Tweet
I may have come up with a few ideas about alliances and gifts that may prove to be valuable, especially for OCC players. So far, game experience and a few tests I have made confirm their validity, so I will list them here for others to consider and test. The first section deals with alliances which the human player attempts to initiate:
1) The number of alliances you can obtain depends on your power rating, which can be checked with the foreign minister:
Supreme - 1 alliance
Mighty - 2 alliances
Strong - 3 alliances
Moderate - 4 alliances
Inadequate - 5 alliances
Weak or Pathetic - 6 alliances
This would explain why only 1 alliance has been achievable in early landing games where we must quickly become supreme, and also explain why so many alliances have been possible in the last few OCC games, where the player power ratings have been minimal, especially in the OCC game limiting players to a size 4 city and the super deity game where the human player quickly became rated as Pathetic due to accelerated AI growth. In the most recent OCC “old fashioned way” game I managed 5 alliances quickly, while rated Inadequate, and the 6th one came immediately after I slipped into the Weak category.
2) Only your own power rating matters at the time of forming an alliance. You can get an alliance with an AI civ rated higher or lower, just as long as your rating is low enough to afford an additional alliance beyond the number you already have. For example, if you are rated Inadequate and already have 4 alliances, it will be possible to get one more, even with a Pathetic AI civ.
3) It is okay to increase you power rating after getting a lot of alliances. So if you obtain 6 alliances while Weak or Pathetic, and then become Supreme, the alliances can be maintained through diplomacy and tech gifts.
4) Your reputation is a separate factor. If it is less than Spotless, the chances of you initiating an alliance become slim, and maybe even zero.
5) Your power rating (and of course your reputation, too) are adjusted every turn, and early in the game, your power rating and that of each AI can vary considerably, depending mostly on the number of citizens produced, since the power rating for each player is determined by the following formula, where:
P = current power rating of a player
C = current number of citizens the player has
T = current number techs the player has
G = current total of gold the player has
P = C + (T/2.67) + (G/256)
The player with the highest value of P is rated Supreme, and the player with the second highest value is rated Mighty, and so on down to a rating of Pathetic for the player with the lowest value of P.
6) You can control power ratings somewhat, by controlling your own rate of growth and by making gifts of tech or gold to one or more AI. The effects of manipulations like these will be seen on the turn after they are made.
7) The fact that your power rating allows another alliance does not guarantee getting it, but there are some things you can do to increase your chances of getting alliances quickly.
a) Establishing an embassy first may help. I’m not sure about this, but even if its presence makes no difference in establishing an alliance, it can become very useful in maximizing gifts after an alliance is in place.
b) My experience so far suggests that if the AI does not make any immediate demands or just wishes to trade techs during the first encounter, asking for an alliance right away is likely to work.
c) If the AI demands a tech on the first meeting, this seems counter-intuitive, but the best thing to do is to refuse and then hope that they declare war. Regardless if a war results, on the following turn, contact them again. If they ask for a tech, give it now. A peace treaty will follow and an alliance can be requested and secured right afterwards. If they will not talk, a wait of about 8 turns will be necessary before they will.
d) If an AI does not want an alliance, buttering it up with additional techs does not seem to make any difference on their willingness. Only the techs needed to end a war and the one requested by the AI to form the alliance should be necessary. An amusing quirk of the game is that very often the very tech requested by the AI to form an alliance has just been presented to them, if they had only been paying attention. Perhaps the euphoria induced at the prospect of joining the human player makes the AI lose track of what it already knows!
So, to sum it up quickly, when going for a new alliance make sure you have: a) a low enough power rating to be eligible for another alliance b) enough extra techs to cement the deal
This section deals with gifts and how to maximize them. These ideas have held up so far in my limited tests. More testing will either confirm, deny or refine them:
1) If you are desperate for gold, ask for a gift right after securing the alliance, because there is a waiting period after an alliance is formed before the gifts will be available, again. If you trade techs or share maps, etc., right after an alliance if formed, you may lose the chance of this initial gift.
