computer difficulty and bonus

[raynor]

I don't think the AI gets extra resources as part of the bonus level. Rather, I think they get a faster production rate. An easy way to test this is to start a high bonus and high tech game. Take control of an AI player and start building a ship with a SM component. Shift control back to the computer for a couple of turns. When you take control of the empire again, you should see that the ship has much less time until completion than you would have expected.