2002 · tw2002.net
[ CONNECTION INFO ]
This is a free, public TradeWars Game Server (TWGS) — the official stand-alone server software from EIS that hosts TradeWars 2002, the multiplayer space trading game that ruled dial-up bulletin board systems in the early 1990s. PC World once ranked it among the ten greatest PC games ever made.
There is nothing to install here and nothing for sale. Point any telnet client at the address above (or use the browser client), pick a game, choose a handle, and you are flying. Games on this server are periodically re-banged (reset with a fresh universe) so new traders always get a fair start. Want a private game set up for your crew? Mail the SysOp.
Any ANSI-capable telnet client works. Roughly in order of how good the experience is:
You start as a trader with a Merchant Cruiser, a handful of credits, and a universe of a few thousand sectors connected by warps. Haul Fuel Ore, Organics, and Equipment between ports, buy low, sell high, and grow your fortune into a fleet.
Dock at the StarDock to shop the hardware emporium, drink at the Lost Trader's Tavern, or gamble your holds away. Colonize planets, build Citadels, and bank fighters and mines across the cosmos. Join or found a corporation and coordinate with your team — or turn pirate, rob ports, and hunt traders down. Go far enough down that road and you will fly a Scorpion under a skull and crossbones; stay clean and the Federation might one day sell you the Imperial StarShip.
Watch your six: the Ferrengi ambush the unwary, and in some games an ancient hostile force patrols the void. Turns are limited per day, so plan your runs — the trader who wastes fewest moves wins. Type ? at any prompt in game for help.
Condensed from the TradeWars Museum's official timeline:
| 1984 | Chris Sherrick releases the original TradeWars, a 60-sector BASIC door game inspired by Star Trader, Risk, and Hunt the Wumpus — among the first multiplayer BBS games ever written. |
|---|---|
| 1985-89 | TradeWars 2 adds the Cabal and planets; John Morris takes over development and a family tree of spin-offs sprouts (TW 1000, Yankee Trader, Galactic Warzone). |
| 1987 | Gary Martin ports the game as TradeWars 2001, swapping in the Ferrengi and a Federation starship. |
| 1991 | TradeWars 2002 v1 ships from Martin's Martech Software — a complete rewrite, crowned with Drew Markham's legendary ANSI animations. |
| 1993-97 | v2 goes multi-BBS-platform; John Pritchett joins Martech and delivers v3, the first fully interactive multiplayer DOS version, plus the Gold add-on. |
| 1998 | Pritchett founds EIS and releases TWGS v1: TradeWars cuts the BBS cord and goes native TCP/IP. The final DOS door, v3.09, ships that December. |
| 2000 | EIS acquires all rights to TradeWars 2002. Pritchett becomes keeper of the flame. |
| 2009 | PC World names TW2002 #10 of the ten greatest PC games ever. |
| 2011 | TWGS v2 arrives — the modern server this site runs today, hosting games across hundreds of servers worldwide. |
Fun fact: Pritchett later worked on Star Citizen's flight model. The road from 2400 baud to the stars is shorter than you would think.
Everything below is a living, current site, ordered by how much weight it carries in the TradeWars universe.
EIS — eisonline.classictw.com [THE SOURCE]
John Pritchett's company owns TradeWars 2002 and publishes TWGS. This is the only
official home of the software: downloads, registration, store, and news. If it did
not come from here, it is not official.
ClassicTW Forums — classictw.com [MISSION CONTROL]
The official community forum and the beating heart of the game for two decades.
Game play Q&A, hosting help, helper and script discussion, bug reports, official
tournaments, and the Game Rebangs board where SysOps announce fresh universes.
Thousands of members, tens of thousands of posts, still active today.
TradeWars Museum — wiki.classictw.com [THE ARCHIVES]
The official wiki: complete game history, documentation, statistics, and the
Jumpgate,
the master directory of public TradeWars servers (this one included). Start here to
find every game in the known universe.
The Stardock — thestardock.com [NEWS WIRE]
Long-running community news archive covering helpers, tournaments, servers, and the
people behind them, plus manuals and tutorials for getting a modern helper setup
running.
Grimy Trader — grimytrader.com [TRADE SCHOOL]
Strategy resource for players ready to graduate from honest hauling to serious
competitive play.
MicroBlaster — microblaster.net [DEEP SPACE SCAN]
Server lists updated daily with detailed statistics by MicroBot, plus a museum of
TW2002 versions. The best answer to "who is actually online right now?"
SWATH — swath.net [HELPER HQ]
Home of SWATH, the award-winning graphical helper by Macahan and Stein. Terminal,
database, scripting, and real-time client sync in one package.
TWX Proxy — github.com/TW2002/twxp [HELPER HQ]
The legendary script-driven helper, originally by Remco Mulder, now
community-maintained in the open on GitHub with installers and 350+ public scripts.
SWATH plus TWX Proxy remains the most powerful combination in the game.
Star Killer's TWGS — sk-twgs.com [RIVAL PORT]
One of the most active competitive servers: home of the Ice9 Pirates Builders game
and the Ice Tournament, with regulated and unregulated games banged monthly.
Respect to a fellow SysOp.
* Rule one of the galaxy: only take software from its home port. Old TW files float around on random archives and some carry unwanted cargo. Every link below is the maintainer's own site.
»» Enter the Jumpgate — play now in your browser ««
tw2002.net · a free TWGS server · SysOp:
twadmin@tw2002.net
TradeWars® and TWGS are products of EIS ·
eisonline.classictw.com
Listed on the
TradeWars Museum Jumpgate
No ads. No tracking. No JavaScript. Just the void and your holds.
+++ATH0
NO CARRIER