With all the play improvements in Gal Civ IV, many things are smoother. That, of course means that whatever is less smooth now stands out. For me, the trading screen now feels like where I spend a lot of uninteresting time. Trading is really valuable, so skipping doesn't feel like an option at high levels. But it feels like a grind to go through each other civ and get to a good deal.

There are at least a couple of places where I'm having to make boring clicks. The biggest one is because often, when trading for a resource, the first one is fairly expensive, then you can get a bunch more for only a little bit more, until you hit a limit, and then the next one costs a lot more. So to get even close to the most resource for what I am offering, I end up asking for more of a resource, one at a time, until I suddenly see the trade bar move a lot, and then I back up one. There is no skill here, just tedium. It would be great if, for example, there were a "fast forward" button that set the resource level to the amount just before the price goes up a lot.

The other grind is clicking on the cash button. If I want the most cash, I also have to increment the amount a few times as well. I don't mind those increments so much, as you can get a good deal without them. But even having to click on the cash button at all seems unnecessary. It would seem smoother to see a running display of the cash the civ is willing to offer you on top of everything else you are getting, and to automatically get that when you complete a deal.

It would also be useful to have the trade button indicate, somehow, when any civs are available to trade with. I end up clicking on the button periodically and clicking on a civ to see if enough time has gone by that it will trade with me.