From: lindblad@klaava.Helsinki.FI (Jarkko Lindblad)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga.games
Subject: TRADERS - Amiga Format Review
Date: 22 Nov 92 10:46:07 GMT
Organization: University of Helsinki
X-Newsreader: TIN [version 1.1 PL6]


This is posted for Jim Fang.

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With  a  name  like  TRADERS, you're proabably expecting something
like  ELITE,  or perhaps a stock-market simulator.  Instead it's a
very  odd,  but  mildly  entertaining game for up to four players.
Trading  forms  a  major  part of the game, but you would be wrong
again  if  you  thought this was all about exchanging cash.  We're
talking  about  snail-trading  here.   Good  old-fashioned barter,
based  on flowers, water, perfume, bugs, sapphires and...  snails.
Told you it was weird!
 
TRADERS  is  deep,  and it takes a while to get used to, let alone
become  good  at.   It's  full  of  complex  relationships between
trading  currencies  and a host of nonsense which just adds to the
confusion.   In  a  nutshell,  it's a game where the winner is the
player  who  makes  th  emost cash - but there's plenty more to it
than that.
 
 
                        ESCARGOT
 
 
The  game  takes  place  on  a planet which used to be Earth.  The
owner  of  this  planet is a huge green snail called Fat Mike.  He
owns  all  the  land which the four players ut to make their money
and  grow  their  crops  on.   As  a  result  he's  entitled  to a
backhander  (coolly  referred  to  as  'rent') every week.  If you
don't pay, Fat Mike will begin 'eviction processes'.
 
 
The  weirdest thing is the way you use the land you borrow.  There
are  a  number of "cash-crops" which you can barter with later on,
and  their  success  depends on the weather.  The trouble is, each
crop  requires  an  amount of the other crops.  For example, Polmi
rabbits (one of the possible crops) require flowers every week (or
they  won't  dig  for  water).  If you have a good supply of Mabba
Roses,  your  rabbits  are  satisfied,  but  if  not,  you need to
exchange another surplus crop for the flowers you need.
 
 
                         BART SIMPLY
 
 
The  barter  system is the most difficult part.  At the start of a
bartering  session you have to decide whether you're going to sell
or  buy.   Then, during the exchange phase, you rais or lower your
price  to  match  that of the seller or buyer.  Sounds simple, but
it's  done  with  very strange graphics, and the whole thing takes
seconds.  Consequently, it's easy to overspend.
 
TRADERS  isn't  simply  about  trading.   There's a vast number of
incidental  screens  and  sub-games that require a bit of thought.
There's  a  robot  war  section, where you can attack (and defend)
plots of land in an attempt to increase your land-area.  There's a
space-rocket section where you send out rockets to far-off planets
to  retrieve snails for Fat Mike.  He even holds a contest for the
most prolific snail-collects, with the prize of an extra field for
your collection.
 
TRADERS  isn't  simply  about  trading.   There's a vast number of
incidental  screens  and  sub-games that require a bit of thought.
There's  a  robot  war  section, where you can attack (and defend)
plots of land in an attempt to increase your land-area.  There's a
space-rocket section where you send out rockets to far-off planets
to  retrieve snails for Fat Mike.  He even holds a contest for the
most prolific snail-collects, with the prize of an extra field for
your collection.
 
 
-------------------------------------------------------------------
FAT MIKE"S FARMING TIPS FOR SUCCESSFUL TRADING
 
If  you're  going to trade, you need to know what you can grow and
what  it  produces  -  rose  need  water  and produce perfume, for
example.   Here's  a  table  of  the  various  cash-crops  and end
produced:
 
---------------------------------------------------------------------
                             BASIN           RABITS          ROSES
BUILDING MATERIAL
You'll need this before you     
can start generating crops,     
though how you make rabbits  Water           Perfume         Roses
from perfume...
---------------------------------------------------------------------
UPKEEP MATERIAL
Without upkeep, your crop
will soon die or cease to    Perfume         Roses           Water
produce anything worthwhile
---------------------------------------------------------------------
PRODUCES
If you're luck, a well-
nutured crop produces the    Roses           Water           Perfume
following goodies, which
you can trade.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
SUN/HEAT                     No Effect       Bad             Good
 
WIND/HURRICANE               Good            No Effect       Bad
 
RAIN/SNOW                    Bad             Good            No Effect
 
The weather affects the quantities of crops that are produced each
cycle,     but     each     crop    is    affected    differently.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
 
 
Name:           Traders
Publisher:      Linel/DI
Price           #29.99 (pounds sterling)
 
 
o  The  cartoon  graphics  don't  really  make  TRADERS  look that
   appealing - but it is.
 
o  Lots  and  lots of sub-games and strange events to get involved
   in.
 
o  Can  get  a  bit  repetitive when you've been through the whole
   trading cycle a few times.
 
o  More fun when you're playing in a groupd of four human players.
 
o  Missable, but worth a look.
 
 
AMIGA FORMAT RATING:    70%
 
- Neil Jackson
 
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Transcribed from        Amiga Format
                        Issue 39
                        October 1992
                        Page 84
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All typos are my fault.
 
Reproduced  without  permission  under  Australian  "fair trading"
guidelines.
 
Jim Fang
Faq maintainer
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-- 
Jarkko Lindblad         | Those people who tell you not to
lindblad@cc.helsinki.fi |   take chances
------------------------| they are all missing on what life is about
This space if for sale  |                        - Metallica