a. Introduction

Using The StarDock To It's Fullest:
The CinePlex Videon Theatres are useless to everybody. There's no secrets here. You, for a nominal amount of credits get to watch an ANSI. If you want to see them, it's probably easier just to download TradeWars 2002 and install it locally! The 2nd National Galactic Bank is useful for those good traders, who do not want to be taxed because they have over 49,999 credits at the beginning of the day. Unfortunately, you can only deposit 100,000 credits in your account, total. The nice thing is that if you want to help someone out, you can transfer credits from your account to theirs. It can make for good alliances. No secrets here either. The Stellar Hardware Emporium is useful indeed! EVERYBODY uses it! It's where you get your Genesis Torpedoes, Mines, Marker Beacons, Scanners, TransWarp Drive Systems, and so forth. Here is a list of the products and what they do below: [I have reduced this area due to overlapping of subjects within this document. Please refer to the Table of Contents. DMD 5/20/98]
 
b. Cloaking Devices

EVERYONE should have at LEAST one at all times after the first two weeks of gameplay! In case you run out of turns outside of a safe area (your home sector or FedSpace -- if you're good) They protect you from being seen by enemies. All competent CEO's should use them. The maximum any ship can carry is five.
 
c. SubSpace Ether Probes

These are handy. Want to know what's in sector 1,000 and have no turns left? Use one. It's like a moving Holo Scanner that goes multiple sectors and takes one turn. The only thing is, a mine, one fighter, or just about anything will destroy them, and if caught by a fighter, the owner of that fighter will be told who owns the Ether Probe. The maximum any ship can carry is 25.
 
d. Planet Scanners

Planet scanners do just that, scan planets. If the planet is NOT shielded, then you will be told who owns it, and how many fighters are on the planet, as well as other information. A wise investment after you have a couple million credits in the citadel, and have a safe ship, so you don't put 30,000 credits down the drain needlessly.
 
e. Long Range Scanners

Density Scanner: This scanner tells you how many warps lead out of the sectors around you, and what is in the sector, roughly. A Density scan doesn't take a turn, as a holo scan does.
 
A Sector Density Scan Ending in 2,3,4,7,8 or 9 is a Fed, ALWAYS. A Sector Density scan ending in 0,1,5 or 6 is NOT a Fed, SOMETIMES (see 'Keeping an evil Imperial StarShip')
 
Holographic Scanner: This scanner is a density scanner, but it also can be a scanner that graphically shows you exactly what's in the adjacent sectors, but requires a turn.

f. Mine Disruptors

Mine Disruptors are simple. Any ship can carry a maximum of 10. They can disrupt up to 12 mines (if you're lucky) in a sector. They MUST be fired from a sector adjacent to the one with the mines, same as Photon Torpedoes. A good investment of 40,000 credits when one has a SECURE ship.

g. Genesis Torpedoes

Genesis Torpedoes are IMPORTANT! You make planets with these. It is well worth the 25,000 credits if you have found a secure sector (see 'The Worth of Planets and Citadels') to place it in (so it will not be found and destroyed). Then you colonize and stock the planet, and tada! Citadel time!

h. Psychic Probes

These are not much help. Sometimes they are worth it. They simply tell you AFTER you have bought or sold a product what percent of the highest that the port would have taken you got by trading there. You'll just have to get one some time and try it.

i. Federal Space Police HQ

The Federal Space Police HQ is important for those who want to get a Federal Commission (see 'Advanced Playing Techniques'). This is where you do so. The Police HQ is also the place at which you place and collect bounties that can raise and lower your alignment (see 'Bounties, good and evil'). Not much else here.

j. The Grimy Trader at StarDock

1. How can I find people with the Grimy Trader

If you ask the GT about TRADERS he'll ask you if you're looking for a particular one, say yes and he'll give you some of the ports that person has docked at. You can try to track down a persons base like this especially if they are porting at a port in the same sector as their planet.

2. How can I stop people from finding me with the Grimy Trader?

The way the GT finds out his information is when you ask about a certain trader, for example "Slice", He looks into the database, he sees what ship number Slice is currently in and then lists some ports at random that ship number has docked at. If Slice does his trading in his ISS (Ship # 5) and then sleeps at night in any other ship (Ship # 6), If Ship # 6 has never docked anywhere, The GT will not be able to provide you with any information.