What did I missed from Dom I.? -> DIPLOMACY!

[Aristoteles]

A good diplomacy system would raise the quality of the gameplay.

[Nerfix]

One question:
Why?
What do you need diplomacy for?

As for a side note, i am getting increasingly worried the about the direction where Dominions II is being slowly steered.

[Mortifer]

I think that diplomacy can be awesome, BUT ONLY if its really good. A bad system can ruin a game.

[Nerfix]

Yes, but why?
The "diplomacy" i have experienced has been computers whining something from me and then attacking me if i won't agree, or the other way round. And that is, from Civ 3. Diplomacy haven't added much anything to the games i have played. It just lets you to abuse the "poor" AI.

[Mortifer]

Well yes, if the diplomacy AI is bad, you can abuse the AI. The civ3 diplo system is good, the diplo AI is moderate, and can be abused.
If you want to see a decent diplo system, get some old games like RotK 4. or 6.
You cannot abuse the diplo AI there, in fact its adding a lot to the gameplay.

[Nerfix]

Rigth then, what does it add to gameplay?

[ September 28, 2003, 14:07: Message edited by: Nerfix ]

[PDF]

Originally posted by Nerfix:
Rigth then, what does it add to gameplay?

The subject is twofold, IMO it's different in SP and MP :
SP : add variety to the game, as the player woul dhave to manage his relations with the others, say keeping peace with a nation while warring another etc ... But the AI diplomacy has to be good else the player will be able to easily abuse it.
In MP it's simpler : it'll allow players to give passage or join forces in war, without changing much the diplomatic aspects that are anyway handled by Messages and agreements.

I'd be glad to see some simple "diplomatic features" be available in MP, but suppose it'll be too difficult to implement properly in SP until Dominions 3 : Alliance of the Gods !