Relations (Apocalypse)
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Relations Overview
The table below lists the organizations and their attitude towards other organizations at the start of the game. A short description of them is available below the table. For more information into their activities and products check their individual pages and for a description of how they interact check Relations.
1 Both the Mutant Alliance and S.E.L.F. are set to start slightly friendly to X-COM. However, due to the randomization that happens to every organization's value to another at start they might begin the game with a 0 or negative value towards X-COM.
Basic Concepts
Relationships in Mega-Primus generally follow these principles:
The Enemy of my Enemy is my Friend
This means that if you attack Organisation A, which is disliked by Organisation B, Organisation B will be much friendlier towards you, and vice versa - attacking A, which is liked by B, will result in B disliking you. (Organisation A will obviously be unhappy with the situation either way!)
Trying to understand these relationships can be quite difficult at first (except for the pretty obvious ones like Megapol and the Aliens), but there are ways to gauge how companies are relating to each other.
Reading the informational headlines that pop up on your information bar from time to time is a great way to see how certain companies relate to each other. Gangs in particular also employ direct air assaults on their enemies. Unfortunately, they tend to be overwhelmed by the defenders.
Love Can be Unrequited
A lot of these relationships are however one-way only. That is to say, if company A likes company B, this relationship is not mutually exclusive. Company B may feel indifferent or have a slight dislike for company A.
Case in point, every time an organisation gets fed up with X-COM and refuses to accept cash settlments because you're attacking their 'alien friends', the aliens will not necessarily feel the same way about the rebelling company. The company may continue to get upset whenever you take action against the aliens, but they will quickly change their tune if the aliens turn on them and start destroying their facilities. (Except for COS, who will love the aliens no matter how much the aliens destroy their stuff)
The most common case of this happening will usually be in the relationships between megapol and the 3 gangs, since they all start off hating each other, so if for instance Megapol blows up a Diablo car, Diablo will dislike Megapol more but the other 2 gangs will like Megapol, while Megapol will keep hating the other 2 gangs, and in fact Megapol will dislike Diablo less (because they released stress by blowing up their stuff)
The Organizations tab on Cityscape shows their opinion towards X-COM. X-com's opinion on them will be mirrored exactly the same as their opinion on X-com. This can lead to trouble if for instance stray shots cause Megapol to go hostile to X-com, because that will cause X-com to reciprocate and go hostile to Megapol, and your craft will then open fire on Megapol craft every single chance they get.
Some Friends Are Better Than Others
Certain organisations are more important to stay friendly with or protect from alien infiltration than others. I'm sure it needn't be said, but do not bother paying out insane sums to keep the Cult of Sirius happy. It won't work. You obviously want to stay friendly with groups such as Megapol (otherwise expect random shootings in the cityscape) and Marsec if you intend on doing any business with them. The government is where you get that insulting amount of funding from, and despite it not covering your troops wages, any amount of funds are very much needed. Other factions to make sure you stay in their good books include anyone else you want to trade with. Transtellar is very important to keep away from the aliens, since if you lose their support you have no good means to transfer equipment between bases (and you will have to use your craft and agents to move things betwen bases).
In addition, bear in mind that, if hostile, Megapol and the three gangs are much more likely to raid you than the other organizations.
For more information about the starting relationships check down below and the pages of the individual organizations.
Keep Megapol Happy WITH YOUR TRADE PARTNERS
Have you ever ordered a shipment from Marsec or Solmine or hired crew which started travelling to you in a Transtellar taxi... and then you hear a message about police hovercar shooting down a craft, and then your shipment never arrived? ... Yeah, Megapol shot down your shipment. You see, those shipments (or taxis containing your scientist etc) are flagged as their original affiliation, not as X-com craft. So, if Megapol hates Marsec, Megapol will happily blow up the Marsec transport containing your newly purchased Lineage Plasma Cannons. ... Even worse, they aren't covered by insurance, so X-com will bear the loss.
Relationship Cutoffs
Relations are tracked via a sliding scale from -100 (mortal enemies e.g. Alien attitude toward X-COM) to 100 (organisations' attitude toward themselves, and the Cult of Sirius' worship of the Aliens).
The relationship between this scale and the five discrete categories the interface presents is as follows:
| Category | Relation Score |
|---|---|
| Allied | +75 to +100 |
| Friendly | +25 to +74 |
| Neutral | -24 to +24 |
| Unfriendly | -49 to -25 |
| Hostile | -100 to -50 |
Donations/Reparations/Bribes/etc
In Mega-Primus, money is the medium that makes the cogs move. A generous helping here or there will allow X-COM to improve its relations with other organisations.
There are two occasions where you can offer money to a company to improve their standings with you. The first is the Offer Cash Settlement screen, accessed through the Organizations tab, in which X-COM can voluntarily offer money to a company. The second is the Diplomatic Rift screen (which appears on its own), in which an aggrieved party demands compensation from X-COM.
Offer Cash Settlement
When you offer cash to a company, their standings with you will improve by one category. Neutral companies can go to friendly, or hostile companies will continue to dislike but will resume their services (where applicable). They will specify the amount that they will accept for this to happen, and if you pay it they will respond in a positive manner.
