Jonah Patel
In Civ IV, diplomacy is a key aspect of gameplay, allowing players to interact with other factions, forge alliances, negotiate trade agreements, and more. The diplomacy screen provides an overview of relationships and treaties, with various diplomatic options available to players. These include declaring war, offering peace, forming mutual protection pacts, and trading technologies, resources, maps, gold, or cities. Players can also attempt to get civilizations to make peace with each other or adopt certain civics or religions. The game's AI behaves predictably, and it is possible to maintain alliances throughout the game. The success of diplomacy depends on the relationship between civilizations, with factors such as warmongering and grievances influencing interactions.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Interactions with other players | Declare war, offer peace, trade, form mutual protection pacts, negotiate peace settlements |
| Trading | Technologies, resources, maps, gold, cities |
| Diplomacy screen | Shows all relations and treaties in one screen, with an exact modifier for each CIV |
| Delegations | Improve relations by +3, increase diplomatic visibility by one level |
| Embassies | Improve relations by +5, increase visibility by one level |
| Open borders | Units can move freely through partner's territory, cities' trade routes extend to include those with open borders |
| Defensive pact | If either civilization is attacked by a third party, the other civilization automatically declares war on the attacker |
| Permanent alliance | Two civilizations become one nation with two rulers |
| AI behaviour | Behaves predictably, can stay friends with one or two allies the entire game |
| Vassals | Can be used to negotiate peace deals |
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What You'll Learn
Trade agreements
Open Borders: This agreement allows units to move freely between your territory and that of your partner. It also extends your cities' trade routes to include those civilizations, significantly boosting commerce. However, declaring war against a civilization with an open borders agreement will result in the removal of all units from each other's territories.
Defensive Pacts: A defensive pact is an agreement where if either of your civilizations is attacked by a third party, the other civilization automatically declares war on the attacker. This agreement is nullified if either party attacks anyone else.
Permanent Alliance: In a permanent alliance, two civilizations essentially become one nation with two rulers, sharing resources, technologies, and treaties. This type of alliance should be approached with caution, as any member declaring war will force the other to join.
Resource Trades: You can trade extra resources with other civilizations, providing them with benefits for as long as the agreement lasts. AI players typically offer resource exchanges one-for-one or cover the resources with gold per turn.
Technology Trades: Technology transfers can only occur if the receiving civilization meets the necessary requirements. AI players usually trade technologies one-for-one, with gold offsetting the research difficulty. However, they will not trade technologies if they are using them to construct a Wonder or if it is a key technology for winning the game.
City Trades: Demanding a city from another civilization is often seen as a precursor to war, and AI players rarely relinquish cities unless under extreme pressure.
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Alliances
In the Civilization and Call to Power games, an alliance is a special relationship formed between two civilizations for mutual benefit. It is usually the closest level of diplomatic relations available in each game. Declarations of Friendship fill the role of alliances. AI leaders will offer more favourable trades after declaring friendship with a partner, and can also form Research Agreements.
In Civilization VI: Gathering Storm, the World Congress gives leaders a new platform for interactions, introducing a major new bonus/malus system, and enabling a civilization to achieve a new type of victory: the Diplomatic Victory. Diplomatic Favour, a new "currency" for diplomatic endeavours, has also been introduced, and will be the main vehicle to influence voting in the World Congress and thus to aid the quest for Diplomatic Victory.
In Civ IV, diplomacy is the means by which the player can interact with other factions, negotiate trade agreements, trade technology, build alliances and gain support for a war. The mechanics are similar to those used in Civ III: things you can trade are displayed on the right of the screen, and items you may ask for in return lie on the left. Any ongoing deal may be canceled after 10 turns without a declaration of war. An ongoing item, such as money per turn, may not be traded for an immediate item, such as a city.
In Civ IV, you can also form mutual protection pacts, declare war, or negotiate peace settlements. Success in Civilization IV depends as much on your diplomatic skills as it does on your martial and management prowess. Each leader has his or her own agenda. They, too, seek to achieve victory—some through force of arms, others through technological prowess, and others through cultural domination.
