Do you Automate Workers?

[xxblackdog]

I realized that I almost ALWAYS automate my workers (mostly because I've only passed 20[?] hours on the game so far, and wanted to keep micromanaging to a minimum.

I'm starting to feel that this is a bad choice (at least early game). Any thoughts?

 

[umphrey]

I don't have many hours yet, but I never automate my workers. They are way too dumb and it doesn't take much to manage them.

Some of the stupid things they do:
-Cut down jungle tiles when you want a science victory
-They don't follow settlers (I usually have one travel with a settler for fast city growth)
-They build stupid routes for roads (let's say you are linking city A and B, and will later connect them to city C on the same road - don't auto path city A to B or the workers will probably take a bad path for when you want to link city C)

 

[Novalia]

Telling workers what to do is an important game component. Automating them is essentially having the game play for you. And they do play it badly. Their priorities are usually wrong. Aside from that... Since you're new you very likely don't have a ton of workers... Maybe two or three. It's really not that hard to control them.

Focus luxuries first so you can stay happy or sell them for gpt ASAP.. Then tiles that give production and food... Like horses/cows/sheep/deer.. Then farms... Or farms first if your cities need more growth.. If you have a hill on a river make a farm. Then when your cities reach 4-5 pop connect them to the capital with roads.

 

[Scarpa]

Automating them is essentially having the game play for you. And they do play it badly. Their priorities are usually wrong.

That's the main idea, the AI is pretty dumb. Learning when to make workers and what to do with them is a critical foundation to the rest of the game.

If anything I wouldn't micro my citizens right off. Effective use of workers can allow you to leave your cities on default, by prioritizing what you improve with the workers.

 

[joshua43214]

I never automate workers early. I almost always automate them in the atomic/info era, sometime after I finish converting all my roads to railroads, and all my basic tile improvements are done.

automated workers do really horrible things like remove jungle from bananas, convert farms to coal mines, etc. You should never automate them until their mistakes will no longer affect the game, and you are basically done growing.

 

[joncnunn]

I never ever automate workers: If I did I'd end up with the same flawed improvement plan the AI uses.

For good measure, I also lock the tiles I want to work.

 

[JeSuisNapoleon]

Never.
I did at first when I played warlord, and its not a real problem at that level, but I found too many times my workers would just start traveling on their own in order to get to new lands and then they would get captured by barbs or warring AI.

if you micro manage them, you get better results, and fewer captured workers.

its not a bad idea early on when your learning other aspects of the game, but the good habit is to manage everything yourself.

 

[budweiser]

I sometimes automate to let them build a road from city A to city B so I dont get all the prompts every turn. They cant screw that up too much.

 

[Teproc]

I never do.

If you don't want to micromanage cities that's all well and good (not optimal but I completely understand), but micromanaging workers is really important, and honestly not that time-consuming. In the lategame it becomes annoying, but in the first 150 turns or so you shouldn't automate them.

 

[cpm4001]

I don't automate my workers, and you're pretty much asking for trouble if you do so on levels higher than Chieftain. They'll wander around, improve stupid tiles, and get captured by barbs.

I sometimes automate to let them build a road from city A to city B so I dont get all the prompts every turn. They cant screw that up too much.

If I do this, the workers inevitably build 2-3 more road tiles than are necessary to connect the cities.

 

[Carazycool]

I always manually control workers so that they are as efficient as possible and also so that I can prioritize what I want to prioritize. Sometimes later in the game when all my improvements are made I will put them on automate so that when a new tile is grabbed by a city they will go put something on it and I can focus on whatever else i have going on because turns get LONG later in the game

 

[YourHarry]

I don't automate my workers, and you're pretty much asking for trouble if you do so on levels higher than Chieftain. They'll wander around, improve stupid tiles, and get captured by barbs.



If I do this, the workers inevitably build 2-3 more road tiles than are necessary to connect the cities.

Interesting. I don't automate my workers, but I set a rally point for workers to build road tiles. When I do this, they don't always take the straight line path from city A to a point B but they do get there in a minimum distance (for example, zigzag like path).

 

[Admiral Kutzov]

I used to get lazy late game and do it. They started turning all my farms to trading posts and really messed me up

 

[baimasanji]

Then tiles that give production and food.

 

[Amarr Emperor]

i never auto my workers. If someone tells me to do that in multi and screaming "end turn" and "zzz" at the same time... If i'm host i'll kick them. if not i'll yell at them back

 

[xxblackdog]

Nice. Alright, I just got into that habit early on (while figuring out the game). Now's time to change that I think.

 

[dinanipedro]

even if you automate your workers, check the box ingame options (automated workers improve tiles already improved) so that it's off.

once you've improved all your workable tiles, built railroads, autoworkers can spam trading posts pretty good and that's when i'll use auto workers

 

[maneckezaog]

you get better results, and fewer captured workers.

 

[bbbt]

I don't usually automate, except near the end of the game.

If you do, there are options so they don't cut down forest/jungle/etc. or replace improvements (unless a strategic resource appears)

 

[xxblackdog]

even if you automate your workers, check the box ingame options (automated workers improve tiles already improved) so that it's off.

once you've improved all your workable tiles, built railroads, autoworkers can spam trading posts pretty good and that's when i'll use auto workers

Cool. Didn't even realize that there were options for worker automation. Thanks.