Re: Does the AI cheat?
Yes, impressive. Consider the number of variables and available things in the game and then consider the AIs of other games that are far more limited in scope.
The Dom3 AI is well coded and within its parameters, ruthless, efficient and aggressive, even if it can't optimize everything the same way a human can. I've always played my strat games on the higehst difficulty settings simply because otherwise there is no point and they are too easy. I did the same in Dom2 as well, but with Dom3, I don't necessarily want all impossible AIs all the time.
You citing just two games and being able to beat impossible AIs on the second one isn't indicative of much. Depends on how badly the AI nations screwed up pretender design. My first Dom3 game I started next to Mighty AI Niefelheim that simply fell apart with an empire of order 3, sloth 3, cold 3, death 3, misfortune 3, drain 3 and I mopped it up as an afterthought while I kept Yomi and Ermor off my back with the other hand. Meanwhile my friend started next to Arco, Lanka and Ermor and the only reason he didn't have a really hard time of it was that Abysia pestered both arco and Lanka enough to ruin their day.
The second game we put impossible AIs and it's like getting hit by a steamroller. We had to restart that game due to map bugs while we were both doing well, but the second try is the one where we're getting hammered.
Try a few more games on a bigger variety of maps and see if your assessment still stands. Of course, over time the AI will become easier and easier to beat and humans are more capable, but to say that the Dom3 AI is average only is not giving credit where credit is due.
Edi
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