Surrender Pact is really the new feature I'm most excited about--I hate the drudgery of taking every single colony long after an opponent has no ships or defenses left. Nearly finished with my 1.2.4 game.... Konstantine posted he saw one AI surrendering to another, though--I had assumed they'd only surrender to the human player--and then a 3rd AI attacking the one that surrendered. AI surrendering to AI raises some interesting questions-- (1) Can one faction surrender to 2 different factions--i.e., twice? (2) If not, does that mean if faction A has already surrendered to faction B, I will have to eliminate A since he can't surrender twice? (3) What if faction B surrenders to me--is faction A still surrendered to faction B? If so, do I end up getting part of the tribute A is paying to B, since it increase's B's BC, SSP, etc.?
I have the feeling that the willing to surrender relates with the affinity level to the opponent. In my test game, my human opponent surrended and it kept peaceful (myself also playing Human). Later on in the game, another race surrendered to my competitor in the elections. Question is what happens if I am still keeping war against someone who surrendered to another race? There can easily comes the situation where the entire galaxy against you. Good questions.
An AI can surrender to another AI or the human player. Only the human player can't surrender to an AI, for design reasons. No. A subject can only ever have one overlord at a given time. However, if a subject breaks free from a surrender pact, it can decide to surrender again to the same or another empire at a later point. Faction A cannot surrender to a different empire as long as its a subject of another empire. What you can do is make faction B surrender to you, which in that case faction B and A will both become your subjects. B because it surrendered to you, and A because it was a subject of B and now you're its new master, as well. As I already replied above, faction A will also be your subject when B (its overlord) surrenders to you. If they surrendered to a third party while you were already at war, no penalties will be associated with the factions' new overlord. However, if you declare war on a subject, its overlord will not be happy about it.
How unhappy if I may ask? I see three factions have surrendered to the Cerrix in my game. At the same time I vote for their rivals, and our relations are meh! Now it seems to me, that their vassals are weakened by having surrendered, 20% less SSP and fewer resources. I'm looking at them like a very tempting target. Not happy wouldn't stop me, a guaranteed war on the other hand, when I'm already at war with two other factions might give me reason to pause. I think I'll attack and see how they react. Edit Ah, a -3 relations modifier, very manageable, I smell a new unintended strategy here.
Ah, I assumed surrender was permanent. So they can break the pact like any other treaty if they're feeling more powerful? I hope it isn't based on their opinion of you since that is likely to be bad after a war.
Surrender Pacts last for a minimum of 40 turns once signed. You also get a large relationship boost if you voluntarily agree to release them of the surrender pact anytime after that period elapses. It might be helpful to introduce the in-game description of the mechanic into this discussion.
@aReclusiveMind Thanks, that answers my questions. I'm still finishing a game in 1.2.4 so hadn't seen it yet.
