GameSpy.com recently published the fourth developer diary for Master of Orion III, which was announced for the Mac by MacSoft at last week's Macworld Expo San Francisco 2001. This diary entry, written by developer Quicksilver Software's David Craft, covers the importance of diplomancy in the game.

The real key to improving diplomacy lies in the fact that the player has considerable flexibility in the types of options available. All of these "goodies" can be traded in combinations of up to five items per side. This makes for a lot more interesting detail, and some tough decisions: is it really worth going to war with the Sakkra in exchange for the Vox system and a couple of dozen third-line Trilarian ships? Should I settle for a couple of thousand AU in order to accede to Evon demands that I stop supporting the pirates that are affecting their trade, or should I try to squeeze some mineral concessions out of them as well, or perhaps instead their vote on my upcoming Orion Senate bill to expel the Klackons from the Senate?

by MacNN Staff