**>> SPYNET BULLETIN **>> EARTHDATE 93.08.22 **>> AN H-by-A SERVICE **>> Compiled by Hazed plus a team of specialist newsdroids **>> your news and gossip and get paid good groats! **>> NEW STUFF AND COMING SOON A new version of the game will go in tomorrow, and it will contain the promised command. For a mere 100 meg, the corrupt technician will "lose" the Galactic Administration's records of your insurance history, thus wiping your slate clean. Anyone can use the command, but obviously only the planet-owning classes will be able to afford it. In the new version, naval base information will be saved to disk every hour, so in the event of problems, recently completed builds shouldn't be lost. The next thing Bella will be working on is the intelligence network, that will let Senators send spies into other players duchies and planets and find out all the secrets of their economies and naval bases. Bella hasn't decided exactly how it's going to work yet, but there will certainly be the capability, if you catch a spy at work, of recruiting it and using it to send back false information. The clothes shops and weapons shops of the Galaxy are expecting rush orders of cloaks and daggers! **>> EXTRAORDINARY GENERAL MEETING The Traders Guild held an Extraordinary General meeting recently to clear up some discrepancies in the working practices of cargo haulers. They issued the following decree: --------------------------------------------------------------------- | | | | The Worshipful Company of Free Traders, Free Booters and Free | | | Loaders, commonly known as the Traders Guild, being the body with | | | jurisdiction over all haulers and traders in the Galaxy, by dint | | | of our Imperial Charter granted by the great Ming himself, do here- | | | by decree that cargo haulers signing contracts for jobs less than | | | the negotiated standard Mininum Wage (i.e. 1 groat per ton) are in | | | breach of Guild Practice and further bring the reputation of the | | | Guild and all its members into disrepute, and said cargo haulers | | | will be denied benefit from such contracts by means of the with- | | | holding of trader credits that would otherwise be due for such | | | cargo runs. | | | Signed and sealed by my hand, | | | Septimus Piecroft Grunge, | | | Grand Master | | | | | --------------------------------------------------------------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Apart from anything else, haulers accepting contracts for such pitiful amounts need their heads examining!! **>> BUG REPORTS We must, please, repeat our request for capture files when you report any problem in the game. It makes it very difficult for us to track down possible bugs if we do not have a full picture of the exact circumstances which led to the problem. A good example is the problem people have been having giving jobs to Poor People recently. We received a few reports that trader points were not being credited correctly to the hauler, and some of the reports were quite detailed. However, we were unable to duplicate the problem ourselves no matter how hard we tried. It wasn't until we finally saw a capture that we realised what the problem was - the game stores the amount payable for a job in groats-per-ton, so if the amount offered is less than 1 groat per ton, the game assumes it to be zero, and zero-groat jobs have never given the necessary trader credits! Another point at which capture files are vital is when someone has died dead- dead but thinks the game was at fault. The game's log files record certain details about how people die, so if a major problem caused the death sometimes it will show up in the files. But if the files show no discrepancies, we have to assume the death was legitimate, unless we receive a capture file of the events leading up to the death which we can compare to the log files. We need evidence to work with! **>> INTERVIEW WITH THE UN-DEAD Since he was unexpectedly resurrected from the dead some months back, Maxwell has inspired much gossip about his state. Rumours that he was a vampire were countered by denials from his close friends. Finally, we decided to put a stop to the speculation once and for all by discovering the truth about Maxwell's strange behaviour. We sent one of our Top Investigative NewsDroids to interview him. Maxwell, eager to set the record straight, agreed, and this is what he had to say: I decided to talk to you because of all the various rumors that have been flying around about me. The public wants to know... well I'll tell them. It's both interesting and disappointing I'm afraid. I suspect the anonomous source that tipped you saw a bit of conflict between myself and Galimos. He came at me with a wooden stake. Well, even if I'm not a vampire, getting impaled on a stake is no fun so I avoided it. Unfortunately he had me rather upset and I chose a flamboyant way to avoid getting impaled. I turned to mist. Quite a number of people saw it happen. I'm surprised it didn't make the news. It's my best trick! Maxwell shrugs. Am I a vampire? Well that depends on what a vampire is. Since I went D-D on Sapien I've had some peculiar health problems that seem.... well, vampire-like. On the other hand... I have no fangs. What good is a vampire without fangs?!?! And I assure you the virgins are safe (are there any in FED? Max smacks himself for saying that). I have been close to Emmi's neck and have never harmed her. I have never drawn blood from anyone. And I don't plan to either. Well at least not to drink. Garlic doesn't bother me... nor do items of religous significance. I do have a reflection in mirrors. All I really know about it is