Not that I know of, sorry. From what I can tell, the Diplomacy model (ie rules, calculations, etc) are all hard coded.

It's probably possible to alter the variables in Diplo calculations indirectly, like changing the values (cost would be my best guess) for the tech tree and different items (like weapons, ships). But that won't change the number of civs that can ally.

On the other hand: You could remove alliances from teh game entirely. Just delete the Tech from teh tech tree. You just need to make sure that the techs that come after Alliances link to the tech that comes before alliances, effectively skipping alliances.

Nope. If you just plain delete the tech and mend the chain you'll likely get an error. The code wants an Alliance tech, and if it doesn't exist it will become upset, probably even crash.

You might just cut it out, but then it would be a seperate tech with no requirements and no 'children.'

Ofcourse someone from SD would be better qualified to confirm or deny this.

I just don't think it can be done.

The easy way would be to try it and see what happens. I've never done so myself so I can't say any more surely than anyone else.

i've modded out a few other techs, but not alliances.

I am curious, as there is something inherent in the alliance tech that allows for the Diplomacy options (I would assume anyway). Same thing with the ethical techs. There is prolly a tag in teh hard code that would look for the discovery of the tech.