Moving to a Sector
From TradeWars Documentation Wiki
When you hit the m key the game will immediately show you the warps out of your current sector and ask you: "To which Sector ?"
It is patiently waiting now for you to hit Enter. You enter a number and hit enter. If you don't type a number or just hit enter, you get:
Illegal number. -Blinking red in an annoying fashion.
It won't let you enter text, it waits for a number, and the only wrong number you can give it is 0. If you enter one of the sectors immediately adjacent to your current sector, you move there immediately and deal with whatever might be in that sector. You will find that just entering a number at the Command prompt will initiate a move.
If you enter a sector that is not adjacent to your current sector, you will see:
The shortest path (7 hops, z turns) from sector 123 to sector 456 is:
123 > 1470 > 1170 > 1081 > 197 > 430 > 1093 > 456
Engage the Autopilot? (Y/N/Single step/Express) [Y]
Z will be variable, depending on the type of ship you have and it's TPW
After starting a character in the game and naming your ship, you need to know that finding the star dock is a priority. Usually the game lists the star dock in the “V” command from the main menu. If not then you have to search for it or ask another player if they will give you the location in exchange for credits. The reason for this is to buy a scanner for your ship. At first buy a density scanner and then a holo scanner later if you can afford it.
Scanning is important, if you see a density reading of 0, the sector is safe. If you see a density of 100 it could be a port, but then another player may have tricked you with a small amount of mines or fighters. If you see an anomalous reading, don't go there as there is a Limpet mine that can track where you go. Limpet mines won't blow you up, but will allow someone to track where your ship goes.
Even if you are not in your ship and leave it parked, the limpet will report back. Find a class 0 port or the star dock and dock with it to scrub for a limpet and remove it for you if you caught one or think you did. Do not leave the game or visit your home base or planet before you check for a limpet. That should be a good rule.
Once you can afford a holo scanner you can see the other sector and if it has a port in it or not. After visiting a sector you can use your computer from doing the “C” command at the main menu and then the “R” command at the computer prompt to enter in a port sector number to get a report on the port.
