Diplomacy Game Essay, Research Paper

Diplomacy is a strategic board game in which seven players compete for military control

of Europe. The rules are very simplistic, as everything has been diluted down to the bare

minimum. But the game itself is very complex, as it focusses on secret discussions

between players to make plans, deals, threats, and lies. This makes for a very exciting,

turbulent game. The Diplomacy Programming Project (DPP) aims to develop a complete

Diplomacy-playing software package. There are many difficulties to be overcome first,

though. Not only are seven-players games extremely complex, as seven different minds

control the progress of the game, but the simplicity of the rules mean that a human player

can easily gain a good mental grasp of a game position, so the computer cannot hope to

beat him by simple number crunching. Another obvious difficulty that the DPP faces is

the problem of diplomacy. Understanding what other players say, determining which

things are relevant, calculating what you should say, and translating that into prose are all

very tough problems in the field of Natural Language Processing. The first clear step is to

develop an artificial language to capture the variety of things which may need to be said

in the game of Diplomacy. The DPP has produced a “protocol” with this aim in mind.

Unfortunately, the protocol, as it stands, is unsatisfactory.

All warfare is based on deception. Therefore, when capable of attacking, feign

incapacity; when active in moving troops, feign inactivity. When near the enemy, make it

seem that you are far away; when far away, make it seem that you are near. Hold out

baits to lure the enemy. Strike the enemy when he is in disorder. Prepare against the

enemy when he is secure at all points. Avoid the enemy for the time being when he is

stronger. If your opponent is of choleric temper, try to irritate him. If he is arrogant, try to

encourage his egotism. If the enemy troops are well prepared after reorganization, try to

wear them down. If they are united, try to sow dissension among them. Attack the enemy

where he is unprepared, and appear where you are not expected. These are the keys to

victory for a strategist. It is not possible to formulate them in detail beforehand.

Strategy game based on the classic boardgame. It is set in imperial Europe before the

First World War. The player controls one of several countries (England, France, Italy,

Germany, Austro-Hungary, Russia and Turkey). Each attempts to secure the greatest

amount of resources and thorough a mixture of combat an diplomacy come out on top.

The beauty of the game of Diplomacy lies not in the tactics of the movement of the

pieces on the board, but in the fact that these movements are simulataneous, meaning

that the orders of all players are executed at the same time on each turn. Whose moves

succeed and whose fail are easily determined by the simple rules of the game which

permit and govern the combination of multiple units to strengthen (or weaken) any single

move or other action.

Backstabs? Yes, because regardless of what a player promises to do before the turn, what

he actually does is wholly determined by the secret orders he submits for his pieces.

Combining with other players to defeat a common foe, secretly arranging peace with the

enemy, and suddenly turning on your ally, who has trusted you and worked with you

since the first move, is all part of the game. All’s fair in love and war, so the saying goes,

and in Diplomacy, one is often simply a mask for the other.

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The standard game of Diplomacy is set in the Europe of the early 20th century, and is

played by seven players, each taking the part of one of the Great European Powers of that

age. Players order two types of units (armies and fleets) into combat against each other in

a war for control of Europe. This control is symbolized by ownership of “supply centers”

(or SC’s), of which there are 34 on the Diplomacy board. Control of a majority of supply

centers will bring a player victory.