SPACE TRADER
============

Space Trader is a strategy game for PDA computers
running Palm OS version 2.0 or higher.

There are two versions of the game: one for
black & white Palms and one for color Palms.
Both these versions can be played on any Palm, 
though you will only see the large color pictures
if you have installed the color version on a
color Palm. The in-game colors are supported
by both versions. The reason that there are
two versions, is that the black & white version
is much smaller than the color version.

I found that several people cannot find functions
to buy equipment and such. These options are
available through the menu, which is accessible
by tapping the standard Palm menu button. Many
of the game's less often used functions are 
available from there.

Information on playing the game can be found
in the game itself. There is extensive help on
every screen, which can be accessed through the
Help menu, using the option Help Current Screen
(shortcut H). Also, the Help menu contains some
separate entries that explain the overall design
of the game.

The document file SpaceTrader.html contains an
elaborate manual on many of the game's particulars,
even those that aren't covered in the Help menu.
It's not really necessary to read this file, but
it can help you to become a successful space
trader.

Space Trader is rather large and complex, and not
suitable for short, quick games. It is suitable
to be played for several minutes, to be picked
up at a later time, though. Those who want a
game like this but which can be finished in, say,
15 to 30 minutes, should pick up Matt Lee's 
DopeWars or Dave Webb's SolarWars.

This game's homepage can be found at:
http://go.to/spacetrader. You can find the latest
version of the game, the FAQ, the source code and 
playing tips there.

If you want to contact the author to discuss the
game, file a bug report, ask a question or simply
express your feelings about it, you can do that
by email: space_trader@hotmail.com

Any references to the classic 80's game Elite are
intentional.

Have fun playing Space Trader.


DISTRIBUTION
============

This game is freeware and copyrighted by its author, 
Pieter Spronck. It is released under a GNU General
Public License (GPL). This gives you the right to 
distribute the game in almost any way you like. It 
also means that not only the game, but also the 
source code is available. However, the fact that the 
code is released under a GPL means that if you use 
the code in another application, you are obliged to 
make available the source code of that application
too. The complete text of the GPL is included in the 
file License.txt.


FILES
=====

The files in the Space Trader package are the
following:

SpaceTrader_color.prc (the color version of the game)
SpaceTrader_black&white.prc (the black & white version)
SpaceTrader.html (the game's documentation)
Readme.txt (this file)
Version.txt (version differences)
License.txt (text of the GPL)


TECHNICAL DATA
==============

Name:          Space Trader
Version:       1.1.2
Author:        Pieter Spronck
Release date:  January 14, 2002
Palm OS:       2.0 and higher
Size:          341K (241K for B&W version)
Creator ID:    STra
Distribution:  Freeware, under a GPL
Homepage:      http://go.to/spacetrader
Email:         space_trader@hotmail.com


KNOWN ISSUES
============

Several system hacks have been reported to me as 
giving problems, not only with Space Trader, but also 
with other Palm applications. Notably, this has been 
reported to me about Phlegm hack and QuickBits.

One player reported that on Palm OS 4.1, when he gets
a message interrupt (for instance from the datebook), 
the message title shows the text "Your fine and number". 
This is the first line of one of the help texts of 
Space Trader. Obviously something is wrong here, but I 
have no idea how this is caused, and I can't emulate it. 
Perhaps this is also due to a system hack. If anyone 
else experiences the same kind of problem, please sign 
me in. At this time, I simply do not have enough 
information to work on it.