Several questions about multiplayer

[Narnia]

I have several questions.
1. How do I find out what version of a game I have?
2. Where is the best place to find the official patches for the game? I'm assuming that the best place is somewhere on Civfanatics but I'm not sure where.
3. How long does a typical game take with two or three players and several AIs? (Note: none of the players are very good)
4. Can I use pitboss for vanilla or is it only for bTs?
5. What map and how many AIs are recomended for a multiplayer game if you don't have very many human players?
6. My version of Vanilla came with my copy of civ4 complete. My friends however got their games years ago and I don't think that theirs are pre-patched but mine is. Is there a way to de-patch my game if they don't want to patch theirs?
Thank you very much.

 

[Narnia]

I forgot to ask, assuming that you can use pitboss on vanilla, can I set the turn timer so that the turn lengths change at different times of the day, i.e. turns end every 15mins from 3PM to 4PM but the next turn after 4PM isn't available until the next day so that people can get 6 or 7 turns done each day without spending all day playing civ?
Also, when using pitboss, do I take my turn, then my friend takes his turn, then I take my next turn, etc or is it the simultaneous turns I keep hearing about or do we choose which one we would prefer?

 

[2metraninja]

Also, when using pitboss, do I take my turn, then my friend takes his turn, then I take my next turn, etc or is it the simultaneous turns I keep hearing about or do we choose which one we would prefer?

This depends how you set it in the game preferences - the standard is simultaneous turns.

can I set the turn timer so that the turn lengths change at different times of the day, i.e. turns end every 15mins from 3PM to 4PM but the next turn after 4PM isn't available until the next day so that people can get 6 or 7 turns done each day without spending all day playing civ?

Thats easy - no need to adjust timer. The turn automatically ends when all the players finish their turn and then the turn switches and this way you can make 10 turns in one afternoon.