Intelligence is a general description of the operations that your empire conducts to spy against other nations, and to prevent spying against your nation. In the game, these actions are conducted through intelligence projects created in the Intelligence Window.

All intelligence actions require intelligence points which are generated by Intelligence Facilities that you build on your planets. The total number of intelligence points you generate each turn can be spent on various projects either for espionage, sabotage, or defense. Keep in mind that intelligence points do not accumulate. You either use them in a turn, or they are lost.

Intelligence projects work in a fairly simple manner. You create an intelligence project which is targeted against another empire (or defense which does not require a target). Each turn, intelligence points are applied to that project. Once the "cost" of the project is met, then the activity will be attempted. You are never guaranteed that your intelligence project will be successful. It may fail because of defensive measures conducted by the target empire, or because the specific target of the project is not available.

Most intelligence projects can have a specific target. Besides the usual target of which empire the project is against, a project may have a specific target of a planet or a ship. If you are presented with a list of specific target to choose from, you may either pick one or pick the item called "Any". "Any" means that you don't care what target the project is against. This selection is the most flexible and has a higher chance of being successful. If you choose a specific target, then the project will be conducted only against that specific item.

For example, if you select the intelligence project for "Sabotage Facility", then you will be asked which specific planet to conduct the project against. The list of planets that is displayed will only be those planets that you know of. You can also choose "Any" which means that your operatives will pick which ever planet is easiest to attack.

The project type usually falls into one of 3 categories, either sabotage, espionage, or defense. Sabotage is where your operatives are trying to destroy or manipulate another empire. Espionage is where your operatives are tying to gather information or steal information from another empire. Defense is used to protect your empire against hostile intelligence actions of other empires.