Post by tommyg on Jul 30, 2023 5:33:18 GMT -6
I want to propose a simple but effective improvement to the diplomacy side of Lords of Magic, I enjoy the diplomacy system in the game but it feels a bit meaningless and often makes no sense. Obviously this can't be done within LOMSE so I'm posting it in the LOM2 section.
It seems like the default feeling for all your enemies is loathing, and other than Empathy for the purposes of swear fealty, the rest of the stances have very little impact on the game. Perhaps a modder can confirm but I suspect LOM uses a simple "Dislike to Like" chart that gives a simple rating based on how much the AI player likes you. This is the case even for modern turn based games like Total War Warhammer, where the game just displays a rating telling you how much the player "likes" you.
It seems like the default feeling for all your enemies is loathing, and other than Empathy for the purposes of swear fealty, the rest of the stances have very little impact on the game. Perhaps a modder can confirm but I suspect LOM uses a simple "Dislike to Like" chart that gives a simple rating based on how much the AI player likes you. This is the case even for modern turn based games like Total War Warhammer, where the game just displays a rating telling you how much the player "likes" you.
What I'm proposing is an expansion of the AI emotions system while still keeping things nice and simple!
This idea has the usual "Like vs Dislike" meter, which is of course influenced by actions like attacking the player, giving gifts, etc, all the usual stuff. But this system also features an additional "Veneration" meter. Veneration is basically the amount the AI player is impressed by you, and ranges from being in total awe of you, or regarding you as pathetic vermin. This can be influenced by your fame across the land, impressive battles you've won, and of course to a lesser degree, your military might. This adds and additional importance on your fame resource.
The two ratings are designed to work together, so for example, a high "Like" rating but low "Veneration" score would mean the player pities you, or feels sympathy for you, and may even be protective of you and offer help against an enemy. Whereas, a high "Veneration" reading and low "Like" reading would result in the player being in fear of you.
There are also more nuanced things which could affect the ratings, for example, if you execute a prisoner of war, the enemy will like you less, but may be impressed by your ruthlessness, so your veneration score would increase. There’s a ton of interesting stuff you could do by having player actions influence these scores.
It would also be great if there were official diplomatic alliances that could be made, from official declarations of war to trade or military alliances. The later would allow you to use the market and facilities within the other players city and villages. For example you could heal up at an ally controlled city.