Will AI *ever* deal a system?

The threshold's definitely pretty high... But it can happen. Usually only happens as a way for them to accept peace when you're about to eliminate them anyway.

Would you want to give up a system unless you absolutely had to?

~SDC~

heh.

Once I was just fooling around to see what could be done.

I asked the Drengin for one star system and offered EVERY SINGLE system of my own in return: over 20 of them.

No dice.

That's just foolish, IMO.

I think its stupid once the Alterians wount give me 1 of there last 2 systems even though i had the forces to conquer it right next to it and a terror star! so i disided just to destroy it!

A few times during negotiations for a peace treaty, I have gotten back a system or two that the AI took from me.

~SDC~

The history of 4x games where bases could be traded is a history of people abusing such trades to the great detriment of the AI. Stardock has done a sensible compromise IMO, no system trading under normal situations, trading under situations where the computer is desperate. If they allowed trading under normal situations they'd spend the next 12 months constantly patching loopholes that people would find that would allow them to exploit the AI.

To give an example of how something like this can go wrong, I can't remember who it was but someone posted how they'd trade a star system deep inside their territory for money/tech, but because the system was surrounded by massive player influence it would flip back to them in a few turns. Wash, rinse, repeat. I believe Brad fixed that so the AI can spot this now, but that gives you an idea of the kinds of headaches developers face in trying to keep game features functioning the way they'd like them to.

I got a few deals with the ai who wanted to give me a star.
Usually it involved ending a war "or else".
Once it seemed easier to get a planet that was halfway of the culture flip. Maybe it was something else, but the ai definitely values some of its systems more than others.
As for the altarians not giving half of their remaining systems, why would they do it if you are going to kill their last system just afterwards?

I have gotten a system now and then during "peace" negotiations. These were small systems on the fringe of their empire and which they had gotten by a race giving up and going with them.

I have gotten a system from the AI that I wasn't at war
with.

It was the indepdent league who had two star systems.

I had a rather large fleet just outside their big star
system, and before I attacked I offered them everything
I had in trade(which was a ton) for the 2nd system
that was on the complete opposite side of the map from
me(and the system I was about to invade).

They accepted and then ceased to exist a few seconds
later.

Funny thing was, I had such a huge influence bonus
that the major civs near the star I bought started
converting to me within a few more turns. I ended up
getting about 10 star systems from it.


If you do have a huge adavantage in trade goods, instead
of trying to trade for stars, try trading for starbases
that sit on very nice resource bonuses. I have had
a lot of success finding a resource held by a major
civ that was doing bad, offering them a ton of stuff
for it, and getting a new resource bonus starbase
already built up.

Also, if you have the goods, but not the fleet, its
not that hard to buy dreadnoughts to boost your
military in a crunch

I play crippling/masochistic difficulty, so this
should work for any level.

Er, when I say everything I had to trade, I mean
technologies and trade goods only.

I got two good systems from the AI. Beat up on two allied Saints, then demanded the best system of each for peace. Each one rendered and got peace.

(One then voluntarily surrendered to me within a year. It's good the have culture.)



~SDC~