Avian Gamers Network

Ok, this is a very old game that only a limited audience would be aware of. This was an old ANSI/Text based game that was run on many BBS' in the early 90's. It was a turned based game that centered around space trade, creating a corporation, buying ships, and planets etc. I used to run an old WWiV based BBS, geesh, 14 years ago (?). Anyone out there ever play this game and know of a place to play it on today's internet? Any virtual BBS'? I've been wanting to play this old thing lately.

Sounds interesting!

*waits for answers*

Man, Tradewars was my first addiction, WAY WAY back. What we should do, is find a copy of it, and let one of these admin type people host it so we can have an exclusively Avian galaxy perpetually running. Now THAT would be sweet.

For those who haven't played it, it's a (mainly) text based game that's similar to "Freelancer" in that you have to haul goods from one system to another in order to make cash, and you can use that cash to build up your own fleet and bases and whatnot. Good game. Ah... memories.

_________________
"Perhaps the sentiments contained in the following pages, are not yet sufficiently fashionable to procure them general favor; a long habit of not thinking a thing wrong, gives it a superficial appearance of being right, and raises at first a formidable outcry in defence of custom. But the tumult soon subsides." - Thomas Paine, Common Sense

Is it like DrugWars? That game got me through high school on my TI-83 graphing calculator

_________________
TheMole
Section 5
Section 5
Section 5
Now Playing: WoW
--------------------

Check this out.... it's a newer version.

http://www.eisonline.com/products/Gold.htm

Here's what we need if we want to play the old version...

http://www.eisonline.com/products/default.htm

_________________
"Perhaps the sentiments contained in the following pages, are not yet sufficiently fashionable to procure them general favor; a long habit of not thinking a thing wrong, gives it a superficial appearance of being right, and raises at first a formidable outcry in defence of custom. But the tumult soon subsides." - Thomas Paine, Common Sense

Awesome! I thought about seeing if we could host it here. I'll haev to delve into my old floppy disk library because I know I have my old BBS backed up there, and I had a registered version of Tradewars 2002 Gold. I'm reading that they now have a version that would suit those needs. It's such a simple game but hopelessly addiciting in it's simplicity. It would be fun to have each Avian Section be a Corporation

As for Drugwars... much different. If I remember Drugwars, it was just like Pimpwars, and all the other *wars games. I used to host all those DOORS games on my site. Barren Realms Elite, TW2002, Legend of the Red Dragon, etc. But TW was always my favorite. I used to play under the name Darth Trader lol. I was a noob (well we called them ruskies back then.. I have no clue why). Always hoping to have enough turns to dock my ship in my citadel on my heavily fortified planet surrounded by fighters and space mines

Man, you're takin' me WAY back. Legend of the Red Dragon! LOL I played that non-stop too. My parents used to yell at me for hoggin the phone line with my mammoth 14400bps modem.

_________________
"Perhaps the sentiments contained in the following pages, are not yet sufficiently fashionable to procure them general favor; a long habit of not thinking a thing wrong, gives it a superficial appearance of being right, and raises at first a formidable outcry in defence of custom. But the tumult soon subsides." - Thomas Paine, Common Sense

Ah the memories. I ran a 3 line BBS system in the early 90s (like 92-96 or something like that) and operated 2 registered versions of that game on it, was one of the most popular along with LORD and Barren's Elite

_________________
Section 6

It's so refreshing knowing I'm now in a group of people where I can type SYSOP and know that you know what it means and correctly pronounce it. hehe.

I ran a single line WWiV modded board. I was heavy into ANSI art at the time and made all the menus, color schemes, loginscren ANSI pics etc. I was part of the WWiVnet for the networked forums. That was some state of the art, crowd pleasing technology there. But I don't miss sitting up at night waiting for my packets hehe.

If I can't find my TW2002 copy in the next couple of days, I'll happily donate a new one to Avian. Maybe even some LORD too

ROFL! SYSOP... that's funny. Looks like $45 will get us Gold if we want it. $25 for the regular. I sense a new Avian Wing about to take flight.

