I've noticed that teamsters, and other workers, walk slower over sand. I've also noticed that teamsters sometimes dump their loads rather then complete the journey to the dock. Tourists, and non-workers don't slow down walking over sand. Workers also slow down a bit walking up steep hills.
Some of this has been explained by a description of "Road Effects."
"Movement along a road is about 10% to 30% faster, with the smallest improvement on terrain that is naturally fast (dirt), medium improvement on mid-speed terrain (grass) and the largest improvement on the slowest terrain (rock, beaches [sand], mine tiles [squares])."http://www.the-nextlevel.com/tropico/cafe/index.php?topic=9134.msg185787#msg185787So, yes -- movement is effected by terrain type and by changes in elevation (covered in another discussion I can't locate as quickly). Tourists may indeed not be subject to the movement algorithm, however I am skeptical about "non-workers" because I don't know who they are.
Loggers generally seem to get better over time, this may have something to do with the education factor. Selecting industrious as a character trait is supposed to increase worker productivity. Selecting education and issuing the education decree is supposed to enable your people to learn faster and thus be more productive.
Yes, indeed. The personal skill bar and the general climate of education are linked. As the manual says, "Workers earn skill in their occupations. ... The longer they work in a job, the more skill they develop." The "Literacy Decree" is only one of a number of ways to speed increases in the "Skill Bar." A TV Station set to "Learning With Larry" has a significant impact; there are also the various Dictator Traits.
As for whacks per tree, I think it has more to do with distance and time. Each logging camp, with full employment, produces a specific amount per month. If you choose "selected harvest" then each logger travels further so production drops slightly.
There are actually two AIs at work here, one AI runs the animation and one calculates results. So each graphic sprite works independently but the overall result is calculated and displayed independent of what the sprite is doing on your screen.
So, the AI calculates how many logs are to show up as being ready to go, but the graphics AI is still running the program showing the animation. When your game AI cycles back to the animation, it "catches up", which means, the faster your computer is, the less likely you'll see seemingly weird things.
It sounds weird, but if you remember that every animation and animated figure on your screen is a small program and that your computer's CPU has to give equal time to each, then you'll realise just how fabulous games like Tropico really are!
That's a nice reminder of how advanced
Tropico was for its time - when programmers could do interesting things without demanding a $4,000 machine to run a $40 game.
BTW, the Teamsters who fail to make it to the dock have a "Rest Bar" that is not only fully red, but has been so for too long.
