adwcta
King
Non-combat - They changed a lot of the AI's natural tendencies and diversified the AIs (so not every AI does the same exact thing early game.... there's not much variety, but now instead of having 3 paths the AI takes, I've seen like 5 so far... which is almost double). That's good. They are also friendlier early and respect your army more, if you have one. For kicks, I made a game where I didn't build a single unit besides my scout/initial warrior.... got DoW-ed after the AI had 3 cities up (which was like turn 60-70). AIs also care a LOT more about city states. So, you'll have a fight on your hands for them starting pretty early.
Combat - AI ships are noticeably smarter at ship to ship combat and their ships to your land combat. That being said, they oftentimes (like land combat) have stragglers and end turns by moving on extra space for no good reason instead of attacking your stuff or following their pre-determined plan and ignoring raining damage. Land combat, they are a bit less Pike-focused in the mid-game (especially since I didn't build any horses), but the AI is not noticeably smarter, just dumb in different ways. I guess they do retreat more than I saw before... I guess that's smart? Doesn't change the fact that they inevitably fall to any human that knows the basic combat system.
Overview - I think the impressive thing is that much of the AI's bonuses were scaled down. The fact that the AI is not tripping over its feet without those bonuses is a welcomed addition. In terms of difficulty, this means that the game does not feel harder. Although, the late game relies a LOT more on diplomacy for all victory conditions (besides conquest), so if you're a typical science player, you will have to care about the AI more (which doesn't mean they're better at acting in their interest... just more involved). Late game is also subject to a lot more turmoil and there are more ways to catch up or get screwed... so by definition the AI will seem more threatening than they did before, where once you passed them on the tech tree, you were home free.
TL;DR - Yes, it's noticeably better in certain areas (or just different). No, it doesn't make a difference in difficulty. But, it does make a difference in flavor and diversity and keeps things more interesting.
Combat - AI ships are noticeably smarter at ship to ship combat and their ships to your land combat. That being said, they oftentimes (like land combat) have stragglers and end turns by moving on extra space for no good reason instead of attacking your stuff or following their pre-determined plan and ignoring raining damage. Land combat, they are a bit less Pike-focused in the mid-game (especially since I didn't build any horses), but the AI is not noticeably smarter, just dumb in different ways. I guess they do retreat more than I saw before... I guess that's smart? Doesn't change the fact that they inevitably fall to any human that knows the basic combat system.
Overview - I think the impressive thing is that much of the AI's bonuses were scaled down. The fact that the AI is not tripping over its feet without those bonuses is a welcomed addition. In terms of difficulty, this means that the game does not feel harder. Although, the late game relies a LOT more on diplomacy for all victory conditions (besides conquest), so if you're a typical science player, you will have to care about the AI more (which doesn't mean they're better at acting in their interest... just more involved). Late game is also subject to a lot more turmoil and there are more ways to catch up or get screwed... so by definition the AI will seem more threatening than they did before, where once you passed them on the tech tree, you were home free.
TL;DR - Yes, it's noticeably better in certain areas (or just different). No, it doesn't make a difference in difficulty. But, it does make a difference in flavor and diversity and keeps things more interesting.
