By Soren Johnson
Programmer, Firaxis Games

Fans of the Civilization series have compiled a number of "wish lists" regarding the direction Civ III should go. We have taken these requests seriously as our number one goal is to deliver the very best Civilization experience ever. Near the top of almost every single list was "expanded diplomacy." With that goal in mind, we have completely overhauled the diplomacy systems inherited from Civ I and Civ II. However, the benefits of the previous systems were their clarity and simplicity. By relying on a conversational interface, the systems were easy to digest and quick to learn. Therefore, the ideal diplomacy system for Civ III would address the need for both depth and accessibility.

Thus, while we have kept the conversational interface for new users, we have also created a "bargaining table" for advanced users. This new feature can be used to conduct detailed negotiations, during which everything is available for trade, including treaties, gold, goods, technologies, cities, units, world maps, communication with other civilizations, etc. In other words, users will be able to mix-and-match deals without any restrictions. Want to trade your World Map and Bronze Working for a Spearman and Communications with the Indians? No problem. Want to offer a Peace Treaty to the Iroquois, but only if they will pay 5 gold per turn? Just make the demand.

Furthermore, diplomatic relations have been deepened to include a number of new diplomatic agreements that can be added on top of a standard peace treaty. For example, your relations with the Zulus might include a peace treaty as well as a mutual protection pact, a right of passage agreement, and a trade embargo against the French.

The fine-looking gentlemen you see to the right are just two of the Civilization leaders you will be able to interact with during your negotiations. You can move the slider bar around to see their range of expressions, which will change depending on the types of deals you try to broker with them!

As with all Firaxis games, fun is first, and we are still working on the system, keeping some stuff, discarding others, focusing this, adjusting that. So while the system is playable and fun already, we are still not ready to put it to bed -- it's still changing regularly. Stay tuned for more information as we continue to develop the game.