posted 11-30-98 12:42 AM ET        

Okay, you get the picture. There should be some pre-set diplomatic functions. At the simplest, this can be a faction attribute: a diplomatic bonus for the PK's, and a diplomacy penalty for the Spartans for instance. But you should be able to go beyond that: to, as in Civilization 2's cheat mode, set each leaders initial attitudes toward another. This is not a minor modification: it should be under the custom rules screen. You would then play under a set defined in rules.txt of what each faction leader thinks of one another. I would see this as having two values for each leader A to leader B: initial attitude and max attitude. Initial attitude sets what it starts at, and max attitude is whether or not the dislike is a real vendetta or not, because after the feeling hits the max attitude, it increases 3 times as slowly over the max attitude (so it's not an absolute max, just a slow down point). So, for Santiago to Yang might be 35,80 (as Santiago initially hates Yang but doesn't really hold a grudge if she decides she wouldn't mind allying with him. Though there is a limit due to the brutal nature of the Hive.) Godwinson to Yang, on the other hand, might be 40:45, as she starts off with less against him but will not like the treatment of religion or of his people, and it would be difficult to get her into the liking range (above 60). Lal to Santiago might be 35:95 . In fact, Lal would have very high max values, all in the 90's, since he'd be willing to be nice to most people, except for the human rights abusers like Yang.