2) Right after an alliance is formed, there is a waiting period of 8 turns before you can get a gift, so this time is better spent gifting techs or trading maps, etc.
3) After the 8 turn waiting period you can ask for a gift, and will receive it if:
a) The AI has more than 50 gold.
b) Your current power rating is less than that of the AI.
c) The AI’s attitude is Enthusiastic or better.
4) Any and every turn following where these conditions are true, you can keep asking for additional gifts. Unlike humans the AI are not emotional about their gold, so you can repeatedly drain their savings down the 50 gold level. Just keep an eye on their attitude.
5) The amount of gold you receive will depend on the disparity between your power rating and that of your ally. The greater the disparity, the greater the gift. For example, if you are rated Pathetic and your ally, who has say 225 gold, is rated Supreme, you may receive 200 gold all at once. If you are rated just one notch lower in power than your ally who has, say 700 gold, you are more likely to get only 25 or 50, each time you ask. A very long run of small gifts will be available. However, keep in mind that the transfer in funds could result in a transfer of power ratings, cutting off the flow of income.
6) If you are eligible for a gift when you ask, you may receive a tech in place of the gold you might prefer. When an ally has a huge pile of gold, it is worth the carrying costs to trade for a useless tech in order to get access to the gold.
7) The power ratings of the AI can be guessed by first sharing maps to get a citizen count. The amount of gold and techs can be estimated, too. However, the easiest way to find out if an ally has more than 50 gold and a higher power rating is to just ask for a gift. A better idea might be to establish an embassy with your ally. Then you can calculate their power rating exactly, monitor how much gold they have, and also monitor what they are trying to research. The gold received in gifts will far exceed the cost of establishing an embassy.
8) If you are eligible for a gift and the ally is pressed for time, ask for the gift right away! Don’t be distracted by tech trading offers or pleas for assistance in their battles with other AI. When the window is open for receiving gold, grab it!
1) The number of alliances you can obtain depends on your power rating, which can be checked with the foreign minister:
Supreme - 1 alliance
Mighty - 2 alliances
Strong - 3 alliances
Moderate - 4 alliances
Inadequate - 5 alliances
Weak or Pathetic - 6 alliances
This would explain why only 1 alliance has been achievable in early landing games where we must quickly become supreme, and also explain why so many alliances have been possible in the last few OCC games, where the player power ratings have been minimal, especially in the OCC game limiting players to a size 4 city and the super deity game where the human player quickly became rated as Pathetic due to accelerated AI growth. In the most recent OCC “old fashioned way” game I managed 5 alliances quickly, while rated Inadequate, and the 6th one came immediately after I slipped into the Weak category.
2) Only your own power rating matters at the time of forming an alliance. You can get an alliance with an AI civ rated higher or lower, just as long as your rating is low enough to afford an additional alliance beyond the number you already have. For example, if you are rated Inadequate and already have 4 alliances, it will be possible to get one more, even with a Pathetic AI civ.
3) It is okay to increase you power rating after getting a lot of alliances. So if you obtain 6 alliances while Weak or Pathetic, and then become Supreme, the alliances can be maintained through diplomacy and tech gifts.
4) Your reputation is a separate factor. If it is less than Spotless, the chances of you initiating an alliance become slim, and maybe even zero.
5) Your power rating (and of course your reputation, too) are adjusted every turn, and early in the game, your power rating and that of each AI can vary considerably, depending mostly on the number of citizens produced, since the power rating for each player is determined by the following formula, where:
P = current power rating of a player
C = current number of citizens the player has
T = current number techs the player has
G = current total of gold the player has
P = C + (T/2.67) + (G/256)
The player with the highest value of P is rated Supreme, and the player with the second highest value is rated Mighty, and so on down to a rating of Pathetic for the player with the lowest value of P.
