# CargoWars 2026 Player Manual

Welcome to CargoWars 2026! This is a space trading game that runs in your web browser. Just open `cargowars_2026.html` and play!

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## How to Start

- Press **N** to start a brand new game
- You begin at Terra (Earth) with 1,000 credits and a ship called a Merchant Cruiser
- You have 30 cargo holds (empty) and 1,000 turns to play
- Everything saves automatically when you make changes

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## What You See on Screen

**Status Bar (top):** Shows your sector, port name, turns left, credits, cargo space used, what you're carrying, the day, bank money, and your rank. It updates every time you do something.

**Action Bar (buttons):** Big buttons for everything you can do — Travel, Trade, Bank, Planet, Fleet, Status, Chart, Save, Load, and more. Just click what you want!

**Main Screen:** Shows the space view (stars and planets moving) and a mini-map of places you've visited. You'll see letters on the map:
- **P** = Planet
- **C** = Citadel (fortress)
- **S** = Ship (yours or someone else's)
- **M** = Mine field
- **B** = Beacon (message marker)
- **$** = Corporate asset

**Terminal (bottom):** Shows what happened and lets you type commands. Use Up/Down arrows to repeat old commands.

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## Moving Around

- Click **Travel** or press **M** to see exits from where you are
- Click a destination to go there (costs turns based on your ship)
- **S** scans nearby sectors and draws them on your map
- **W** plots a route; **W GO** follows it
- Use **[** to go back to where you were

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## Buying and Selling Stuff

Three things you can trade: **ore**, **organics**, and **equipment**

- Click **Trade** to see what's available at this port
- Click **Buy** or **Sell** and type how many
- You'll haggle — type your offer, or press Enter to cancel
- Watch your credits and cargo space!

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## The Bank

When you visit a StarDock (space station):
- Click **Bank**
- **Deposit** puts money in the bank (earns interest each day!)
- **Withdraw** takes money out
- Costs 1 turn per transaction

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## Your Ship

You can buy different ships at StarDocks:
- **Merchant Cruiser** — your starter ship
- **Scout** — fast, good at finding things
- **Merchantman** — lots of cargo space
- **Warbird** — good fighter
- **Battleship** — heavy hitter
- **Interdictor Cruiser** — can trap other ships

Click **Fleet** to manage fighters, mines, and special weapons.

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## Fighting

- Click **Status** to see enemy ships nearby
- Choose to **Attack**, **Retreat**, **Surrender**, or **Ignore**
- Fighters and shields protect you; mines can hurt enemies
- You can deploy fighters to guard sectors

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## Planets

- **Land** colonists on planets you find
- **Build** bigger and better facilities
- **Upgrade** to unlock special systems like Quasar weapons
- Collect **production** from your planets each day

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## Bookmarks

- **Y** saves a location (up to 5 bookmarks)
- **N** flies you straight to a saved bookmark
- Great for keeping track of good trading spots!

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## Trip Computer

Click **Computer** to see:
- **Route Planner** — find the best path anywhere
- **Directory** — search all places you've discovered
- **Deep Analysis** — find the most profitable trade routes automatically

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## Auto-Explore

The **Deep Analysis** tab in the Computer:
1. Click **Run** to find profitable routes
2. Click **Trade Until Exhausted** to keep trading automatically
3. Click **Stop** when you want to take back control

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## Corporations (Teams)

You can form or join a group with other players:
- **Create** a corporation with a name (costs 50,000 credits)
- **Invite** friends to join
- **Share** ships, planets, and money
- **Deploy** fighters together

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## Saving Your Game

- **Save** stores your game in the browser
- **Load** brings it back later
- **Export** downloads your save as a file
- **Import** loads a save from a file
- **New** starts fresh (after confirming)

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## Other Useful Buttons

- **Advance Day** — moves time forward (restocks ports, earns interest, produces planet goods)
- **Scan** — reveals nearby sectors
- **Help** — shows all commands
- **Status** — shows your ship and game info
- **Record/Replay** — record actions and play them back

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## Tips

- Scan often to discover new sectors and ports
- Buy low, sell high — but prices change each day!
- The bank earns interest — deposit spare credits
- Planets produce goods over time — check them daily
- Be careful with mines — they can hurt you too
- Use bookmarks to remember good trading spots

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## Keyboard Shortcuts

Most commands work by typing letters:
- **M** = Move, **T** = Trade, **S** = Scan
- **A** = Trade advisor (best routes), **C** = Computer
- **L** = Planets, **F** = Fighters, **H** = Mines
- **W** = Route planner, **V** = Status, **I** = Ship info
- **E** = Rank, **R** = Beacon messages
- **N** = New game, **Q** = Quit

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*Have fun trading, exploring, and conquering the galaxy!*