To automate settlers/engineeers or not?

All you GOTM medal (and high scorers - do you ever automate settlers? If so, underwhat circumstances?

It can be real boring to micromanage the settlers/engineers, but if I don't they seem to start gathering in multiples and doing nothing. Or building roads were you don't want them.

Is there a good stratagy for dealing with this?

RJP

[allan]

Nope... not in CivII (I hope III might be better for this, or you can give them a "to do" checklist or something).

Besides, as the saying goes: "if ya wanna get the job done right, ya gotta do it yourself".... True in most situations (that is, if you know what you're doing).

What allan said,

and if you check the orders of the automated settlers that seem to be
doing nothing, you will most likely find they have decided to "Goto" a remote
square. As for why settlers stop moving we thought we heard that it was a flaw
in the software. Why settlers decide to travel away from the city is a mystery to us.

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TTFNFm & MTFBWY moof

" Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity,

and I'm not sure about the former. " - Albert Einstein

Auto settler is only usefull for one thing in my opinion, irrigating squares that are far away from a water supply. Otherwise I think they're crap. I hate when I'm trying to get a square irrigated by using this trick, just to find the settler moving away form the city,

[Kefka]

NO
Automating your settlers and engeniers is like deciding beforehand for them to be retards!
oK yOU yOU aND yOU wILL bE sMART aND yOU bUILD iRRAGATION aND sTAND aROUND fOR tEN tURN aND yOU wANDER uP aND dOWN mY rAILROADS eIGHTY tIMES. aND yOU tHREE gO sPIN aROUND iN a cIRCLE aND wANDER yOUR sTUPID aSS iN tO eNEMY tERITTORY aND bUILD rOADS aND iRRAGATTION fOR tHEM uNTILL tHEY kILL yOU aND mAKE mE rETTALIATE fOR kILLING mY rETARDS!
oK tHIS hAS bEEN tHE fOUTH aNNUAL mETTING oF aLL tHE aUTOMATTED eNGENERS!
nOW lETS sING oUR sONG.
i aM dUM i AM a uM dUM aND.......wHAT!
oK tHAT cONCLUDES oUR mETTING.
BREAK!


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<IMG SRC="http://www.grworld.com/vanillacubesgames/files/kefka.gif" border=0>"Why Create things when you know they must be destroyed!"
"I will Create A monument to nothingness!"
good smilies at http://www.plauder-smilies.de/

[goodbye_mr_bond]

I sometimes use that function in small islands where I only have a couple of cities. That way they can't get into to much trouble, and I just check on what they're up to every few turns.

But yeah, let's hope that's one of the things Firaxis looked at for civ3.

[allan]

Hey, it's the same "intelligence" that that domestic advisor has when he tells you you should build a wonder like Hoover Dam in a low-shield, new size-two city, right after you've built the marketplace.... Or an SDI when no one but you is anywhere NEAR nukes, and you haven't built Manhattan....

Is it stupidity, or an AI plot against the naive?

[Az]

Automated Settlers are soooooo stupid!

They waste turns, transform grassland to plains, irrigate a hill with a ressource on it, etc...

NEVER AUTOMATE SETTLERS IN CIV II

allan:

I hope III might be better for this, or you can give them a "to do" checklist or something.

that would be great...

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<IMG SRC="http://www.virtuallandmedia.com/img2/flags-4/europe/FRA.GIF" border=0><IMG SRC="http://jeansebaste.multimania.com/fonttwister/Azz.gif" border=0> <IMG SRC="http://www.virtuallandmedia.com/img2/flags-4/europe/GRE.GIF" border=0>

[allan]

Simply put, when you let the AI do ANYTHING for you, you put yourself on a level with those stupid AI civs, rather than exploit your natural human advantage.... And who'd want to do THAT?!?

If you find managing large civs too tedious (and I know it can be sometimes, in late game), then practice playing with smaller civs--you can still win, and the game goes much faster. (I have yet to try an OCC though--I have to get myself a printer to print out the detailed guide provided on this forum, because it seems in OCC you got to get everything exactly right.)

[Duke of Marlbrough]

Automated settlers is the biggest waste of an option in the game. They build stuff you never would have done otherwise (notice how many fortificatiosn the AI has around its cities?).

They will travel across the map to try and build a road somewhere rather than improve the city it is near.

Just take the extra bit of time and give them your own orders. I admit that later in the game I don't check to see what would be more beneficial, I just build a road, then irrigate or mine, then railroad if it adds to the production. Keep it simple and you can fly through the hundreds of engineers pretty quickly.

Speaking of engineers not getting it, maybe this is an inherent trait,
We offer the following incident as evidence:

Two engineering students were walking across campus when one said,
"Where did you get such a great bike?"
The second engineer replied,
"Well, I was walking along yesterday minding my own business when
a beautiful woman rode up on this bike. She threw the bike to the ground,
took off all her clothes and said, Take what you want."
The second engineer nodded approvingly,

Good choice; the clothes probably wouldn't have fit."

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TTFNFm & MTFBWY moof

" Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity,

and I'm not sure about the former. " - Albert Einstein

Thanks for the responses. I guess I had hoped for a magic answer but back to micromanaging. The one thing I do is to put one of those engineers to sleep in (or near) a city that is prone to frequent polution. It's easier to ring his bell than find and interupt one on it's coffee break.

As to the engineeer on the bicycle - If he were a civ II engineer on auto, he would have put the clothes on, and called his friends over to show them off.

RJP

RJP,

LOL , now that is funny, also sad & true but mostly very funny!

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TTFNFm & MTFBWY moof

" Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity,

and I'm not sure about the former. " - Albert Einstein

[drake]

Auto anything defeats the purpose of the game IMO.

What next? Auto build the civilization and auto win?

[starlifter]

by Chofritz, posted August 25, 2001 05:45 PM
Auto settler is only usefull for one thing in my opinion, irrigating squares that are far away from a water supply.

That's the only useful purpose I can find for automating a settler. Just don't forget to check back as it finished it's job. BTW, Auto settler will also found cities for you... without your permission.

The Auto settler will, in essense, do for you exactly what it does for the AI, including city "planning", LOL !