Super Spy

The Super Spy mission is a race-specific ability that only the Birdmen can use. Super Spy has the basic function of obtaining information about enemy planets. There are additional Super Spy missions that have additional abilities, Super Spy Deluxe, Super Spy Advanced and Super Spy Command, which allow you to change the friendly codes of enemy planets, and prevent starbase fighters from launching.

Super Spy Race Abilities

Super Spy

Gives you information on enemy planets. Tells you the planet's Friendly Code, as well as the number of factories, mines, defense posts, supplies and MC on the surface. Mineral information is partially given as the amount of total minerals on the planet (on the surface + in the crust). Mineral density is not given. Native life information is not given.

Super Spy Deluxe

Allows you to attempt to change the friendly code of a planet. One of your ships in orbit will have a 20% chance of changing the planet's friendly code when performing the Super Spy mission. For each additional ship you have in orbit, you get an additional 20% chance of changing the friendly code. Therefore, 5 ships will give you a 100% chance of changing the planet's FC. Only one of your ships in orbit has to use the super spy mission to change the friendly code. The friendly code of your lowest ID# ship performing the super spy mission will set the planet's FC.

Disable friendly code change: Since you will not always want to change your opponent's friendly code, you can disable the FC change part of the Super Spy mission by setting the friendly code of your ships to start with 'x' or 'X'. Reasons for not wanting to change the opponent's FC can be that you do not want your presence discovered, or you do not wish to trigger an ion pulse.

Ion Pulse: If you succeed at changing the planet's FC, there is a 20% chance that the planet will shoot an ion pulse into orbit and de-cloak all ships in orbit. Ion pulses sacrifice 10 defense posts to work, and will only occur if the planet has at least 30 defense posts. If you set the friendly code to MFx, there is a 100% chance of an ion pulse.

Prevent force surrender at starbase: Normally, if your ship's friendly code matches a starbase's FC, and the starbase has mission set to 'force surrender', your ship will surrender to the starbase. Your ship will not surrender if it has the Super Spy mission activated, even if its friendly code matches. Note: This does NOT apply to the "cloak" mission, so if your FC matches the starbase for any mission besides super spy, you will surrender to the starbase if it is using the force surrender mission.

Super Spy Advanced

Super Spy Advanced gives you information about the enemy starbase. It reveals number of fighters and defense, damage, ships under construction and tech levels. As of 2021, Super Spy Advanced will also give the planet's tax and happiness information. (NuHost only)

Campaign-Only Abilities

Covert Data Link

Covert Data Link allows you to use old friendly codes for ships and planets for all purposes. This means even if a player changes their friendly code, you can still use it the next turn with 100% success rate. You can do all the normal things you could do with a matching friendly code, such as travel through minefields, beam up materials, use Harmonic Weapon Modulation, etc. For every turn after the 1st turn of using an old friendly code, the odds of success of a FC working are reduced by 10%. Once one of your ships fails in using a friendly code, that code is permanently revoked.
Campaign mode only

Super Spy Infiltration

With this ability enabled, when you use Super Spy at a planet with a starbase, you will receive information about the ships in orbit, learning their weapons, cargo and friendly codes. This only applies to ships which are the same owner as the starbase.
Campaign mode only

Super Spy Command

[Discontinued as of 2022]. Available as an upgrade for Planets.nu campaign mode only. If you set the friendly code to NTP, fighters will not launch at Bird Man ships from the starbase and planet. Your allies will still have fighters launched at them.

Strategy

A good use for the Super Spy mission is to steal megacredits by changing the planet's friendly code to BUM ("beam up money"). This FC makes the planet beam up all its megacredits to any foreign ship in orbit.

Changing the friendly code to NUK will cause it to attack fuel-less ships in orbit (but not Birdman ships). So, if you have an ally, they can bring a fuel-less ship into orbit, and have it be attacked by the planet, while not having to fight any ships there. Birdman ships have (limited) planet immunity which prevents them from being attacked in this way (any fuel-less Bird ship with 1 beam or more cannot be attacked by a planet set to NUK).

Deliberately triggering an ion pulse with an MFx friendly code can be a useful way to de-cloak hidden enemy ships.

Minefield Control

Changing a planet's friendly code allows you to control enemy minefields, which take on the FC of the nearest planet belonging to that player. Any ships with the same friendly code as a minefield will not hit any mines.

If you set an MFx friendly code on a planet (where x is any character), it acts as friendly code for all minefields belonging to the player who owns the planet. The global MFx friendly code is set by the highest ID# planet with an MFx friendly code. So, if the player has a different MFx code set at a planet with a higher ID#, that will be the global friendly code instead.

If you can control the planet with a highest ID# belonging to an enemy, you can control the global minefield friendly code for all of his minefields.

Notes

• Your ships will still change the friendly code of planets belonging to your allies, if the Super Spy mission is set.
• Super Spy Advanced does not tell you the primary mission of the starbase. At Planets.nu, however, it will display the starbase's mission as "none", even though you do not know it. So it may be set to "force surrender" and you will not know. For this reason, you should avoid matching the starbase's friendly code unless Super Spy mission is set, or you may surrender your ship.

External Links

Advanced Minefield Control (forum discussion)

Explanation of Covert Data Link by Joshua @ PlanetsCon 2022

Official Nu documentation

Super Spy mission

Super Spy Deluxe

Super Spy Advanced

Super Spy Command

Super Spy Infiltration