have a lot of military strength doesn't hurt, either. but then if you're the top dog, alliances become less important (except for the victory).
[tangent]
i'm assuming a few people here have played Age of Wonders. in their diplomatic relations paradigm, they applied "the enemy of my enemy" rule -- if you were friendly with the good races, the evil races disliked you more; if you were unfriendly with a particular race's enemy, they like you more. personally, i liked that. i think it could benefit future incarnations of GalCiv.
heck, i'd just love to see diplomacy taken farther in general. most diplomacy models i've seen in 4E games tend to have a very straight-forward set of options: mutual protection alliances, trade treaties (including research and resources), open-boarder agreements (in some games), non-agression pacts, extortion or simple blackmail, war. espionage is sometimes folded into this model superficially, sometimes it's a wholly different system.
i think with all the great work in developing AI that Brad's done, an interesting direction to develop the GalCiv series will be in the direction of diplomacy. players have frequently said they'd like to see the addition of a player equivalent of the "demands" that the AI make every so often. i agree, that'd be nice, as long as the AI actually decided whehter or not to listen with the same relatively high aptitude it has on the whole (it can still be... quirky, at times).
but one day, i'd be excited to see intrigue and collusion, intelligent cooperation and convincingly vindictive grudges, and i can't help but think a lot of that could take place (in GalCiv's case) through the diplomacy screen. i'd like to be able to send demands and ultimatums, but i'd also like to be able to contact a third party and say:
"Hey, Kralax, you know that guy Kona? What d'you think about him? Yeah, he's kind of a jerk. If you wanna get him, continue to suck up and pretend to be his friend. When I send the order, attack the Epsilon system. That's the heart of his economy. You can keep it too, for your trouble. I just want to get him out of the way. Oh, and keep your transports back in the mean time, so he doesn't get suspicious."
but more than that, i want to be the victim of well-laid plots (sometimes), and if i've got my spy network in place, informed of others (it's fun to watch, too). heck, it's starting to feel like it's been a while since i've seen everyone gang up on the big boy on the block. and it sounds like some of the super abilities in DA should also help stir things up a bit. anyway.
{/tangent]
