[magnate]

I think strategy game AIs have to cheat to be at all competitive. I'm not saying I like it, but it's part of the price of a decent SP strategy game. Even GalCiv's much vaunted humanlike AI (where designer Brad Wardell said "you're effectively playing against me") has to start with a fully-explored starmap to be competitive. I think Cainehill's point is a good one though - the AI abuses of artillery spells could be toned down a bit on larger maps.

The point about ridiculous declarations of war is a better one though. The AI ought to grade the threat of the human player pretty much the same as those of the other AIs, with a little added on for ingenuity. But a human player who is ranked 16th in terms of army strength, income, research and provinces should not be the one whom the AI chooses to attack (unless I directly threaten its capital or something). Similarly, it is not sensible for a relatively weak AI nation to declare war on a strong human player.

The diplomacy interface should also allow you to find out who is at war with whom. This is something you can sometimes infer from the score graphs, but it would be good to be able to find out by scouting (so you can then influence it!).

CC