To fix this common encountered problem.
Hit esc to bring up the adventuring window select Settings
At the top of the right hand column bind Talk/Fire to mouse1 (or any other key you like)

By carlhh

4 Jan, 2014

Space Trader:Merchant Marine doesn't like gamer tags or other symbols in your Characters name.

When I first got the game, it would always crash, with an error message that said something like "invalid parameter" or "illegal operator"

On a whim I got rid of my clan tags and Lo, and behold, it started working!

Pretty sure it was the Trashed Gamers "shotglass" \TG/ that made it Crash.

This game requires a Video card/chip that supports T&L2 or more often in the case of modern video cards is backwards compatible with T&L2

Some people are experiencing this problem.

I have no definitive answer at the moment. some things you can try are;
Run full screen and in your native resolution.

• The game was not designed to run in a window
  
• There are a lot of resolutions to chose from including most currently popular ones
  
  Try All the Windows comparability settings.
  
• Game was published in 2008
  
  Do start a thread in the forum with;
  
• A meaning-full subject line
  
• Your computers basic hardware spec CPU Chip amount of Ram etc
  
• Your video Card/chip (chipset)
  
• The version of DirectX you are using (dirX) eg. DirX-9c
  
  Hopefully comparison of these details will tell us what configurations cause these problems
  
  Don't lose hope!
  There are many different systems that will run ST:MM.
  I have it running on both a pair of old Compaq Presario CQ56-102SA laptops running windows 7 home premium and a Lenovo Flex3 i7 (nvidia GPU) gaming laptop running windows 8.1

The Best advice on how to get Multiplayer comes from PurdyDot
That original thread is here;
http://gtm.steamproxy.vip/app/11240/discussions/0/34095684584444763/

There may be easier ways to make multiplayer work, but here's how I did it
I found that holding down the control key , then hitting tilde would bring up the console. [ctrl] + [~]

• So first I got the IP address from my wife's PC, which was 192.168.0.103
  
• Then I started a multiplayer game on her PC and created a server.
  
• Next I started the game on my PC, selected Multiplayer from the menu, selected refresh and when her game showed up I clicked join.
  
• This started the usual connection attempts, then I opened the console by hitting ctrl + ~ and pasted in:
  
• connect 192.168.0.103:27399 and hit enter
  
• It connected and then I then hit ctrl + ~ again to close the console.

We played a couple of multiplayer rounds with no problems at all.
As an additional note:
I started one multiplayer game connecting using that IP address, and one game using a hamachi IP address with the same :27399 port number.
Both worked the same.


Did a little more testing to see if the port number was necessary.
Couldn't connect without the port number with either LAN IP or hamachi IP.
I did find out the game was quite forgiving about when or how I could join a game though.
I was able to join from the main menu screen without selecting multiplayer, and during one of the failing connection attempts. One I had started trying to connect without a port number. I was able to re-enter the console and paste in the IP with the port number and it went ahead and joined right up.

Also, for reference:
No Windows compatibility settings, additional startup parameters, or anything special was done. This was just the stock setup.
I had tried several things along those lines trying to get things to work, but then undid them all before figuring out how to open the console.
well, that's it, good luck and take care all :-) ~~^_^
Last edited by PurdyDot; 23 Aug, 2014

VirazolKaine 16 Oct, 2014
Does this only work with LAN? Or can you play with someone else who lives far away using Hamachi?

PurdyDot Oct 2014
Well, at first I only tested it using the hamachi IP address with another computer on the same LAN, but I would think if it can use a hamachi address on LAN, then it should be able to use it anywhere.
I mean, as long as hamachi is configured correctly and such, so that it can send and receive connections through your firewall and connect successfully to the person you want to play with.
Make sure to use the hamachi address (instead of the LAN address) and add the port number.
Tested it with my buddy, he lives upstate.
We tested it both ways, once with me as host, once with him as host.
Some games will only work with one or the other as host for whatever reason, but with space trader, it worked fine both ways.

• Host starts the game, client opens their console and types
  connect (followed by a space) and then the host's hamachi IP address with a colon and the port number.
  
• Put a space after the word connect, but no spaces between the IP and the colon or port number.
  Make sure to use the host's hamachi IP, not your own.

My buddy and I have done this kind of thing dozens of times, but he accidentally copied his own IP and it took us a few minutes to figure out why it wasn't working.
Just saying, anybody can make a mistake so it never hurts to double check ;)

ayy lmao 24 Jan 2014
How do I know what my port number is?
Whenever I copy IPV4 from hamachi it just gives me this "25.83.0.40" wheres the rest of it? and how do I find my friends port number?

