Diplomacy in 4X Game Design
106Diplomacy is a staple component of the 4X games genre and present since the very first of the "big three" 4X of Civilization, Master of Orion and Master of Magic.
Here I discuss how Diplomacy is implemented in most 4X games, why it is there in the first place, and the upsides and downsides to this system.
I then show some examples of games with great diplomacy systems, focusing on the close integration of either a strong victory condition, a resource economy that drives diplomatic outreach, or because it is carefully interwoven with some other core design principle to create engaging gameplay.
Finally, there's some discussion on multiplayer diplomacy and how this can occasionally run at odds with hardcoded diplomacy design decisions made for single player games.