Manually control ALL worker??? Really?

[Aramis]

i usually automate in the very start, if you do stuff manually first and automate them later they start replacing everything instead of filling in the empty land.
automateds to pretty good in the long run if you use it from the beginning...saves a lot of time too with the pollution and everything.
i use manual only when building road/rail networks, that can be done when most workers are still automated. then i let em road/rail the rest of the land.
automating after getting republic/monarchy is good, irrigation is pretty useless in despotism but they automated workers do it anyway.

 

[tjhooker]

Originally posted by Aramis
i usually automate in the very start, if you do stuff manually first and automate them later they start replacing everything instead of filling in the empty land.
automateds to pretty good in the long run if you use it from the beginning...saves a lot of time too with the pollution and everything. (...)

Well, if you use the shift A, that means they're automated but dont change anything.

In the beginning it's especially important to manually control them, so they dont go around irrigating and mining in places that dont need it right away.

 

[MadScot]

Yeah, second what TJH said. You only have one worker at the start, and what you work can be vital - a bunch of irrigated grasslands are going to get you nowhere at the start. Yet that's what the Ai gives you some of the time.

The cost/benefit ratio is hugely in favour of manual control for the first 100 turns or so; after that it's more a personal issue, but a good start is so important I can see no argument in favour of automation at that point.

 

[Kute]

I only tried the automated option once .
While i usually have 2-4 workers automatically working on jungle, and one conecting every luxury i usually wait untill late to do so. First is to aim for one type of every ressources.
I use shift-r, ctrl-r a lot too, but only if i have military unit at key locations near the (rail)road paths.

PS: Great site we have here, congrats to the community i never thought there were so much civ-fanatics around.

 

[RougeKing]

For Peter Harris or Sinapus

How do you set workers to
"automate no changes to improvements".

I don't mind automation, but I do not like the mines I need for production getting turned into rice patties.

 

[Arathorn]

I automate workers only under the following conditions, which must be met in their entirety:

- I own the entire landmass on which they will be working
- My entire core (productive, semi-productive, and not-quite-terminal) are all fully improved with forests chopped, jungles clear, RRs, etc.
- I have enough workers to automate some and leave others for my personal tweaking purposes
- I'm in a good enough situation that planting/chopping forests isn't necessary (or it's been done everywhere already)

Needless to say, the combination of all of these is pretty rare. One can never have enough workers, let alone too many.

I try to run around 50 for a standard-sized map....

Arathorn

 

[Bamspeedy]

Originally posted by RougeKing
For Peter Harris or Sinapus

How do you set workers to
"automate no changes to improvements".

I don't mind automation, but I do not like the mines I need for production getting turned into rice patties.

Shift-A

 

[TrailblazingScot]

I automate after about 20 workers more often than note...I'm just far too lazy and don't get my kicks from controlling workers.

 

[Justus II]

I rarely actually automate workers, but one feature I do like is the Shift-R (Road to) and Ctrl-Shift-R (Rail to). Especially at the beginning of Rail, I will take teams, divided so they upgrade a road to a rail in an even integer of turns (i.e. for non-industrious, a normal tile to rail takes 6 worker-turns, or 4 if I am in Democracy already). I then pick out my "backbone" rail routes, from my core to the main frontiers, and maybe between capital and FP, etc, and then set the team to Ctrl-Shift-R from the capital to that location, and sit back and watch, as they build the rail line one tile per turn. Once the teams are set, I start using others to rail the tiles around my core cities, then gradually work my way out.

I do also use shift-P for pollution, but it seems that if I send enough workers to clear the pollution in one turn, and there is no pollution the next turn, they sit and wait for orders, and then if pollution occurs later, I have to reset them. They should be able to hold the Shift-P order, and then just 'sentry' themselves until pollution reappears.

 

[tjhooker]

Problem with automatic clean up pollution is that the workers spread out and start cleaning ip one pollution each instead of 4 workers focusing on one tile at the time. This way you get the pollution up in one turn and the tile can be workable again...

Problem with rail-to function is that often when you just get rail you want to get your land "railed" up as soon as possible its often more important to rail them shield- and foodproduction- tiles around a city which at the moment might be working on a Wonder or another important building. Those rails give a huge produciton boost and can be crucial when theres a race for a wonder.

 

[Globetrotter]

In my current game, i have around 170 workers (yes, 170!) most of them slaves, and yet, i do not automate any of them.

They provide a wonderful logistic weapon as they follow my army, railing the tiles around the new conquered cities in the same turn the cities are taken, hence allowing more of my cavalry to go even further into enemy land...

 

[The Last Conformist]

Unless you count "road-to" and "RR-to", I never automate my Workers. This despite having had almost two hundred slave workers towards the end of one of my games (plus 2-3 of mine own!).

What I really wish for is "stack" versions of commands like Clear Pollution or Build Mine. Thank goodness for stack move!

 

[akinkhoo]

i never automate. i usual give make them lay roads where i expect railroad to be built while the core pack of worker heavier improvement. i am able to lay railroad very rapidly by using the core pack of worker. in 1 turn i can usual connect 1/3 of my cities together. i move them with the j command and collect them along the rail road the next turn. it is very effective and can greatly affect the game outcome.

 

[jpf]

With cntl-J and the ability to put a whole stack to sleep by right-clicking it, (and waking up, too) I don't see the need to automate. I just park stacks next to my capital (use the "h" command to jump to your capital on the map) and wake them up as needed, say to clear pollution, etc.

 

[Globetrotter]

Too bad i am at work.
Back home, i had prepared a screen shot where each tile of the new conquered areas is occupied by a worker... And it goes all over two countries that i have recently occupied
(i have around 200 workers now, 70% slaves, non-automated)

 

[jeremiahrounds]

I use shift P specifically cause it does reset~ (lol which someone complained about). Shift P is much faster then targeting the polution.

Other then that i usually dont use anything but manual control. I used to do ctrl+shift+i around conquered citys and shift-a when i didnt care but found i did care. and around corrupt cities you want all irrigation =/

 

[Bremp]

In a recent game that I played I had 701 workers in 720AD (huge map), all of them manually controled. I only used Shift-A to find tiles without irrigation...

 

[MadScot]

shift-P may be faster than moving workers to the pollution.

But if you have more pollution than you have shift-P workers they will spread out evenly and fix NOTHING in the first turn.

And if the pollution is on the border of a likely enemy they'll all march off to the border happy as pie

And if a spot of pollution happens in a far off city, the workers will head off through neutral territory even if the pollution is in a totally corrupted city.

Automation is evil.

 

[Moonsinger]

Originally posted by Frank Grimes
I usually have about 20-30 workers in my games (rough estimate). Many if the skilled players here say that they control all of their workers. That just seems insanely tedious to me. Is this really recommended?

I usually have between 300 and 400 workers at the beginning of my Industrial Age and I manually control 100% of them in group of 3, 6, 13.5, and the rest of them in one big stack. 3 of them to lay a railroad track instantly. 13.5 (13 citizen worker and 1 foreign) to instantly clear a jungle and so on. Basically, if I want to get the job done right and fast, I must control them myself. Once everything are completely railroaded, I just send them all to sleep and put about 30 of them on auto pollution clean up (Shift-A).

 

[budweiser]

That's on a huge map, right Moonsinger?