Yes, 1.29F does alot, though mostly to the editor. Commerical got improved, with a commeric bonus in citys/metropolis, and 125% optimal citys instead of 112.5%.(affecting corruption) The editor is quite good but you still can't do events/scripting/set diplomacy. So right now even with all the options making mods not scenarios is about how far you'll go. Till Play the World comes out with more for the editor(hopefully). Anyway, heres the link for the patch download/change log.
http://www.firaxis.com/downloads_detail.cfm?file_id=58
Tech has been made more useful in this also, with default tech costs rising, and AI valueing tech more, so that you shouldn't be going into modern ages that early anymore. And yeah, I like Civ3 just a bit, follow it alot on a Civ3 fan site. Glad to hear no-cd exe is coming to GCW though, Civ3 is probably the only game i've got where I woulda worn out the cd by now with how much i've played it.