I found the

eb-speedup-x2 mod helps a lot

it seems to have cut down the end of turn waiting by half.

Many thanks

****

1. The slave faction is an umbrella faction and covers all non-playable factions in the game. This means that if you attack one rebel province all rebel provinces are at war with you, as they all share the same diplomacy. This is hardcoded and nothing can be done.

This is a shame....but understandable.

2. Script work could probably do something with this, but I'm not sure and it wouldn't be a very good representation either. Again, hardcodes get in the way.

Can you explain why it wouldnt be?

3. Can be done sometimes. If a province rebels from its faction owner it can join your faction (if your faction is the culture creator).

Not those allied to another faction except the non playable factions.

Gameplay
1. To make the loading of the game faster, RAM is the must another 512MB of ram should make it faster. For campaign turns to go faster you will really need a far heftier graphics card (don't ask why!). I have a Geforce 6600 256mb and my turns take about 30 secs.

Ive just ordered a load of ram and a better video card. Will see if there is any incremental improvement from these later today. :)