Game Speed: What effect do the different speed settings have on the game?

The game speeds, in general, do exactly what they say: Normal speed makes the game progress approximately twice as fast as 1/2 speed, and 2X speed is twice as fast as normal speed. There are, however, some things to keep in mind that affect how the game operates.

One of the interesting things about Virtual Villagers, that differs from most games, is that what happens when the game is actually running can be very different from what happens when the game is off. When the game has been off for a period of time, the game state is updated at game launch, and the game speed setting becomes an important factor, due to the world-state calculations that are being performed "behind the scenes." When the game is actually running, however, the game speed setting has little or no effect on the villagers' work. They do their jobs and produce tech points, food, etc. at whatever rate their movements allow. During that time, the game speed setting affects only calculated values, such as the time it takes to nurse babies, how fast the villagers age, and (to a degree) their food consumption.