Drug Wars (John E. Dell, 1984, MS-DOS)

John E. Dell wrote the earliest version of Drug Wars on a TRS-80 for his sophomore computer class, then rewrote it for DOS and uploaded it to a bulletin board system. drug-wars/origin

The reporter's paraphrase of Dell's interview. Neither the TRS-80 version nor a date for the DOS rewrite is known to survive.

Cited by: Drug Wars

Dell said he had recently played a game at a friend's house that involved buying and selling goods at fluctuating prices, and that it was likely Taipan. drug-wars/inspiration

About: Drug Wars Commodity trading

Cited by: Commodity trading, Drug Wars

Jonathan Maier rewrote Drug Wars for a graphing calculator in 1993, and it spread through his school. drug-wars/calculator

The reporter's account, built on Maier's email; Maier credits “the original programmer” for the design.

Cited by: Drug Wars

The title screen reads “Drug Wars, a game based on the New York drug market, by John E. Dell, copyright (1984)”. drug-wars/title-screen

Cited by: Commodity trading, Drug Wars, Inventory capacity

The instructions set the goal as paying off the loan shark, then making as much money as possible in one month, and put the player's stash in the Bronx. drug-wars/instructions-goal

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The instructions list six drugs with their prices per unit: cocaine 15,000–30,000, heroin 5,000–14,000, acid 1,000–4,500, weed 300–900, speed 70–250, and ludes 10–60. drug-wars/instructions-prices

About: Drug Wars Commodity trading

{
 "COCAINE": [
  15000,
  30000
 ],
 "HEROIN": [
  5000,
  14000
 ],
 "ACID": [
  1000,
  4500
 ],
 "WEED": [
  300,
  900
 ],
 "SPEED": [
  70,
  250
 ],
 "LUDES": [
  10,
  60
 ]
}

The prices the game draws stay below the upper figures (see price-rule).

Cited by: Commodity trading, dopewars, Drug Wars

A game starts on 12/4/83 in the Bronx with $2,000 cash, a $5,500 debt to the loan shark, and a trench coat that holds 100 units. drug-wars/start

{
 "date": "12/4/83",
 "hold": 100,
 "cash": 2000,
 "debt": 5500
}

Cited by: Commodity trading, dopewars, Drug Wars, Inventory capacity

The player jets between six places, the Bronx, the Ghetto, Central Park, Manhattan, Coney Island, and Brooklyn. drug-wars/places

About: Drug Wars Commodity trading

[
 "BRONX",
 "GHETTO",
 "CENTRAL PARK",
 "MANHATTAN",
 "CONEY ISLAND",
 "BROOKLYN"
]

Cited by: Drug Wars

Each jet takes a day, and the jet out of 1/3/84 ends the game after 30 days of trading, with no 12/31 on the calendar. drug-wars/days

About: Drug Wars Commodity trading

Value: 30 days

Cited by: Commodity trading, dopewars, Drug Wars

The loan shark, the stash, and the bank are only in the Bronx. drug-wars/bronx-services

About: Drug Wars Commodity trading

Cited by: Drug Wars

The debt grows 10% a day, rounded down to the dollar, so $5,500 left unpaid is $87,198 on the last day. drug-wars/debt-interest

About: Drug Wars Commodity trading

{
 "rate": 10,
 "lastDay": 87198
}

Cited by: Commodity trading, Compound interest, dopewars, Drug Wars

The bank pays 5.5% a day, rounded down, but the status box can show the balance from before the day's interest. drug-wars/bank-interest

About: Drug Wars Commodity trading

Value: 5.5 % per day

The debt and cash fields never lag; only the bank does. By hand, the box caught up on days with a mugging or a find; in the probe's run the one day that caught up opened with a find.

Cited by: Commodity trading, Compound interest, dopewars, Drug Wars

The loan shark lends at most twice the cash in hand, less $50; with $2,000 he lends $3,950 and refuses $3,951, and the rule holds with $1,500, $1,000, and $500. drug-wars/loan-limit

About: Drug Wars Commodity trading

{
 "cash": [
  2000,
  1500,
  1000,
  500
 ],
 "max": [
  3950,
  2950,
  1950,
  950
 ]
}

A refused amount brings the question back; the game doesn't say why. By hand, the limit stayed $3,950 with $2,000 in hand when the debt had grown to $6,655.

