Macros, bots, clients and scripts – The secrets of SST

Long before th' current crop o' clients in SST, there were bein' automation in one form or another. It were bein' just kept secret from most o' th' players and used just by th' elite t' rule th' game. Many o' th' features now available in th' game were introduced by Ray t' help balance th' game, thin's like th' macro, th' auto-scoop and th' scout launcher. And later on, spurred even further automation. As more graphical based games started floodin' th' internet, th' client port were bein' added and th' graphic client were bein' born and evolved into what some people know as th' Kirellii client, and a bucket o' chum. And which is probably th' source fer most o' th' current clients and bots bein' used these days.

Long before th' graphical client, there were already players like vic and “The wog” usin' some form o' automation or another, I'll warrant ye. Call them bots or clients, they all had th' ability t' repetitively do tasks in th' game that were a pain t' do. Vic’s client fer example were bein' written in C++, text based and could run multiple ships at once, allowin' ye t' switch betwixt them. Yaaarrrrr, with a chest full of booty! I’ve only seen th' source t' a basic version o' it, but I’m sure th' version fer his personal use were bein' much more powerful. The WoggyBot fer which I’ve only seen screen shots also has many features. Unfortunately th' screen shots don’t appear t' be available any longer on th' internet. I also don’t know if what I saw were bein' th' ‘civilian grade’ or ‘military grade’ client. Another client used were bein' done by Noel and hasn’t been updated since 2001 and which th' code may still be available fer download. This one is th' XSST client, an x-windows client fer linux written in ‘C’. These are just th' ones I’ve heard about and managed t' track down and all prior t' when I started playin' in 2002. There are probably also vast libraries o' scripts and macros that I haven’t heard about, as most people are very secretive about what they do or use.

In th' sprin' o' 2002, I started t' play SST and there were quite o' few resources available t' th' new player t' learn how t' play th' game, an active yahoo group not overrun with spam and Kat, better known as Katrina Kirellii actively workin' on a graphic client, to be sure. The games were pretty lively, but there also appeared t' be some people sailin' away many o' th' new players enterin' th' game. Yaaarrrrr! And hoist the mainsail! Several o' th' people I had teamed up with just left after playin' a few months. It’s at this time, that I got interested in th' graphic client, but unable t' compile it meself, decided t' write me own client and grabbed just th' network code out o' th' graphics client t' use in mine. At first it were bein' just t' help trade, but th' attacks continued and o'er time it evolved into somethin' capable o' huntin' other ships, what some might call a ‘military grade’ client.

About th' same time as I started work on me client, I decided it were bein' time t' move into th' endless game (CoC – Continuum o' Chaos back then). It were bein' a 1M sector game in th' fall o' 2002 and aroun' Jan 2003, I think someone found a flaw that allowed an unlimited number o' figs t' be built. Walk the plank! Details o' how th' flaw were bein' exploited are vague, but it involved bots or scriptin' and bumpin' th' planet or port bein' used t' build th' figs. That were bein' when I first heard about automation in SST and realized there were a lot o' unknown thin's bein' done, to be sure. It also resulted in a reset o' game and th' creation by Ray o' a new 2M sector universe. Farmin' were bein' still unknown t' me at that time and th' client were bein' a pretty limited tradin' tool. It were bein' geared towards tradin' th' one-ways which are th' most profitable fer tradin'. Except fer Kat’s graphic client, what everyone else were bein' usin' or doin' were bein' still very secretive.

Let’s jump ahead a bit t' 6 months into th' 2M sector game from which th' current TLF game has it’s start. By this time I were bein' keepin' track o' scores in th' game so I’ll provide th' scores at th' end o' July 2003, fer th' first dozen or so ships.

