Do you ever automate your workers?

[troytheface]

Fact- "the pawn is the soul of the game" - some chess guy

Fact- pawn can attack

Fact- worker can't attack

Fact- the pawn is the soul of the game- but the pawn is not the worker nor a tile improvement

the evidence is clear

 

[Navarre]

Fact: the pawn is the soul of the game, because the structure he builds gives the shape of the game.

The evidence is clear: you don't play chess.

 

[troytheface]

lol

tell that to a promoted pawn or a pawn storm -

"structure" -" positonal play that falls to tactical masters"- Attacko 2007

 

[karadoc]

Towards the end of the game, when I've built all the important improvements in all of my important cities, I sometimes automate a few workers. I set to them leave old improvements and not chop forests, but that isn't enough. I sometimes feel like they go out of their way to stuff things up. Nar, they aren't that bad, but they do annoy me sometimes. The main thing is that they don't seem to understand irrigation chains. I have to build all the farms manually because otherwise they start building cottages and factories on vital irrigation tiles that will supply food to cities that don't have fresh water. Another annoyance is when an improvement is destroyed somewhere, they often like to replace it with something else - usually I'd prefer to just rebuild what was destroyed.

Setting them to build trade routes is usually safe enough -- unless you're trying to grow your national park forest, then automated trade routes is a bad idea. I don't want roads (or anything else) on any non-forest tile in the BFC of my national park city, but the automated workers don't understand that. Also, if you're going to use automated workers, you really have to keep an eye on any jungle tiles for your national park - there's no "leave jungles" option.

Sometimes I imagine a kind of semi-automation system that I might like. My idea is that you don't touch the workers, but you choose which improvements you want on which tiles. So you select the tile itself and say "I want a farm here" or whatever, or "I want _nothing_ here", and when a nearby worker has nothing better to do it will build those improvements for you (or leave the tile alone if you want nothing). If you don't specify what you want, the workers would treat it much as they do now - ie. they basically choose what to do with the tile themselves.

So, if workers were automated in that kind of way, I'd use them. But as it is I only automate workers when it becomes tiresome finding little tasks for them to do after all the major work is done.

 

[TeraHammer]

Nice comparison with a pawn, lol it

in "Attacko's Guide for Relaxed Play" it is suggested it is benefical to automate at times especially in multi-player. (but relevant to single players unless one reloads in which case nothing is relevant)

in multi player your opponents are stressing and moving and building ect.
meanwhile you can smoke a cigarette and look at the trees and come back and check on things if you want to- saving intensity for when it matters.
and too- the automated workers will make improvements you wouldn't- and while many complain of ineffiency forts on a resource on a border are actually a better build then most would focus on.

the evidence is clear- automation- the play of masters

I 100% disagree. Automation in multiplayer is the play of noobs who underestimate the power you get when you use your workers efficiëntly. In early game especially.

 

[Navarre]

Automation in multiplayer is the play of noobs who underestimate the power you get when you use your workers efficiëntly. In early game especially.

Kind of like a pawn storm then. Very efficient once in a while in the hands of a skilled player, overestimated by noobs who think "I play like Fischer lolz".

I guess I have my response. Some players, probably especially in MP, think Civ like a wargame, so building their empire is just not their goal past the "Where's the copper? Lolz, axe rush! Pwnd!" phase.

Therefore, automation is evil!

Spoiler :

(No actual logic was used nor harmed while writing this post, I just wanted to use "therefore". Such a nice word.)

 

[TheMeInTeam]

The problem with automation for axe rushing is that you net fewer axes. Automation is something that should be done for cleanup. If you're sure you're going to win the game regardless of wasted worker turns, just automate them unless you're playing XOTM or HoF. Well, unless you LIKE doing that kind of micro.

MP civ is very much a war game but that doesn't mean you can get away with sloppy play against comparable skill opponents...in fact the incentive should be to tighten micro focus, at least to the extent the turn timer allows.

It's true that an auto worker is better than one that simply stands there though.

 

[naterator]

It's true that an auto worker is better than one that simply stands there though.

Not if he's tearing down your cottage to build a farm 2 tiles away from a worker tearing down your farm to build a cottage like they do in the AI cities.

 

[TheMeInTeam]

Not if he's tearing down your cottage to build a farm 2 tiles away from a worker tearing down your farm to build a cottage like they do in the AI cities.

That only happens to people who don't know how to automate in base BTS, and AFAIK not at all if you're running the latest better AI.

Almost the entire new world in mad's king george RPC was handled by automated workers for my shadow...and I wound up beating mad to space .

 

[GreatEngineer]

... kind of like playing chess but letting the computer play your pawns, so you can concentrate on "more interesting" pieces.

I laughed at the quote, but I think in chess a lot of my games are won or lost based on how I move my pawns. Still I understand your point.

I micro workers until key resources and routes are done, then turn on automation. I also keep about 1 in 5 on "automate trade network." I should note I play w/ "workers leave forests" the whole time and "workers leave old improvements" most of the time. TMIT is right (not the first time that's happened) when he says the governor + automation yields OK results.

To be honest, I think the tedium of moving even stacks of workers makes the game not fun at points, so that's the main reason I turn on automation.

 

[Mantic0re]

I remember seeing a deity game by Obsolete where he started with all workers Automated (I believe he compensated a bit by building extra early workers, not sure). I'd like to eventually be at the level where I can play like this, automate a lot of things. I'm still don't get enough playtime to iron out the governor quirks or even feel comfortable specifiying a certain city is a hammer city. Dave has me convinced it is safer to say all cities are commerce cities.

 

[TheMeInTeam]

I remember seeing a deity game by Obsolete where he started with all workers Automated (I believe he compensated a bit by building extra early workers, not sure). I'd like to eventually be at the level where I can play like this, automate a lot of things. I'm still don't get enough playtime to iron out the governor quirks or even feel comfortable specifiying a certain city is a hammer city. Dave has me convinced it is safer to say all cities are commerce cities.

Dave tells you otherwise in his cottage guide, actually.