Intel

Intel features appear very late in the game data sections (sprite data, building list, text string list, ship orders list, button list, etc), so it’s a reasonable deduction that they were not added until relatively late in the game’s development.

1. Spy satellites
2. Spy reports
3. Spying with scoutships

Spy satellites

Each alien asteroid checks for spy satellites once every 16 days (specifically, on days ending in 16, 32, 48, 64, 80, and 96). If there is at least one spy satellite orbiting the asteroid, the chance of detection increases by 1% before each check. The base chance is effectively 1%, so the first check has a 2% chance, the second 3%, and so on.

Certain buildings aid the alien in detecting the spy satellite. These do not chance the percentage chance, but grant another check attempt at the same percentage chance:

1. Kll-Kp-Qua: Data Hive
2. Ore Eaters: Detection Cluster
3. Ax’zilanths: Sensory Matrix and Subspace Detectors
4. Tylarans: Data Gatherer
5. Rigellians: Probes
6. Swixarans: Receptor Cells

The Kll-Kp-Qua also gains an additional check for each triangular rotating ship in orbit.

If the check is successful, the alien removes one satellite. The detection chance is reset to effectively 6%, meaning it will be 7% on next check. The alien stops making checks once one is destroyed, even if it has more rolls left, i.e. it can only shoot down one spy satellite every 16 days.

When Swixarans destroy a spy satellite, it sets byte 91 bit 4 in the asteroid’s data, which sets a flag for retaliation. They intentionally target the player’s most populated asteroid out of all those known to them, and launch a missile strike containing 1-4 Explosive missiles, 1-4 sabotage missiles which deal damage over time, 1-4 sensor array destroying missiles, and 1-2 bioweapons which kill 50 colonists each.

Spy reports

Each question asked increases the spy satellite detection chance at that asteroid by 1%.

A spy report caches the answer, so asking a second time just gives the same answer without increasing the detection chance again or billing the player a second time. If the player leaves the Intel screen and interrogates the spy satellite again, they pay again.

Intel reports have a 50% chance to be inaccurate.

Population

8,000 CD. Gives the number of colonists, rounded down to the nearest multiple of 16. An inaccurate report will give a random number between 0 and 999, rounded down to the nearest multiple of 16.

Missile inventory

15,000 CD. Missiles are categorized by yield as follows: Low (Explosive), Med (Area Explosive, Napalm, Scatter, Vortex), High (Hellfire, Nuclear, Mega), and Other (Stasis, Virus). For the Kll-Kp-Qua only, Scatter is classified as High instead of Med. Each alien also has unique missiles detailed in its page at this site. An inaccurate report varies each category result by a number between -4 and +3 (minimum 0). In certain cases, since aliens can only have 5 of each missile, an inaccurate report can be identified as such if it gives a higher number than possible. This includes any Low missiles for the Ax’Zilanths or Swixarans, more than 5 Other for the Kll-Kp-Qua, or more than 5 Low for the Ore Eaters, Rigellians, or Swixarans.

Number of enemy asteroids

30,000 CD. An inaccurate report will give a random number of asteroids between 1 and 4.

Our asteroids known to enemy

40,000 CD. An inaccurate report will randomly select 4 colonies and have a 50% chance of showing each one as known to the enemy.

Building inventory

8,000 CD. The exact categorization of buildings varies by alien and is detailed in the specific alien pages at this site. An inaccurate report varies each category result by a number between -6 and +5 (minimum 0).

Makeup of deployed fleet

25,000 CD. Does not charge or make an inaccurate report if there is no deployed fleet. Report is divided into battleships and all other ships. Each alien has only one class of ship which counts as their battleship. An inaccurate report will vary the number of battleships by between -2 and +1 (minimum 0), and vary the number of other ships by between -10 and +9 (minimum 5).

Destination of deployed fleet

25,000 CD. Does not charge or make an inaccurate report if there is no deployed fleet. An inaccurate report will name a random colony.

Destination of missile strike

25,000 CD. Does not charge or make an inaccurate report if there is no missile strike. An inaccurate report will name a random colony.

If you put a satellite on your own colony, it will remain there for the rest of the game, or the colony is destroyed. The only practical use of a satellite on your own colony is that you can use it to make a “Number of enemy asteroids” or “Our asteroids known to enemy” check. Building inventory checks on your own asteroid will mark all buildings as General, and missile inventory checks will use the current alien categories for those missile IDs.

If you put a satellite on an empty asteroid, it will remain there if an alien later colonizes it, allowing you to see it immediately. The only real cost is 2 Barium and 10,000 credits from your Intel budget, and a risk of Swixaran retaliation when they find out you’ve been spying on them.

Spying with scoutships

The scoutship has the ability to spy on enemy asteroids and reveal the total number of buildings, ships, transporters, and battleships. It’s free and safe for the scoutship, and unlike spy satellites, the scout will never give misinformation.

The scoutship caches the report as it was when it observed the asteroid, and does not deliver it until it arrives home. In other words, if you send a scout to spy on an asteroid and it sees 12 buildings, and you destroy all the buildings with Nuclear missiles before the scout gets back, the scout will still report 12 buildings.

If you happen to spy on your own asteroid this way, it will report the number of buildings correctly, but not the number of ships, since it’s counting alien ships.