How do you do workers?

[gormtheold]

I used to play Civ 3 many years ago and I was fair at it (could win at monarch but I didn't like how aggressive you had to be so I usually played Regent). Until recently I didn't even have a computer that would run civ4 without all sorts of stuttering and stops. I am now overjoyed that the great rush to expansion that I didn't particularly like in Civ 3 is unnecessary. My first few games were doomed because I didn't know that wasn't the thing any more (like the chariots in Civ I). Now I'm attempting to learn how to at least play it respectable (if I get to whatever prince or regent is in this one, Noble? I'll be overjoyed). .

So I thought I'd start off my first post in four years with a really stupid question. Do you save squares for workers to build things that only come later like workshops or windmills, or do you knock down the stuff that's there already? Or can you build such things and still have towns and farms and mines and stuff. This is probably in the manual, but I haven't been able to find it and maybe it's such a simple-minded thing, that they figure everybody should know.

 

[DaveMcW]

I pick 12 squares that I can use for ancient resources/farms/mines/cottages.

After the industrial revolution I decide what to put on the other 8 squares.

I only replace improvements in highly specialized cities with national wonders.

 

[VoiceOfUnreason]

1) one yield improvement at a time on any given tile.

2) While worker-turns are a commodity to be economized, there are a number of circumstances where replacing one kind of improvement with another is appropriate. Typically, this is driven as discovered technologies change the yields of tiles, but that's not the only possible motivation....

 

[gormtheold]

Thank you, both (and to others who may weight in). Sigh, I figured it might be something you had to decide on according to circumstances. After Civs 1, 2, and 3 where one size rather fit all, this is going to be something new.

 

[Polobo]

The major choices you end up facing is how to use riverside tiles and whether to mine or windmill your hills. The mine/windmill situation isn't that bad since either you need food or you don't (of course, mid-late game the commerce benefit is respectable on its own). Riversides, however, are a common place to put cottages since you are going to work that cottage as much as possible and thus always get the extra commerce. However, towns are the one improvement that it really hurts to destroy since you have to spend all those turns to get one again.

Normally I'll place only a couple of early cottages riverside to get the boost when it contributes significantly to your total commerce income. As time goes on and I place more cottage I'll keep them away from rivers and chain irrigation areas, instead leaving those for farms. Later, if I need more production or have less need for food (post-biology/corporations) I can build watermills and workshops over those farms.

 

[Silence101]

I generally don't replace old improvements with new ones. If I know I'm going to build a watermill somewhere, I'll usually leave the space undeveloped until watermills are available. (There's usually other things my workers could be doing.) I can't say that I never take old improvements in favor of new ones though - I probably do it a couple times every game... but it's not that common.

In my current game, when I discovered iron working, the only iron resource in my civ was under a developed town - that kinda hurt to have to take it down.

 

[hecubus]

2) While worker-turns are a commodity to be economized, there are a number of circumstances where replacing one kind of improvement with another is appropriate. Typically, this is driven as discovered technologies change the yields of tiles, but that's not the only possible motivation....

Indeed, a prime example I can think of are river side tiles with a calenar resource. If you have workers available, throw a farm on them. If it's a food resource like bananas, it's still a step up from a regular grassland farm. If it's something like spices, you'll get some extra commerce out of working the tile. When you get calendar, put up the plantation and keep right on working it.

 

[ParadigmShifter]

Yeah, that works for grapes before monarchy as well.

EDIT: And I've seen people mine pigs as well, especially if they have more than 1 or haven't researched animal husbandry.

In my last culture win, I had a cottage legendary city that even DaveMcW would have been proud of. It had a cottage on every grassland hill and grassland pigs had their own cottage too Of course, these improvements came late on after I had built the culture buildings and was running a high culture slider.

 

[Gooblah]

I have 3 main goals with my Workers:
1) Have 1-2 Workers focusing on each city. Improvements come online quicker and land in the fat cross is improved faster.

2) Build Improvements to get Resources. If there's an Iron, Mine it. If there are Cows, Pasturize them. Unless the resource will provide a greater benefit with a different improvement (like a Pigs/Hill should be Mined), make the Improvement Resource-specific.

3) Create transportation networks. Build Roads/Railroads on every possible square to get Units to where they have to go faster. Connect resources via road, coast, or river (or all three if preferable).

 

[The Rook]

Personally I feel that there is no crime in replacing improvements, if the replacement offers a more useful yield. Whilst it seems intuitive that replacement would waste time, in practice, the busyness of workers varies at different points of the game. There may even be times where you struggle to find something really useful for them to do.

So long as your city network is robust, your citizens are always working the best tiles available, and all resources are connected, why bother about how many times you replace an improvement?

 

[ParadigmShifter]

Who are you, spokesman for the AI automated workers union or something?

 

[bhavv]

If you have a banana, but dont have calendar yet, you may as well put a farm on it and get some extra food off the tile untill you reach calendar.

Every little economic advantage helps. If its something like dyes or silk, put a cottage on it because when you upgrade to a plantation you dont lose any commerce as you would with a banana.

 

[The Rook]

LOL@ParadigmShifter

At first, I wondered what you meant, but rereading my post it could virtually read as an account of an experienced AI worker.

Quite humiliating really, as I have always criticised the use of automated workers. Perhaps I should just set the game on autopilot, and let the AI do what it does best... village ...workshop ...cottage ....workshop ...cottage ...workshop ...cottage...

 

[vicawoo]

I rarely see bananas next to river. Sugar, though is more common.

 

[ParadigmShifter]

The Rook: I was hoping my post wouldn't cause offence, but that's what it sounded like to me as well

You are missing a key stage in life of the AI workers though, getting enslaved by my units.

EDIT: I rarely see bananas on rivers as well.

 

[bhavv]

I never actually use workshops, but I guess they would work in a city with no hills.

 

[ParadigmShifter]

Workshops + state property + next to river + ironworks = teh win.

 

[OTAKUjbski]

Workshops + state property + next to river + ironworks = teh win.

+ Caste System

 

[ParadigmShifter]

I've still not got round my head that caste gives extra production from workshops, only had BtS 2 weeks. I'll learn though.

 

[CliftonBazaar]

Note that in the 'options' you can ask the workers to leave old improvements alone. When you do need them changed I usually grab a few workers and do it myself.

As for automated I manually do workers until about 500BC and then automate them - I usually have wars to manage at that time