Question about AI difficulty and level of aggression/cheats

[ioticus]

I'm playing my first game (the full campaign) on normal difficulty. I'm by far the most powerful nation at power level 50 with everyone else at 7 or below. It really shouldn't be this easy on my first game. The AI factions don't seem to be doing much of anything. My question is does the AI get more aggressive at higher levels and at what level does it start to cheat? Also, what kind of cheats does the AI get at high levels?

[IainMcNeil]

We made eh normal difficulty very easy for new players, as no matter how many easy settings there are people do not want to play on them. The normal setting is actually quite easy. To get a decent game go to hard or very hard.

[Hard Sarge]

or get the Berzerker mod for the game, then you can get a decent game on normal, or a good challenge on HARD

yea, on normal, the AI is pretty peaceful

one of the game I played on HARD, my border mate who didn't like me, made a beeline charge into my lands as soon as the game started, which kind of threw me

with the Berzerker mod, you can get a pretty good game going on normal

HARD_Sarge

[ioticus]

OK, I'll start over on hard. I'd also like to know at what level does the AI start to cheat and what bonuses does it get? I want to try the highest, non-cheating level.

[IainMcNeil]

I think on hard the AI pays the same as you for its troops. On easier levels it pays more & on harder it pays less. You can see the exact amount it pays in the data\tweaks.txt file for the difficulty levels. The amount stated is the % of normal resources it pays, though I'd reccomend you play on the level that is fun & challenging rather than one where the AI pays the same

[ioticus]

Thanks, Iain, that's exactly the info I was looking for!