What is the difference between the shareware version and retail version of StarTraders?
There are two differences between the retail version of StarTraders and the shareware version. The background image of the playing area changes with every game.(There are some way cool images in there!) And the second difference, the retail version saves and displays the top ten scores.

How much money does each player start with?
Each player starts off with $6,000 of working capitol. You may see how much cash you have by pressing the Holdings button.

What happens at the end of the last turn?
At the end of the game, the player with the highest amount of money wins the game.

How many companies can there be?
Only five companies may be in existence at any given time.

What is an outpost and how do I make one?
If a co-ordinate is chosen with nothing adjacent to it, (e.g. 8A) it becomes an outpost. The next person to place something next to an outpost forms a company.

Can I own a company?
A player may own and purchase stock in more than one company, and no player owns a company.

Can other people purchase stock in a company I create?
Other players may purchase stock in the newly created company during their turn, and you will have an opportunity to purchase stock in the company yourself shortly after creating it. However, the creator gets 5 shares for creating the company.

What makes a company's value go or down?
Company values only go up. So you want to have as much stock as you can get in the most expensive companies, or as much stock as you can get into a small, affordable company that's bound to grow.