Former

[mayford]

Question on formers. If you want to fully automate the work of forms, then what is more effective to start: auto-improve the main database (ctrl + shift + a) or fully automatic former (shift + a)?

 

[Petek]

I think that experienced players all would agree that the best way to use Formers is to control them manually. However, that wasn't your question. I suggest using ctrl + shift + a to have them auto-improve their home base. If you fully automate them they will go running all over the map (perhaps to a far-off base) to make improvements. When a ctrl + shift + a Former has improved all tiles in its home base it will stop. You then can move it to some other base and home it there.

 

[mayford]

Thanks for the answer. I'm used to doing each base by the former, so I think that the right option is first "ctrl + shift + a", and then "shift + a".
Otherwise, bases that are at a distance from each other will not be connected by roads. This concerns completely automatic control of formers.

 

[bvanevery]

A long time ago when I did some automation, I would always use CTRL+SHIFT+A to improve things per base. I probably manually connected longer roads between cities. There are commands for laying down a whole road between 2 points, but I rarely used them as I often didn't like their choice of road path, nor having a Former being committed to a potentially stupid action for so long.

CTRL+A, in my experience, tended to make Formers wander off to do really stupid things in my empire.