PCC Games, 1974

Cite as: PCC Games, 1974
Original: https://archive.org/details/1974-peoples-computer-company-games
sha256: 36715ce4b23b850157732f35cf6f976943d01598e938f0866738c01b79b3d79b
Archived: https://archive.org/download/1974-peoples-computer-company-games/1974%20Peoples%20Computer%20Company%20Games.pdf
Accessed: 2026-10-22
Licence: © 1974 People's Computer Company; scan from the Internet Archive
Credit: Star Trader by Dave Kaufman. People's Computer Company collected and published the listings.
Notes: Read the Internet Archive scan (32 PDF pages; printed pages are one behind the PDF page in the Star Trader section). The cover prints "$2.50" and "© 1974 by People's Computer Company, 1263 El Camino Real, Box E, Menlo Park, CA 94025"; no month is printed. The main Star Trader module is headed "TRADE★ See Jan. '74 issue PCC Vol. 2, No. 3, pages 4,5. Length: 6819 words." and runs from printed p. 25; the set-up module, headed "TRADER ... Length: 3290 words.", starts on printed p. 29. Printed p. 31 gives the paper-tape load procedure and the PCC address.

Cited on

Star Trader

Claims (29)

PCC Games (1974) prints Star Trader's BASIC listing in two modules, a main module of 6,819 words and a set-up module of 3,290 words, each headed with a pointer back to the January 1974 newsletter.	`p. 25p. 25p. 29`	Publisher
Star Trader's set-up module sets its defaults in code: ships travel 2/7 of a light-year a day, stars stand at least 15 light-years apart, the delay constant `Q`, which a comment calls the probability of a delay, is 0.1, merchants make up to 3 bids, a ship carries 30 tons, the profit-margin constant `X9` is 36, and development grows in steps of 1.25.	`p. 29, set-up module lines 130–260p. 29, set-up module lines 130–190`	Publisher
When any player hasn't played before, Star Trader skips the setup questions and starts a game for 2 to 4 players with two ships each, three stars per player plus one, lasting 5 years.	`p. 29, set-up module lines 590–740`	Publisher
A custom game of Star Trader takes 2 to 12 players with at most 12 ships in all, 4 to 13 stars, any whole number of years, a cargo limit of at least 25 tons, a minimum star spacing of 10 to 25 light-years, at least one bid, and a profit-margin setting that the prompt asks to be 1 to 5 and the code caps at 5, with no lower bound.	`p. 29, set-up module lines 960–970p. 30, set-up module lines 1030–1330`	Publisher
Star Trader's profit-margin setting $n$ , asked for as 1 to 5 and usually 2, sets `X9` to $18 n$ , so the default `X9` is 36; the prompt says a higher number gives a lower profit.	`p. 30, set-up module lines 1290–1330`	Publisher
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. 25, line 450p. 30, set-up module lines 1700–1760 (block`	Publisher
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. 25, lines 200–280p. 25, line 280`	Publisher
Each Star Trader system makes or needs each good at a monthly rate $G = (1 + L / 15) (M L + C)$ , where $L$ is the system's development level and $M$ and $C$ come from DATA statements for its development bracket; a positive rate means it produces the good, a negative one that it consumes it.	`p. 29, set-up module lines 90–96p. 27, lines 3870–3900`	Publisher
Computed from Star Trader's DATA tables: a frontier system, at development level 0, makes 1 uranium, 0.75 metals, and 0.5 gems a month and consumes 0.75 heavy equipment, 0.5 medicine, and 1 software; Sol, at level 15, makes 1.5 heavy equipment, 1 medicine, and 2 software and consumes 2 uranium, 1.5 metals, and 1 gems.	`p. 31, set-up module lines 2410–2440p. 29, set-up module lines 304–306p. 27, lines 3870–3900`	Publisher
On each visit Star Trader adds the months since the system's last update times its rate $G$ to the system's stock of each good, then caps the stock at 12 months of the rate and gives it the sign of $G$ .	`p. 27, lines 3880 and 3940`	Publisher
Computed from line 3940: because the update gives the stock the sign of the rate, a surplus the player sold into a system that needs a good is booked at the next update as a need of the same size, less the consumption since.	`p. 27, line 3940p. 26, lines 1270–1290 and 1470`	Publisher
