same as those for Trade Wars Helper, thus the missing number are for those RTOs that do not pertain to Outpost Trader. The RTOs are: 1. The minimum product quanity at outposts displayed with the /X, /x and /p commands. Use the /r command first to bring the product quantities up-to-date. 2. The turn at which the auto /t command will halt its process. 3. The cycle at which the /B and /C commands will halt their process. 6. Specifies when a fighter is deployed for the /g amd /e commands. Also see RTO 17. 7. Used to turn on/off trading along the way when using the /g or /e commands. 8. The value at which the /g command will stop when the next sector contain specified entities. 10. Used to turn on/off the deploying/trading/scanning when using the /e command. The previous three RTOs also apply to the /e command when on. *** AUTO EXPLORING *** capability is discussed when you select this option. Also refer to the /g command. 11. Used to turn on/off the stopping of a ship equipped with an MRI Scanner at the sector immediately preceding the unexplored sector when the /e command is used and the unexplored sector not is adjacent. 12. Used to turn on/off the MRI scanning of unexplored sectors not in the destination path when using the /g command. 16. The number of attack fighters to be automatically used when enemy fighters are encountered while using the /g or /e commands. The attack is made only if there are fewer enemy fighters. 17. The number of fighters to deploy and their mode when using the /F, /g or /e commands. 18. The control option for issuing OT commands at startup or when leaving a Starbase or planet. The following are specialized advanced command. /0A Used to mark or unmark a sector as Avoided for the OTH database commands. /0E Used to mark or unmark a sector as inaccessible for the /E routines. /0S Used to mark or unmark a sector as Safe for the /e and /g commands to move into regardless of the scanned status. Page 4 The following are the upper case advanced command. /A Used to attack a ship in the current sector with fighters. The attack continues until the enemy ship is destroyed or leaves the sector. If you wish to use an Ion cannon, enter the TW A command manually. This command can also be used to attack fighters in the sector with your fighters. This commands is available to registered users only. /B This command is used to initiate the automatic Buying of product for a planet and/or selling of product from a planet. Enter a sector number after the /, for example /23B, to specify the sector containing the outpost to use. You must be on the planet with sufficient credits (if buying) and/or product in your holds (if selling) before entering the command. The cycle repeats itself until you press the SPACE BAR key when prompted or the number of cycles set by an RTO has been reached. See /h command for using the ship's HyperSpace Drive. /C This command is used to initiate the automatic Colonizing cycle. You must be on the planet you wish to populate and the colonists are retrieved from Terra. This sequence repeats itself until you press the SPACE BAR key when prompted or the number of cycles specified by a Run Time Option has been reached. This command is available to registered users only. Entering a sector number after the /, for example /23C, initiates HyperSpace Drive colonizing. Again you must start on the planet to be populated. The HyperSpace Drive will be engaged for the sector specified. The Autopilot then will be used to move to Terra while the HyperDrive drive will be engaged to return to the originating planet. A fighter must be in the sector specified and in the originating sector. If you wish to colonize from a planet other that Terra, enter /23,61C to Hyperjump to sector 23 and then move to sector 61 to gather the colonists. Important: you must use the /h command to haul colonists from other than Terra if you do not want to use the HyperSpace Drive. /D Saves the database to the disk file and then shells to DOS. A mimimum of 45,000 bytes of memory must be available. /E Launches an Ether Probe to a sector chosen randomly from those unexplored sectors that have no known warp path to them. The /r command should be used following this command if any previously unexplored sectors contained an outpost. /1E launches an E-probe to a sector chosen randomly from those explored sectors considered to be isolated and not already visited during the current session. /2E chooses a sector so the E-probe passes thru the most sectors not already visited during the current session. Note that unexplored sectors may cause OT to select a significantly different path. /3E launches E-probes to isolated sectors sequentially keeping track of the last sector probed so it will pick up at the same point later. All E-probe commands will continue to launch probes until there are none remaining, a probe is destroyed, or you press SPACE BAR when prompted. Enter /0E to mark a sector as inaccessible for the /E routines. Page 5 /F Deploys Fighters based on RTO #17. /G Displays a Graphical view of the current sector and the adjacent sectors to any level. The mouse or keyboard can be used to select several options shown in the boxes on the screen. The capitalized letter is the hot key for keyboard entry. The items with + and - signs can be increased/decreased by clicking on the left or right portion of the box or entering the letter in upper case or lower case. You can also click on a sector in the map to display its adjacent sectors. A sector other than the current sector is specified following the /, for example /23G. Enter /330,23G to view the graphical path from 330 to 23. After using commands that list the five closest sectors (/x, /p, /f, etc.) you can enter /G and then click on the +Sector- box to graphically view the sectors. Isolated sectors are shown as double circles. Uregistered usage is limited. /I Shows a report of deeply Isolated sectors (tunnels to dead ends). Enter the depth factor following the /, for example /1I, /2I, /3I etc. An * indicates the sector is part of a longer tunnel. By entering /G afterward and clicking on the +Sector- box you can graphically view each tunnel. This command is available to registered users only. /M Used to merge another traders database into your own. The data merged is the outpost type, warp to sectors, and if being saved, the product percentage and quantities. Merged sectors are shown in brown. Enter /0M to remove the merged data. This command is available to registered users only. /N Used to search for sectors that match specific notation characters entered with the /n command. /O Displays the paths to the five closest Oneway outgoing warps. Enter /& for the next five closest oneway warps. /Q Used to Quash mines by launching a mine disruptor into a specified sector. The sector number is specified following the /, for example /23Q. The process repeats until you press SPACE BAR when prompted, all the mines are destroyed, or all disruptors are exhausted. /X Request the entry of subcommands to display the five closest specialized trading pairs which includes nonadjacent cross trading pairs and other combinations. Enter /& to display the next five closest specialized trading pairs. This command is available to registered users