Very good thread TMIT, thanks. Some things a bit different, which I find help speed up CIV BtS:
Auto-Airlift
This does work fairly well for Missionaries. Maybe Corp Execs too, dunno, don't use 'em. You must have "Ms & CEs start automated" selected in Options.
City Naming
If you're hoping/likely to end up with 20+ cities, it can help locating them if you give the later ones custom names. So eg one on the south of the east coast might be Miami, if you based your naming convention on the USA. Especially useful if there are a lot of event messages on screen, and with the BUG whip aid below.
Advanced Start
If you get tired of the slow early game, select this in the Custom Game screen. The "starting points" setting determines how much of the game you can pre-set before beginning play. Want 6 cities and all the first X techs? Give yourself enough points.
Advanced Start is also useful for testing a bunch of mid-game ideas.
Enlarge the Event Log
Civ on-screen messages are more hindrance than help imo, so I open the message log and drag it so every message is on one line only. Learn the colors of the messages you're interested in, and make it your first stop in a new turn when you need info.
BUG Mod
Mentioned a few times already, very useful imo. Examples:
-With Event Log, know when whip becomes available in any city [this really speeds the early game while you're in Slavery];
-Show only healthy units [great for quickly splitting your stack--healthy move on, rest remain to heal]
F1 City Screen + BUG
I use this a lot later in game, when I usually have dozens of cities, customized via BUG mod. It's especially useful when something new becomes available which I want asap. Eg I usually play Production Economy, so the Levee and Coal Plant time is a biggie--but you can't queue Coal Plants until Factories are built.
F1, sort by power icon = nice list of all cities without Coal Plants--why aren't some building factories?
F1, sort by base hammers = nice list of candidates to build Thrusters.
I've gotten used to using the BUG F1 to manage a lot of my multi-city stuff. Set it up with what you want to see [add/delete columns]. If you like that main city screen, you should also check out the ~15 sub-city screens which focus on one thing, eg religion, trade, etc--very useful for quick check of how many more Missionaries you need.
BUG Alt-M Messages
Alt-M = message popup to type reminder + how many turns later to display. I use it mainly to flag the end of a Golden Age to remind me to change civics, and also to flag when to cancel demanded trade deals like "Give us Clam, or else..."
Could also be useful for things you regularly miss--eg Optics in, time to upgrade a couple of Triremes to Caravels; or that city has now popped, take the citizen off Artist. Anything which reduces the "Is there anything I'm forgetting?" worry will speed you up.
Direct-load your saved game
[Iirc, you need movies switched off for this to work]
My BtS desktop icon has the target...
"C:\Blah\Saves\single\quick\QuickSave.CivBeyondSwordSave"
...where "blah" is the path to my saves. The "quick\QuickSave" bit is the key. If you press Shift-F5 when you quit your game, that overwrites the one QuickSave game CIV tracks. The icon target above is the same as pressing Shift-F8 in-game, ie it loads your last QuickSave.
Of course, not much use to those who have used TMIT's tips to play a game in one session
Build Research or Wealth
Yes, inefficient usually, but often more effective. If you don't want to mess with the output of dozens of cities, take the easy way out.
Auto-Manage later cities
I usually carefully manage my first 5-6 cities, pay attention to my next 5-6, and set later on auto. "Auto" means using the # trick [recorded production queue], which finishes with Research [or Wealth], and then using F1 sort to Ctrl-click anything new [eg Supermarket, Public Transport etc]
Worker(s) on auto-Network
As soon as you can spare an early Worker, select him and press "N". Then forget about roads. Use a regular Worker to hook up anything important quickly, of course, and tailor to Barb and enemy status.
Production Economy
When the map suits [plenty food], I find this easier to play than CE or SE. To reduce tedium, it's the only economy I play now, even if it doesn't suit the map--I prefer to quit and start a new game rather than messing with SE micro. No cottages, farms only for food specials and irrigation. All others mines or workshops.
Techs: Maths, Metal Cast, Guilds, Civil Service, Chemistry, Steam, Assembly Line.
Civics: Rep, Bureau, Slave > Caste, Merc > State Prop / Env, Org Rel > Pacifism > Free Rel.
Leaders: Expansive for health, Industrious for Forge + Wonders, Japan for Shale Plant, Spiritual for switching into brief Slavery spells later on. My favs are Bismark, Rameses and Tokugawa.
Wonders: Pyramids, Maus of Mous, Hang Gard, Notre Dame [so Emancipation hurts less], Stat of Lib if decent landmass, Gt Lighthouse if watery.
TMIT's tips re using the Governors and auto-Workers could be tailor made for this kind of game, I must give it a shot. Unless Civ5 is less tedious, here's hoping