FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS FOR CLASSIC FED PLAYERS
If you haven't played Fed for a long time, you may notice that things have changed. We gave the game a complete makeover, resulting in a number of questions for old-time players...
Why have you re-written Fed - why not just carry on with the old version?
Does that mean classic Fed is still running?
How is Fed2 different from classic Fed?
Can I move my classic Fed character over to Fed2?
Can I at least transfer my planet over to Fed2?
Why can't I give lots of groats to other players?
Q: Why have you re-written Fed - why not just carry on with the old version?
A: For technical reasons. The old version (which we now call classic Fed) was nearly 15 years old, and the code was very tangled and fragile. It had become impossible to maintain - any changes we made to it risked breaking something else. In addition, the hardware the game ran on was old and starting to be temperamental.
Q: Does that mean classic Fed is still running?
A: No. We kept classic Fed running as long as we could, because there were still some people that wanted to play it, but eventually the dodgy hardware gave out for good.
Q: How is Fed2 different from classic Fed?
A: It's set 200 years in the future. The flavor of the game remains the same, but there are some differences in the commands you use. Here is a list of the changes.
Q: Are the maps the same?
A: Well you would expect some changes in 200 years... you will find the basic shape of the maps in Sol hasn't changed much - the roads and corridors are more or less the same. However, the buildings are all different. So you're going to have to map the planets again, you can't just use your old classic Fed maps. And we have also added some new planets to the Solar System, as well as the asteroid belt.
Q: Can I move my classic Fed character over to Fed2?
A: No. You have to start again as a GroundHog in Fed2.
Q: Why?
A: Apart from the technical difficulties - different file formats and so on - what you do to earn a living has changed so much that it would make no sense to plonk you in Fed2 at a high rank without having climbed the ranks first. You wouldn't have a clue how things worked.
Q: Can I at least transfer my planet over to Fed2?
A: No. We no longer have the files from classic Fed because the ancient computers that version of the game ran on gave up the ghost some years ago. But even if we did, the files were in a completely different format. If you have a capture of your old workbench files, or a walkthrough, then you could cut and paste the location descriptions over.
Q: Why can't I give lots of groats to other players?
A: We don't want high-ranking players to be able to bankroll newbods, in the way they did in classic Fed. Every player should work through the ranks on their own. That's why a player can only receive a small number of groats each day.
Q: What happened to channel 9?
A: The channels in classic Fed were intended to split people up into ranks, but because the game got a bit top-heavy, channel 9 (the planet-owners' channel) became the default channel that everyone tuned to. In Fed2, there are no fixed channels at all - you set up a channel when you want one, and give it whatever name you want. If everyone wants to all tune to the same channel, that's fine - it just won't happen automatically. At the moment you can use the 'COM' command to send your message to everyone in the game, which allows general chit-chat, but when the game gets busy staff may ask you to take the chat to a channel to avoid overloading new players.
Q: Will you be bringing back the Snark puzzle?
A: We probably won't have puzzles as a promotion mechanism - experience shows that once one person solves a puzzle, it doesn't take long for the solution to become common knowledge, which means that the puzzle isn't a test any more. However, there are some puzzles in which have other rewards, and we plan to add more in the future. And that will probably include bringing back the Snark asteroid, with a different puzzle on it.
Q: Have the game rules changed?
A: The basic idea of the rules remain the same - they set out things you cannot do because they annoy other players or disrupt the smooth running of the game. However, the rules for Fed2 have been rewritten to make them clearer and easier to understand. In addition, Fed2 has more tools that enable players to protect themselves against annoyances - such as being able to block messages from other players you don't want to hear from.
