Empire Basics

Each Empire in Interstellar Space Genesis has various bonuses and maluses which are set for the starting empires or can be modified to create custom empires. The basic concepts of the Empire and explanation of the Main Screen explained below.
## Empire Output

The top left of the main screen shows the most important statistics of your empire:

* represents your accumulated treasury used to support your , hire , and pay for the construction of Ships. Per turn gains or losses are shown in parenthesis.
* (*Main Article:* ) indicates the total science output of your empire. Below it is the number of turns until the next discovery; hovering over this displays a detailed breakdown of its sources and the current technology being pursued.
* (*Main Article:* ) indicates your progress towards you next Culture Perk and the number of turns remaining before receiving it. Hovering will again show the breakdown of sources. The current goal is not displayed because it is choose at level up.
* (*Main Article:* ) displays the remaining points available for new ships, with the total shown in brackets. All require 1 or more points; for military ships this amount depends on the ; see  for their requirements.
* (*Main Article:* ) shows those controlled by your .  is found on many , while others are found in . Upon first discovering each type you will have a choice of 2 sets of powerful technologies to add to those you can research, most of which are boosted by the number you control.

These values are mostly the sum of the Outputs of your colonies, outposts, and . However, some can be increased by diverting some tax income using the + and - buttons below them.

## Taxes and Income Allocation

The  can be raised to increase Empire Income at the cost of  in all your colonies at the rate of 1  per 3 points of Production. This can cripple your colonies and should be raised from 0% sparingly, but can be useful if your Empire is running a deficit or you need to quickly raise funds. A better option may be to set the  of some colonies to Trade Goods.

The plus and minus buttons below buttons below  and  divert some tax income them.
The conversion rate is 2  : 1  and 4  : 1

These are bonuses to Research and Culture are over and above that produced by your colonies themselves.

## Colonies and Outposts

*Main Articles: Colonies and*

Colonies and Outposts are the main source of your Empire's resources, borders, and . They are created by  and  respectively.

## Exploration

*Main Article:*

 represent your exploration of the galaxy and can reveal  which are the sources of 3  as well as information on .

## Leaders

*Main Article:*

 and  provide important bonuses to your Empire. They will appear randomly or in response to certain events, Culture Perks, and  searches. They will hang around for a while waiting to be hired, after which they must immediately be assigned or will start losing Opinion. Once hired, they have an on-going maintenance cost based on their level.

## Managing It All

The galaxy is a big place, and as you discover systems and found colonies there is a lot to keep track of. Fortunately, there are two powerful tools to aid you.

The Overview Panel of the Main Screen has 2 rows of icons that can look at bit intimidating at first but are very useful once you play around with them for a bit. Here you can see the usual list for colonies and fleets--which are definitely the best way to keep track of them--but also lists of all the , , and  you have discovered but not yet settled or exploited, which you can apply filter and sorting criteria to find the best place for your next Colony or  without trying to remember where you found what. Play around with it.

The Overlay Icons toggle useful information on the Galactic Map. I keep almost all of these on at all times, but at the least you'll want Show Strategic Resources which puts an icon by all systems you've discovered  in. The other icons show the extent of your Borders--other Empires can pass through them but not settle colonies within nor establish  without a ; the  representing the furthest your ships can travel from your colonies and outpost based on your Logistics tech level; etc.