Cited by: Commodity trading, dopewars, Drug Wars

Each day every drug gets a new price, a random whole number of steps: cocaine 15 to 28 × $1,000, heroin 5 to 12 × $1,000, acid 10 to 44 × $100, weed 3 to 7 × $100, speed 7 to 24 × $10, and ludes 1 to 5 × $10. drug-wars/price-rule

About: Drug Wars Commodity trading

{
 "COCAINE": {
  "step": 1000,
  "from": 15,
  "to": 28,
  "plus": "WEED",
  "times": 1,
  "drawn": [
   15000,
   28750
  ]
 },
 "HEROIN": {
  "step": 1000,
  "from": 5,
  "to": 12,
  "plus": "SPEED",
  "times": 4,
  "drawn": [
   5000,
   12960
  ]
 },
 "ACID": {
  "step": 100,
  "from": 10,
  "to": 44,
  "drawn": [
   1000,
   4400
  ]
 },
 "WEED": {
  "step": 100,
  "from": 3,
  "to": 7,
  "plus": "LUDES",
  "times": 1,
  "drawn": [
   300,
   750
  ]
 },
 "SPEED": {
  "step": 10,
  "from": 7,
  "to": 24,
  "drawn": [
   70,
   240
  ]
 },
 "LUDES": {
  "step": 10,
  "from": 1,
  "to": 5,
  "drawn": [
   10,
   50
  ]
 }
}

Measured, not read: the program is compiled, so the rule is the one that fits every price seen. With the carried prices, the run draws cocaine at $15,000–$28,750, heroin $5,000–$12,960, acid $1,000–$4,400, weed $300–$750, speed $70–$240, and ludes $10–$50 (the value's drawn), all below the instructions' upper figures. Prices don't depend on the place: the same rule fits in all six, and every step turns up in each.

Cited by: Commodity trading, dopewars, Drug Wars

Three prices carry another drug's price from the day before, so cocaine adds the previous day's weed price, heroin adds 4 × the previous day's speed price, and weed adds the previous day's ludes price. drug-wars/price-carryover

About: Drug Wars Commodity trading

The carry shows when a price event leaves an odd figure, as in cheap ludes at $2 one day and weed at $402 and cocaine at $25,402 on the two days after.

Cited by: Commodity trading, dopewars, Drug Wars

In the probe's 100 passive games, a price event moved one drug on 688 of 3,000 days, about 23%; a cocaine bust or heroin addicts multiply its price by 5, cheap heroin, acid, or weed divide it by 5, and cheap ludes divide it by 7. drug-wars/price-events

About: Drug Wars Commodity trading

{
 "sample": {
  "days": 3000,
  "eventDays": 688
 },
 "events": [
  {
   "drug": "COCAINE",
   "message": "COPS MADE A BIG COKE BUST",
   "times": 5
  },
  {
   "drug": "HEROIN",
   "message": "ADDICTS ARE BUYING HEROIN",
   "times": 5
  },
  {
   "drug": "HEROIN",
   "message": "PIGS ARE SELLING CHEAP HEROIN",
   "divide": 5
  },
  {
   "drug": "ACID",
   "message": "CHEAP HOME MADE ACID",
   "divide": 5
  },
  {
   "drug": "WEED",
   "message": "COLOMBIAN FREIGHTER DUSTED THE COAST GUARD",
   "divide": 5
  },
  {
   "drug": "LUDES",
   "message": "A PHARMACY",
   "divide": 7
  }
 ]
}

Divisions round down. Speed has no price event. Exploration runs with other seeds saw an event on 217 of 1,016 days (21%).

Cited by: Commodity trading, dopewars, Drug Wars

A mugging in the subway divides the player's cash by a whole number from 1 to 5, rounded down. drug-wars/mugging

About: Drug Wars Commodity trading

Cited by: Drug Wars

On arrival the game may offer a bigger trench coat for $200 to $299, which adds 20 units of space, or a gun for $400 to $499. drug-wars/offers

About: Drug Wars Commodity trading

{
 "coat": [
  200,
  299
 ],
 "coatSpace": 20,
 "gun": [
  400,
  499
 ]
}

The guns are the Saturday Night Special, the Ruger, the .38 Special, and the Baretta. By hand, more coats took the hold to 140, 160, 180, and 200.

Cited by: dopewars, Drug Wars

Officer Hardass and one to three deputies can chase a player who carries drugs, and never one who carries none. drug-wars/police

About: Drug Wars Commodity trading

Measured, not read: none of 1,463 arrivals with an empty coat brought a chase. Finds put a few units in a passive game's coat, and none of those arrivals was chased either. The instructions warn, “If you deal too heavily in drugs, you might run into the police”. How the chance depends on the load is unmeasured. Without a gun the game asks only “WILL YOU RUN ?”.

Cited by: Commodity trading, Drug Wars