The Resources (or generalized: quantities) of Interplanetary are a central component of gameplay. They will determine both your ability to construct various defensive/offensive structures and your ability to deploy them over large distances. They come in various types and serve different purposes.
Energy[ | ]
Energy is a key part of the resource management in the game, it is a deciding factor of winning positions especially in mid- to late game.
They are produced in cities and power plants such as Solar Plants and Nuclear Plants. They are renewable, i.e. you will always the same amount of Energy per turn as indicated on the Energy bar on the top left of the screen, as long as the power supply structures are intact. There is no upper limit to how much Energy you can acquire per turn.
They are used in construction, upgrade and repair of any structure, city projects, firing your weapons and defending against incoming weapons, therefore it is of utmost importance to not use up all of the Energy supply of a turn in construction, as this would lead to your planet being totally defenseless, even if defense structures are deployed.
Energy is shared globally, i.e. it is possible to "daisy chain" 100 Mines to one Solar Plant and still have them all functioning. But all structures (other than power plants) require power, the player has to connect them using Connectors to at least one power plant in order for them to function normally.
Material[ | ]
Material is the other important resource type when it comes to construction and upgrades, as Material is used everywhere. They are prominent especially in the early game, where the player suffers from a severe lack of Material.
They are generated by converting the planet's material into usable Material, this conversion process is done in Mines and Offshore Mines and is generally not 100% efficient. Therefore, the planet may be depleted, after which the mines become useless and the players stops generating any Material. The conversion rate, the amount of leftover material on the planet and the depletion date are displayed by a menu appearing when a player hovers the cursor above the planet symbol in the upper left corner. As mentioned above, Each turn, the player gets a specific amount of Material as indicated by the Material bar on the top left of the screen. Should one not use up the Material supply, it will cumulate indefinitely without the player having to build specific storage structures.
Material is used to in construction, upgrade and repair of any structure and city projects. There is no upper limit to how much Material one could acquire per turn nor in storage. Material is shared globally.
Population[ | ]
Population is the life-blood of your planet, if the Population of your planet becomes zero (i.e. extinct), you lose the game. Populations are measured in M (millions) and are contained within cities, each city can achieve a maximum Population of 1000M. The cities are indicated in the upper left corner in a row, a city has more Population of more green dots are present. Each turn, all cities will generate natural Population growth, which can be boosted (or hemmed) by certain city projects, connecting the city to power or cover the city in defenses. Population generates Science, which fuels the technology research.
Your mission and your enemies' missions are to kill off all Population left in the solar system beside your own ("system-wide genocide"), you can only achieve this by hitting enemy cities by various means.
Science[ | ]
Science is the core of technological development in the game. They are generated primarily by Population in cities, but some structures such as Telescope Array and Data Security Hub have upgrades that further reinforce the Science gain, and city projects also influence the Science gain. Science is renewable, and you will get a certain amount of Science per turn. Theoretically, there is no maximum total amount of Science you can gain, but after the entire tech tree is unlocked, all the Science gains do not count as there is nowhere to spend them.
Players can funnel the Science per turn into one specific technology, multiple techs are processed in series (not parallel). Each technology in the tech tree has a Science requirement, it will be unlocked if the Science spent in this technology exceeds this number. Superweapon unlocks are particularly demanding in Science, require each 3000 Science points.
Science is rather important in early- and mid-game, as you want to unlock generators, weapons and upgrades that further reinforce your production or destructive power.
Intel[ | ]
Intel (short for Intelligence) allows you to observe enemy planets, structures and cities. They are acquired primarily by Telescope Arrays, but they can also be gained by Data Security Hubs (with upgrades) and city projects. Upon gaining Intel, the Intel view will show the necessary information regarding enemy planets, e.g. map with all visible structures and cities; amount of energy and material per turn; tech tree etc. The amount of Intel you need to see a specific type of structure is defined by its Stealth Rating and the global Counterintel modifier. As a rule of thumb, the following structures have increasing stealth ratings: weapon, power/mine, Intel, cities.
Intel is incredibly important if your strategy bases upon precision weapons such as Missiles or Lasers, as their targeting demands Intel, otherwise you will be shooting into oblivion. If your strategy is simply shellshock the enemies using imprecise, kinetic weapons like Railguns, then Intel is arguably less important, but you should still acquire some Intel for you to adapt to their strategy, strength and tech. In the Intel view, enemy's Intel on the player's planet is also visible.
Note that if the game setting "Intel Memory" is toggled on, even if you have destroyed every Intel generation of the your enemy, they will still be able to see the structures that they could see before the destruction ("memory"), just not current developments on your planet.
Counterintel[ | ]
Counterintel is the flip side of the coin when it comes to intel management, as it prohibits enemy intel from gaining sight on your structures. It acts as a global multiplier for the stealth ratings of every structure and city, forcing the enemy to build more intel buildings to gain the same amount of visibility on your planet. Counterintel is primarily gained using Data Security Hubs, but they can also be gained by Telescope Arrays (with upgrades) and city projects.
Counterintel is generally important, but rather situative. If your enemy employs the precise attack style with Missiles or Lasers, having a sufficient amount of Counterintel will greatly diminish the effectiveness of these weapons, as they cannot target without seeing anything. As for shellshock style, Counterintel is rather useless.
Note that if the game setting "Intel Memory" is toggled on, it is wise to setup some Counterintel in the early game, as the enemy could rush Intel and immediately spot all of your cities once and for all.