Considering the game ... please answer

from Sins Forums
Hi There,

Even though I generally hate RTS', the fact that the game seems to be a slower pace might mean I could enjoy this game. But one question I can't find an answer to is a decent description on how diplomacy works.

Is it basically just enemy/ally, or is it more sophisticated than that? For example can I pay or give A something to attack B? Can I make demands, or give gifts? What about buying research/ships/resources/worlds? What about trading tech? The term 'diplomatic missions' comes up a lot - what is it referring to? Can I see how someone feels about me, or how they feel about someone else?

Also - even the most sophisticated diplomacy model is worthless if the AI doesn't use it to act strategically or at least believably. Does it do so, or does it seem erratic making diplomacy an exercise in futility?

Any information at all here would be greatly appreciated!

Dano
11,728 views 3 replies
Reply #1 from Sins Forums Top
well..its no total war game (alot of those terms remind me of my shogun games)but you are more than capable of pretty much that playstyle. the diplomacy menu gives you quite a few options but without teams being locked...means even if you are friends with a guy....doesnt mean he isnt planning something for you

(goto downloads section and look at the screenshots...image 10 of 12 has a screenshot of the diplomacy menu)
Reply #2 from Sins Forums Top
Just to provide a little bit more info on how it works. The AI in the game will ask you to do missions for it such as "Kill 4 of Faction X's trade ships" and reward you with positive standing with them and negative standing if you ignore them. These missions are timed and can have other rewards such as credits, crystal or metal.

Once you build up enough favor with the AI, you can select a planet or ships I think and then when those enemy planets are selected you have the option to request your ally to attack it. If you have high favor with them they will try to assist you. It is actually pretty nice because if you work with them you can get them to work for you to accomplish your goals.

The AI will ask you to attack your other allies though, but Blair (one of the devs) said this is not because they are being silly, it is because your alliances are secret, just like you don't know who they might be allied with trying to back stab you. They just see it as "I'm friends with you, take care of party C they are annoying me" even if you are friends with Party C.

It is not super detailed I guess, but has a lot more depth then what was there in beta for sure :-) You can play really really long games in this if you want. I've done ones that take over 15 hours for one game on a 3 star galaxy with 30+ planets. You definitely can turtle and take your time, focus on economic and culture expansion instead of straight up military, especially if you put the AI players on a different strategy such as "AI Researcher" or "AI Economist" that way they aren't nearly as aggressive militarily toward you.
Elemental: Reforged
Reply #3 from Sins Forums Top
I havent actually sat there and played any of the missions in the retail yet (just been knocking it out in 1v1s so far to try out the changes since the betas when im not asleep or working)