Automate workers?

[jameslacy3509]

I am new to the game and starting to get the hang of it a little bit, but I have a question. I usually tell workers what to do at the first but find it get a little tedious so once things really get going I automate my workers. Is this a good idea??? I am thinking I may be missing out a little and usually begin by building roads....but when I automate them they seem to produce more and build more improvements, they automatically clean up pollution when it strikes, etc. By automating them, do they not do things I should make them do??? Should I automate or not?

 

[DanGo]

Micromanaging is better than automating workers. But you have to be very sure that you're doing the right improvement. Also build 1.5 workers per city.

 

[Fried Egg]

I tend to manually control workers to begin with, building roads, irrigating and mining. Later, when all this is done, I give them one of the advanced automation commands which is to automate with no altering (Shift-A). This leaves them free to build rails and clean up pollution everywhere but they won't irrigate mines or mine irrigatied tiles (which annoyed the hell out of me).

 

[vmxa]

Automation will cost, if you understand what task need to be done and when. Even if you do not, it will still be less effective.

I do not automate at any stage of the game, even when I have all the land on my land mass. I want to have the rail done in my order and I want to clean the pollution manually so I can switch the citizen back to that tile if need be.

 

[Fried Egg]

Automation will cost, if you understand what task need to be done and when. Even if you do not, it will still be less effective.

I do not automate at any stage of the game, even when I have all the land on my land mass. I want to have the rail done in my order and I want to clean the pollution manually so I can switch the citizen back to that tile if need be.

I think this comes down to a question of balance. At what level of micromanagement you do before the game starts becomming too tedious to enjoy?

No doubt such micromanagement is necessary at the highest levels, but at Monarch or below, it simply isn't necessary.

 

[rysingsun]

if you really hate managing your workers that much, at least dont automate them in the ancient age. automating for turns 1-100 will probably hurt you the same amount or more as automating them for turns 201-300. the difference is that automating them in the aa will save you very little total game time, whereas automating them late in the game when you have hundreds of them can clearly save you a whole lot of work.

 

[CivDav]

It's a good option that you can automize your workers just how can i tell them i wanna emphasize production, food, or commerce?

 

[Lord Emsworth]

It's a good option that you can automize your workers just how can i tell them i wanna emphasize production, food, or commerce?

By not automizing.

 

[neriana]

Don't automate workers until all they have left to do is clean up pollution and build extra railroads. And then use Shift-A to automate without altering, or they'll mess everything up.

 

[vmxa]

I think this comes down to a question of balance. At what level of micromanagement you do before the game starts becomming too tedious to enjoy?

No doubt such micromanagement is necessary at the highest levels, but at Monarch or below, it simply isn't necessary.

I think it is fair to say you can win at Monarch even if you make many mistakes and do not play optimally, let alone expertly.

That said I do not see controlling your workers as micromanaging. It is merely part of Civ always has been and still is in IV.

Micromanaging to me is going to each city every turn to move pop to save food and shields and gold. That is not needed at Monarch, but if you let workers automate, it could be expensive.

Fun to me in CivIII is beating the game at sid or playing always war on demigod. It is rewarding to be able to be in so much trouble and still come out on top. If I have to save shields on builds, I will.

If i have to devise a trap to stop larger numbers of troops (and better) from killing me, I will. If I can win my using govs and automated workers, I am not playing. I am watching.

 

[Gato Loco]

Should I automate or not?

No.

Ok, I'll give a bit more in depth answer.

NO!
NO!
NO!
NO!
NO!
NO!
NO!
NO!
NO!


Except if you're playing on regent or lower, in which case the AI has no advantages, so you can get away with throwing away your human advantages (such as being able to intellignetly control workers) Remember, automated anything = just as dumb as the AI

 

[Fried Egg]

vmxa

That said I do not see controlling your workers as micromanaging. It is merely part of Civ always has been and still is in IV.

When you said that you still manually control your workers, even when they're just clearing up pollution, it is only because you're micromanaging your cities. There's no reason to manually clean up pollution if you're not micromanaging.

 

[vmxa]

So true and you can go ahead and give up the production from the tile. As I said to me there is no reason to play, if you are not going to interactive and control things.

You are going to love civ4 as you can get away with it. I played only Sid and AW games for the last year and cannot get away with automation.

Anyway it is a dead horse as I have moved on to IV.

 

[Beamup]

When you said that you still manually control your workers, even when they're just clearing up pollution, it is only because you're micromanaging your cities. There's no reason to manually clean up pollution if you're not micromanaging.

Untrue. If you have the governor off (which does not at all mean you're micromanaging), you have to put the citizen back on the tile manually, or that tile won't get worked again until the city grows. Which makes manual cleanup very desirable because it eliminates the chance that you will be unaware of the pollution cleanup and therefore not put the citizen back.

 

[Fried Egg]

That is micromanaging.

 

[Fried Egg]

VMXA

As I said to me there is no reason to play, if you are not going to interactive and control things.

There are plenty of things to control besides managing which tiles are worked and what you're workers are doing. Especially when you empire is large in the latter part of the game, it just gets in the way of game play IMHO.

Anyway it is a dead horse as I have moved on to IV.

Sounds like you need to...because it sounds like you've mastered this one.

 

[thetrooper]

Anyway it is a dead horse as I have moved on to IV.

I really hope that you'll continue to post in the III forum?

 

[Padma]

The generally-agreed opinion on these forums is that automating workers shouldn't be done, particularly in the Ancient Age, and on higher levels.

That said, the amount of automation you use is entirely up to your play style. If you want a casual game at Regent or below, go ahead and automate as much as you want; you can win the game without it.

In any case, never use "automate" (A). Always use "automate without changing exisiting improvements" (SHIFT-A).