I just finished my spreadsheet detailing the tech advances, national wonders, world wonders, normal buildings, special buildings and religions to aim for to accomplish that ever-elusive Cultural Victory. Damn. I was only about 3000 points shy in one city the last time.
Between Civs 1-4, different versions and add-ons, plus mapping tech trees, filling in spreadsheets and calculating AI algorithms I have easily dedicated a full year of my life to the series. What a monumental time sink this series is. And it's worth every god-damned second.
Raban, if you haven't played this game yet, you are easily missing out on one of the masterpieces of gaming, period. Bar none, etc, etc. Saying you're a gamer without having played this gem is like going to the Louvre and neglecting La Gioconda.