Matrix Games Forums

Hello!

I really love this game, but I am finding some trouble with aggressive races.

When the game came out in 2022, it was very easy; civilizations did not do much to attack you, and you really had to provoke them for they to react with hostility. This did not change much with the Aurora update.

But now, with the most recent updates, the AI seems way more aggressive; civilizations that just appear sometimes declare war on you for no reason (the text says there has been a "miscommunication problem" but I still find it silly). But my problem is that no matter what I do, an aggressive race will ALWAYS declare war on me even if I do not do anything hostile. In the past, even naturally hostile races did not go to war unless provoked or you were a too obvious target. Now, even with my best diplomatic efforts, war is always declared on me.

This forces me to play a conquest game in all cases, trying to destroy the enemy race, and I need to do this BEFORE it gets too powerful. If I am late in their extermination and they manage to be bigger than me, I always lose.

I have not been able to win in any other way. I would really like to be able to play a more peaceful game with lots of diplomacy, but I do not see how this is possible.

Am I doing something wrong or missing anything? Is the game supposed to be played as conquest no matter what?

If it can be played in another way, I would appreciate some advice here as I have not been able to solve this issue.

Many thanks and regards.

Mods?
Race aggressivness?
Game difficulty?
Tech trading?

How do you set the policy to this races in diplomacy screen. If there is somethingg set under neutral the ai will handle with this race aggressive.

Make the races gifts every year you can make gifts. Best is to set this on auto.
Send ambassadors to this races.

No Mods
Galaxy aggression: restless (it is in the middle, it should not be that aggressive)-
Difficulty: hard
Allow tech trading

I manage diplomacy manually, the AI does not do it for me.

How do I automate the gifts? Do I need to settle the diplomact fully automated or I can automate just the gifts giving?

Many thanks

jlvinals wrote: Tue Jul 02, 2024 11:30 am Galaxy aggression: restless (it is in the middle, it should not be that aggressive)-

I would suggest experimenting with knocking that down a spot or two. Also, instead of random AI empires, set them up manually and then you can control how many of the aggressive-nature ones there are, and how nearby they are to you.

jlvinals wrote: Tue Jul 02, 2024 5:25 am Am I doing something wrong or missing anything? Is the game supposed to be played as conquest no matter what?

If it can be played in another way, I would appreciate some advice here as I have not been able to solve this issue.

You can have a satisfying diplomacy game, but it requires you to make some adjustments. I think most players prefer more of a wargame and like to focus on conquest, so many of the systems favor this style of gameplay. Also, the current toolbox for diplomatic gameplay is really limited, so you don't have many options to leverage against an empire unless you have a robust economy (throwing tons of money at them) or a natural faction affinity.

Currently, you'll want to follow Cauldyth's advice:
- Lower the galaxy aggression threshold. Mechanically, the threshold determines how "reliable" the relationships are. As you move toward chaotic, the AI empires become increasingly erratic and will spontaneously become hostile despite positive relationships. This probably heightens the drama for players who are biding their time before a warmonger run, but for a diplomacy-focused game, it makes it a frustrating and unrealistic quagmire of whimsy and betrayal.
- Manually set the game's factions. Choosing factions that are not wantonly aggressive (eg. the insectoids) will improve the galactic stability a bit. Choosing opposing trade/diplomacy factions such as Ikkuru, Teekan, Human, etc will give you some potential allies to cultivate, while picking standoffish factions like Quameno or Haakonish will allow you to work against "enemies" that are generally not too interested in direct conflict without provocation.

Keep your fingers crossed that we'll see more diplomacy tools in the upcoming expansion. Since it is all about the galaxy uniting against a common threat, I really hope it will come with better diplomacy gameplay as well. Good times.

Thanks for all the responses, they are really helpful!

You can only set diplomacy gifts to auto and I would set in diplomacy it to be friend or even ally or close ally.

Do not put Diplomavy on auto !

1. Think of what you wanna achive through diplomacy. If you set the AI to befriend evryone, you will fast get a enemy, cause your frinds enemy is your enemy. Often i never ever make any treaties (Not even trade or non agressive treaties) before i get into mid-late game, much easyer to stay out of wars this way.

2. Early game a colony ship is quite a big investment. You can litterly lock your self out of building colony ships this way or remove the option to befriend a independt colony, if you go the diplomacy rout with independt planets you need lots of cash, but will in turn also get good relations with all empires.

3. Killing space monsters, diplo colonize independent colonies will help you recive a good opinion from evryone. Even the most evil races.

4. A cash gift gives you some diplo plus points. But wont save you. But gifting a big 100.000+ location is much better. A bit more points and you won´t waste your cash on diplo.

5. If your are afraid of getting into a war, ignore advice 1. get some trade relation with the nation you fear (Though this will bring in other enemies)

6. Build a reasonable fleet when you get those 3-4 planets and your economy starts to be strong. If you follow advice 1. you won´t need a fleets up untill this point. Besides a small 3-6 small ships to kill space monsters

7. Check if you have space station or other assets on enemy terretory. You can do this in the diplomacy options. This is a fast way to get into a conflict. Usualy it trade/gift these away see 4. don´t spend cash on diplomacy.

8. If you should do anything set diplomacy on suggest not Auto for above reason 1. 2. 4. and 5.

Generaly i play on the toughest level and with a early rapid expansion (lots of scout ships 30-50 before i get planet number 2) i almost never get into a war, Sure it happens, but it´s usualy managable. Do a rapid expansion to secure you have room to grow on. Then build up your forces and go to war if you so decire.

I can confirm that consistent gifting, ambassadors and treaties can keep any faction friendly. The bad outcome during first contact is of course possible, but usually the same recipe applies plus some more waiting for negative modifiers to subside and sign the first treaty.

Auto diplomacy can be set to suggest only, and it will occasionally find deals where some curmudgeons might still be persuaded with a good deal for them. It also does a good job of reminding when the positive gifting modifier is about to run out.