Diplomacy
From StarCraft Wiki
Diplomacy is the title of a custom game. It is a genre of custom multiplayer maps for StarCraft which uses real world terrain and tax collection as a means of achieving minerals. The game probably takes its name (but not its rules) from the Diplomacy board game. The first popularized version of diplomacy was the Gold series. There have been multiple versions since, such as the Gold 7.X series and the Diplomacy Infinity II series.
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[edit] Summary
Before the game or at its start, players choose a state from the options presented to them. Depending on the variant, the map can be in different locations from Europe to Oceania. Up to seven players battle for control of a map while using their diplomatic skills to form alliances. The eighth player is the computer-controlled neutral territory that is subject to conquest from the human players. Victory generally comes when one player or team of players either conquers the majority of the cities, or if they eliminate their enemies.
[edit] Economics
On most maps, cities are represented by "doodads" in their real-world location. In other versions, cities may be represented as beacons. They are usually protected by defense fortifications; one must overcome these defenses with their army to capture the city. Once captured, a city has to be built next to by the player to be taken. The amount of money received per turn (a preset time period) depends upon the number of cities the player owns (analogous to real world tax collection). Sometimes cities, that are not taken by any player or computer, can still give money for a set period of time, until someone captures them. Capitals are worth more than individual cities. The specifics of money making can vary depending on what map you are playing.
The amount of money a state usually generates depends on many factors, mostly, balancing the map. For example, a country which will have lots of starting money will usually have more difficult expansion routes than a country with less starting money. It is also dependent on the area of the map the and specific nation's "special" unit and defenses (both fortifications and natural, such as the natural defensible choke point of the Sinai and the Suez Canal in Egypt). For example, countries and continents which are not on the mainland, such as Africa, have a disadvantage when fighting mainland areas such as Europe.
[edit] Special Units
Each state has its own "special" unit that only it can build. A state can produce another country's special unit by capturing that country's capital. Each special unit is unique in its own way and has some advantage over the unit's standard form. Some specials, for instance, spawn two units per one built, such as in the Gold 7.x series, where Turkey's Riflemen (Samir Duran Ghost) and Crimea's Attack Dog (Zergling) double, but most specials usually boast more HP, damage, and armor. Generally these special units are used when possible both for the superior fighting strength and the ability to get around the 200 unit maximum army size that is built into StarCraft.
[edit] Problems
Most diplomacy matches and map variants suffer from various problems, which usually stem from too many units being present on the map, or lag from too many players controlling too many units.
This is most prominently noticed in the variants x2 and 7.x as they have no unit limits, and the former by design has many extra units compared to normal matches.
A fairly large and detrimental glitch with the Diplomacy Infinity II series is that its later versions after 2.6 do not work with the Mac StarCraft version. This limits Infinity II players to only Windows users.
