Game declared war for no reason - might be a bug

[Sinnoch]

Playing a single player game (Large map 8 opponents - 1 already destroyed) - and I have just successfully created a defense pact with four other civilizations.

All of a sudden the game reports that I declared war on one of my allies and it breaks all of the defense pacts. I did nothing that I know of to cause this to happen - I did not attack and I'm pleased or friendly terms with all 4 civilizations. I'm not even close to the civ in question.

I could understand if the civ declared war on me (even though my rating with the civ is currently +6). But the game says that "I declared war".

Any ideas? Any one out there have this problem? Is this a bug in the system.

 

[Tatran]

I have just successfully created a defense pact with four other civilizations.

Here's your problem.
If one of those 4 civs gets attacked you are at war with the attacker.
It's possible one of the civs you signed a Defense Pact with is the attacker.

 

[The Tyrant]

Nope, I've had the same problem. I'm attaching a save file from the point where it is possible to test this.

EDIT: Edited to include instructions.

1. Load save game.
2. Sign Defensive Pact with Germany.
3. End turn.
4. Notice that the game acts as if the player declared war. This doesn't happen if you don't sign a DP with Germany. Signing a DP caused forced declaration of war, even though none of the parties involved were at war.

Version 1.52, Game settings: Prince/Marathon/Standard Size Map/Terra

I have a defensive pact with the Persians and want to sign a defensive pact with Germany. Germany and the Incans have been warring most of the game, but right now they aren't at war. I should be able to sign a defensive pact with Freddy and only get drawn into war if he or Cyrus is attacked, right? And if anyone attacks either of them, triggering the defensive pact, then I'll keep the defensive pact with the victim nation but lose the pact with the other one. That's how it should work, but that isn't what happens at all.

From where the game is saved, I currently have only one defensive pact -- with Cyrus. If I simply hit end turn at this point, then everything plays as it should. If, however, I first sign a defensive pact with Freddy and then end the turn, the game tells me I declared war on the Incans (I didn't!) and cancels BOTH defensive pacts, as if I was the agressor against someone.

I don't know if it has anything to do with it, but I just entered anarchy -- changing from a war-time footing back to economy growth. Maybe this bug can only happen if you're in anarchy?

Also, I considered that it is possible that the Germans and Incans might have only declared a cease-fire instead of signed a peace treaty. The relations screen shows "Contact" as the relation between them. It does not show war. I even checked WB, but it doesn't recognize cease-fire. The only options in WB are peace or war. WB shows German/Incan relations as peace.

What I think may have happened is that they were in a cease-fire, which is actually a state of war. But since they weren't in "active" war, the game allowed me to sign a DP with Freddy. As soon as the turn ended, though, the game checked and saw that I had to declare war on the Incans. Why? Because I have a DP with Germany and Germany is at war with the Incans (cease-fire is War, not peace). So, the game mechanics cause me to declare war on the Incans, which is why I got the message that I had declared war although I hadn't. Then, since I "declared war" the game cancelled all current defensive pacts.

I would appreciate it if someone could check my savegame and see if that is the cause. I couldn't find any way to determine whether or not a cease-fire was in effect between Germany and the Incans. I'm hoping someone who knows the game code can figure it out.

http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads9/ThatsOdd.Civ4SavedGame

 

[Pounder]

You can't have a defensive pact in this game while you are at war, this includes if you were drawn/forced into a war because of another pact.

 

[pholkhero]

Also, I considered that it is possible that the Germans and Incans might have only declared a cease-fire instead of signed a peace treaty. The relations screen shows "Contact" as the relation between them. It does not show war. I even checked WB, but it doesn't recognize cease-fire. The only options in WB are peace or war. WB shows German/Incan relations as peace.

What I think may have happened is that they were in a cease-fire, which is actually a state of war. But since they weren't in "active" war, the game allowed me to sign a DP with Freddy. As soon as the turn ended, though, the game checked and saw that I had to declare war on the Incans. Why? Because I have a DP with Germany and Germany is at war with the Incans (cease-fire is War, not peace). So, the game mechanics cause me to declare war on the Incans, which is why I got the message that I had declared war although I hadn't. Then, since I "declared war" the game cancelled all current defensive pacts.

however, you've trapped yourself here. If relations btwn G/I are peace ("WB shows G/I rel as peace"), then how could the game 'check' and see that G/I relations=war??

 

[The Tyrant]

however, you've trapped yourself here. If relations btwn G/I are peace ("WB shows G/I rel as peace"), then how could the game 'check' and see that G/I relations=war??

Exactly. Buggy. It shouldn't work that way, but it seems that it does (see the save game for a clear example of something weird happening that can best be explained this way).

Consider this: real life... two nations are at war, killing each other's young men. They call a temporary cease fire while they negotiate, but those negotiations end up falling through. During the cease fire, were they at war? Yes. Even if no shot was fired during that time, they were not at peace.

So, what I think is happening is that the game is buggy when handling cease fire conditions. When two nations declare a cease-fire, the game seems to remove the total war flag, so they don't continue to slug it out and so that relations don't continue to suffer as much. To prevent the civs from still going at it, the game maintains settings that simulate peace as much as possible. The problem is that it must realize that a cease-fire is not a state of peace, either. When it checks for effects of current Defensive Pacts, it sees that... well, I'm just repeating my other post here.