Been playing TA for a while now, and was getting sick of the performance of the AI for the evil races in particular, but also Iconians and Arceans. I like playing as the Yor, but as I've gone up in difficulty I've found it tough being evil, as the Drengin and Korx start weak and stay that way 'till they get whacked, so are no help against the good & neutral races that inevitably decide that I am just too evil to live. Or get upset when I start invading their planets and taking over their resources. Freakin crybabies. However.

So, new game, playing as the Torians, Crippling difficulty, and in the set up I changed the Drengin, Korx, Yor, Iconian and Arcean personalities to a mix of Thalen, Human and Torian (as they are the AI's that appear to do best IMHO). BIG mistake. The Drengin are just kicking butt and taking numbers, extorting money off everyone (including me- I can't afford a war with them for the foreseeable future, so when they want funds, I pay..). They are way ahead in military ratings and research for some reason, the Yor control a big chunk of the (immense) galaxy, which is a major pain due to the 3 speed limit on their turf, and even the Korx are throwing their weight around a bit (which I have NEVER observed before).

It is making for a more interesting game,  with races that aren't usually a factor being major players, and has put a bigger emphasis on diplomacy, but looking at the big red blob on the galaxy map and seeing the red lines on the stats pages going more and more vertical I'm starting to think that I've bitten off more than I could chew. And of course the alliance of the good and neutral races that pops up whenever I'm as evil and dominant as the Drengin are is nowhere to be seen...

So, if you want a simple way to get a more interesting/challenging game by toughening up the AI, that's my two pennies worth