6) You can control power ratings somewhat, by controlling your own rate of growth and by making gifts of tech or gold to one or more AI. The effects of manipulations like these will be seen on the turn after they are made.
7) The fact that your power rating allows another alliance does not guarantee getting it, but there are some things you can do to increase your chances of getting alliances quickly.
a) Establishing an embassy first may help. I’m not sure about this, but even if its presence makes no difference in establishing an alliance, it can become very useful in maximizing gifts after an alliance is in place.
b) My experience so far suggests that if the AI does not make any immediate demands or just wishes to trade techs during the first encounter, asking for an alliance right away is likely to work.
c) If the AI demands a tech on the first meeting, this seems counter-intuitive, but the best thing to do is to refuse and then hope that they declare war. Regardless if a war results, on the following turn, contact them again. If they ask for a tech, give it now. A peace treaty will follow and an alliance can be requested and secured right afterwards. If they will not talk, a wait of about 8 turns will be necessary before they will.
d) If an AI does not want an alliance, buttering it up with additional techs does not seem to make any difference on their willingness. Only the techs needed to end a war and the one requested by the AI to form the alliance should be necessary. An amusing quirk of the game is that very often the very tech requested by the AI to form an alliance has just been presented to them, if they had only been paying attention. Perhaps the euphoria induced at the prospect of joining the human player makes the AI lose track of what it already knows!
So, to sum it up quickly, when going for a new alliance make sure you have: a) a low enough power rating to be eligible for another alliance b) enough extra techs to cement the deal
This section deals with gifts and how to maximize them. These ideas have held up so far in my limited tests. More testing will either confirm, deny or refine them:
1) If you are desperate for gold, ask for a gift right after securing the alliance, because there is a waiting period after an alliance is formed before the gifts will be available, again. If you trade techs or share maps, etc., right after an alliance if formed, you may lose the chance of this initial gift.
2) Right after an alliance is formed, there is a waiting period of 8 turns before you can get a gift, so this time is better spent gifting techs or trading maps, etc.
3) After the 8 turn waiting period you can ask for a gift, and will receive it if:
a) The AI has more than 50 gold.
b) Your current power rating is less than that of the AI.
c) The AI’s attitude is Enthusiastic or better.
4) Any and every turn following where these conditions are true, you can keep asking for additional gifts. Unlike humans the AI are not emotional about their gold, so you can repeatedly drain their savings down the 50 gold level. Just keep an eye on their attitude.
5) The amount of gold you receive will depend on the disparity between your power rating and that of your ally. The greater the disparity, the greater the gift. For example, if you are rated Pathetic and your ally, who has say 225 gold, is rated Supreme, you may receive 200 gold all at once. If you are rated just one notch lower in power than your ally who has, say 700 gold, you are more likely to get only 25 or 50, each time you ask. A very long run of small gifts will be available. However, keep in mind that the transfer in funds could result in a transfer of power ratings, cutting off the flow of income.
6) If you are eligible for a gift when you ask, you may receive a tech in place of the gold you might prefer. When an ally has a huge pile of gold, it is worth the carrying costs to trade for a useless tech in order to get access to the gold.
7) The power ratings of the AI can be guessed by first sharing maps to get a citizen count. The amount of gold and techs can be estimated, too. However, the easiest way to find out if an ally has more than 50 gold and a higher power rating is to just ask for a gift. A better idea might be to establish an embassy with your ally. Then you can calculate their power rating exactly, monitor how much gold they have, and also monitor what they are trying to research. The gold received in gifts will far exceed the cost of establishing an embassy.
8) If you are eligible for a gift and the ally is pressed for time, ask for the gift right away! Don’t be distracted by tech trading offers or pleas for assistance in their battles with other AI. When the window is open for receiving gold, grab it!
. Later in the game they can make multiple demands for an alliance usually ending with the request to declare war on someone (no war -> no alliance).
. I would suspect that if they are at war you would have to join their campaign.
Comment