Okay, it must be the tech brokering thing. The only possible solution is that I switched tech brokering off (which is weird, because I never do) and then I must have picked up Alliances from the Thalans. None of the other races have the alliance tech. My experiments in brokering other techs prove tech brokering is indeed off. Thanks for the help guys, this was driving me crazy! I didn't know about the viewscreen, either, which is very helpfull to know.
robot_freakout
I double checked - relationships were set to Unknown, tech brokering is on, and I researched the alliance tech. It's not that I can't trade Alliances - it just isn't an option in the trade window. I assume that means they already have the tech. The version of the game I'm playing is 1.99 BETA 1.
Has anyone else encountered a situation similar to this? I have a Normal/Huge game going with 7 other races. I'm playing Terran and have been researching diplomacy techs from pretty early on. Almost everyone has been considered "Close" to me on the foriegn relations screen for most of the game, but I've only been able to form an alliance with the Thalans. The option doesn't even come up in the trade window for any other race - even the ones who I have close r