Why do workers JUST STOP WORKING?

Sherlock

Just one more turn...
Joined
Apr 12, 2009
Messages
1,347
Location
Eagle, Idaho
I tell a worker to build a plantation. They start building. I come back a few turns later they're just standing there.

This is not an uncommon occurrence with whatever I have them build. (Except for roads. They always finish roads).

I've started going to the unit list and checking my workers every turn to make sure they aren't goofing off.

Frustrating.
 
It takes several turns to complete any improvement.
On Epic speed with Liberty it takes about 8 turns to build a platantion; about 12 if there is forest there that it has to chop.

The worker will stop and ask for orders if barb units come nearby. (3 hexes?). It will do that after you hit end turn; and as soon as you give it an order the turn will really end.
 
If an enemy unit passes into the Worker's "view," and then continues back out of it, the Worker will stop working. That is to say, the Worker stops as soon as it sees danger - even if the danger immediately passes. This can all happen in the AI phase of a turn, even if you, yourself, do not see it.
 
I tell a worker to build a plantation. They start building. I come back a few turns later they're just standing there.

This is not an uncommon occurrence with whatever I have them build. (Except for roads. They always finish roads).

I've started going to the unit list and checking my workers every turn to make sure they aren't goofing off.

Frustrating.
I think you're misinterpreting the fact that your workers don't "work" at the beginning of the turn. If you tell them to build something that takes 8 turns, they will immediately do one turn of "work" when you issue the order, then will do one turn of "work" after you end your turn each turn until the improvement is complete.
 
yeah, i think they get "scared" when they see enemy/barbarians and freeze in place

if i was a slave and a barbarian showed up over there, i'd probably stop working too

probably hope my master would move me away or kill the threat and put me back to work

otherwise i might get captured and spend the rest of the game in a barbarian encampment or get deleted by the enemy or just simply captured and taken away to someone else's civ and put to work

i suppose i wouldnt care who i slave for, i would certainly hate the long walk to another civ

if i were to get deleted by an enemy civ, will i dream ?
 
Well this answer something I've wondered about for a long while.

Good to know, now when I see the workers goofing off I'll sent out some archers.
 
If an enemy unit passes into the Worker's "view," and then continues back out of it, the Worker will stop working. That is to say, the Worker stops as soon as it sees danger - even if the danger immediately passes. This can all happen in the AI phase of a turn, even if you, yourself, do not see it.

I just wish they could do this consistently...can't count how often my workers see an enemy unit which cannot reach them at all, yet they stop working. But at other times, a barbarian stops in range of a worker, and they will NOT stop working, so I have to remember to move them :/
 
I wish there was an option in menu "workers will work no matter what". At the beginning of the game it is very annoying. Usually I build one more military unit to "protect" my worker, who is afraid of this barbarian archer 6 tiles away, behind the mountain on another island :)
 
I wish there was an option in menu "workers will work no matter what". At the beginning of the game it is very annoying. Usually I build one more military unit to "protect" my worker, who is afraid of this barbarian archer 6 tiles away, behind the mountain on another island :)

This.
Plus a "don't show me that barb galley attacking a CS pikeman for 300 turns" option.
 
It's incredibly frustrating. It should be possible to either turn it off altogether or set it so that workers only freak out if the enemy unit will be able to get to them next turn. I swear it makes them take longer to finish construction jobs as well.

At the moment I have a worker building a mine who I have to keep giving orders to every turn, despite the fact that there's a MOUNTAIN RANGE between him and the enemy unit! What a wuss.
 
The '3 tiles away from a barb' thing is annoying, but it doesn't sound like it's what's happening here. If your worker is interrupted by a nearby unit, you have to give it orders. It doesn't just stop working without your knowledge for you to discover a few turns later. The answer that workers complete their action when you end your turn seems a more likely explanation here.
 
I know all about the stopping of workers if an enemy is near by, but can anyone answer me this. I have a city in the middle of my civ, that use to be a rival capitol which I conquered liked 500 turns ago. No enemies are within 50 hexes of the city and yet no automated workers will build within 3 hexes of the city. Workers I tell to build anything near the city stop every turn and ask for new orders and even combat units will stop mid-way while traveling to another destination if they pass by this city. I have tried updating, re-installing and yet the same thing. This has happened before with other cites in other games. So it's not a one time thing. Before in the past out of the blue the city that use to be an issue will stop being an issue. Any ideas?
 
Well this answer something I've wondered about for a long while.

Good to know, now when I see the workers goofing off I'll sent out some archers.

I often see workers halting work after clearing a forest or jungle, even though I originally told them to mine the tile or build a plantation, or whathaveyou. Not always, but often enough to be annoying. Sometimes there will be no halt and they will just keep on building or mining after they finish chopping- but sometimes they just stand there after finishing chopping down the trees, until I tell them to continue with the rest of the project.
 
A watched barbarcher 6-7 tiles away is enough to stop a worker EVERY FRIGGING TURN, while a barbwarrior just sets it off in 3 tiles.

When I have barbarchers around, I just forcework my workers every turn, until they're in danger, same with warriors.
 
I know all about the stopping of workers if an enemy is near by, but can anyone answer me this. I have a city in the middle of my civ, that use to be a rival capitol which I conquered liked 500 turns ago. No enemies are within 50 hexes of the city and yet no automated workers will build within 3 hexes of the city. Workers I tell to build anything near the city stop every turn and ask for new orders and even combat units will stop mid-way while traveling to another destination if they pass by this city. I have tried updating, re-installing and yet the same thing. This has happened before with other cites in other games. So it's not a one time thing. Before in the past out of the blue the city that use to be an issue will stop being an issue. Any ideas?

Are you playing the vanilla game?
I posted this bug to the bug forum a couple of weeks back.
If there is a City State nearby that you were once at war with, this will stop them working. All you can do is wipe out the offending CS.
I havn't played a proper full length game since the patch, the vanilla (Capture all cities) game has been ruined.
 
I have had this happen late in the game when no Barbarians are anywhere around. A particular worker on a particular project will stop every turn.
 
Yea, it`s a pain. It seems if you try to make them dig a road to a far location, they`ll stop at the slightest interference even if it`s well away from them. Sometimes I can`t even see what`s stopping them. Using the long road building ability is actually useless and leads to turn by turn micromanaging.

Apparently, the Hotfix just released might have fixed this.
 
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