Everybody's being mean to me!!

[Phil of Loreauville]

Ok, first............ a confession.

I have an enormously difficult time playing on anything above easy.

The reason.
I often play as the Eastern Romans, and after about 50-60 turns into the game (and usually doing well I might add) it never fails. I am beset upon by my neighbors in multiple attacks by 2-3 factions.
Take just a little while ago. Around 60 or so, I had conquered throughout Greece. I had taken Belgrade and Bari while they were rebels.
I thought making an alliance with the Crusader States would make me brownie points with the Catholic factions. So after giving up Trebizond (I find this province is more trouble than it's worth.) and a pile of cash I finally got an alliance after many failed attempts. I immediately jump into a war with Egypt and the Turks. I then begin to send diplomats to the west. No a single faction will enter into anything more than a trade agreement with me. They won't even accept a "single payment" or tribute.
Well, Sicily attacks me out of the blue. Then 2 turns later, both Venice and Hungary attack.
At that point it's no longer fun anymore. On yeah, Aragon had blockaded one of my ports earlier. Despite no engagements other than me taking out the blockade fleet , they refused a ceasefire. And this after at least 10-15 turns.
My problem is that this is standard for just about every game I have played as the Romans. Often there's even more attacking factions.
So what's the deal? How on earth are you suppose to conduct diplomatic negotiations? Is strength the only bargaining tool this game has?
I know that in SS 6.4, you can chose between 3 or so "AI Aggression Levels". Is it possible to do that with this sub-mod through editing or some other submod?

[Kabeloko]

crap i dont know...
but u had to expect italians, hungarians and muslims to attack u early on, the thing is getting ur alliances before war, then everyone will accept, with little tribute...
if u are alredy in war, its harder to ally with anyone, even if this one has the same enemy...
allying with the pope before any war beggins will certainly make ur life easier...
im no modder srry...

[Ma'ahes]

Yeah, I wouldn't worry too much about being nice to the States...I've often found the Ayyubids to be better trading partners, tbh. But yes, you'll find yourself being watched by the ravenous gaze of Italy, be it Venice or Sicily. This is primarily due to Sicily running out of options in N Africa, and they won't start up anything in Italy. So really, I just kick Hungary down until it acquiesces to being a vassal, and try my hardest to remain on good terms with the Russian factions. By the time they inevitably betray me, I've already secured a nice foothold into Italy and the M.E. Unfortunately, it's harder to deal with Sicily's strong infantry in siege battles, and usually by that time you're not quite ready to field large cavalry armies.

So, don't trade away Trebizond for an alliance with the States, as it's worthless for the most part. Trade is fine, but alliance is not going to work out. It helps keep good relations with Egypt, too. As for the west, deal with Hungary and the Russian factions, so by the time Italy gets uppity you can land at least one full stack to sack and destroy cities, plus have a nice fleet available to knock out their reinforcements from Africa. Italy is a nice target for cities, but I find the Levant easier to defend and more lucrative in the long run. So cherish the fact that they turn on you...all the more gold to pillage later.

[napoleonic]

continually give money to whoever you don't want to have a war with

[Phil of Loreauville]

continually give money to whoever you don't want to have a war with

But they won't take it.

[Ichon]

But they won't take it.

They will always take gifts. Don't necessarily try to do the offer tribute thing... if they are planning war or don't like your allies they usually turn it down but will accept cash or regions. I find capturing some of the rebel regions early and then offering them to Venice for marriage and alliance is good. It is easier to fight Venice than Hungary until very late game. Also use your fleets. I don't go into the Balkans until really late. Stick to areas near coasts and you can dominate with smaller armies. If you go into the deep inland you get bogged down and need larger armies to control smaller amounts of territory.

[napoleonic]

click the icon 'donate' be a humanitarian faction

[k/t]

You shouldn't have gone after Bari until you had the strength to fight Sicily. Ally with Kiev and give them Caffa. Make a few small armies in the west and scoop up the rebel settlements and make a big army in the east and smash the Turks early on. Take Ankara, the settlement below it, Caesarea, Diyarbakir and Adana. The Khwarezmians will do the rest. If there's a crusade on Egypt, take advantage of it to smash the Egyptians and conquer the entire region. Flatten the CS after (or get them to fight Khwarezm and then act as a buffer between you and the Mongols after Khwarezm dies). In the west, take out Hungary, then invade Italy.

[ShadowKiller2000]

Hmm, well Phil one thing going against you is that you are doing well! The AI hates big strong factions.

Also as the others have stated Hungary, Venice and Sicily all want a piece of you.

What I normally do is this:

I ally Hungary right away, as well as the Turks (who will always break it at some point)

For the rest of the game I accept that people will hate me, and just try to re-establish the glory of the Roman Empire.

Easier said than done, but it is a fun campaign. As long as you hold Constntinople you are golden. It is easy to hold off Jihads by defending river crossings in the East, and once you knock out Sicily and Venice things get a lot easier.

[Phil of Loreauville]

I find I do my best by recruiting huge armies and garrisoning the exterior cities and castles to hold off incoming attacks. Unfortunately, it's expensive and not very efficient I'm afraid.

Am I hearing you guys right? That diplomacy is pretty much useless?

[Andytheplatypus]

I find I do my best by recruiting huge armies and garrisoning the exterior cities and castles to hold off incoming attacks. Unfortunately, it's expensive and not very efficient I'm afraid.

Am I hearing you guys right? That diplomacy is pretty much useless?

As long as you have perfect relations with someone they will not attack you. Easiest way to get good relations in giving them 10k gold at a time.

[k/t]

No, it usually works fine for me. Nobody can resist tens of thousands of florins.

[Erunion Telcontar]

Diplomacy works, but you have to start early. Buddy up to people as quickly as possible, you want to have lots of allies in the first few turns. The more allies you have, the less likely it is that they will attack you, and other teams seeing how many buddies you have will opt out of attacking too.