Star Trader

Star Trader is a video game in the simulation genre and published by Bug-Byte Software Ltd. originally released in 1984. It is currently playable on Commodore 64.

In a distant galaxy there is a star system containing eight planets where profits could be made by trading between each planet until space pirates arrived and robbed the traders on their trade routes. Traders could fight and die or be taxed by the pirates for 1/4 of the value of the cargo and now all the traders have given up or left the star system. You are the only merchant left and now you have the opportunity to trade between the eight planets being careful to avoid any pirates along the way.

You start at a starport on Planet 0 and can see a small graphic representation of where you are and many options of how you want to spend your day such as going to various merchants including wine merchants, jewelers and a sawmill. Here you can buy goods to sell on other planets or you can go to other stores to buy weapons (and weapon power packs) for your ship, buy food or go to a bar for a quick pint. All stores and merchants are open at specific times, so if you are waiting you can stay in a hotel to rest and minimize the risk of being mugged. You should eat and drink at regular intervals and also buy enough food for any trip on your ship in space.

Once you have brought, traded and taken care of you can fly to another planet. The view changes inside your ship with a first person perspective looking out of the cockpit. You can move the ship in various directions but the ship will maintain its course to the chosen planet. Occasionally on a flight to a planet you will encounter space pirates who will demand a large amount of credits and you can decide to pay them or fight back. If you don't have weapons for the ship or energy packs then you have to pay. If you can fight, you will see the pirates outside your cockpit and try to destroy them all. You have several shields on the ship and each one can be hit three times before your ship is destroyed and the game ends.

If you make it safely to the planet, you will have to deal with customs. You can declare your goods and pay a fee, lie and hope you don't get caught, or bribe the customs official. Now you can explore the starport to trade and buy goods, take care of yourself and repair your ship if necessary. If your ship is damaged, you must repair it or you will not be able to take off.

The Commodore 64 version allows 8 players to play and each player has a couple of turns before the next player plays.

It is possible that we have multiple downloads available when different versions exist.