For those of you willing to play with my personal build off my machine where I test different AI strategies and performance tweaks, you're welcome to try out what i have.
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/8051911/GalCiv3101frog.zip
This is the 1.01frog build. If you play MP, don't bother with this as it will prevent you from playing MP. Make sure you backup your existing galciv3.exe as I have no idea whether this even works with the current Steam build or not.
What's different:
+ Should be substantially faster especially on larger maps
+ Should run better on lower end systems
+ AI should be substantially smarter.
+ Slightly smoother animations
Note: Only tested on one machine. Mine. At home. On Memorial Day. 