two questions/queries on custom games ?

So yesterday , being in an adventerous mood, I thought I try something different...

First I tried the one city challenge....it was fun until my scout went around another civ's city.. only to find that the other civ had more than one city .. wtf??? so entering worldbuilder I discovered that a couple of the other civs already had 3 cities while I was only allowed to have one ?? Have I missed the point of a one city challenge??? I was under the impression that all civs were limited to their first city?

next.....

went to play a game of permanent war or peace where I found that I had no choice.. it was always peace with every one but the barbs... again, am I missing something here... I thought I would be allowed to make the choice upon meeting a new civ whether to have war or peace...

I guess I'm just not that good at the scenarios...

thanks for any help in getting some clarification here..

from what i know, one city challenge mode only limits the player. it's a challenge to the player to survive with one city when everyone else has more. people have been doing it for a while without the option, but the option enforces the restraint and allows people that haven't considered it, to try out that type of game.

i think there are two options, right? one for always war and one for always peace. so if you choose always peace, you can't declare war and neither can any other civ? dunno what happens if you select both.

kind of weird options. but that's the point. to try something totally different. options like "raging barbs" are more typical, while still spicing up the game. (if you can handle the barbs. personally, i gave up on that option. at least until i get used to warmongering.)