_________________
"Perhaps the sentiments contained in the following pages, are not yet sufficiently fashionable to procure them general favor; a long habit of not thinking a thing wrong, gives it a superficial appearance of being right, and raises at first a formidable outcry in defence of custom. But the tumult soon subsides." - Thomas Paine, Common Sense

It looks like we'd need TWGS. It's the Trade Wars Game Server. That will let it run stand alone and not have to run as a DOOR on a BBS.

Yeah I remember WWIV I personally ran VBBS and Adv VBBS totally custom modded and graphics, along with having VBnet, FidoNet and several other network forums, even had internet email with a couple day dealy

_________________
Section 6

HA! I made a VBBS board too! Our area code was a heavy WWiV and Wildcat! community and they shunned VBBS. But I spent weeks coding my VBBS site to have an optional WWiV looking interface for people to use. I got REAL creative one day and made a virtual building. You'd sign in and the menu's were al ANSI pictures with embedded links. You'd look at a lobby. Enter an Elevator. I made a picture of an elevator control panel. Each button would take you to a "floor". Forums on one floor, games on another, files one one, and the good files on the penthouse. Each Floor having a unique ANSI picture of that floor area. I spent so much time on that..... what was I thinking?

I completely forgot about FidoNet..I think my first internet email address was through Fido.

Yeah I tried WWIV and Wildcat as well. This area was mainly VBBS, very few of the others and when there was one of the others it was fairly poor in content or quality. Now get outside of the area like Spokane and Seattle there were nice WWIV and Wildcat boards. Dont know why they didnt catch on well in my area. Probably because me and another SYSOP started our multiline VBBS systems about the same time and were the main boards int eh area for over a year before they got really popular and seemed to shootup all over the place.

I did a similar menu system at once point but it was all holiday related, like one I did was a haunted house and another santa's workshop.

Fun times, used to be up all hours custom scripting the bugger.

_________________
Section 6

Guess who feels young now

_________________
1st Feb 2008

Guess who doesn't lol

Oh, I LOVED Tradewars! And spent soo much time on Wildcat. Wow, that was a good chunk of my free time when I was a kid. What a blast.

I think setting something like this up sounds really fun... hope I have time to play.

_________________
--The Hermit

Check out telnet://bbs.at2k.org/ for the newest reincarnation of VADV which is the software I used to run. Even has working door games via telnet. Ran across this about a month ago while feeling nostalgic <sp?>. Brings back lots of good memories.

_________________
Section 6

LOL

I used to run a 2 node Renegade BBS for several years. I used to love downloading BBS software, modding them out, and then uploading my mods around so people could use them.

I used to LOVE playing BRE and LORD. Never got into TW2002 all that much ... There was another door game I used to love playing where you were a hacking. Was kind of like a RPG, where you hacked systems, stole money, upgraded your equipment, etc ... Was a lot of fun, but I can't remember the name of it.

The other day I was digging through my Cd's and found my old NightOwl 19 CD that I used to have hooked up to my BBS. Would be fun to pop that thing in and check out all the old software that's on it. hehe

Few years back, I tried to setup a telnet BBS, but never did finish it. Just wasn't the same .. hehe. If we get something going with some old door games, I'd surely like to play.

This is great! I didn't think this many people would have played before, let alone ran a BBS. Most people I talk to anymore about running a BBS just look at me with ever increasing glazed over eyes. We really should see about setting up a door game section. That would be awesome. They don't take much time to play either, unless you've set TW to 1000 turns a day like I used to with TWEDIT.exe
Hopefully this weekend I can find my registered TW files or at least the registration number (which will be a miracle in of it's self since I haven't seen it since my senior year in highschool 12 years ago lol).
If there's lots of interest, maybe we can "sponsor" additional games.

What I'd like to do actually, is find out if there's a way to play the game web-based for us folks who are at work 15 hours a day and can't run programs like telnet in the workplace. That possible?

_________________
"Perhaps the sentiments contained in the following pages, are not yet sufficiently fashionable to procure them general favor; a long habit of not thinking a thing wrong, gives it a superficial appearance of being right, and raises at first a formidable outcry in defence of custom. But the tumult soon subsides." - Thomas Paine, Common Sense

If we could find a door emulator for a website, that would be the way. That way you access through a website, and not throw any flags up with a telnet session.

