Making a scenario, what bugs do I need to watch out for?

[ete]

For my AAR I'm going to spend a fair amount of time customizing a game and have heard about various bugs/issues (.ini messing up graphics, something about difficulty resetting for factions after the first). I've found http://www.civgaming.net/wiki/index.php/The_Scenario_Editor which has lots of details, but it'd help to have someone go over a list of what to do and what not to do, especially if those conflict with the instructions in Googlie's guide.

I'm going to want to edit the terrain a lot as well as creating bases with high level SPs for my opponents from the start, more details on the plans for the AAR/scenario can be found here.

Particularly I want to know:

Should I start from a normal random map activate scenario editor and arrange things, or should I go Scenarios -> Create Scenario, and why?

How do I avoid the difficulty resetting thing?

Does Reset all factions reload everything about the factions from the text files, allowing me to tweak text files after initially making the map?

[t_ras]

Particularly I want to know:

Should I start from a normal random map activate scenario editor and arrange things, or should I go Scenarios -> Create Scenario, and why?

Create scenario and in it create a random map and only then change -to avoid flooding

How do I avoid the difficulty resetting thing?

Force dificulty level for all players option

Does Reset all factions reload everything about the factions from the text files, allowing me to tweak text files after initially making the map?

I think only SE choises/set up

For the ini issues - no secret here. Just begin a gaim with the same factions you are planning to use in the relvent order and quit it. That will have your ini file seted up properly.

I think the guide you chose is good enough.

[sisko]

the alpha.txt / alphax.txt is the only thing you cannot reload after starting the scenario, which is quite a pain..

[ete]

Okay, thanks

[ete]

Having some trouble getting the AI to expand, even if I set the Governors to on and tell them to only make colony pods quite often some of the AI just fill up their minerals with scout patrols. What ways are there beyond governors to get the AI to expand and make formers properly?

Giving them a load of Colony Pods and Formers at the start does work, but it's not ideal.

[Geo]

Had that once too with one faction in a small map scenario I was making. Couldn't find a way to let it expand.