How to modify difficulty settings?

[Gazebo]

They do get an extra policy (I think when settling their first city) on Emperor.
I don't know about lower or higher difficulties.

But this first one bootstrap them so fast : tradition opener give +3 culture, so it is nearly 4 times as fast to get the second policy as it is for the player to get his first (they get culture 4x as fast, but the culture neded for the second policy is higher than for the first).

They get culture when they found a city, but it isn't a free policy.

 

[tompliss]

From the culture chart of my game, it was enough to get a first policy on the turn they settled their first city (so enough to get the first policy, at Emperor).
As it unlocks the first policy, it snowball easily enough for players to think that they get multiple policies, because if they get the Tradition opener, they'll get a second policy before the player even get his first :/

 

[krazyhades]

Okay, so what is the parameter that controls how many free policies AI get?

They get reductions in policy costs (and various other costs) each era, which stacks up very very quickly to give them a ludicrous policy advantage.