make it so that games aren't functionally over and therefore boring by the halfway point

The way I 'fix' this is to crank the difficulty so I'm behind for as long as possible while still having a chance of winning in the late eras. I loose plenty of late games, but that's what makes it an honest challenge.

I think a lot of people are used to playing with settings that allow them to comfortably win as long as they survive the early game.