A Breakthrough in Diplomacy AI

**Celtillus** · October 07, 2009, 10:53 PM

I've been playing the Total War series since the first Medieval Total War came out. I've seen the series grow more complex and refined over the years, but one thing always bothered me, the diplomacy AI. Even with mods like Europa Barbarorum for RTW factions make incredibly outrageous propositions like demanding one of my regions in exchange for a ceasefire when they only have one region left themsleves and about to be destroyed.

Even in vanilla ETW the diplomacy is vastly improved but is still lacking logic.

However, today, after downloading the newest official patch and DLC and a fresh installation of APE: TI 1.0.8 I started a new campaign as Portugal, and on the second turn something amazing happened.

On the second turn Spain offered me, Portugal, Sardinia in exchange for one of my regions in India, Goa. Here's a screenshot of it :

Spoiler Alert, click show to read:

It's the most genuinely reasonable, logical, realistic instance of diplomacy in a Total War game that I've ever seen. I'm so in awe that I haven't even considered what I might answer yet.

Perhaps I'm overreacting, but I've been waiting for decent diplomacy AI for a long time. Please tell me if this is the work of Creative Assembly or the team behind APE : TI and if it's more common than I think.

**l33tl4m3r** · October 08, 2009, 12:59 AM

From the AI that's the first time I've seen a semi-fair request for land and the only time I've seen a region traded for a region.

Nice! +rep!

**persianfan247** · October 08, 2009, 01:09 AM

For vanilla 1.3 the Marathas somehow ended up with territory in Poland in my Ottoman campaign, I guessing something similar happened.

**rogergargantua** · October 08, 2009, 02:58 AM

@ Persianfan: I can testify that! Playing as Prussia, I had demands from Maratha that they wanted to have West Prussia region. Offcourse I declined and few turns later they invaded me.

**alpaca** · October 08, 2009, 05:20 AM

The AI will occasionally make sensible deals, this is not our doing.

As Maharaj of the Marathas I've seen an offer from France to give them Berar and rights of passage for an alliance and Windward Islands, which was a pretty good offer considering it'd create a buffer between me and the Mughals, get me an alliance so I could call them to war against the filthy English k'niggets when they declared (which I was sure they would since they had armies on fleets near my coast and were just looking for an opportunity) it got me a foothold in the Americas.

Of course, I forgot that Windward Islands would be pestered by pirates so I sold it off again the next turn but I still felt it was a good offer

Sometimes, though, it annoys me that the AI has no concept of haggling or counter-counter-offers in other words. You offer them something, they throw something mostly non-random but random feeling and semi-related back at you but that's usually not what you had in mind in the first place, and if you try this again they make the exact same counter offer

**NYG 5** · October 09, 2009, 02:28 PM

its always hilarious when a one province minor nation declines an offer, saying " to do this would mean an equality of worth, sir", when i have 6,000 troops on their border and they have 4 pikemen.

thats when i run them down like grass. NO QUARTER