MegaBearsFan
07-22-2011, 01:41 PM
Diplomacy is still one of the weakest areas of the Civ V experience, and so far, the patches haven't really addressed it very much. The following is a list of (I think) simple ideas that could have a huge positive impact on diplomacy.
- Setting to automatically renegotiate deals. Replace the "deal ended" notification pops up with a "Deal will be renewed (click to cancel or renegotiate)" notification. The player should have the option to click on it to renegotiate the terms of the deal or cancel it. If the AI wants to cancel/renegotiate it on their turn, then they can bring you to the diplomacy screen to do that. Otherwise, it should be assumed to have been renewed, and should continue exactly as it was until the next expiration. This should apply to Open Borders and Defensive Pacts, as well as gold and luxury trades. Obviously, research agreements (in their current form) would not be auto-renewed.
- When denouncing another civ, players and AIs should be REQUIRED to select a reason for the denouncement. The AIs should be programmed to recognize these reasons, and if they are afraid of the civ that is denouncing them, they should take action to correct whatever behavior caused the denouncement. Examples of reasons:
- You have expanded too agressively.
- You have annexed land that belongs to us.
- You refused our demands.
- You made arrogant demands.
- You lied about moving your units away from our borders.
- You built a wonder that we covet.
- You are friends/allies with our enemies.
- You have declared war on our friends/allies.
- You refuse to trade luxury resources with us.
- We fear your technological accomplishments.
- You are a warmonger.
This is by no means a comprehensive list, and perhaps some of these options can only be available if the player being denounced actually did take the action specified (i.e. if the other player has not declared war on anybody, you cannot denounce them for being a war monger). Player-to-player denouncements in MP can maybe be exempt from this, since the players can give the reasons for denouncement in chat.
- Be able to buy land tiles from rival civs and CSes. When in the city-screen, tiles that are adjacent to your borders and within the borders of another civ should also be selectable to purchase (just like any unclaimed tile). The price to buy the tile belonging to another player should be a function of the AI's opinion of the value of that tile (based on the AI player's current tech level and the resources currently visible to that player), the presence of any improvements (particularly forts and great people improvements), the presence of any natural wonders, and the AI's diplomatic attitude towards the human player.
In MP games in which a human player is buying another human player's tile, instead of displaying a price on these tiles, the game could show a "?" icon. When the player clicks on it, a "[Player B] wishes to buy one of your tile" notifications can pop up on the other player's screen. When the other player clicks that notification, the game will center on and highlight the tile in question, and a prompt can appear saying "Will you negotiate to sell this tile? Yes | No". If that player clicks "yes", a diplomacy screen can pop up in which the two players can negotiate price just like a regular trade deal.
- Open borders and long-lasting trade agreements should show up as a green diplomatic modifier on the diplomacy screen.
- When in the diplomacy screen, and highlighting over a civ/leader/CS name on either the Trade > Other Players, Demand > Other Players, or "Shall we go to war with..." menus, a pop-up tooltip should appear listing:
a.) that player's current friends and allies (civs and CSes).
b.) that player's current defensive pact partners.
c.) a list of civs that player currently has open borders with.
d.) a list of current deals that you have with that player (particularly gold and resource exchanges).
This way, whenever an AI appears in between turns and asks you to go to war with somebody, you can roll over their name to find out what your current diplomatic standing is with that person, and can better decide whether or not to risk going to war with them.
What does everybody else think of these few changes? Do you think any of them would significantly enhance diplomacy in this game?
- Setting to automatically renegotiate deals. Replace the "deal ended" notification pops up with a "Deal will be renewed (click to cancel or renegotiate)" notification. The player should have the option to click on it to renegotiate the terms of the deal or cancel it. If the AI wants to cancel/renegotiate it on their turn, then they can bring you to the diplomacy screen to do that. Otherwise, it should be assumed to have been renewed, and should continue exactly as it was until the next expiration. This should apply to Open Borders and Defensive Pacts, as well as gold and luxury trades. Obviously, research agreements (in their current form) would not be auto-renewed.
- When denouncing another civ, players and AIs should be REQUIRED to select a reason for the denouncement. The AIs should be programmed to recognize these reasons, and if they are afraid of the civ that is denouncing them, they should take action to correct whatever behavior caused the denouncement. Examples of reasons:
- You have expanded too agressively.
- You have annexed land that belongs to us.
- You refused our demands.
- You made arrogant demands.
- You lied about moving your units away from our borders.
- You built a wonder that we covet.
- You are friends/allies with our enemies.
- You have declared war on our friends/allies.
- You refuse to trade luxury resources with us.
- We fear your technological accomplishments.
- You are a warmonger.
This is by no means a comprehensive list, and perhaps some of these options can only be available if the player being denounced actually did take the action specified (i.e. if the other player has not declared war on anybody, you cannot denounce them for being a war monger). Player-to-player denouncements in MP can maybe be exempt from this, since the players can give the reasons for denouncement in chat.
- Be able to buy land tiles from rival civs and CSes. When in the city-screen, tiles that are adjacent to your borders and within the borders of another civ should also be selectable to purchase (just like any unclaimed tile). The price to buy the tile belonging to another player should be a function of the AI's opinion of the value of that tile (based on the AI player's current tech level and the resources currently visible to that player), the presence of any improvements (particularly forts and great people improvements), the presence of any natural wonders, and the AI's diplomatic attitude towards the human player.
In MP games in which a human player is buying another human player's tile, instead of displaying a price on these tiles, the game could show a "?" icon. When the player clicks on it, a "[Player B] wishes to buy one of your tile" notifications can pop up on the other player's screen. When the other player clicks that notification, the game will center on and highlight the tile in question, and a prompt can appear saying "Will you negotiate to sell this tile? Yes | No". If that player clicks "yes", a diplomacy screen can pop up in which the two players can negotiate price just like a regular trade deal.
- Open borders and long-lasting trade agreements should show up as a green diplomatic modifier on the diplomacy screen.
- When in the diplomacy screen, and highlighting over a civ/leader/CS name on either the Trade > Other Players, Demand > Other Players, or "Shall we go to war with..." menus, a pop-up tooltip should appear listing:
a.) that player's current friends and allies (civs and CSes).
b.) that player's current defensive pact partners.
c.) a list of civs that player currently has open borders with.
d.) a list of current deals that you have with that player (particularly gold and resource exchanges).
This way, whenever an AI appears in between turns and asks you to go to war with somebody, you can roll over their name to find out what your current diplomatic standing is with that person, and can better decide whether or not to risk going to war with them.
What does everybody else think of these few changes? Do you think any of them would significantly enhance diplomacy in this game?