Diplomacy (Civ2)

Diplomacy in Civilization II refers to the interactions between civilizations and the mechanics that control them. It encompasses direct negotiations between players, automated processes tied to formal relations, and variables that guide AI behavior.

Espionage is a separate but related concept that can have consequences in diplomacy.

Overview

Diplomatic relations

Each civilization shares one of five relations with each other civ:

• War: Civilizations are in open hostilities: units can engage and cities can be captured. This is the default relation between civs that have not established formal contact.
• None: Civilizations that have not signed a peace treaty or cease-fire but are not at war exist in a diplomatic limbo: either side can declare war without losing reputation. This becomes the default relation between civs that have established contact.
• Cease-Fire: A temporary suspension of war lasting 16 turns. Similar to Peace, but rival units cannot be evicted from nearby cities. If the cease-fire expires without a permanent peace, relations default to none.
• Peace: Civilizations pledge not to attack each other. Rival units that trespass on a city's workable radius can be demanded to immediately withdraw to their nearest city.
• Alliance: Two civilizations pledge to support each other against third-party aggression. AI players will automatically join a war against an attacker. Allied units are not subject to zone of control, and do not obstruct citizens from working tiles. Ground units attempting to enter allied cities immediately end their turn, repairing 10% of their total hitpoints (20% if Barracks are present), in addition to a full round of repair at the turn's end. If an alliance is broken for any reason, units considered trespassing on former allies' territory are expelled in the same way as peace.{{refn|group=note|With one exception: In multiplayer game modes other than Hotseat, cancelling an alliance between human players does not evict units.
• Vendetta: Special, secret flag that encourages an AI civ to treat the target with hostility and treachery. Typically prescribed in scenarios via the Cheat Menu, it can also occur during a standard game.{{refn|group=note|Exact conditions are not well-documented: Vendetta has been attributed to acts of betrayal, and rivalry against the most powerful player. If you use diplomats or spies to purchase enemy cities, the target of your schemes will adopt a vendetta.

Negotiation

At the start of a standard game, civilizations are unaware of each other and exist in a state of unofficial war. Contact is established when rival ground units enter adjacency, or a unit approaches a rival city. Known civilizations are listed in the Foreign Minister window; whereas the original Civilization required the human player dispatch a diplomat to initiate a meeting, in Civ II rivals can be contacted at any time, subject to leaders' patience.

Computer-controlled civs will normally request a meeting the first time their ground units encounter the player's, and may seek an audience on subsequent contact. The player may choose to accept or refuse, although critical issues can force an audience, and some negotiations may still occur without the player's involvement. If the player has an embassy with the civ, they may consult the Foreign Minister for an intelligence briefing beforehand.

Meetings are framed as the player receiving an emissary from the civilization. If enabled in graphic options, this uses a special screen featuring a portrait of the civ's leader accompanied by icons denoting its government, a visual estimate of its relative power, and up to six of its most modern advances. Further graphic settings enable a pre-rendered animated herald in the civ's livery, who responds to positive and negative outcomes with appropriate gestures.

Interactions

A meeting begins with a formal introduction by the emissary glorifying their civ's leader. Civilizations in possession of nuclear weapons will advertise this upfront; if the player has nukes, civs will react differently depending on whether or not they are part of the "nuclear club" themselves. The computer always acts first, and concludes its stage of the meeting with general feedback, such as commentary on the player's reputation, including known betrayals; if part of a wartime alliance, it will state its expected odds against a specific enemy.

