LOL. If you wonder why I.F. has so many Posts, it is because it argues against not just those who are disagreeing with it but also with its supporters. ...I.F. is an it instead of he because no human being could have its breadth of knowledge--even if most of that knowledge is just plain wrong.
Regarding the problem with the cultural victory in Gal Civ: Each time you reload the game, it has to re-calculate your influence. The developers said they could have saved that piece of info as well. But it would have increased the time required to save your game. So, they left it as is.
The AI in Gal Civ is pretty good. I'm the type of person who prefers to play on my own timetable against only the computer. This is a very strong, strong preference on my part. Let me just say that the gameplay in SEIV is so much more satisfying than Gal Civ that I'm about to set Gal Civ aside and cautiously brave the waters of SEIV PBW.