In other news, I managed to finish a 7 ai/Prince/standard/true earth start. I won by space race which feels like it might be challenging and nail biting in this version. The ai managed to burn my spaceport down with a spy, and took turns declaring war on me so in theory they were trying to stop me. However I never saw an enemy ship approach my shores so the ai may be lacking there. Naval assaults have always caused problems for the civ ais.
There doesn’t seem to be any corruption type mechanic to prevent rapid expansion. I assume the amenities being available to a limited number of cities should slow you down, but you are likely picking up more luxury’s every time you settle anyway.
The final 100 ai turns certainly slowed down significantly but not enough to have me reaching for a book. Some of the animations got a bit screwy towards the end of the game, like the jet bomber zipping round trying to attack something close by, and the frame rate freeze on a few of my mushroom clouds. It’s a shame because the animation for that is awesome when it works.