The default AI was beginner for ages, it was changed to Maniacal as that's what most of us play, and if you install the test release every week it sets itself to the defaults every time, so we decided to set it to recommended, not beginner, as a new player is, um, more likely to change all the settings lots until they stop dying
(I'm actually thinking 0.4.4 should default to beginner for the official release but I like it as is for the tests). FWIW, it's not really a 'difficulty' setting, it shouldn't, in theory, be easier to win regardless of setting, it'll just be harder to lose (and even I sometimes lose, which is a Good Thing )If you're using both monsters and specials at high levels, then they are random, I restarted the same seed multiple times last night to test somethign and each time the Sentry layout at a nearby system was different, so it's not always the same, just the galaxy structure.
The quickstart page in the Wiki is horrifically outdated and written for version 0.4.0, when the AI didn't actually do anything, the actually competetive AI was coded and introduced by Dilvish in IIRC 0.4.2, not that it matters, it is now actually quite good, can defeat you if you make bad choices or get a bad start (random generation, sometimes oyu are just doomed) and can definitely defeat other AI players (you get told when an AI loses their homeworld but there's nothing in game (yet) that triggers for complete defeat of an empire, there probably should be).
i don't know the difference between AI modes that well, I assume Beginner is less aggressive but that's an assumption, Dilvish?
If you hover over a species in the selection area at game start it should give you a popup summarising their main in game traits, I hope at some point to expand on that for a Wiki articile or something but, well, I'm normally either coding something or playing. To be honest, mostly playing, and I keep forgetting.
I already said Chato are the best starting race. The absolute hardest to play are Egassem, avoid them, the rest are fairly balanced but some aren't quite as balanced as others, if you want to be almost completely safe from AI conquest in the early game Laenfa can be good, they hide so well their planets can't be attacked for ages. But they're otherwise not so good, low research output is their biggest drawback. I love them, but they take practice to actually win with.
). Some will delay the earliest point at which they might invade a neighbor, and they will also limit their rate of acquiring/founding new colonies. The most cautious ones also won't field the most powerful ship designs.