During the course of a meeting, either player may make one or several proposals and/or demands. Certain offers by the human player may entail haggling by the AI for gold or technology:

• Exchange knowledge: Civs share advances quid pro quo, with the choice based on the AI player's strategy. If the player has multiple advances, an alternative can be offered, although it may not be accepted. The player may select from any of the AI's available advances, regardless of how the initial trade is worded.
  • When offered by the player without a suitable advance to trade, the AI may gift its knowledge for free, or offer to sell technology for gold.
• Demand knowledge: A computer civ demands the player share an advance without recompense. While phrased as a threat, it is not as severe as a demand of tribute.
• Demand tribute: A computer civ demands a lump sum of gold, and will typically declare war or cancel an alliance if refused. The human player can be paid in gold and/or technology. In an alliance, the player's option is phrased as "Request a gift", but otherwise functions identically.
• Propose treaty: Offer to pledge Peace, or Cease-fire if at war. If the human player initially refuses, the AI civ may offer further incentives of gold or technology. Alternatively, the AI may demand reparations as part of the treaty, and attempt further extortion even if the initial demand is met.
  • A vastly-disadvantaged civ at war may offer its surrender, pledging a cease-fire along with its entire treasury and knowledge.
• Propose alliance: Similar to proposing a treaty; when offered by an AI player at war with a third party, all incentives will be given upfront. Accepting immediately declares war on the third civ. Enemy civs may also petition the player to defect to their own alliance.
• Revoke treaty: An AI civ demands the player cancel their alliance with or declare war on its rival. This may be an alliance obligation, or a unilateral demand, and can be issued even while at war with the player.
• Declare war: An AI civ officially declares its belligerence. This is usually in reaction to the player refusing demands or attempting to exact tribute. If players are already at war, the message has no diplomatic effect, but immediately terminates the meeting.
• Demand withdrawal: The player demands the civ immediately withdraw trespassing units. Can be made even if no units are present as an insult. An AI ultimatum is delivered differently.
• Cancel alliance: The player terminates an existing alliance, with penalties to attitude and reputation.
• Request war: The player counterpart to "revoke treaty"; asks the computer civ to declare war on a specified rival. Requires the civ to have contact with the target. If the player is not at war with the target themself and the deal is discovered (e.g., through a foreign embassy), the rival civ will retaliate.
• Exchange maps: The player offers to exchange current line of sight, including the location of all units. Will only be accepted if the civ's attitude is Cordial or higher.
• Give gift: The player can offer a lump sum of gold, an advance, or a unit to the civ. Units are chosen from the player's city garrisons, and are instantly transferred to the recipient's capital.

AI civs can request a meeting for two unique interactions that immediately terminate after their message, without response by the player:

• During a cease-fire, if the human player's units are trespassing, the civ threatens to expel them by force.
• A civ possessing technological superiority may brag about its latest advance.

Trespassing

Notifications of trespassing by the human player near rival cities are issued as popup messages that cannot be ignored. A first trespass prompts a warning for the player to withdraw; if units are still present after a variable grace period, an ultimatum is issued that either expels the offenders, or forces the player to declare war.

Senate veto

Republican and Democratic governments' foreign policy is subject to approval from the Senate, composed of a "dove" and "hawk" lobby. The Senate has the power to overrule the player, preventing declarations of war, and signing cease-fires and peace treaties when proposed (1-in-2 chance in Republic, guaranteed under Democracy). If, however, a rival civilization has acted aggressively, the Senate is more willing to maintain hostilities.

The civilization controlling the United Nations Wonder can declare/maintain hostilities under Democracy at a 1-in-2 chance, as under Republic, framed as an internationally-sanctioned peacekeeping mission.

Diplomatic variables

Power

Civilizations are ranked in seven levels by relative power based on the aggregate strength of their military, economy, and technological advancement, ranging from "Pathetic" to "Supreme." A civ's relative strength affects how rival civs will approach it: stronger civs can extract tribute and are more lucrative partners for alliances, while weaker civs are targets for extortion and invasion by aggressive opponents. Civs of lower power may ally to contain a stronger rival, even if not at war.

The player's power is stated in the Foreign Minister window. A rival civ's power is indicated in the Diplomacy screen by 0–6 weapon icons to the left of the leader's portrait.