this... When I first came to after going D-D there was this strange doctor who said he covered my insurace because I was an interesting case. I never saw him before or since. He gave me lots of different medications to take for various symptoms. Luckily he gave me a lot. Friends have been analyzing them... but they aren't simple. Ah well... the long and the short of it is this... I don't know what I am exactly. Vampire seems to fit some of the traits so that's what gets bandied about the most. But then the legends of vampires vary an awful lot too. Maybe I'm just an unusual variety! The worst thing about all this is that I can't enjoy a meal with out drinking that mauve powder! Ah well there are worse things that could happen... I guess. Well I have to get back to planet design. It's coming along and I think I have found a decent rock that someone is willing to sell to me. Thank you, Maxwell, for that insight into your tortured health problems! **>> BESTIALITY IS BEST We have it on good authority that Maxwell is (apart from being a possible vampire) part horse. Emmi said so! At least, we think that's what she meant when she said parts of his body were like a stallion... **>> MY REWARD IS BIGGER THAN YOUR REWARD! Tellurian and Noe spent an entertaining evening early last week increasing their rewards. The SpyNet Review shows that Tell's increased from 33000 to 45000, and Noe's from 12000 to 48000! We think he won that fight. **>> SUE, GRABBIT AND RUNNE Just what is going on in the courts of Fed Data Space? They seem to think that Emmi isn't fit to run her own affairs. First this Arniebeizer character wants to claim ownership of her, on grounds of her being a harlot, then in retaliation Altasren is granted Guardianship, on what grounds we have no idea! Frankly, if being a harlot were evidence of unsound mind, none of the women in Fed Data Space would escape being made wards of court. **>> STEAMING UP THE SAUNA The new hot couple of the week are Symphony and Jarrepolo, whose steamy session heated up the sauna on the moon so much they blew the doors off! They claim they have no match in the Galaxy, and that anyone with a spybeam will attest to their prowess. Sounds like a challenge to us - anyone out there want to try to do better? **>> OUTCLASSED AND OUTGUNNED Icepirate obviously has little love for life. He's challenged Glurg to a duel. Yes, Glurg, the scourge of the spaceways! Glurg of course treats this kind of challenge as most people would treat an insect buzzing round them. He's quite willing to oblige Icey and blow him up whenever they meet. The feud seems to be something to do with a woman called Demelza (lovely old Cornish name). Who, what, why... we need information, please. **>> PLANETS AND DUCHIES In last week's news we said that if a planet-owner died dead-dead, their planet would stick around if they came back to the game. We were wrong! Bella recently changed the way the game calculates which planets to load when it fires up. Her change speeds up the firing up time considerably, but a consequence of the change is that planets are now not loaded in unless they belong to a current planet-owner. So while Barberousse was working his butt off to rise back to his former rank, his planet was unavailable. He's made it now, in record time, and Source is back in business. There are two new planets ready to go in: both Ramius and Zan are raring to go. Bella will link them into the game during the coming week. Oppiz has joined the Duchy of Scadia. **>> SPYNET REVIEW Here we go with another list of the promotions during the last week. Congratulations to everyone who advanced. The new Captains were Woodysmith, Nicholas, Matt, Kim, Mornokk, Stalker, Demelza, Lostsoul, Bryan, Miles, Korik, Wintermute, Mds and Angus. The following made it to Adventurer or Adventureuse: Barberousse, Seargant, Amigana, Corry, Arieth, Trajan, Alex and Symphony. The Trader's Guide opened its doors to Capo, Barberousse, Raoul, Verthandi, Corwin, Gator and Hypatia. Barberousse, Pouncer, Gloin, Sean, Gemini, Darkness and Gator were all promoted to Merchant. Barberousse and Gemini solved the awesome JP puzzle. The GM puzzle was cracked by Emmi and Barberousse, who both went on to become Explorers. Zan also became an Explorer. At this point, Barberousse's planet reappeared and he was returned to his old rank of Squire. A truly meteoric climb back up the ranks! **>>CONTACTS The following information will appear at the end of every News Bulletin, so you don't have to read it if you already know it. In the event of a problem or question, you can: * talk to Hazed or Bella in the game * a message to Hazed or Bella * send GEnie mail with the Mail about Federation option from the main menu A front-end terminal program is available for Federation, for the PC and the Amiga. You can download a copy of FedTerm from the Federation libraries (option 3 on the main Fed page). You can order a copy of the unexpurgated printed Idiot's Guide to Federation by typing ORDER at any GEnie menu. Cost - a mere $12.95. (New edition will be-available shortly!) Federation has several categories in the new MPGames RT. To get there, type M1045,1 from any menu prompt and SET category 13 (for information, instructions, questions and answers) or 14 (for general chat and discussions). The Federation Leader in the bulletin board is Oxcart (Mail ID: J.LONG29). There are also private categories for Explorers, run by Krell (Mail ID: K.HILLYER), and for the Senate, run by Oddball (Mail ID: D.STALZLE). The MPGames RT also has a Federation library in the files area, Library 5. Library 18 holds the Federation News Archives. **>> BULLETIN ENDS