Single Play - Diplomacy - My Previous Post.

from Sins Forums

I found my previous post locked after much tooing and froing before I got back to the replies.. I just wanted to say thanks for the informative inputs. The revelation that Locked Teams become Unlocked on reload ( and the workaround) will greatly improve my playing experience. With the Teams Locked option "on"  AI players were definitely giving missions and  I could see groups of three AI in sectors massing their fleets with no conflict among them. This is not supposed to happen with teams locked. I still think the AI missions are unrealistic (to the Ironclad responder) , but I will give it another try and see. My 100% AI ally seemed to develop Kamikaze help syndrome whereby a few ships are sent through hostile sectors with the inevitable result.  The only means of communication to the AI seems to be PING, am I missing somthing ?

Lastly, I think the sensitive ones should lighten up a bit. The game world  is littered with developers who had an almost great  game. Feedback is good.  Game dollars are scarce.

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Reply #1 from Sins Forums Top
My experience with Diplomacy:

I avoided it altogether at first and locked teams while learning the game. After learning the game I still kept it locked because of what I read here on the forums and from my initial impressions.

However, I can say now, that I actually very much like the current diplomatic system. Why? It ADDS depth. Because of the diplomacy system one game will never ever be the same as the other. I've found that you can ignore missions from AI's, but if you choose to do them strategically it can really shape and affect the flow and direction of the game, as well as factor on your judgement as to your military campaigns.

As an example, in one game, I had my heart set on taking out AI "A". However, 3 AI's gave me missions to attack AI "B" in some fashion, be it ships, tactical, or civvie structures. From this I assume that AI "B" is one of the most powerful factions in the game and possibly a bigger threat to me than AI "A". Why else would other factions be ganging up on "B"? It altered my strategy, I went after "B" instead and not only ended up eliminating "B" but got favor and rewards from multiple factions at the same time.

Remember that this is not a true 4X so it can't really have a diplomacy system like GalCiv or Civilization. The diplomacy system adds another strategic layer to the main objective (the last X in 4X), which is exterminate.
Reply #2 from Sins Forums Top
A big part of the diplomacy issue, though, is that you can't get your AI buddies to do anything for you besides not kill you, trade with you, or send insignificant forces to place you ping. The AI diplomacy could include requests you make to them so allying is more than just stalling an enemy's expansion against you.

Ben
Multiplicity - Control multiple PCs using one keyboard and mouse
Reply #3 from Sins Forums Top
Azeltir,

Totally see what you mean. If players had a more robust system to make requests of the AI then that could only add more depth. It all depends on the scope of the diplomacy engine and if the dev's looked at diplomacy in its current form more as an RTS than the 4X side of things.

What if the developers just don't think that kind of feature fits into the Sins model? We've heard of them overhauling it but we don't know exactly what and how much of the upcoming changes are really warranted. I trust the dev's and their employed testers to steer the course of the game.

As an idea, perhaps they could somehow enhance the ping features of the game, giving us more ping options and receiving more responsive messages back from the AI. Or how about for example, if you ping them to attack, maybe they will ask you for credits or metal or crystal or a combo. It's another potential resource sink which would extend gameplay.
Reply #4 from Sins Forums Top
The last game I played with 2 AI I allied with one against the other. The other AI was getting trashed so I decided to join forces with him and see what happened. As I started to attack the stronger AI the weaker AI backed me up (without me pinging anything) And together we where able to defeat the much stronger fleets.
An interesting moment was when 3 of my capital ships where able to be wasted by his main fleet and his entire fleet showed up to help me (And the message "Don't worry, we're here to help" Comes to me from the AI player :P Of course just before we destroyed his last world I ended the alliance with the AI player and backstabbed him soemthing horrible but thats his fault for trusting the Advent hehe
Reply #5 from Sins Forums Top
The last game I played with 2 AI I allied with one against the other. The other AI was getting trashed so I decided to join forces with him and see what happened. As I started to attack the stronger AI the weaker AI backed me up (without me pinging anything) And together we where able to defeat the much stronger fleets. An interesting moment was when 3 of my capital ships where able to be wasted by his main fleet and his entire fleet showed up to help me (And the message "Don't worry, we're here to help" Comes to me from the AI player Of course just before we destroyed his last world I ended the alliance with the AI player and backstabbed him soemthing horrible but thats his fault for trusting the Advent hehe
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Why I love this game.
Reply #6 from Sins Forums Top
Indeed! I have had similar experiences where my allied AI decides to send help when I am in trouble (and I to him) and I never use the AI ping.
Reply #7 from Sins Forums Top
I also like the pirates, they can be really useful allies if you bribe them right and stay out of there way. However, the last game I played with them there got to be so many pirates at the base that it lagged my game down. I think there were something like 120 Kodiak look alikes and 100 cobalt look alikes ect so that there were well over 400 ships in the pirate base area O.o
Reply #8 from Sins Forums Top
Hi Drish311 and Serondal, when you say you enjoy the diplomacy. What size maps and how many AI players do you use ? To win you have to be the most powerful , once you are the most powerful the AI will concentrate on you. On a large / very large map with 8 AI players this seems to make defence impossible. I dont have any trouble with small maps or few players.
One other thing , can you explain the value of a trade alliance , I cant seem to see any additional income.
Reply #9 from Sins Forums Top
Hi Drish311 and Serondal, when you say you enjoy the diplomacy. What size maps and how many AI players do you use ? To win you have to be the most powerful , once you are the most powerful the AI will concentrate on you. On a large / very large map with 8 AI players this seems to make defence impossible. I dont have any trouble with small maps or few players. One other thing , can you explain the value of a trade alliance , I cant seem to see any additional income.
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Hi Chris,

I've found playing with unlocked teams to be better on the medium to large sized maps. I've also found that as the devs have said, the AI does seem to pick weaker players to attack or they do try to gang up on the strongest. In order to stop them from picking on your I've found that on a large map with 8 players that locking down at least one full ally is pretty important. That will help you deal with the other AI's teaming up against you, because it's probably fair to assume they have formed alliances against you. I think an divide and conquer strategy is best. Have to keep on the defense and make nice surgical strikes taking out one AI at a time. I hope that helps.

I can't answer about the trade alliance. I can only assume that it increases your credits over time derived from the trade income.