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Ship combat can be resolved at either the tactical or strategic level. Tactical combat gives you direct control over every ship in the fleet, while strategic combat is much quicker and lets you get on with the rest of the game. Each ship or fleet can be assigned with specific tactics and behavior for the AI to use in strategic mode. Optimal firing range, ram ship, and don't get hurt are some of the included tactics. Ships in a fleet are also placed in formations, and the whole fleet will move to follow the lead ship. Formations are useful for mass fleet movements, but once ships come into close range they become more of a burden than a help. Tactical combat will occasionally make a difference in the outcome, but not often. When the critical moments have passed, combat can be resolved quickly, letting the computer manage the rest of the battle.

Battles only last thirty turns each. There is no option to retreat, so unarmed or overmatched ships will have to manouver and survive for thirty turns before they have the opportunity to flee. Ship combat will often leave damaged components in the victor's ships. Without a mobile repair facility, this becomes awkward when the engines are destroyed.

A large selection of espionage activities can be conducted against foreign empires. This activity is pigeon-holed with diplomacy, and works in the same fashion as research and construction. Each intelligence facility produces a number of intelligence points (symbolized by a dagger), which can then be spent performing different operations. Operations include orders snafu, cargo bomb, sabotage research, sabotage espionage, steal blueprints, and more. Counterintelligence operations can also be performed to foil potential saboteurs. Not all the operations are available immediately; in fact, when the game starts the intelligence operations must be researched. With three levels of increasingly damaging espionage or sabotage activities to choose from, your sneaky and underhanded side will be in paradise.

Diplomacy is handled somewhat differently compared to other turn-based strategy games. The AI-controlled races each have their own turns to make their moves, and are treated as human players by the game engine in all respects. When negotiating a treaty, for example, a message is sent, but a reply will wait until after the AI has played its turn.

Politics is rather well developed, with concepts like borders and counter treaties. An empire can claims systems as its own. It is possible that more than one empire will claim a system. Treaties range from war to a partnership. Starting with a non-aggression pact, each treaty builds on the previous one. For example, agreeing to a military alliance brings the empire into a trade and research alliance as well. Two treaties, subjugation and protectorate, give large empires the opportunity to dominate their smaller neighbours without having to conquer them by extracting a significant portion of their production as tarriffs. At last, allied fleets can fight together in combat. If you are at a location with an ally, then both you and your ally will defend against enemy threats. Unfortunately, no last minute backstabbing is allowed - you cannot fire on allied ships and treaties cannot be broken while in combat.

Trade packages can be arranged, and this will sometimes seem like an outlandish game of Monopoly. Planets, systems, starcharts, technology, resources, ships, units, treaties, and contacts with other empires can be assembled into trade proposals. This proposal can either be accepted, rejected, or a counterproposal may be offered.

The diplomacy screen offers a treaty matrix, giving a quick view of every known empire's treaty status with each other. This is a very convenient feature, and this will sometimes reveal rather bizarre conditions. One little quirk with the treaty system is that demands can be ignored, instead of being accepted or rejected. This means, for example, that if your partner asks you to break your alliance with another empire, you don't necessarily have to do anything. This brings me to a situation where I'm allied with three different races, who are at war with each other, and all three of them are asking me to break my alliances with the other two. While the three of them duke it out, I just sit tight and watch the sparks fly.