QUAZI                    Race me?            [ANS]   1  SFr  204981831 1400001s
BATTLINGDIA_III          Top Gun            [TRU]   2  SDe  196655147  200001s
ROBINSON                 +Overlord+         [WOC]   3  HFr  195404489   80001s
FLY SWATER               $ Raid $           [RIP]   4  HFr  190529498 1360001s
ANTHRAX                  *cough             [ANS]   5  HFr  188689062 1880001s
GEORDIE MARAUDER         +Overlord+         [WOC]   6  HFr  187750440   80001s
BATTLINGDIA              Simply th' Best    [TRU]   7  HFr  184277678 1160001s
BATTLINGDIA_II           Emperor+1          [TRU]   8  HFr  181520892  960001s
AIDS                     Nay Defence         [ANS]   9  HFr  180196884 1880001s
BUBONIC PLAGUE           Black Death        [ANS]  10  HFr  176542696 1880001s
VIKING SPIT              $ XXX $            [MPR]  11  Lin  175678997 1680001s
KAMIKAZE                 *OuT oF cOnTrOl*   [RIP]  12  HFr  174927396  920001s
E-BOLA VIRUS             Deadly             [ANS]  13  SFr  173249583 1880001s
YELLOW FEVER             Is it hot in here?  And swab the deck! [ANS]  14  HFr  173192534 1880001s
CANCEROUS GROWTH         A TERMINAL         [ANS]  15  HFr  172397002 1880001s
NX-74205                 POTS Imperial Pride[MPE]  16  HLi  170341950 1040001s

My top ship were bein' in 16th place. I were bein' still tradin' one-ways with th' help o' me client, but as ye can see, were bein' losin' ground fast, t' th' top ships. This is about th' time I first heard rumors o' bots and farmin'. By that time, it were bein' already hard t' find good ports and planets in th' spirals since those were th' easiest galaxies t' search with scripts or bots. This is also when I first learned about bots and farmin' from Q. The bots bein' used then, were telnet based and this were bein' when I introduced Q t' th' information available on th' client port. I also found out how Q’s bot trawled fer planets and ports, and a bucket o' chum. Under Q’s direction, started buildin' a farm o' me own and a bot that could trawl fer planets and ports. I were bein' still doin' th' buildin' by hand, but with th' client, had easy access t' th' port and planet data and were bein' doin' client assisted tradin'. At this time, I still think bots, scripts and macros were still bein' primarily used fer tradin'. This were bein' probably also th' point in th' game when th' arms race began in th' game and info were bein' startin' t' get out t' th' various parties. It were bein' also startin' t' get easier t' program with languages like VB (Visual Basic) now bein' aroun' fer some time. Not happy with just buildin' farms like everyone else, I developed me own farmin' techniques and worked out how t' trawl th' other galaxies.

With forces startin' t' build, more people farmin' and more conflicts, military applications were developed usin' th' scripts and bots. New client builders also appeared such as Clinton on TCW and script writers like Tandu o' TVG usin' telnet scriptin' tools like Tera Term Pro, to be sure. I only know after th' fact about a fig launchin'/hunter script called figaro, so don’t know exactly when it were bein' introduced t' th' game. Fire the cannons! Yaaarrrrr! So it’s only speculation, but am guessin' it would have happened about th' same time as I developed me own scoutin' capabilities which were bein' prior t' th' start o' th' current TLF game. Aarrr! Even at this time, most players were secretive about their capabilities and it were bein' only durin' discussions o' alliances betwixt teams that anyone found out about other clients and bots bein' used or methods bein' used fer farmin'. Deals were struck, tech were bein' shared betwixt allies and farm buildin' bots were transfered betwixt teams, avast. It’s a little hard t' believe that some o' this transfered tech is not still bein' used in some form or other today.

The bots and scripts tend t' be a lot more specialized than clients and are usually built fer specific uses, like tradin', farm buildin', huntin', bunkerin' fuel or grabbin' scores, and a bucket o' chum. They aren’t usually interactive so ye can detect their use by watchin' a ship log on, boost somewhere, log off and then th' bot will log on, perform it’s actions and log off. They also have t' be programmed t' take into account any thin' they may possibly encounter, ye scurvey dog. Dependin' on th' design, they may either pass out when they come across somethin' unexpected or just end up loggin' out because o' a loop limit exceeded because o' th' unexpected event. They will ignore ye when ye talk t' them, since there is no way t' interact with anyone once started. Clients on th' other hand tend t' allow interaction and th' present batch tend t' be designed t' allow interruption o' a task t' allow such interaction.

There are many ways t' play th' game, some have just evolved a bit more than others. There are still those who use spreadsheets and cut and paste macros t' trade their farms and others still who use th' autoscoop and just prime th' scooper before tradin' th' farm t' get a high average from tradin'. Some build highly productive farms that only require 100 pairs per ship, while others need 200+ pairs per ship. Some don’t invest too much in bases fer their farms and produce lots o' figs fer attackin', while others invest primarily in larger bases t' defend their farms. Like in th' real world, ye’ve got all types o' personalities.