Alliances

In VGA Planets, it is possible to set a friend's empire as your ally. When cooperating, setting eachother as allies has several benefits.

Two levels of alliance
Since host 3.22.039, there are two levels of alliance. The first level is the same as the 'oldfashioned' alliance mode, granting allies safety from eachother's minefields and preventing combat against eachother. The second, stronger alliance level shares information between allies: granting someone a strong alliance will allow him to see all of your ships, and to see all the ships you see. This second level allows your allies, when VPA features are enabled, to intercept ships that you can see but they cannot see themself (because you can see those ships) or to transfer materials to your ships even though they are cloaked.

Benefits of alliances
Both levels of alliance cause ships, planets and bases of the allied races not to fight eachother and allows the races safe passage through eachother's minefields. It also prevents the allies from sweeping eachother's minefields. Additionally, when using Winplan you will see all of your ally's minefields, even the ones out of sweeping range. Overlapping minefields from allies will not blow up your minefields and vice versa.

One-sided alliances, where one player has offered another an alliance but the other player has not yet done the same will not prevent ships from those two races from fighting eachother. A one-sided alliance will grant all the other advantages to the race which is offered an alliance.

When dropping clans onto an allied planet, your clans will still fight those of your allies. To give clans to your allies, either have their starbase unload clans from your ship, transfer clans to a ship of theirs or give a ship with clans to your ally. Allied planets can also still be pillaged, RGA'd or be the subject of an Imperial Assault. Races that can build fighters in space can use their allies' planets to beam up resources automatically. Fuelless allied ships can still be towcaptured.

The (new) second level offers more than safety: it allows allies to see all of eachother's ships, and each ally can see all the ships the other can see. This second level allows allies, when VPA features are enabled, to intercept ships they cannot see themself as long as one of the allies can see them, allows allies to intercept eachother's cloaked ships even though they are cloaked and allows allies to transfer materials to eachother's cloaked ships.

The two different levels of alliance can be used together: if the Federation offers a first level allance to the Lizards, while the Lizards offer the Feds a second level alliance, the Feds and Lizards will be allied on the first level while the Feds also gets to see all the Lizard's ships. The Feds don't get to see all Lizard ships. If the Feds now also offer a second level alliance to the Birdmen, the Birdmen will be able to see all ships the Feds can see through their scanners. It will NOT mean the Birds can see all the Lizards' ships, simply because the Feds can see them (throgh the second level alliance from the Lizards). Thorugh these alliance settings, the Birdmen will only see the Lizard ships that are in deep space within scanner range of either Federation or Birdmen ships or planets, and the Lizard ships that are in orbit of Federation or Birdman planets.

Setting, switching and breaking alliances
Alliances can be set, switched and broken through ships' friendly codes. To set a race as your 'first level' ally, set a friendly code of "ffX" on one or more of your ships. The 'second level' alliance works the same way, but with a friendly code of "FFX". In both cases, the X is to be replaced by the racenumber of your ally (1 for Feds, 2 for Lizards......9 for Robots, a for Rebels and b for Colonies). You only need to set this friendly code for one turn; once the alliance is offered, there is no need to keep this friendly code. To offer an alliance a ship does not need to have fuel onboard. If your proposed ally also uses the "ffX" or "FFX" (with X corresponding to your race) code to make you his ally, the two of you are formally allied. To make someone your 'second level' (FFX) ally, you do not need to make him your 'first level' (ffX) ally first.

The ffX and FFx codes can be used to switch between both alliance modes. When you have set someone to be your 'second level' ally through the FFX code, you can revert him to a 'first level' ally by using the ffX code. Likewise, you can upgrade a friend from a level one (ffX) ally to a level two ally by setting the FFX friendly code on one of your ships.

To totally drop an alliance (either level), give one or more ships an alliance code of "eeX" where again X corresponds with the race who will no longer be your ally. Here too, the ship you set this code on does not need to have fuel onboard and once the alliance is dropped you can give the ship any friendly code you like. Setting the eeX code to break an alliance with a race who you have a 'second level' alliance with will totally break that alliance, it won't just downgrade the alliance to a 'first level'.

Alliance codes are effective immediately: an alliance offering grants safe passage through minefields in the very same turn that the "ffX" code is set, and this is dropped in the very same turn that the "eeX" code is set. Alliance codes are checked in order of ship ID, and only for ships on which an alliance code is actually set that turn. If for instance ship #140 is set to "ff3" and ship #385 is set to "ee3" there will be no alliance offered to the Birds. Only ships on which you have actually set the "ffX", "FFX" or "eeX" codes yourself influence alliances: if you have a ship still set to "ff3" from early in the game, but now wish to break that alliance by setting another ship to "ee3", the alliance will be broken. Next turn, the alliance will still be broken even though your ship may still be set to "ff3". It is only set again if you manually set another ship to "ff3". If one of your enemies passes you a ship (through towcapture, surrendering at a starbase or captured in battle) that is set to make or break an alliance, the Host program does not use this code to effect your alliances.

Your alliance status
Since host 3.22.039, there are two ways to check your alliance. The easiest way is through the host configuration message you receive each turn. These messages are only sent in host version 3.22.039 and higher. People using older host versions can only check their alliance through the Tim Continuum message (see below).

The following is an example alliance status message, sent to the Lizards:

The above message means the Lizards have offered the Federation a second level alliance (YES), while the Federations have only given the Lizards a first level alliance (yes). The Lizards and Birdmen have a 'second level' alliance together: both can see eachother's ships and both can see all the ships the other ally can see. (YES/YES). Basically, a lower-case yes means a first level alliance, upper-case YES means a second level alliance. If you offer someone an alliance but they are not offering you an alliance, they'll read YES/NO or yes/NO.

These alliance status' are only sent to you for the races with who you have some level of alliance (complete, you're offering them or they're offering you). There won't be any no/no messages to confirm you have no alliance with a certain race. The absence of an alliance status for race X is confirmation that you have no alliance with that race, nor is that race offering you any level of alliance.

The second way (and for people with host versions up to 3.22.038 the only way) to check is the oldfashioned way, by looking at your Tim Continuum (priority points) message.

If there is a "+" behind the racename of your proposed ally this means the host program has recognised your alliance proposal. This is an example; a message from the Colonies who have offered an alliance to the Rebels by giving one of their ships a friendly code of "ffa".

The same turn, the Rebels can see that the Colonies have offered them alliance from the "!" next to the Colonial in their priority point message:

If the Rebels now also set a ship to "ffb" the alliance will be complete. Then the next turn the Colonies will see this:

The "+!" indicates that the alliance is now both ways.