What difficulty level do you usually play? What about the player difficulty level (Cadet, Governor, Emperor, Grand Emperor)? Please specify in this thread below. Please specify also what difficulty level did you start to play for the first time. I usually like to play Impossible / Emperor. Thanks!
Severe/Grand Emperor and impossible Emperor I've tried Impossible/Grand emperor but that is a really harsh environment using the custom race I prefer to play with.
hard as I don't agree with high cheating as it generally hurts the point of actual strategy planning in a strategy game.
I take the opportunity to clarify that the AIs play by the same rules as the human player in all difficulty levels, so they don't cheat during the game. However, they do receive starting bonuses in the higher difficulties (Hard and above), which in ISG's lore means they developed faster as a species and are more advanced when the game starts. Some parameters are also tweaked in the higher difficulties, like how aggressive they are, those kinds of behavioral things, but no cheating.
An observation on the harder levels and why it may "feel" like the AI cheats. If you set the game to All powerful AI and yourself to Grand Emperor, the Ai has a dramatic advantage at the start. Couple this with Adam's excellent work at the strategic level AI, with the poor start generated for the player, and the AI will not only hold this starting advantage but most likely build on it. Another factor making the game feel like it may be cheating is the diplomacy aspect in the game. While the AIs will go to war with one another, they are far more likely to establish good relations with treaties. Once the AI's start trading technology with one another, it feels like they are outpacing the player in an unnatural manner. Bear in mind that none of this is the AI cheating, but the harder your settings, the more difficult the game becomes, requiring new solutions from the player in order to win. I don't know about the rest of you, but even with hundreds of hours with ISG, I am struggling with the game set at very powerful AIs and above, especially with a grand emperor setting for myself, (less so at emperor). It is not unbeatable, but it is damn hard.
