Master of Orion II: Battle at Antares/Diplomacy and intelligence

"War is merely a continuation of policy by other means"

- [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carl_von_Clausewitz

In MOO II diplomacy may be a continuation of war by other means. Most importantly:
 * It provides information about your opponents from the time when you first make contact (and they get similar inormation about your empire).
 * Espionage and sabotage are often powerful weapons, especially in the early game when warships are slow and weak.

These factors make "diplomacy" important even for Repulsive empires, whose options in negotiations are limited to declaring war and surrendering. This page summarizes the other options available to non-Repulsive empires.

How contact is made
Contact is made between 2 empires when either of them is in a position to send ships without Extended Fuel Tanks into systems occupied by the other. This arises when either empire occupies a new system in the right place (by creating a colony or an Outpost) or when either empire discovers improved fuel cells which extend its ships' range.

Contact can be lost if someone (either empire or a third party) destroys or conquers the last colony or Outpost in a system and no other systems ocupied by either empire are within either empire's ships' range. Contact can later be re-established by the means described above.