Source · Primary · official

Star Trader

Kaufman, Dave. 1974. “Star Trader.” People's Computer Company, vol. 2, no. 3, pp. 4–5. People's Computer Company.

Cite as
People's Computer Company, Jan. 1974
Original
https://archive.org/details/pcc2-3_original
sha256
5000c27dafc6f7b65dcbcaf492108686448de16c547a2da96301ce5f6b5e5d4e
Archived
https://archive.org/download/pcc2-3_original/pcc2-3_original.pdf
Accessed
2026-10-20
Credit
Dave Kaufman (Star Trader). The Internet Archive's scan lists Bob Albrecht as the newsletter's creator.
Notes
The newsletter's two-page spread on Star Trader, which People's Computer Company published and sold (“A copy of the two tapes with instructions costs $10”). Page 4 prints the game's own instructions and the publisher's description; page 5 prints a session. Read on the scan (pcc2-3_original.pdf, PDF page 5).

Cited on

Claims (12)

Star Trader, which People's Computer Company printed in January 1974, has each player captain trading ships between star systems, buying and selling merchandise.p. 4Publisher
Star Trader's ships carry up to 30 tons of cargo and travel about 2 light-years a week, and banks, found only in Class I and Class II systems, pay 5% interest.p. 4Publisher
Star Trader's systems grow over the years and their needs change, and the newsletter's advice is to buy raw materials, such as uranium or metals, in less developed, newer systems.p. 4p. 4Publisher
In Star Trader the player trades with the merchants and haggles over prices.p. 4Publisher
In January 1974 the People's Computer Company newsletter described Star Trader over two pages, sent readers to Dave Kaufman for more information, and sold the program on two paper tapes with instructions for $10, written for the HP 2000F.p. 4p. 4Publisher
Every Star Trader ship starts at Sol with 5,000 in cash and 15 units of heavy equipment, 10 of medicine, and 10 of software, a net weight of 25 tons because software is weightless.p. 5Publisher
Star Trader has six goods, each with a fixed price: uranium 5,000, metals 3,500, heavy equipment 4,000, medicine 4,500, computer software 3,000, and star gems 3,000.p. 5Publisher
When a Star Trader player offers merchants more of a good than they need, they bid on at most twice their need.p. 5Publisher
Star Trader's merchants haggle over each good for at most K9 rounds, 3 by default; when K9 is 2 or more, they announce the last round as their final offer.p. 5Publisher
A Star Trader voyage takes the straight-line distance divided by the ship's speed, R9 light-years a day (2/7 by default, 2 a week), rounded down to whole days, on a map 100 light-years square.p. 4Publisher
Star Trader's banks are only in Class I and II systems, and each player has one account that every one of their ships can use.p. 4Publisher
After a ship's visit, Star Trader raises the system's development level by G9 (1.25 by default) if no need left there exceeds one month's consumption and at most one good is still needed; it announces a new class at each multiple of 5, and once the average level reaches 10, a new Class IV system appears, up to 15 systems.p. 4Publisher