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War support
Diplomacy in Civ IV is a crucial aspect of the game, enabling players to interact with other factions, forge alliances, and gain support for military conflicts. One of the key features of diplomacy is the ability to declare war on other civilizations.
To gain support for a war effort, players can employ several strategies. One option is to form a defensive pact with another civilization, which stipulates that if either civilization is attacked by a third party, the other civilization will automatically declare war on the aggressor. This can be an effective way to ensure mutual protection and gain support for a potential war. However, it's important to note that this agreement is nullified if either civilization initiates an attack.
Another strategy to gain war support is to establish a permanent alliance with another civilization. In this scenario, the two civilizations essentially become one nation with two rulers, sharing resources, technologies, maps, and either victory or defeat. This can be a powerful way to gain support and combine forces against a common enemy.
Additionally, players can also request cities from other civilizations as a show of support. However, demanding a city is often seen as a precursor to a war declaration, and AI players rarely relinquish cities unless under significant pressure. Players should also be cautious when requesting cities, as it may lead to negative diplomatic consequences if the request is denied.
Furthermore, players can create vassals through military conquest or peaceful means. Vassals are subordinate civilizations that offer various benefits to their masters, such as discounts on items and free open borders. By creating vassals, players can gain indirect support for their war efforts and strengthen their position.
It's worth noting that the AI's approach to diplomacy in Civ IV is dynamic and constantly updated. The AI civilizations can have different approaches, such as friendly, neutral, guarded, or hostile, which influence their interactions with the player. Understanding these approaches and utilizing the diplomacy screen effectively can help players gauge the likelihood of gaining support from potential allies.
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Map sharing
Map trading is also possible in Civilization V, where players can trade with all leaders except those they are at war with. The success of the trade depends on the relationship between the players. In Civilization VI, players can only enter into an alliance with another civilization if they are Declared Friends. Allies automatically have Open Borders and Shared Visibility, meaning they can see everything the other's cities and units can see.
In Civilization IV, players have noted that world map trading is broken, as players can keep trading the same map over and over in exchange for technologies, gold, or even cities.
It is important to note that the map trading feature in Civilization IV is part of a mod, and not all players may have access to or wish to use this feature.
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Technology trading
- Prioritize trading for "good" techs like Iron Working and avoid less useful techs like Aesthetics.
- The AI generally delays researching Aesthetics, so you can spend 300 Science on it, then trade it for approximately 70% value to another civilization for an equivalent of 210 Science/Gold. You can then trade it to 4 other civilizations, gaining a significant advantage.
- Other high-value trade techs include Literature, Music (if you're first), Drama, Compass, and if you're ahead in tech: Civil Service, Paper, and Philosophy.
- De-prioritize common techs that the AI often chooses, so you can acquire them through trades instead of researching them yourself. These include Alphabet, Monarchy, Metal Casting, Machinery, Engineering, and Feudalism.
- Trade techs that most AIs already know, especially with leaders who are tech trade-happy like Mansa Musa.
- Research expensive techs that can be used as "tradebait". Use Great People "bulbs" to acquire these quickly.
- Trade for techs with a powerful civilization's worst enemy if you want to be that civilization's friend.
- Be cautious when trading with non-friendly AIs. They may refuse to trade if you have received a lot of technology from other civilizations and are one of the more powerful players.
- Form permanent alliances with other civilizations to share resources and technologies. However, remember that any member of an alliance that declares war will force the others to join as well.
- Use open borders agreements to increase the commerce of your cities. This allows your units to move freely through your partner's territory and vice versa, and it extends your cities' trade routes.
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Frequently asked questions
You can open the diplomacy screen by clicking on the leader's name in the "score box" on the main screen. Alternatively, you can open diplomacy from the diplomacy screen.
The diplomacy screen allows you to view your relationships with other civilizations. It also allows you to trade technologies, resources, maps, gold, and cities, as well as form mutual protection pacts and negotiate peace settlements.
You can improve your relationships by sending delegations to your rivals, which will improve relations by +3 and increase diplomatic visibility by one level. You can also form alliances, declare war on a common enemy, or trade resources and technologies.
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