Sisiutil
All Leader Challenger
What I'd like to do is try out some sort of religious strategy in the next game with Isabella. Since that will be very different from what I usually do, I think I'd prefer to keep the other settings the same.
Now if I totally dominate that game even playing with an unfamiliar strategy, then I agree that that's a sign that I should do something to make the games more challenging. The custom settings sound like a mixed bag--I tried Aggressive AI off-line and didn't find the game that much more challenging, honestly. The main thing I noticed was a few more units and a higher price if I wanted to negotiate peace. Well, if I'm killing the AI, I usually kill them dead, so my price for peace is pretty high too.
Tech brokering also sounds like a mixed bag, like it makes some AIs stronger but several of them weaker. Frankly, I'm convinced that Gandhi traded for Military Science in the Peter game after I DoW'd, because according to espionage he wasn't researching it.
So it's sounding more and more like a move up to Emperor level will likely happen after the Isabella game. Frankly, it was always my goal to use these games to help me move up the difficulty levels anyway. I've held back on Monarch perhaps a little longer than I should have out of a concern that higher levels restrict one's strategies and therefore the opportunities to try anything innovative. But a series of cakewalks is not what this series is supposed to be about.
Also please remember that I experienced my only 2 losses in this series very recently. I don't always pwn.
Now if I totally dominate that game even playing with an unfamiliar strategy, then I agree that that's a sign that I should do something to make the games more challenging. The custom settings sound like a mixed bag--I tried Aggressive AI off-line and didn't find the game that much more challenging, honestly. The main thing I noticed was a few more units and a higher price if I wanted to negotiate peace. Well, if I'm killing the AI, I usually kill them dead, so my price for peace is pretty high too.
Tech brokering also sounds like a mixed bag, like it makes some AIs stronger but several of them weaker. Frankly, I'm convinced that Gandhi traded for Military Science in the Peter game after I DoW'd, because according to espionage he wasn't researching it.
So it's sounding more and more like a move up to Emperor level will likely happen after the Isabella game. Frankly, it was always my goal to use these games to help me move up the difficulty levels anyway. I've held back on Monarch perhaps a little longer than I should have out of a concern that higher levels restrict one's strategies and therefore the opportunities to try anything innovative. But a series of cakewalks is not what this series is supposed to be about.
Also please remember that I experienced my only 2 losses in this series very recently. I don't always pwn.