MoO3: how to do it, post #12

This continues the series of posts on ways to improve MoO3. This one focuses on diplomacy.

Diplomatic Attributes


Attitude: This is the standard "how much different faction's like each other" attitude from most games. Would be based on the usual betrayals, agreements, relative power, and other such details that usually exist in other games. It would effect the type of agreements made available by the empire in question, likelyhood of declaring war, and all the usual things the attitude effects in these sorts of games.

Popular opinion: This, in setting terms, would reflect the opinion of the larger population on the empire in question. It would largely be effected by the same sorts of stuff the attitude number would be effected by, but with a bit more focus on the ways the empire effected the larger population. (for example, merely having a trade treaty would improve attitude relations, while popular opinion would be increased by the actual volume of trade done with a particular empire.)

Popular opinion would determine how diplomatic agreements would effect happiness. If a player made peace treaties, trade agreements, etc. with an empire with good popular opinion, the happiness on all planets would improve, while going to war with such an empire would decrease happiness. The opposite, roughly, would occur for an empire strongly hated by popular opinion, while an empire with a neutral opinion would gain happiness from more neutral relations.

Relative power: This would be calculated in a similar way to how it is done in most games, based on a combination of military, research, population, etc. It would effect, as in other games, the tendency for empires to agree to demands, form alliances against other players, etc.

Although I don't know the details of how this sort of thing would be done, I could see the system for determining these actions being based on what sort of power the particular players had.

Diplomatic Skill: this number could be improved from race picks, government choice, and research. Higher diplomatic skill would lead to better attitudes from other empires, a higher chance to get agreements, and better agreements available. It would also lead ot more votes in the galactic senate.


Agreement types

These exchanges could be offered in any combination. (since I don't know much about AI programming, I'll just assume that the AI could be programmable to understand these agreements, and be glad that this is just a theoretical game and not something that I'll actually be held to produce.)

Resource gifts: Any sort of "raw material" (food, minerals, energy), or commerce, could be exchanged as a one time gift or payment.

Resource payment over time: Any resource, or gold, could be offered a a payment per turn, either for a fixed period of time, or forever until the agreement is canceled.

Research sharing: The receiving empire gains either a percentage of the giving empire's research, or a fixed amount (Assuming the giving empire was actually producing more than that amount of research.) This would work similarly to bow these treaties in Galactic Civilization work, where the giving empire does not loose anything, it simply acts as a base to calculate what the receiving empire gets.

Vision: The receiving empire can see everything the giving empire sees.

Trade agreement: Depending on the trade system, this might have to be a two way agreement. If two way, it would allow the empires to trade with each other's planets. If one way, the receiving empire would gain the extra money from trade, where the trade calculators assumed contact with the giver's empire.

Agreement not to attack: The giving empire would agree not to attack the receiving empire. Breaking this agreement would make the giver very unpopular, both in popular opinion and attitude, of most other empires in the galaxy. Could last for a certain number of turns, or indefinitely until canceled.

Votes in galactic senate: The giver agrees to vote in a particular direction for a particular type of vote in the galactic senate. The agreement would either last for a particular period of time, or until a vote was actually cast. It would never last indefinitely.

No spying treaty: the giver agrees not to spy on the receiver. Breaking this treaty causes a lot of unpopularity.

Spy sharing treaty: The receiver gains some security boosts based on the spy abilities and security of the giver. Would work in a similar way to research agreements.

Tech trade: The receiver gets a technology that the giver offers.

Tech share: The receiver gains all technologies in a given category that the giver researches. This would either last for an agreed number of turns, or indefinitely.

Alliance: This would be a two way agreement. The AI would require a certain attitude to agree, and the two empires would need an active trade treaty, no attack treaty, and vision treaty to be allowed ot enter the alliance. In an alliance, the two empires would automatically join research and spy sharing agreements, would share each other's wars, and would continue the trade, vision, and no war treaties. Alliances would make AI opponents more likely to share votes or other agreements.


Galactic Senate

Senate votes would likely be based on diplomatic skill. I am not sure whether it would use number of planets, population, equal votes per empire, or some other number to further determine votes. (The first two number make expansion highly valuable for diplomacy, so are not necessarily something I'd want to do.) Senate membership would cost some money per turn, most likely a percentage of income.

Senate votes would mostly be based around decisions effecting all empires. A vote could be called at any time, by any one.

Vote types:

Treaties for all senate members: would bring all members of the senate into trade, research, espionage, no attack, no spy, or vision treaties with each other.

Sanctions/embargo: Would prohibit certain types of negotiations between senate members and one particular empire.

Declare War: All senate members declare war on the target empire.

Expel/invite into senate: Pretty self explanatory. invitations would allow the offered empire a chance to accept or decline, while expulsion would be immediate. Leaving the senate would also be possible for empires on their own.

Senate military forces: Empires would have to provide a percentage of either their income, or would have to provide a certain value of military equipment, to the senate. This military would assist in any senate declared wars. Any planets conquered by this force would have a chance to go to empires based on the amount of military equipment they had contributed. It would also assist in defending senate members from non-members. The fleet would likely be AI controlled, but I could see player control possibly being allowed for certain situations.

Senate Technology trade: Would force empires to offer a certain number of technologies to all other empires.

Galactic leader: A victory condition. To give some reason for voting for a particular empire as galactic leader, some members would be considered (possibly based on alliance) to be part of a ruling coalition, and thus part of the victory.