How to Fix the Diplomacy System

from Sins Forums
First get rid of the mission system it is useless.

Then develop a system that allows the player to make demands, trading options, and diplomacy options with the computer players. Start the game with neutral attitudes with all computers, until first contact where you can meet the race and decide to go to war or continue to be neutral. Then from there you can communicate with computer players and offer traders or alliances, or simply free passage through each others systems. You could also demand territory or ships from weaker players, with the threat of war, or offer technology to bribe another player to attack a aggressor.

These upgrades would give the game a whole new depth, and give back the option of playing a open alliance game without all the computers ganking the player.

Those are some of my ideas for a good diplomacy system
8,438 views 8 replies
Reply #1 from Sins Forums Top
I highly agree. As excellent as the rest of the game is, the current diplomacy system is pretty lame.... It basically forces one to grovel at the feet of any faction one wishes to ally with. There's no sense of mutual friendship or simple neutrality; it's either "You do this, or we hate you."

And at times it can be very tough to get an alliance (or even peace) with a faction simply because the missions they offer are extremely hard (or impossible) to complete. Probably nothing frustrates me as much in the game as building up a good reputation with a faction, only to have it dashed to pieces simply because I couldn't complete their next few missions.

And then also, where's the option for the player to give missions. That's one thing that's really lacking.
Reply #2 from Sins Forums Top
agreed imo missions should be replaced by a more conventional approach to diplomacy and while I applaud the ingenuity of the dev team I feel in this they should change it I understand however that it will take time as the coding for this will be extensive further more it dose frustrate me that a pc can give me missions when I’m at war with them
I also feel that the time allocated to a player to complete a mission is often to short

Just my 2 cents
Elemental: Reforged
Reply #3 from Sins Forums Top
While I agree that the diplomacy system needs work, the game's backstory provides a compelling reason for everyone to be hostile at game start. It wouldn't make sense any other way. I agree entirely that the player should be as free to make demands of the AI as the AI is to make demands of the player, and that the AI should act in a fashion that makes a little more sense as far as extending an olive branch while you're at war.
Reply #4 from Sins Forums Top
Hackbar is right about game start by the lore, I dont want peaceful in game start or I will have to be peace with every race for all etenily!, I only want work out with A.I who I want peace for my goal of my race rather then every race peace with you at start the game.
Reply #5 from Sins Forums Top
I'll repeat what I said again, the player should get to choose from a list of missions to complete, rather then just randomly being given whatever the AI feels like.
Reply #6 from Sins Forums Top
Instead of timed quests, the diplomacy screen should tell you something like "yellow AI hates green, likes blue, and wants metal", and you get a small bonus every time you give him metal, or kill a green ship or structure, and a penalty whenever you kill a yellow or blue ship. That was alliances would slowly form based on mutual enemies.
Reply #7 from Sins Forums Top
Instead of timed quests, the diplomacy screen should tell you something like "yellow AI hates green, likes blue, and wants metal", and you get a small bonus every time you give him metal, or kill a green ship or structure, and a penalty whenever you kill a yellow or blue ship. That was alliances would slowly form based on mutual enemies.
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I really like this idea. Knowing what each faction (in that specific game) wants and responding to their needs in order to placate them.

ATM I think the missions seem too unstructured and early game I seem to have little chance of accomplishing them.

However, regarding the OP, I think that what you are after is outside the scope of what SoaSE is - a new RT4X style of game. It's not meant to be GalCiv2 and you won't get that style or depth of diplomacy.
Reply #8 from Sins Forums Top
Its true that SoaSE is a hybrid game, and can not have the same depth to it as say galciv or civ. And it is also a game about war, so ill retract the thought about neutral standing.
What we need in sins is the ability to quickly interact with the bots without being their lap dog. How much sense does it make when you are playing a three player game and both of them are attacking you and are still giving you missions to kill each other. At the very least make the missions optional, not the current "do what we say or we will all gang bang you" stance. Then we need the ability to make demands on bots, its not like we are the only ones who need help in the universe right?

At any rate we need a better system, it doesn't have to be civs but something better then this.