**>> SPYNET BULLETIN **>> EARTHDATE 92.08.16 **>> AN H-by-A SERVICE **>> Compiled by Hazed plus a team of specialist newsdroids **>> your news and gossip and get paid good groats! **>> THE FREE WEEKEND Last week's free weekend was very popular, and the game was completely full for most of Saturday and Sunday. Thank you to all the regular players who helped newcomers get their first ships - and thanks also to new players who, having got started, spent their time coaching even newer players! Newbods who first experienced Fed Data Space during the free weekend are continuing to make their presence felt - either in the game, or if their budgets are tight, in the Fed categories of the BBS. Hazed has suggested that there should be monthly "Party Nights" so that those of you who can only play for a short while each month can meet up with all your friends. Discussion about this goes on in Cat 14, Top 2 - The Flying Horse Pub. **>> SOME OF OUR PLANETS ARE MISSING! Following the free weekend, Our Illustrious Leader decided to skive off for a few days and visit the fleshpots of Sirius VI, where the notorious pleasure beaches are located. Stepping into her luxury liner, she disabled the comm unit to ensure her sybaritic vacation would not be disturbed by mundane trivia. Of course, Finagle's Law instantly came into play and a problem developed in Fed Data Space. Last Tuesday, when the game fired up in the evening, half the player-planets appeared to have disappeared. On her return, Bella rounded up the errant planets and put them back into the game. Apologies to those whose worlds were temporarily lost. It's worth pointing out again that you cannot access factories if the world on which they are situated is not in the game. Planet owners who know they are going to be out of the game for a while would be advised to post a message warning people who have built on their worlds. **>> ROULETTE WARS During previous free weekends, a minor niggling annoyance became a real nuisance for drinkers in Chez Diesel, the Social Centre of the Solar System. New players who decided to blow their hard earned trader points on the roulette wheel were clogging up conversations. Bella was repeatedly asked for a command, Diesel was bribed and asked to close down the wheel, players were even driving their ships up the road to the bar and firing their lasers at the wheel at point blank range! This free weekend was no exception, but still Our Illustrious Leader refused to act. Sobbing patrons were deserting CDs in droves, even drinking in the Duff Modem, such was their desperation. Imagine their relief when they ventured back to their favorite watering hole on Monday... and found the wheel had gone! On congratulation Diesel for removing the wheel, they were told that Bella had had nothing to do with its removal - it had been stolen by Mario! The criminal organisation on the moon had long considered itself in control of leisure activities in the Solar System, including gambling, and had not been happy that Diesel had been running her own wheel. Finally, the trade she had been doing over the free weekend had been too much for them to stand, and they had dispatched Mario to purloin the roulette wheel and install it in the casino on the moon. Now anyone who wishes to wager their trader points or groats has to leave the comfort of Chez Diesel and visit Selena. **>> SAME NAME - DIFFERENT OBJECT Planet builders have up to now been constrained because object and mobile names had to be unique throughout the game. Certain obvious names were snapped up by the early builders, so newer Explorers had to come up with more and more ways of describing things like "card" and "bottle". At last, Bella has changed the way the game deals with objects, so that you can use the same name as an existing object or mobile. If you choose, you can have your very own diamond or dog - there could even be a Diesel on every planet! The mind boggles. You must use unique names within your own system, of course - you cannot put two objects called "elephant" on the same planet. Neither can you name an object using a word that is a Fed command - for example, you couldn't have an object called "trade" or "drink". This change will go in on Monday or Tuesday. **>> FINGER FATIGUE Did you know that many long words or commands in the game can be abbreviated? Most of the trading commodities have shorter versions of their names, as shown in the "factory and company" topic in the BBS. A lot of commands that are used all the time can be shorted. Some are obvious - you can use instead of , instead of and so on. can be shorted to , to and to . You'll spot the abbreviations if you glance through the list of verbs recognised by the game - type for verbs beginning with A, for B and so on. A few of the objects have also got shorter names. The Luncheon Voucher can be referred to as LV, the Photograph as Photo, and the Oscilloscope as Scope. All we need now is a way to abbreviate players' names - it's sometimes a real effort kissing a player! Mjyaarc recently got fed up with no-one talking to him, so he's given in and changed his name to Gabriel! **>> IS THAT AN OBJECT IN YOUR POCKET OR ARE YOU JUST PLEASED TO SEE ME? Yes, ok, we've used that joke before... but if