Re: Scenarios
Much can be done there. Altho there are many standard complaints about the AI, many of them can be "fixed" at least partially by some design at the beginning of the game instead of letting the AI go thru its normal random decision making.
Such as....
the AI does handle some nations and situations better than others. So being selective in the nations you use as opponents can help.
Some modded nations are even more selective in making available what the AI does well and removing what it doesnt. Those can not only provide better challenges but also a welcome surprise since they are not nations that the player has already played a hundred times. There are also mods and maps designed to help the AI play better
Map commands can be used to "design" better starts for AI nations. Such as selecting a pretender. One of the common complaints is "the AI sends its pretender to war, or worse yet to Arenas". This is said so often as to make it appear that its all the time. Actually, the AI does make an effort to selectively recognize its pretenders. If a pretender is what most people would consider an SC (super combatant) then the AI tends to use it more for war and arenas which might not be smart but still isnt mindless. But I do find it beneficial to give the AI immobile pretenders, or "rainbows", or even bless pretenders in some cases if you avoid the usual SC chassis that tend to be used for them.
The AI can take scales which are actually damaging to its choice of nation. Even to the point that the nation can kill itself off before you ever reach it. So having designed AIs with map commands for appropriate scales can be a big help.
The game gets more and more complicated as it goes along. But with some tweaking the AI can provide a game thru early and into mid-game. In late game its unlikely to be a challenge unless a dungeonmaster mod of some sort is used to direct it (by the way such mods also allow for things like mid game messages and personalized events)
Of course no AI is AH (almost human). So you might want to give it some boosts. Map commands can also be used to give the AI starting equipment, extra forts, extra armies, extra magic and scales beyond what the player can get.
If you want to test your designs it is possible to manually create a nation then go AI (within player limits). Its also possible to use the debug log to see the AI thinking, or use the no-longer-secret --comptrn switch to be able to load up AI turn files to view what they are doing just as if they were your own turn files.
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