only. Page 6 The following discusses the /a command and color coding: The /a command shows adjacent sectors to three levels. It is generally used by unregistered users while the /G command is used by registered users. The first level is the sectors adjacent to the current sector. These are displayed across the top row. The second level is the sectors adjacent to the top row of sectors. These are displayed in the columns below the top row of sectors. The third level is the sectors adjacent to the column sectors. These are displayed in the rows to the right of the column sectors. The color coding and status abbreviations are as follows: Red - An unexplored sector (une). Brown - A sector with info merged from another trader. Magenta - An explored empty sector (emt). Yellow - A sector with outposts (BBS, SBS, etc). Blue - A sector with a class 9 outpost (999). Green - A sector with a class 11 or 12 outpost (C11 or C12). Gray - A sector marked as avoided. Cyan - A cross trading sector or the notation characters. A sector with a status of 'pre' was previously displayed. Enter the /a command a second time to display the data for those sectors not shown because of the limited screen width. The following are general points to be aware of: Outpost Trader Helper waits for selected text sequences before proceeding. Line noise or unforeseen circumstances may get OT Helper out of sequence with Outpost Trader itself and thus cause indefinite waits. If it appears the program is not responding, press the ESC key several times or the ESC and ENTER keys until some request is displayed. An attempt is made to keep track of the last product purchased. This info is displayed with the current sector information in the lower right corner. Under certain conditions this information will not be accurate (i.e. when you start but don't consummate a trade.) The OT I command can be issued to correct this information. This anomaly doesn't occur when using the /t command. Also OTH can keep track of only a single product. If you have more that one product in your holds, the most expensive will be shown. Repetitive process are generally terminated by pressing the SPACE BAR key when prompted. You can also press the SPACE BAR key prior to the message which will halt the process at the next "Command" prompt from Outpost Trader. Page 7 OT Helper learns which sectors contain fighters from the OT g command or when you use the /F command or when it automatically deploys fighters. If you use the OT commands to deploy fighters then do the OT g command afterward to bring OT Helper up-to-date. If you spend the night on a planet, leave the planet so OT Helper can issue the commands to gather its initializing information before entering commands like /k, /h, /B and /C. Use the Page Up key to view Outpost Trader text that has been scrolled off the top of the screen. The Page Down, Up Arrow, Down Arrow, Home and End keys can also be used to view text in the scroll back buffer. Function keys 1 and 2 can be used to Save and Restore the current contents of the scroll back buffer. The following are points related to the Graphical User Interface (GUI). The GUI is activated by pressing a mouse button usually at the "Command" prompt. To return to text mode press the End key or any of the keys that display the scrollback buffer (Home, End, PgUp, PgDn, Up Arrow, Down Arrow). Clicking on some of the buttons (Port, Land, OT Computer and OT Main Cmds) also returns to text mode. While in GUI mode you can enter OT or OTH commands using the keyboard as in text mode or you can click on a graphics button or line showing the OTH commands with the mouse. Some of the OT main commands and all of the OT computer commands can only be enter using the keyboard. The Map button displays the graphics map in the window, the Pairs button is the /X command, the Trade button is the /t command, the Goto button is the /g command, the Explore button is the /2e command (actually /7e), and the Attack button is the /A command. The Port button is the OT P command while the Land button is the OT L command. The Move, Dply (Deploy) and Scan buttons simply send the appropiate OT command and they in turn display the options presented by OT as buttons. They, like some of the other buttons, are not active when you are offline. Many of the buttons (Map, Pairs, Trade, Go to, Explore and Move) and OTH commands perform their function for the sector number display below the column of digits. The value in this digits display can be set by clicking on the column of digits, clicking on the current sector (left side of screen), clicking on a sector number in the graphics map or clicking on a sector number in the columns displayed by the various OTH database commands. The value in the digits display can be sent to OT by clicking on the digits display itself. The value in the digits display is equivalent to the value enter after the / when using the keyboard. When this value is cleared (all zeros) the current sector number is used. Page 8 For example, to trade in the current sector, either clear the digits display or make it show the current sector, then click on the Trade button. To inititiate cross trading between the current sector and another sector, make the digits display show the other sector number and click on the Trade button. To show the fighters nearest a sector, make the digits diplay show the sector number, click on the OT Database button and then click on the /f command line. Commands that require two numeric parameters such as /3,235h or /1245,123G must be entered using the keyboard. The Explore button is like the /7e command (like /2e autoexploring but without any MRI scanning). To have it also scan along the way make the digits display show a 2 (or any number up to 6 - select and read RTO 10 for additional detail). IMPORTANT: Because the digits display is used by many buttons and commands, be sure to check if for a correct value before clicking on a button or command line. The CRT screen area allows 8 lines of OT data to be displayed in a scrolling mode. It runs quite a bit slower than the full CRT screen that is used in when in text mode. However on some fast machine this may scroll by too quickly and can thus be slowed down by clicking on the minus side of the +Speed- button. It is initially set at the fastest speed. The three gauges are almost always correct but the other readouts on the left side of the screen may not be totally accurate! The credits, for instance, are one trade out of date and the readouts are not updated while on the planet. This is because OTH can only update these values when they are sent by OT across the modem. When deemed appropriate, such as when leaving a planet, OTH will send the OT I command to update the readouts but not show the information coming across the CRT screen to increase performance. This will cause a slight delay before you can enter a command. The program will light up the "Info" button when this is happening - which you can also click on to bring these values up-to-date. When the "Press SPACE BAR..." message is displayed you can optionally click a mouse button. Also while in text mode some of the processes, such as pressing ENTER at the RTO screen, can be exited with the mouse button. Page 9 ÿ