Suggestions on Diplomacy

Just thought I'd add a suggestion that'll hopefully be looked at by the developers.

My biggest issue with AI diplomacy is that they never really seemed too deterred when being threatened by a vastly superior enemy. For instance, I had the Altarians surrounded and I offered a peace treaty in exchange for all of their technologies. They didn't accept. A few turns later, they surrendered to the Iconians to get back at me, I guess.

Now, some may argue that they'd rather die than let their technologies be taken by the enemy; especially since with the current game mechanics, we can just declare war again instantly and take everything else after we took the technology.

So here is my suggestion: why not have something like a permanent vassal-state agreement? This was in Alpha Centauri (best AI diplomacy, period) and I thought it was genious.

The way it can work is that if you have someone beat, or if you have a neighbor who is about to get defeated and desperately needs help, they can become a permanent ally and constantly give you any technology they research and will basically agree to anything you say. They may harbor hostility and declare independence later when you're distracted, or they may just stay loyal to you in your moment of weakness. This could depend on their AI personality, their ethics compared to your ethics, other factors, etc.

This seems like a better option for someone than to just surrender to another person and become part of another empire. I think most of the civilizations would prefer to stay somewhat autonomous and just give tribute than to completely surrender their empire to a foreign civilization.

Just my two cents. The diplomacy AI is great for the most part, I just wish there were a few more options and that the AI wasn't so stubborn sometimes. Let me know what you guys think.
1,862 views 3 replies
Reply #1 Top
I had a similar occurrence.

In one of games, the Drengin declared war on me, and I quickly taught them the error of their ways. After a 2 year war, I had relieved them of the drudgery of maintaining 20(ish) of their planets, and I had total space superiority, I offered them a peace treaty. They had no money, and no techs I wanted, so I said I wanted a class 11 planet in a system I had 2 planets in, to give me the entire system. They said no. Which struck me as odd, because previously I had no trouble extracting a planet, sometimes 2, as a price to end a war. (it was a planet with no improved tiles, and only a few buildings on it...nothing critical)

I bypassed the planet, and every 6-12 more planets I removed from their empire I'd ask for it again. They would never surrender it. They eventually surrendered to the Arceans when they had about 10 colonies left. When the war started they had about 150 planets. When the AI would rather lose 140 planets to war than surrendering 1 planet, there is something wrong with how they are being valued.

Perhaps, when starting a war, each side needs to have their status saved, so it can be compared to current status, and give the race a better picture of how much they are winning/losing a war.
Reply #2 Top
Perhaps, when starting a war, each side needs to have their status saved, so it can be compared to current status, and give the race a better picture of how much they are winning/losing a war.
End of quote


Yeah, that's a good idea.
Reply #3 Top
I would love to have "remove your starships from my sphere of influence or I will remove them for you.

Duh