PurdyDot 2 Feb 2014
Let's see...
Okie Dokie!
Well, first off, this game uses "port number" 27399 for "connection attempts".
The port number is the same for everyone who wants to join.
With this game, One person starts the game as Host, and then one or more guests can join the host's game.
Each guest must use the Host's IP address to be able to join the game.
Sort of like if somebody decides to host a little party at their house. All the guests will need to know the address of the host, or they can't get to the party.
The IPV4 number you copied from Hamachi ("25.83.0.40") is probably your computer's Hamachi IP address.
So if *you* are the one *hosting* the game, then your friend could probably join your game using the command:
connect 25.83.0.40:27399

The syntax is:
Command(space)Game host's IP Address(colon)Port#
All guests connect using the host's address, so the command line is exactly the same for all guests connecting to a given host (on the same network).
If you want your friend to host instead of you, then you would need to get his hamachi IP, and since you would be the guest, you would need to put in the connect command with his IP instead of yours.
So , if he was going to host, and his hamachi IP was "25.83.4.222" then you would still use the "connect" and ":27399", but just change the host IP to his IP.
So it would be
connect 25.83.4.222:27399
instead of
connect 25.83.0.40:27399
Anyway, I don't know his Hamachi IP, so that's just an example.

By PurdyDot

23 Aug, 2014

CTRL + ` opens/closes the console
Nothing special had to be done to enable the console, just holding the control key and tapping the tilde does the trick. ctrl + ¬

So far I have only used the console to get multiplayer to work, but I would assume there are other things that could be done in there by people who knew more about console commands than I do.
Personally i'd like to try and enable my 360 controller, but too tired, brainless, and lazy to try it right now :P
Anyway, good luck and have fun all :)

Trading The very basics

• Buy the maximum available number of cargo holds you can easily afford.
  
• Try to trade in the high value cargo as trading basic food and clothing isn't going to earn you enough profit.
  
• Any cargo you find in stash boxes costs you nothing so you can trade it away immediately if you need to free up some cargo space. If you find you did need it you can buy it back for the same price you sold it.
  
• If you spot a good trade deal you can borrow money from the bank to maximise your profit.
  
• You can chose between traders in the trade screen by clicking on their name. When you leave the trade screen you will be standing in front of the last trader you selected you can use this to teleport quickly around the trade stations.
  
• If you deposit your cash in the bank just before leaving for a new planet they will pay you interest on your deposit. This can add up quickly once you have a good amount of cash and is sometimes more profitable and less risky than lugging inexpensive commodities to an uncertain market.
  
• Look for new traders to trade with in adventure mode. They are not all listed on the trade screen.
  
• Look on the Travel screen to see if any of the planets you could travel too are having a shortage and you can make a handsome profit bringing what they want to them.
  
  The Merchant Trading guide by Zakilados covers buying low and selling High.
  

• before you accept a combat mission. Empty your cargo holds of everything you can excepting essential mission cargo. Feel free too sell off and then replace any cargo needed for a mission if you can buy more from the traders where you are.
  
• Buying extra cargo holds before a mission so you can fill them up is almost always profitable.
  
  
• You can switch guns faster than you can reload. Remember to reload all your guns when you get a lull in the action.
  
• You can hit goons with your empty gun. Yay! bind this to a convenient key.
  
• Head shots do lots of extra damage!
  
• You run faster and navigate better than the goons and enforcers so feel free to run away and come back too shoot them some more later.
  
• Auto run while convenient in adventure mode. gives away your position as you lollop around in your big noisy combat boots.
  
• The shotgun and machine pistol are very good for dispatching job lots of goons but not so good for targets in armour.
  
  
• You get head money for every Goon or Enforcer you kill on a bounty mission. And their cash too!
  
• Initially sneak around and pick up better guns, more health (max 200), shields (max 400) and any Cargo crates you can find. It also denies them to the minions and Target untill they re-spawn.
  
• You get three tries at almost all missions (Ministry of Accounts customs Boardings are one exception) So try to collect all the cargo crates lying around and kill all the minions before dispatching the Target.
  
• try to take out the Target at close range so you have time to rush in and pick up all the lovely cargo they drop ( forgo this for critical story-line targets and take them down as soon as you can! However you can! Hopefully before they run around and pick up their own extra health and shields.)
  
• The ships bridge usually has a lot of cargo crates.
  
  
  Exploit As the bounty missions you don't complete are available the next time you visit a planet, you can deliberately fail them after grabbing all the loot and killing as many minions as you can to farm the cargo and head money, You can also do this with plot line missions but it is more risky and you could end up failing the chapter
  
  

PurdyDot

For Multiplayer and command Console
and for asking the questions of PurdyDot that led to a search for greater knowledge.

carlhh

For invalid parameter or illegal operator

If you feel you have been overlooked. Just post in the threads or message me and I will add you
pleases include your thread(s) URL