Regarding level: I played this game to death, but that is 3 years ago. So my skill level isn't that high anymore. I am willing to play trandcend, but then I like a good discussion on how to proceed. I even don't know how to MM properly anymore, I assume that it is different than in CIV3
.
I'd say:
-large or huge random map
-standard settings
-native activity: normal or abundant
-AI respawn off
-self research ON