                                Command : SPY

 SYNTAX:
   [##:##] Command: spy <SPIES> [subcommand] [args]...

The `spy' command lets you micromanipulate your secret  agents.   After  using
the  `recruit'  command  to  train  spies, you use the `spy' command to direct
their covert activities.  (Note that the old Empire  `spy'  command  is  still
available under a new name: `snoop'.)

The `spy' command can be used in many ways, enabling your spies to  perform  a
number  of  functions normally available only to the owner of the ship or sec-
tor.  Your spies can be moved  in  foreign  land  or  sneaked  aboard  foreign
vessels,  where  they  can  reveal, in estimated numbers, census and commodity
reports, distribution paths and levels, crew and cargo reports, and the  pres-
ence of ships, planes, and other vehicles.  Additionally, spies can be used to
steal small quantities of commodities, blow up  select  commodities  in  their
current  location,  liquidate  individuals  (including themselves), and recon-
noiter surrounding territory.

                                Command : SPY

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      PERSONAL STATUS

      General information  about   each  spy and his  surroundings   is
      provided when you use one of the following options:

          spy <id>                 Personal statistics.
          spy <id> report          General info about current location.
          spy <id> look            Map neighboring sectors.

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      GENERAL MOVEMENT

      You move  spies with  the  `move' option.   Syntax is similar  to
      `explore' command:

          spy <id> move <path>     Move around.

      Be aware  that each time you move  a spy, you  run two risks: the

                                Command : SPY

      spy may be detected and/or caught trying to leave the old sector,
      plus he may be detected/or caught trying to enter the new sector.
      Also note that the difficulty   factor for entering a new  sector
      may   vary  with the  sector   type; for   airports and  harbors,
      difficulty is 25% greater than  normal; for banks and warehouses,
      50%;  for forts  and bridgespans, 75%.   The increased difficulty
      reflects the higher military awareness in those types of sectors.

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      FOREIGN STATUS REPORTS

      These commands produce estimated  commodity and  vehicle reports.

          spy <id> cargo [comlist]       Produce a cargo report.
          spy <id> commodities [comlist] Produce a commodities report.
          spy <id> level [comlist]       Produce a distribution report.
          spy <id> coastwatch            Perform a coastwatch.
          spy <id> recon                 Report on surrounding sectors.
          spy <id> planes                Report planes in the sector.
          spy <id> ships                 Report ships in the sector.

                                Command : SPY

          spy <id> tanks                 Report tanks in the sector.
          spy <id> balloons              Report balloons in the sector.
          spy <id> trains                Report trains in the sector.
          spy <id> census                Produce a census report.

      The 'census'  option additionally  reports any rumors circulating
      in the spy's sector concerning the presence of  other spies.  The
      rumors become more  frequent as proximity  to another spy becomes
      closer.  If your spy  is in the same sector  as another spy,  all
      other things being  equal, there is  a 98%  chance that you  will
      hear rumors about him.  One sector away, the chance  is 49%.  Two
      sectors away, 32%; three  sectors away, 24%.  Beyond four sectors
      away,  the chance of  hearing a  rumor is a  constant at  2%.  Of
      course, the odds may  decrease  depending on the spies'  relative
      levels of education and efficiency.

      The 'census' option also produces an accurate count of the number
      of guerillas operating in the sector.

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                                Command : SPY

      MOVEMENT OF COMMODITIES

      Spies can personally  carry one sample of each  of almost any two
      commodities.  A  commodity may  be taken  from from  the  current
      sector,  or  from a ship's  or vehicle's  cargo.  Task difficulty
      factor depends  on  the  commodity  being taken;   `drop'  is the
      opposite of `take':

          5 civilians    5 iron         5 lcms         50 petrol
          35 military    15 dust        5 hcms         20 oil
          60 shells      80 bars        25 uranium
          60 guns         5 food        65 rads

          spy <id> take <comm>     Take a commodity.
          spy <id> drop <comm>     Drop a commodity.

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      USING BOMBS

      Spies  possessing shells can   bomb  commodities.  The spy   must

                                Command : SPY

      possess one shell, which he  very accurately places and detonates
      in the storage  place of a specific   commodity.  This can  cause
      some collateral damage in addition to large pinpoint damage, with
      damage more   severe  for explosions aboard   ships and vehicles.
      Bombs  can also  lead   to secondary  explosions when  the target
      itself is volatile or  explosive.  Task difficulty factor depends
      on the commodity being bombed, and are the same as for the `take'
      option:

          spy <id> bomb <comm>     Attempt to bomb a commodity.

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      INCITING ANTIPATRIOTISM

      Creation of new guerillas  is the first  step toward attempting a
      coup.  Successful agitation of  a sector increases the number  of
      guerillas operating in  that  sector.  Success depends mainly  on
      the sector's loyalty plus some random factors:

          spy <id> agitate         Attempt to induce a rebellion.

