About terraforming benefits

[Blackavar]

There seem to be a lot of things in the game that increase
terraforming times. The WP halves terraforming time across
the board - fungicidal tanks halves the time to remove fungus.
Super formers double the rate, again!

Are these things cumulative?

I know that the WP doesn't affect fungus-killing times, and there
is the explanation for fungicidal tanks right there. But does a
fungicidal superformer with the WP get a x4 time benefit or a
x2 on it's tasks?

[Avenoct]

[Edit: Thanks MariOne]

Keep in mind that 50% better terraforming time (WP) isn't the same as X2 or twice the speed. For example, a borehole would ordinarily take 24 turns, but with the WP it takes 16, or 2/3 the time. But, they are cumulative.

-Smack

[MariOne]

Correct observation Smack, wrong figures.
The WP increases the former "speed" by 50%
This mean a WP former makes 3/2 the work of a normal one.
This means the time it takes to complete a TF task is 2/3, or 66% of the normal one, NOT 3/4.

If you actually check the reak figures in a real example, you'll see that a WP former can complete a BH in 16 turns, not 18. QED

So, a WP SuperFormer has a speed of 3, and the time required for his tasks will be 1/3rd, or 33%, i.e. 8 turns for a BH.

Also note that a non-WP SuperFormer is faster than a WP normal Former.

About Fungus, you correctly report that WP has no effects on FungiForming. Superformer ability does instead apply to FungiForming too.
As Smack says, the benefits of Super- and Fungi- are cumulative.
Actually, as the cleaning of any patch of fungus takes 6 turns of terraforming work, a normal Former will take 6 turns, while either a FungiFormer OR a SuperFormer will take 6/2=3turns.
A SuperFungiFormer instead will have a speed of 4 (on fungus), that is it will perform 4 turn-equivalents of FungiForming tasks in one turn.
His power is partly wasted, as 6/4=1.5 turns, and as they're rounded up (i.e. partial work tallied each turn), it will take 2 turns, as if its speed were of 3.

Look at it this way tho:
to clean Fungus you need 3x speed-2 Formers (Super-OR-Fungi) to clean a patch in one turn.
If you use SuperFungiFormers, you will need two of them (investing 8 turns of FungiForming capability where 6 are needed).
But knowing the actual speeds of the various Formers, you can clean a Fungus Patch in one turn without wastes of FungiForming potential, using 1 SuperFungiFormer coupled with 1 either-Fungi-OR-Super Former.

[MariOne]

PS: Blackavar, feel free to ask, I also still ask something when I have little time to test things on my own, or simply when I want to compare my observations with others or get advice from them.

If you wanna get the satisfaction to provide someone else with info he requested and YOU found out, consider this:
- start a basic game
- hit Ctrl+K, Yes
- Ctrl+F2
- add AEE, Ecology (if you didn't pick Gaia), Fuels, Grafting (for the double ability)
- hit U, design a SuperFungiFormer
- Shift+F1 on a fungus patch to add the designed former.
- F to start its task, and look the needed turns in the unit box.
This took me 2 minutes (on the timewatch, with a PII 333) to complete.

Faster than waiting our replies, ain't it? (of course if you had SMAC installed on the PC you were posting from...)

[Blackavar]

Ho-hum

Actually, I don't.

I'm experimenting with faction design without the benefit of SMAC installed right now, and will be testing my ideas soon enough.
The terraforming benefits question is in regards to an anti-Gaian
faction I'm contemplating - as huge terraforming benefits as I can
manage to create versus massive Planet SE disadvantages. Their agenda is not to live with Planet's ecosystem, but to tear it up and recreate the Terran one.. a builder type faction, definately.