I'm bored and have a few more hours to kill at work. I'll look into it.

Doesn't look pretty....

FAQ: How do can I setup a BBS door on a webpage?
Author: Michael Preslar

Lets see what we can do here..

It can be done with java.. Youll need a java telnet client.. You can
find one at the link below..

http://www.first.gmd.de/persons/leo/java/Telnet/

Now now.. its not quite that simple Theres still some things to
consider.. Im not sure of how much previous sysoping experience youve
had, so ill try to cover everything i can..

The doors youll want to run will want a dropfile.. A dropfile being a
text file that the bbs creates that has the user's information. The door
will want this dropfile so it knows who the player is.. So, this means
youll either need a bbs software as well as the doorgame (which is not
that bad, you get messages, chatrooms, and other whatnot built into the
bbs software itself)

or, youll need a program to create a dropfile for you.. the information,
probably, gathered from a form on the webpage or something (this would
be a huge security hole. anyone could cheat and get another player's
game account)

Sooo.. bbs it is. Youd have to run the bbs on your own machine, as
Angelfire, lycos, and the other free servers (and more than likely the
private ones of friends) wont run a bbs software for you. Not to
mention, youd have to have a server to run the game itself on..

So far our ingredient list says we need our own server, a bbs software,
and a java telnet client. Hope Ive not lost you..

now to decide which bbs software to run. This will depend on a few
things, but is ultimtely based on your personal opinion. What operating
system are you on? If linux (or nix based) or mac, youll have a few
problems finding a good easy-to-configure bbs software package.. Running
dos, windows, or nt? Theres a complete plethora of options there.
Whatever operating system youre running.. I'd suggest EleBBS.. He has
versions for dos/win3.1, win32 (95,98,2k,NT), os2, and linux. If you on
mac, I've not idea what to suggest, as theres never been much for macs..

Another thing to consider when choosing what bbs software to run. The
games youll want to run.. What OS are they for? Games like Lord,
Exitilus, Usurper and the like are designed for dos, but would run on
most windows based systems (some nt setups have problems with them)..
Why consider this? If youre running linux, youll need to play with
DOSEMU to get the games running right.

From here on, Ill assume youve picked what bbs software to run, and have
a server to run it on. Youll want to setup the software for telnet. For
some bbs softwares, this means you'll need a "vmodem" (virtual modem)..
COM/IP or NetModem is what youll need.

Now, Ill assume that the bbs is setup for telnet (a lot of work just to
get a doorgame on a webpage, isnt it?).. Youll need to configure the
java telnet client correctly.. pointed to the right address and whatnot.
What configs youll need to do will vary on what java telnet client you
pick..

That should be it. I know, a lot of mess to get a doorgame on a webpage,
but itd work. Maybe one day, the guys that design the HTML standards
will make a better interface for the text based programs of yesteryear..

What is the proper pronouncation of SYSOP?

When I started BBSing back in the day, I used to pronounce it (SIGH-SOP), but then a while later I heard some other people pronounce it (SIS-OP).

I'm proud to say I can remember the days when I could read faster than my modem could download (300 Baud). Shoved in the back of my C64 it was a whole new world.


Anyone remember that BBS that was structured like a Mountain? You could log on, answer trivia questions, correct answers gave you more power to abuse other users?

_________________
Dr. Golga Bolg
SWTOR - Golga
Rift - Gnarlwood: Golgar Golgantua Golgate - Retired
WoW - Dalaran: Bolg Golga Virrok All Retired
SWG - Golga Bolg - Doctor (Resident) Retired
Eve - Edge Finn - Limbo
Section 2 - (Former) Director
What am I playing now?: The waiting game

Shivers, bad memory I remember when my BBS was in full swing holding drawings for the brand spanking new 14.4k modems, man our lines were screaming fast at that speed. hehe

_________________
Section 6

Luckily I started out with 2400 baud. My 14.4 I think cost around $300. But that also got you access to much much more at the "elite" boards. lol

I always pronounced it Sis-op. I could be wrong though.

