No "cheat" is necessary. Something changed with the FOW in .295 that impacted the area visible at the start of the game. Before Beta 1G this wasn't an issue. There was a comment from one of the Devs that they did, indeed change how FOW is handledl; to accomodate multi-player.
As to how big the visible area should be around a sovreign at the start of the game... I think 2 hexes / squares would be perfect. Right now there are things that are right next to the sovreign that don't show up until you move onto the hex.