Reputation

Reputation is a statistic quantifying a civ's general trustworthiness, influencing computer players' willingness to deal with it. It ranks in eight levels, from "Spotless" to "Atrocious." Reputation was introduced to solve erratic and exploitable behavior of computer opponents in the original Civilization: civs of ill repute will be shunned for trade, denied alliances, and are more likely to be betrayed themselves by suspicious neighbors.

Breaking treaties, and declaring war after a civilization has paid tribute, even to fulfill alliance obligations, damages reputation. Espionage actions do not affect reputation, even nuclear terrorism, but can provide legal pretext for civs to declare war without forfeiting reputation.

The player's reputation is stated in the Foreign Minister screen; rival civs' reputation is not explicitly given, but can be accessed through the cheat menu. Reputation will gradually repair over time, with the exact rate varying by difficulty level. The Eiffel Tower speeds this recovery.

Attitude

Attitude is a civilization's general opinion of a rival. It is scored on a 100-point scale in 9 ranks, from 'Worshipful' to 'Enraged'. Attitude functions similarly to reputation, providing a general gauge of how cooperative the civ is; some proposals will only be accepted at certain attitude thresholds. Civs with low attitude are more likely to respond to threats and defiance with open war.

Accepting a civ's proposals and giving gifts raises attitude, while breaking treaties, rejecting demands, and conducting aggressive espionage worsens it. When first obtained (constructed or captured), the Eiffel Tower grants its controller a 25-point bonus to all rivals' attitude, and continues to increase it in subsequent turns.

Patience

Patience is a tertiary statistic that determines if and how long an AI-controlled civ will entreat a meeting with the player. Impatient civs will accept few overtures from the player before terminating negotiations, and/or refuse to meet at all. Contacting civilizations too frequently, especially within the same turn, exhausts patience. A civ's attitude influences how quickly its patience depletes: hostile civs will lose patience faster than friendlier ones.

Civs with low patience will advise the player as such after concluding their stage of the meeting.

Wonders

Several Wonders provide their controller with diplomatic advantages:

• The  Great Wall can force a cease-fire/peace treaty.
•  Marco Polo's Embassy supplies contact and a free embassy with every civilization while active.
• The  Eiffel Tower improves AI civs' attitude towards the player; player's reputation recovers faster.
• The  United Nations can force a cease-fire/peace treaty, supplies contact and a free embassy in every civilization, and provides a Democratic government a 1-in-2 chance to successfully declare/continue hostilities.

Multiplayer

Main article: Multiplayer (Civ2)

In multiplayer game modes other than Hotseat/E-mail, diplomacy between human players is conducted directly in real time. Players can message each other in-game via "Chat with Kings" in the Advisors menu. If enabled in game rules, players can chat even if their civs have not established contact. Multiplayer negotiations feature additional options, including limited map trading of terrain and/or city locations only, and exchange of cities and their garrisoned units.

In hotseat/E-mail games, players cannot negotiate directly; the computer stands in for all other civs during the active human player's turn, and diplomacy resolves identically to single-player. Instead, the Foreign Advisor features an additional option to set the player's Attitude vis-à-vis each civ, providing a guideline for the computer's response during negotiations.

Modding

Main article: Modding (Civ2)/Diplomacy

See also: Modding (Civ2)/Graphics § DLL files, Modding (Civ2)/Popups, Modding (Civ2)/Rules § Attitudes, and Modding (Civ2)/Sound § Diplomacy

Diplomatic relations can be modified in-game through the Cheat Menu option 'Edit King'. This includes options to configure treaties, change Reputation and Attitude, and clear Patience scores.

Attitude labels are defined under the @ATTITUDES section of Rules.txt. Most other diplomacy texts are located in several different blocks under the @LABELS section of Labels.txt. Popup messages, including the diplomacy screen interface, are defined in Game.txt.

Graphics for the diplomacy screen are stored as GIFs in mk.dll. Icons for diplomatic messages are in Image 22 in Tiles.dll. Sound effects and music used in the diplomacy screen comprise the DRUM--.WAV and FANFARE-.WAV files.

See also

• Diplomacy in other games