Note that an organisation you've paid off will still have the same opinions of everyone else; an organisation that's been hostile toward you for a while is likely to have accumulated a significant positive attitude toward the Aliens, which will result in them going hostile again quickly when X-COM hurts the Aliens.
Organisations cannot be paid off in this fashion if they are allied with the Aliens ("Whilst X-COM continue to oppose our Alien friends we will remain hostile" - though they may not yet actually be hostile) or if they have been infiltrated.
The amount of the cash settlement will depend on 2 factors: (a) how many extra points are needed to upgrade to the next relationship level, and (b) how rich the organization is.
Diplomatic Rift
If cash is demanded of you, this means that you have insulted the company in some way that they want you to make reparation for it. When paid, the company's general disposition will automatically be set to neutral, with perhaps some lingering hostility.
Note that if you knowingly cause a lot of damage to a building owned by a certain company and you anticipate that they'll be asking for a settlement (such as dropping them from neutral to hostile after a UFO skirmish), do not in any way offer them the money until they come asking for it. If you pre-empt it and bribe them until they are allied, the request for money will still be issued. Once paid, their standing will return to neutral. Paying them again and then buying them back until they are allied means they'll be double dipping into your funds. If you choose to not pay them, this will add further insult and make matters worse.
Organisations allied to the Aliens (such as the Cult of Sirius) may issue these demands for compensation (usually in response to X-COM killing aliens). This is the only way, barring special circumstances, to regain access to their services. Unfortunately, even this is temporary; they will rapidly turn hostile again from X-COM's continued anti-Alien activities.
Gunboat Diplomacy
Not really "gunboat diplomacy" as per the definition. This refers to using collateral damage to the city to control diplomacy. This is a LOT cheaper than paying bribes.
Best done by attacking the Cult of Sirius with a lone hoverbike, then parking that hoverbike on an organization building. Or moving it back and forth, dodging incoming shots. There are certain "sweet spots" where, if you park a hoverbike, the enemies will find it almost impossible to hit you, and will hit the building instead.
Apparently, the game is a lot stricter towards X-COM than it is towards other organizations. For X-com, every single shot that hits a building, whether it does damage or not, will make the organization dislike X-com more. Damage to city score is calculated in the same way. For organizations vs organizations, each shot that "damages a tile" will give -5 relationship points. Furthermore, the game only counts tiles that are directly damaged from shots fired. Chain reaction damage from collapsing buildings does NOT count for inter organization relationships.
It seems that the aliens are held to the same rules as X-com and diplomatic penalties are calculated on a "per shot" basis not on the damage done, and ditto for Damage To City score.
Relationships At Game Start
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| Alien | -100 | +100 | -20 | -30 | +75 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Government | +75 | -50 | +100 | +75 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -35 | -35 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Megapol | +75 | -50 | +75 | +100 | 0 | -25 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -15 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -50 | -50 | -35 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Cult of Sirius | -50 | +100 | 0 | 0 | +100 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Marsec | 0 | 0 | 0 | -35 | 0 | +100 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | +25 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | +25 | 0 |
| Superdynamics | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | +100 | -35 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| General Metro | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -35 | +100 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Cyberweb | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | +100 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -35 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | +50 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Transtellar | 0 | +20 | 0 | -20 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | +100 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | +25 | 0 |
| Solmine | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | +25 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | +100 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -35 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Sensovision | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | +100 | -35 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -35 | -35 | -35 | -20 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Lifetree | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -35 | +100 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Nutrivend | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | +100 | -35 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Evonet | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -35 | +100 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Sanctuary Clinic | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | +100 | +25 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Nanotech | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | +25 | +100 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Energen | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -35 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | +100 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Synthemesh | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | +100 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Gravball League | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -35 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | +100 | -20 | -20 | -10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Psyke | 0 | 0 | 0 | -35 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -35 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -20 | +100 | -50 | -35 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Diablo | 0 | 0 | 0 | -35 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -35 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -20 | -50 | +100 | -35 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Osiron | 0 | 0 | 0 | -20 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -35 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -10 | -35 | -35 | +100 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| S.E.L.F. | +15 | 0 | -25 | -15 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | +100 | +25 | 0 | 0 |
| Mutant Alliance | +15 | 0 | -25 | -10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | +25 | +100 | 0 | 0 |
| Extropians | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | +25 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | +25 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | +100 | -35 |
| Technocrats | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -35 | +100 |
- The entries in this table are read as: organisation at left of row likes/dislikes organisation at top of column by value in box
- X-COM attitudes are omitted, as X-COM is under player control.
- All starting attitudes are subject to random variation of -10 to +10, with the exception of those listed in bold.
- After this, attitudes not toward X-COM (and not in bold) are also subject to random difficulty adjustment:
- Negative or zero attitudes not toward the Aliens are worsened by a random number from 0 to 5*difficulty (0 on Novice, 20 on Superhuman)
- Positive attitudes are improved by a random number from 0 to 3*difficulty (0 on Novice, 12 on Superhuman)
- Starting attitudes toward X-COM are also subject to fixed difficulty adjustment:
| Difficulty | Modifier |
|---|---|
| Novice | 0 |
| Easy | +5 |
| Medium | 0 |
| Hard | -5 |
| Superhuman | -10 |