[Bowlingballhead]

1) ...technically, yes. It's the option 'Map Editor' from the first screen. However, it's a wee bit buggy/technical. You already have to have made the map as a 24-bit .tga file (I believe there's a readme file in the game directory somewhere discussing this) and have made a .map file (it's a text file) with at least the basic coding that points out what .tga file it's supposed to be linked to. And the .tga file had better have no white on it except the single pixels used to identify the center of each province.

2) Me, I watch them frequently. Maybe somebody who's played the game a long, long time would stop watching them, but they can be very educational, telling you what works how, and allowing you to refine your strategies.

3) That one you'll have to ask somebody else.

4) I like real-time, personally, but I like playing games like this with people I already know. It's just my thing. I think I've seen Posts on this board advertising PBEMs.