I purchased Endless Space with the Disharmony DLC a couple days ago on Steam. I've sunk some time into learning this game, but am about to ask for a refund via Steam because diplomacy seems very broken. Here are the problems I'm seeing:

1) I've researched the correct technologies, but have almost no diplomatic options. On the Diplomatic Negotiations screen, I have no options to offer anything to any faction (even though I'm 158 turns into the game and have lots of tech).

2) The AI doesn't seem bound by agreements it initiates, and doesn't seem to behave according to its Attitude or war Status towards me. For example, it can invade my planets while at Neutral/Cold War status.

3) The AI has made peace once, only to then declare war two turns later. Maybe this isn't a bug, but definitely make the game feel less immersive, and makes it really tough for me to execute any type of expansion plan.



I've read multiple guides online that demonstrate how to make deals via the Diplomatic Negotiations screen, which lead me to believe 1) and 2) at least are bugs. Any ideas?



Thanks!

Are you playing with a race which is incapable of Diplomacy? (such as cravers)



As for 2 - it's not very clear at first but any system which is still an outpost and not a colony and falls outside your influence borders, can be freely invaded without declaring war.



The outpost mechanic is not obvious without knowing about it, but you can see the status on the system tooltip and also in the top left of the system view screen. Once the system becomes a colony, it gets a sphere of influence of its own, so its easy to spot which are still outposts.



Also worth noting, it's not possible for other factions to colonize systems within your influence borders even if they are entirely uncolonized whilst at peace or cold war. This can be used to block other players. Obviously if you block them from expanding into good territory, war is more likely.