                                Command : SPY

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      LEADING A COUP

      Once a sector contains a  substantial number of guerillas (either
      10,  or one-eighth the number of  mil in the sector, whichever is
      more), a spy can  make an attempt to lead  them in a coup.   Coup
      success depends  mostly on the numbers of  che and mil,  and to a
      lesser degree  on  sector  loyalty.   Once the  battle  for power
      begins, disloyal citizens may jump in and join the rebels.  Other
      residents tend to leave the fighting to  the military.  Coups are
      pretty much all-or-nothing, and  are generally pretty  bloody; if
      successful, the sector becomes yours, and most of the mil will be
      annihilated;  if unsuccessful, the spy  will  either be caught or
      killed, and most of the che will be exterminated:

          spy <id> coup            Attempt to overthrow a sector.

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      ASSASSINATIONS

                                Command : SPY

      A spy can slowly liquidate civs, mil, uws, or even other spies by
      using the `kill' option:

          spy <id> kill <m|c|u|id>

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      BOARDING/LEAVING VESSELS

      Almost any ship or vehicle can be boarded, regardless of who owns
      it.  The chance of being detected or caught depends on the number
      of crew already aboard and the efficiency of the ship or vehicle.
      `Leave' is the opposite of `board', with the  addition  that  you
      can optionally supply a direction, enabling a spy to leave a ship
      while at sea and sneak ashore on an adjacent coastal sector:

          spy <id> board <shipid>  Attempt to board a ship or vehicle.
          spy <id> leave [dir]     Leave a ship or vehicle.

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                                Command : SPY

      AIRCRAFT THEFT

      Any spy  can be used  to steal aircraft,  but first the  spy must
      undergo  pilot training.  This is done leaving the spy in an air-
      port sector.   In a home airport, at each update his  pilot skill
      level will increase by an  amount equal to one plus his education
      level, times the number of etus per update divided by three.   In
      foreign airports, the rate is 1/4 as fast.   Pilot training level
      grows to match the tech  rating of the most tech nically advanced
      plane in that sector.   Attempting to fly an  aircraft  of higher
      tech than the pilot's training level allows can be suicidal.

          spy <id> steal <plane>   Steal an aircraft.

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      GIVING A SPY TO ANOTHER COUNTRY

      You can easily give a spy to any other country.   Cost is 20 mob,
      and a  20% drop in efficiency.   (Mobility will not drop below 0;
      efficency will not drop below 25%.)

                                Command : SPY

          spy <id> give <cnum>     Give a spy to another country.

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      RETIREMENT

      If you have  a spy that has outlived  his usefulness to you,  and
      would simply like   to make him   go away, you  can force  him to
      retire.  The spy ceases to exist; his  current location gains one
      mil.  Spies  on foreign  soil  or aboard manned  foreign vehicles
      cannot quit.  If you quit aboard an  unmanned foreign vessel, the
      vessel  becomes  yours.   If  the spy is   more  than halfway  to
      retirement, a portion of his  pension is considered vested and he
      will be paid an appropriate 50, 60, 70, 80, 90, or 100 percent of
      his retirement pension:

          spy <id> retire          Quit and rejoin local military.

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                                Command : SPY

Generally, each spy command first pits the  spy's  accuracy  and  intelligence
against  the target country's intelligence, technology, and military presence.
Depending on the outcome, the spy may be detected, shot at, killed.   Only  if
the spy's actions go unnoticed does the requested assignment actually get car-
ried out.

A spy's accuracy may change at each update and depends on a number of factors,
including his personal efficiency, tech, education, happiness, and age levels,
the tech, education, and happiness levels in his homeland, and those same lev-
els in the country in which he is operating.

The type of sector in which a spy is  located  also  affects  how  his  levels
change.   A spy's efficiency increases everywhere, but will grow twice as fast
if he is in a Fort, a Park, or a Capitol.  Being  located  in  a  tech  center
causes his tech level to increase; a park will increase his happiness.  Educa-
tion increases in schools, and to a  lesser  degree  in  forts  and  capitols.
Pilot skills increase in airfields.

If you place a spy in any foreign capitol (can be any capitol, not just a real

                                Command : SPY

one), there is a chance that the spy will intercept telegrams sent to and from
the  capitol's  owner.  The chance of interception reflects the ability of the
foreign country to encrypt and pass messages, and is equivalent to:

                   spy's education               spy's efficiency
              -------------------------  X  ---------------------------
              (capitol's edu level + 1)     (capitol's efficiency + 10)

Personal levels also frequently move some degree toward local national levels.
Tech  and  education  naturally rise, regardless of location, toward the local
levels wherever he happens to be.  The increase rate is greater at  home  than
aboard (information at home is more readily available and easier learned).

Certain task outcomes may cause drops in happiness.  Personal happiness  level
determines  degree of job satisfaction, which in turn determines whether a spy
will choose to continue to work, resign, defect, or simply vanish.

                                Command : SPY

Spies are paid according to a  typical  complex  bureaucratic  salary  formula
which  takes into account a number of factors.  In addition to his base pay, a
spy receives bonus pay if he is on foreign soil, is  extremely  smart,  or  is
very  technically  capable.   Pay  is  reduced  if he's technically deficient,
overly happy, or an idiot.

Each spy's age increases by one at each update; mandatory  retirement  happens
when  age exceeds 2800 divided by the number of etus per update.  Upon retire-
ment, the spy receives a retirement pension.

See also : recruit, hunt, snoop

