Diplomacy (ETW)

Diplomacy

Prepare for a true revolution of diplomacy in Empire: Total War. One of the areas that have received an increased focus for the brand new TW title is Diplomacy and the Campaign AI.

Diplomats

In the previous Total War games, campaign diplomacy was represented by a physical agent on the campaign map who the player would have to send to foreign nations' cities or agents, in order start negotiating. Diplomats could also be used to approach specific characters belonging to another faction, generals for example, in an attempt to bribe them to join you, or in the case of an invading or besieging army, bribe the army away from the walls of your city, or of your land.

A new feature in Empire: Total War, however, is that diplomacy can now be entered at any time with the touch of a button, as opposed to having to send a diplomat out into the wilderness to encounter a foreign nation's population or city over a number of long turns. This is due to:

• The new streamlined approach to the campaign which will allow for easier and simpler control over your faction and less micro-management
• De-cluttering of the campaign map from too many agents and other unnecessary obstacles
• Simulation of the 'Embassy' system which had gone into wide use during the 18th century. In this time period, nations no longer sent emissaries when needed, but already had embassies set in other nations' capital cities, to enable quick correspondences.

Consequences of diplomacy

All actions performed by players in the game have an effect on the diplomatic relations between factions. In fact, AI factions may even declare war in the case too much is demanded from them. The campaign and diplomacy AI have been unified, which results in more realistic diplomatic relations, complete with more useful alliances, as well as complex treaties.

As mentioned by the developers, diplomacy will allow for increased trade routes and will open up the possibility for military allies, something imperative to possess in a world that is constantly at war.

For people playing the American Colonial factions, for example, it would serve them well to improve their relations with the British, establishing increased trade routes, and possibly forging a defensive pact. Supposing that they are attacked by the French later on, the British and their naval might will probably sail to your rescue, either by assisting you in land battles, or by attacking the French at their homeland, forcing the French navy to retreat. However, allies will not automatically join the player for invasions and offensive attacks; they'll only commit such an action if it is in their best interests, with the strength of your alliance being another factor.

New features

'Protest'

Players will also be able to protest against foreign actions, instead of just only being able to declare war, as in previous games in the Total War franchise. This feature acts as an outlet for the player to let other countries know what they think of them, and equally importantly, it acts as a sign for the player to know whether their actions are looked at negatively or positively by the international community. In the previous iterations of the Total War Franchise, when a faction became impatient with a player, they would simply declare war as to vent their frustration. In E:TW, diplomacy can be represented more realistically with more options added for non-war related actions.

Relationships with other factions

The decline in a relationship between factions will be slow, gradual and noticeable. For example, there might be an increase in duels between two factions' gentlemen, hinting at a possible belligerence. Diplomatic notes and requests will indicate how your relationship and standing among other factions is going. There will be advanced warnings, as well as an escalation of events building up to a conflict, as opposed to having a former ally turn into an enemy within just one turn. Furthermore, it will be much rarer for long time allies to break their alliances

The Pope and religion

In terms of diplomacy regarding Christian factions, the Pope will no longer request Crusades, and generally, the significance of religion will be much lessened in E:TW, than it was in the previous iterations of the Total War series such as M2TW. However, religious differences between regions will nevertheless influence the attitude of nations towards one another, and conquered regions of another religion will feel enmity towards their new masters.

CA Developer Comments on Diplomacy

James Russell said: “We’ve done a lot with diplomacy. It’ll be clearer to understand how a faction feels about you, and why. The factions will seem much more human; you’ll understand their decisions.”