Star Trader sets a system's fair price for a good from its fixed price $Q$ , its stock $S$ , its rate $G$ , and the profit-margin constant $X_{9}$ : $P = Q (1 - sgn (S) \| S / (G X_{9}) \|)$ , rounded to the nearest 100, so a surplus lowers the price and a need raises it.	`p. 27, lines 3910–3960p. 25, line 380`	Publisher
Computed from lines 3940–3950: since the stock never exceeds 12 months of the rate, a fair price stays within $Q (1 \pm 12 / X_{9})$ , which is ±⅓ of the fixed price at the default margin of 2, ±⅔ at 1, and ±2/15 at 5.	`p. 27, lines 3940–3950p. 30, set-up module line 1330`	Publisher
When a Star Trader player offers merchants more of a good than they need, they bid on at most twice their need.	`p. 26, lines 1270–1290`	Publisher
Star Trader's merchants open each round at 90% of the fair value of the units when buying from the player and 110% when selling to the player, rounded to the nearest 100.	`p. 26, line 1350p. 26, line 1750`	Publisher
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. 25, line 360p. 26, lines 1700–1720`	Publisher
When Star Trader's merchants buy $X$ units at fair price $P$ , a player's bid $Y$ at or under $P X$ sells, one over $(1 + z) P X$ ends the deal, and one between moves the price to $0.8 P + 0.2 Y / X$ for another round; when they sell, an offer at or over $P X$ buys, one under $(1 - z) P X$ ends the deal, and one between moves the price the same way.	`p. 26, lines 1370–1390p. 26, lines 1780–1800`	Publisher
Star Trader's price window $z$ is $0.5 / k$ in round $k$ when the player trades at least the merchants' whole need or supply $\| S \|$ , and $X / (2 \| S \| k)$ for a smaller lot of $X$ units, so it narrows each round and is widest for a full lot.	`p. 25, lines 290–320`	Publisher
In a Star Trader system with a bank, a player whose accepted offer exceeds the cash aboard may draw on the bank to pay; elsewhere, or if the bank can't cover it, the offer fails as too low.	`p. 26, lines 1840–1900`	Publisher
A Star Trader ship carries at most `W` tons, 30 by default, and gems and software don't count toward it.	`p. 26, line 1600p. 27, lines 3400–3420p. 29, set-up module line 240`	Publisher
Star Trader's calendar has twelve 30-day months in a 360-day year and starts on January 1, 2070.	`p. 29, set-up module lines 270–300p. 27, lines 3040–3070`	Publisher
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. 27, lines 2910–2920p. 29, line 5470`	Publisher
Star Trader moves its ships one at a time in order of arrival, always taking the ship whose arrival date is earliest and breaking a tie with a coin flip, so the date jumps to that arrival.	`p. 25, lines 660–770`	Publisher
Star Trader can delay a voyage twice: before departure, with probability $Q / 2$ (0.05 by default), it announces a delay of 1 to 3 weeks for an inspection, a crew's vacation, or a local holiday; after printing the arrival date, with probability $1 - Q / 2$ (0.95 by default), it adds a further 1 to 3 weeks that the ship reports on landing as a computer mistake, getting lost, or pirates.	`p. 27, lines 2930–3020p. 27, line 3100p. 27, line 2930p. 25, lines 1020–1060`	Publisher
A Star Trader game lasts a set number of years and ends when the next arrival falls in its last year, `Y9`, after the January 1 report for that year and before the landing.	`p. 25, lines 780–870p. 29, set-up module line 730`	Publisher
Each year Star Trader prints every system's prices and each player's cash aboard ships, bank balance, and cargo valued at the fixed prices, with their total.	`p. 27, lines 3680–3820p. 27, line 3620`	Publisher
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. 26, line 2000`	Publisher
Star Trader's bank multiplies a balance by $1 + 0.05 t$ , where $t$ is the time in years since the account's last update, with no rounding; it updates a player's account on each bank visit and every account in each yearly report, so interest compounds at least once a year.	`p. 28, lines 4370–4400p. 27, lines 3690–3710p. 28, line 4070`	Publisher
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. 26, lines 2090–2130p. 26, lines 2150–2190p. 26, lines 2220–2270 and 2380`	Publisher