re: Automated Workers

[neismond]

When you automate a worker, what priority does a worker do? Roads, farms, mines, etc? Is there a way I can have a worker prioritise one over the other, outside of manually giving the command for what I want?

Furthermore, is it best to just automate a worker and let them do their thing? Or is the smarter play to micro manage them and provide more control?

Thanks in advance for your help on this topic...

 

[lymond]

worker management is one of the most important aspects of this game. If you want to improve and beat higher difficulties, you will micro your workers. Automating workers is not good...just look at AI workers. (Typical AI worker - build road>improve resource>build road>build cottages and every open tile everywhere>build more roads)

Civ IV is big on the "snowball" effect. The more stuff you have early..namely food...the better off you are later.

General initial worker priority: food specials>chopping>mines/strats>chopping>roads(only as needed)>chopping

Only build roads where absolutely needed at first, i.e., hooking up a strat, happy resource, trade route to cities/AI. Note river/sea connections

 

[Bandobras Took]

Workers will improve a city according to default AI settings, unless you go to that city and click one (or more) of the Governor's "Emphasize" buttons. Workers will then attempt to do so to the best of the AI's understanding. They also prioritize connecting cities and hooking up resources, even going so far as to fort resources in anticipation of unlocking techs.

As to whether or not to do so, it depends on your goals. It makes the game much faster to automate them, but if your goal is to ascend to the highest difficulty levels, it's better to learn worker micro so you can start to aim for the BC Deity Space Race.

 

[Bandobras Took]

Here's a thread where TMIT wins with Tokugawa on Monarch using nothing but automated workers.

http://forums.civfanatics.com/threads/the-automaton-i-tokugawa-monarch.310284/

 

[BornInCantaloup]

Auto workers have 2 buttons, I believe ?
- Improve domestic network : they'll move around the Empire a lot, and connect cities (roads) and improve special resources (forts) ;
- Improve city : they'll stick to the city they're by when the function is activated. As stated above, it's very important that you would then use the city screen to emphasize some combination of food, hammers, commerce, science, gpp, since that emphasis will give a general direction for the workers to work with.

The automated challenges were pretty fun to play with.
Auto-workers, auto-cities. Key is to prioritize settler, worker, units production when you're given the choice.
The more units you have around, the more you can do.

 

[Kid R]

Furthermore, is it best to just automate a worker and let them do their thing? Or is the smarter play to micro manage them and provide more control?

Try using worldbuilder or debug mode to watch them do their thing for a bit. If you can stand it without stepping in to take control after 5 or 6 turns you're a stronger man than me! I believe the original source of the facepalm emoji was a discussion about Civ 4 automated workers. [citation needed]

 

[lymond]

"Automated Workers suck donkey nuggets! /facepalm (oh..and can we get an emoji for that please?!"

Spoiler I'm a Spoiler Tag and I have a name :

I promise that is a 100% authentic quote ..promise