Arralen:
Actually, the AI is not really bad at all. Of course it cant compete with a skilled player without cheating but I dont think there is much ANYONE can do about that just yet!
With some tweaking, I'm fairly impressed with the AI in my games. There seems to be a certain range of conditions that really favor the AI and barring those, its easy to overwhelm. Given those conditions, it puts up a nice challenge.
I'll take SE4's AI anyday over one that doesnt even remotely play by the same rules (MOO1). I find that to be a frustrating gaming experience after a while.
Talenn