This game used to be a lot easier to play back in the days of v1.03c from an ahistorical game play point of view. Back then, you could concentrate on researching culture techs and then trade them for the military techs that you were ignoring. The massive prestige from all those culture inventions, along with just a mere showing of industrial and military might, would usually help to point you right over the top by the end of the game. Sometimes the UK, Germany or the US would make a late game bid for number 1 on you, but even so getting Brazil or some such up to the #2 or #3 power was seen as a "victory".
Which brings up another point, in that I rarely look at my game ranking, as determined by the game engine, as my criteria as to how well I played my game. My own in game goals are my yard stick for measuring how well the country I picked did.
But I play lazy, laid back games of Victoria. I rarely go on a conquest spree, and my goals are almost always modest.