_________________
"Perhaps the sentiments contained in the following pages, are not yet sufficiently fashionable to procure them general favor; a long habit of not thinking a thing wrong, gives it a superficial appearance of being right, and raises at first a formidable outcry in defence of custom. But the tumult soon subsides." - Thomas Paine, Common Sense

Well it is an abreviation of System Operation, so that is probably the correct pronounciation.

_________________
X2-PB

Pathfinder Kingmaker Campaign:
Gednan Malithanar - Wizard (1)
Dukin Thunderstrike - Ranger (1)

Star Citizen: - https://www.robertsspaceindustries.com/
AntanKarmola on their forums

Star Wars: The Old Republic: - Not really playing
Antare Karmola - Jedi Guardian (32)
Antan Karmola - Jedi Shadow (21)
Arianae Karmola - Gunslinger (20)

It looks like TWGS is the only option for a non-telnet connection. It works over TCP/IP. How? I'm not sure yet. I'm downloading the demo.

I was wrong. I has hoping there was a different client program, but now. It's telnet based also. That looks like our only option. I've got the TW server running on a PC here at my desk at work . It's just like I remembered, only universe generation is about 1000x faster than the last time I ran it on my 386. I'm going to snag a static IP address for home and run this on one of my spare PC's. I'll post the login info. Woot! Let the wars begin!

And I promise not to abuse the editor

LOL I played that on my first Palm Visor!

_________________
Moge

I've got a new keyboard/video/mouse switchbox on it's way to my house. As soon as that arrives, I'm going to reload a PC and set it up as a TW server. Hopefully by this weekend

LOL you guys are making me feel old...

My buddies and I (used to live in San Jose... during this time period anyway) used to go to swap meets and buy stuff from people that didn't even know what they did... come to think of it... not sure if all of it was 'legally obtained'...

We started a BBS in '88 ... single line, 300 baud... by '91 it was 7 line and 900 baud

Anyone remember when you had to go to a special 'location' to get memory... it was like walking into a bank.. and 8 MB chip was $800... (about $100 a meg back then )... you could even turn in your old memory for a discount

I remember turning in old RAM for a discount! HA! I also remember RAM being off the floor in most places. Usually they'd invite you into a back store room, bring one single chip out, display it like it was a fine watch, and keep them under lock and key. My dad was cleaning out his basement and asked me what I wanted to do with my old 386DX-40 I built when I was in highshool (which also ran my BBS). Heck, I know what I'm picking up this week now!

Holy - for got about that game. It was the first game I played online - back in 1990.
I spent HOURS playing and mapping out space.

_________________
Deak
SWTOR - Spicerunner Legacy - Smuggler - RETIRED
Rift - Decipher - Paragon - RETIRED | WAR - Frenzyof Energy - Shaman - RETIRED
WoW - Fire Mage - RETIRED | SWG - Weaponsmith - RETIRED
MMOGGLER™ for online gamers

What's the status on getting a game up and going Tet?

_________________
"Perhaps the sentiments contained in the following pages, are not yet sufficiently fashionable to procure them general favor; a long habit of not thinking a thing wrong, gives it a superficial appearance of being right, and raises at first a formidable outcry in defence of custom. But the tumult soon subsides." - Thomas Paine, Common Sense

I completely dropped the ball on this one. I've had several weekend projects around the home to do and just forgot about it. I did get my keyboard/video/mouse switch box so I can easily set up a server for this. I'll try and get it up and running this coming fine, cold, rainy weekend.

:bump:

_________________
"Perhaps the sentiments contained in the following pages, are not yet sufficiently fashionable to procure them general favor; a long habit of not thinking a thing wrong, gives it a superficial appearance of being right, and raises at first a formidable outcry in defence of custom. But the tumult soon subsides." - Thomas Paine, Common Sense

Black Nova Traders is the next-evoltion of Tradewars for the web and has been set up. People have been playing it for a few weeks. Jump on in!

Here's the thread:
http://www.avian-gamers.net/forums/view ... hp?p=90364

Here's the game:
http://www.sgnonline.com/bnt