couple more noob questions

Red means that combat is going on.

the covertly scanned message is, if i remember right, connected to an intelligence action that one of the ai may have used against you.

hi there,in answer to your question?

2. I had a message that one of my home planets had been "covertly scanned" - whats going on here? is this something to do with drones? can I do this to other (AI) empires?

No its not to do with drones but is to do with intelligence centers.

yes you can do this to other races, but must 1st research intelligence center facility, then build some on your planets. You can then use intelligence points you generate to gather information on the other races you have contacted. You may also use some or all points to fend off intell. attacks aginst you.

Hope this helps Spuda

Feel free to ask as many questions as you need to Bert, there are good people on this forum who are happy to help. FYI, the PDF manual is a bit out of date, so there are some differences. Also, for all its 300 pages, the manual is not as helpful on the details (the tough things) as one might hope. DO read it though, I did and it was worthwhile. Also, if you are not playing with the balance mod, you should consider it.

Also, check out the FAQ:
http://wiki.spaceempires.net/index.php/Manual_(SEV)

There's not much in there yet, but is should improve over time.