Nostalgic Reflection on Fidonet BBS Games: Using Tradewars as a Programming Learning Tool
By
ukkare
Slow-proofed and worth the wait. Worth its weight in flour.
Summary
The article is a nostalgic reflection on Fidonet-era BBS games, specifically focusing on Legend of the Red Dragon (LoRD), Solar Realms Elite, Barren Realms Elite, and Tradewars. The author shares their personal experience of using Tradewars as a programming learning tool, recreating the game in different programming languages to understand language nuances while working with familiar game mechanics. They discuss challenges with replicating the economics system and Big Bang algorithm from the original Tradewars 2002.
Key quotes
· 4 pulledLegend of the Red Dragon (LoRD), Solar Realms Elite and Barren Realms Elite, and Tradewars were the best.
When I want to learn a new programming language, I always try to recreate Tradewars in it as a language.
I know Tradewars like the back of my hand, so it allows me to focus on the nuances of the language while I build it.
The only thing I never quite figured out were the economics mechanics (it technically works, but it's a bit more predictable than TW2002 has in practice) and the Big Bang algorithm.
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