Tried playing on emperor difficulty on small and standard maps. Tried maybe 4 consecutive games and my god the AI is breathing down your neck and if you dont expand enough early its basically GG.

Right now I've elected to play standard with 2 bots removed (5 bots and me) and so far it's at least a healthier early - mid game. Am I "cheating" and refusing to get good?

Edit: obviously I dont think manipulating the settings is actually cheating. I'm actively trying to get better at the game and wondering what difficulty levels are even feasible and whatnot

Also, I've mostly been exploring the game by playing random civs (rerolling if i get one that I played before) just to experience the game slowly with lots of novelty.