Space Trader

Space Trader is a strategy game in space. It is a port of the Palm Pilot game “Space Trader” by Pieter Spronck, which is inspired by David J. Webb’s PalmPilot game SolarWars (which in turn is based on Matt Lee’s game DopeWars) and the 80’s classic 3D strategy game Elite (though it does not have Elite’s 3D flight mode).

- Ten different trade goods are available, two of which are considered to be illegal but can bring great profits.
- Ten different ship types are available, some of which are especially suitable for trading, some for pirating, and others for both. Ships differ in size, the distance they can travel, their hull strength, the number of weapons, shields and gadgets they can carry, the number of cargo bays and the number of crew quarters that are available.
- Ships can be equipped with different selections of equipment, among which are several types of lasers, several types of shields, an escape pod and certain special gadgets like a cloaking device.
- You can distribute skill points over your character at the start of the game, to allow you to function well in your chosen role. For the skills your character lacks, mercenaries can be hired which may have different skills.
- There are more than a hundred solar systems in the galaxy, with different sizes, tech levels, governments, resources and special situations. These are not just for background color, but play a vital role in the game.
- While travelling to another solar system, you might encounter police ships, pirates and other traders. There are several ways to handle such encounters. You can even force a trader to allow you to plunder his ship.
- There are about a dozen unique missions and offers available, some of which may bring great special rewards.

The game is available as free software under the GNU General Public License.