Quick questions about downloads

You can download the full 1.4x update in the downloads section of this site.
I saved mine in c:\updates\galciv2\1.4, but you can decide where you want to stash it on your hard drive.

I don't use SDC if I can help it. The downloads are too often corrupted in one way or another. But if you want the very latest incremental updates SDC is the only place to get it.

1. Do I really need stardock central? What's the point to it?

It allows you to get incremental updates (saving the download of the entire standalone patch from 1.0 each time it is updated), and to get non-final versions which we sometimes put up ahead of the final release. It is also the only way to download the entire game (not just the patches, the whole thing!) and the beta of Dark Avatar for those who preordered that.

2. Where do I save 1.4?

It shouldn't matter--just run it from wherever you put it when it's done.