The game universe is either a flat plane with vast space outside the area populated with planets, or a wraparound map where the north and south borders are joined together, as well as the east an west borders. Coordinates are measured in light-years (ly). X coordinates increase from west (left) to east (right), Y coordinates increase from south (bottom) to north (top). Coordinates usually range from 1000 to 3000. Directions are specified in degrees, where 0° is north, 90° is east, 180° is south, and 270° is west. You do not have to compute directions yourself, but you'll get degree values when scanning ships or Ufos. See AllowWraparoundMap, WraparoundRectangle.
Usually, you see the positions of all planets in the universe. Foreign ships can be located only when they're close enough; ships which orbit a distant planet (that is, they are at the same position as the planet) can't be seen at all. To get information about distant planets, to find minefields and wormholes, you have to use the Sensor Sweep mission. See SensorRange, ScanRange, MineScanRange, etc.
Speeds are specified as warp factors. The distance covered each turn is the square of the warp factor (i.e. Warp 8 means 64 ly per turn). Players have access to warp factors 0 to 9, that is up to 81 ly per turn (162 ly with gravitonic accelerator). Objects like Ufos may move faster.
There are four minerals. Their quantities are, like all masses, measured in kilotons (kt).
- Neutronium is used as fuel for ships.
- Tritanium, Duranium and Molybdenum are used to build ships, planetary structures, etc.
The currency unit in Planets is the Megacredit (mc). An additional resource, Supplies, is needed for various tasks. Supplies are also measured in kilotons. On planets, you can sell supplies to the population, at a price of 1 mc per kiloton. You cannot buy supplies, though.
Populations are usually counted in clans where one clan is 100 people and their belongings. One clan weighs one kiloton.
Every object has an Id number which identifies that object: at any given time, there can be only one "ship #127". Numbers are allocated separately for each type, so there will also be a "planet #127" and a "minefield #127". These numbers are required at several places. For example, the Transfer Credits to Ship mission needs the Id number of the target ship as a parameter.
