CatKnight said:
Even the non-playable countries' AIs seem pretty competent in EU1.
I think you overestimate EU1 ai's ability... Let us not forget that Eu1 engine was in so far different as to account for things like more historical outcome and more colonisation due to:
-later startdate which provided for established, strong countries like France, Ottomans or Spain (and so does 1492 scenario in eu2 yield more historical outcomes than GC)
-annex whole country rule which prevented that countries get divided by half of Europe
-provinces could not defect
-colonists were distributed by nation-specific colonial bonus which prevented pretty much colonisation by countries other than historical colonizers. The later had also a colonizing chance bonus.
-7 colonists made a city already which made colonisation faster (was also the case in earlier eu2)
-there was no penalty on higher amount of colonial provinces (was also the case in earlier eu2) which again amde colonisation by ai faster and more efficient
-I believe that the incomes in EU1 were higher as well (for example due to lack of cultures and the penalty involved with it) which allowed for faster colonization...
There are probably other factors to think of which made the outcomes in eu2 less predicatble than in eu1. THey have nothing to do with the abilities of AI which was just as stupid overall in eu1 as it is in eu2...
Ah, and also there *were* significant differences between the eu1 and eu2 maps, like some 100 provinces more on the later