it's worth using once it's worth using to death!! The new command was put in so you could conceal objects you were carrying - for example, if you didn't want anyone to know you had the LV, or if you were attempting a puzzle and didn't want to give clues to lower ranks. But many people seem to be using it for the exact opposite reason. They are grabbing the first useless object they come across, stashing it in their pocket, and then walking around as if they have a big secret! Actually, we have wondered why, if the pockets are inside pockets (which they appear to be from the message), one can see that there's something hidden in them. Small objects like the LV or the Coin would surely make no perceptible bulge. And for that matter, just how does one cram a Klystron into a small inside pocket? **>> CALLING INTERTEMPORAL RESCUE... Oddball is still struggling with the Duke puzzle, and the trail of Poor People left on Horsell by mistake is mounting. Recently Delta got dragged through the timewarp to help Oddball, and missed his ride back. He decided to stay in the pastoral village, and became Vicar in the local church (the previous incumbant having been eaten by the Martians). Not content with this job, he opened up a fast food chain (McDelta) and tried to run for Mayor! Real problems were caused by his social activities, however. When he met up with Hazed's ancestors and started dating the prettier members of the family, the Galactic Administration became alarmed at the prospect of time paradoxes, and were forced to transport him back to the future. **>> TRISTESSE - A VERY UNUSUAL PLANET New planets go into the game frequently these days, so we don't normally make much of a fuss about them in the news. However, Trista's planet is so unusual we asked her to take us on a guided tour. The first inkling you get that this is not a normal planet is when you go west from the landing pad, into the Tristesse Restaurant. The usual description for any location in the galaxy, in sol or on a player-generated planet, is to give the name of the location, describe what you see, and tell you the way out. But here, you are greeted by a poem! The whole planet, Tristesse, is a homage to the poems of W B Yeats. The spaceport area has the normal facilities, but once you venture onto the main part of the planet, you will find that the locations are grouped together to give the different verses of poems. The poems are laid out in a linear fashion - the same direction takes you through the verses of the poem and out the other side. There is a puzzle to solve on Tristesse, and some of the poems give you clues about the objects you need. It is worth doing, because the reward is generous. Tristesse is a good example of the effect that can be achieved if you discard the usual thinking about planets. It is not a set of rooms, it is instead a series of moods. It's strange but very effective. **>> WEDDED BLISS Congratulations to Delta and Cosmos, who got married during the free weekend. Delta has asked us to publish the following on his behalf: I would like to publicly thank all who attended my wedding, even those who tried to convince my wife (quite vocally) not to marry me... Could you imagine such a thing love? [Delta tosses his galactic black book at the legion of men, a happy man at last... with Cosmos, his true love]. Awwwwww...... **>> TRUE RELIGION Many religious cults have sprung up in Fed Data Space, only to die down again as the members find something new to be fanatic about. In the past we have seen the Sisters of the Red Dawn, who tried to revive the ancient Martian sacrifices in the ruins; the Order of St Pegasus, Defender of the Meek, who tried to deify the homicidal winged horse; and the really peculiar Green Chili sect on Rigel, who thought Bella was divine. Oxcart is now starting his own religion and is touting for converts. He asked Jackdeth and Spongybugman if they wanted to join. He explained that it doesn't have a church, it's mobile, kind of like a caravan. He also said something about the religion involving a lot of perverted sex. But then it would, with Oxcart in charge! **>> CHEATED! Mojo successfully completed the treacherous GM puzzle. Unfortunately, he was cheated and didn't get his promotion! Dismayed, he asked "Are we sure it's absolutely required to do the JP puzzle first? It seems very unfair!" **>> FAMILY REUNION Spongybugman has discovered that Tao is actually his long-lost son! An emotional reunion was held at CDs recently, with drinks and tears flowing freely. Spongy is now trying to find out if there's any truth in the rumours that Vera is his long-lost daughter. Any more long-lost relatives out there waiting to be found? Hazed would just like to point out that she has never had any children. People greeting her with the word "Mother" will henceforth be shot! **>>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 * leave a message in the game log * a message to Hazed or Bella * send GEnie mail with the Federation Feedback option from the main menu 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 Krell (Mail ID: K.HILLYER). There are also private categories for Explorers, run by Krell, and for the Conclave 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