Dishonoring treaties issue in 1.4, and 1.3 mods interfering with patch

[hoof]

Got nailed with this again. Fortunately, I had a save from before I went to war. I'm playing as the french, and needed only the Cherokee territories to get Louisiana. So I declared war on them, and a turn or two later, checking diplomacy, I see "-49 dishonoring treaties". Checking the save after I declared war, and it was '50, while the save before war didn't have it. What is the common element between this and the aborted Austrian campaign? The target of the declaration of war has given me (prior to the game starting) unlimited military access.

So, if you want to avoid the -50 diplo hit, do *NOT* declare war on any minor nations that have given you unlimited military access. That means, as the french, you cannot complete the mission requirements to take Louisiana. The benefits of Louisiana simply aren't worth it to have your diplo take that kind of hit. At least I now know what the condition of that severe penalty is. Not sure the logic (or if it's intentional vs simply a bug), but at least now I can avoid it. I also don't know if you get the penalty if that nation declares war on you.

When I have time, I'll see if I can track down where in the data files this penalty is specified. If I can find it, I can reduce it. I'm not that opposed to getting a diplo hit for declaring war against someone who has given you unlimited military access, just not that severe (and *please* warn us if that's going to happen *before* you cross the point of no return!).

On a positive note, diplomacy in general is much, much better in 1.4. I was at war with England, and *actually* managed to sue for peace (cost me 10k + a territory, but it worked). This was at -240 diplo relations! They even seem to be honoring it and not re-DoWing me (maybe it's because they're still fighting all my allies). I even got a trade agreement next turn, in exchange for about 9k + swapping ring bayonets for a naval tech of similar level. Much better than 1.3! Austria did DoW me for no obvious reason, but a save-restore + a spy mission (to adjust the random number generator seed) fixed that, and they've left me alone. Apparently there's still a very small % chance of a DoW from someone who doesn't like you. The save/restore trick solves that nicely, and seems to stick.