Worker destroying towns to build farms

[mpa]

I usually micro manage all my workers until around 1000AD, by then I usually have too many workers so I just turn order them to Auto-Improve tiles. In my current game, Monarch Pangaea, I noticed that my workers are destroying town tiles (with +2 food +8 gold +1 hammer) and replace them with Farms

I usually forbid workers to change existing improvements but by late industrial age, you get so many new resources and you often have to destroy the old improvements.

So, how do I tell workers to only change existing improvements if it would allow access to a new resources ? I was busy warmongering and conquering 3 civilizations using my new Cavaleries when I noticed that dozens of those cool towns have been turned into stupid farms

 

[Equisilus]

There is no way to clarify which improvements they should keep or destroy for new. You can either turn off automation altogether, or micromanage all the way (or when you feel it necessary).

Unless someone knows something I don't?

 

[Tall German Joe]

Keep a few workers on "N", the network option, and the rest on "Automate but do not change existing improvements". In addition to building roads and railroads everywhere, "N" will give priority to hooking up unconnected resources in your empire, as well as giving priority to railroading mines before other squares. Be warned though, if that uranium appears on a grassland-town, "N"-ed workers will destroy it!!

 

[Pfeffersack]

I was never a fan of worker automation and I'm still not (due I must admit that the AI has surely gtten better a that).But still my wishes are too often beyond what the AI thinks, so I restrict automation to sometimes using the ity governor.With using the emphasize buttons, he usually does an acceptable job...

But back to workers.If I would use automtion at all, the only for some of the workers.They should improve without altering exting improvements and cutting forests.My manual force would be for changing structures or repairing any "mistakes" the automated ones made.But that would be only an option for me, if I have really an army of unemployed workers.

I think the art is to build not too few and not too many workers.Then automation isn't needed.

 

[mpa]

Aha, Network ! Okay, I'll try that one, thanks.

 

[Smirk]

You could also pillage the old improvement while keeping all workers on do-not-change automation and achieve the same effect.

 

[Wodan]

This is exactly why I don't automate. What pushed me over the edge was when (in my 2nd game) I saw one worker changing my Town to irrigation and in the very next tile a worker changing irrigation to a Cottage.

Wodan

 

[Mathemagician13]

There's two options which are useful here. In the options menu, there is a "automated workers leave old improvements" check box, and a "automated workers leave forests intact" option.

The trade-network automation only allows them to build roads, and they do it in a mostly intelligent way, so that's ok too.

 

[PibbZ]

automated workers seems useless to me. They tend to do stupid changes to any given tile just to have something to do. Only automated option i use is the "N" trade route option.

 

[allnightplayer]

There's two options which are useful here. In the options menu, there is a "automated workers leave old improvements" check box, and a "automated workers leave forests intact" option.

The trade-network automation only allows them to build roads, and they do it in a mostly intelligent way, so that's ok too.

How does one access that Options menu? Is it in the city governors' buttons or in the worker actions buttons?

 

[jdotmi]

It's in the Main Menu - Options (escape - options in game). It's in the same place you can turn on Stack Attack and Show Enemy Moves

 

[allnightplayer]

It's in the Main Menu - Options (escape - options in game). It's in the same place you can turn on Stack Attack and Show Enemy Moves

Thanks! Hadn't noticed it so far (probably because i haven't tried automating the workers in the 4 odd games i've played in civ4...)

But this means that this is a 'game feature' one can turn on or off for all workers in the game - not a tactical choice one can make at some stage of the game or for some specific workers? One would think the game would allow you the flexibility - for instance if one has cities on two continents, one might want the automated workers to keep the improvements alone in one (because you built those improvements yourself after a lot of thought) and to change them in another (because those cities and improvements were captured from an enemy whose initial improvement choices you don't think much of).

I seem to recall that in civ3 the choice of whether or not to leave the improvements alone was something that could be specified separately for each worker (although i could be wrong on this...)

 

[jdotmi]

It's been so long since I played III that I don't really remember. Either way, it's easier to tell a worker explicitly to change an improvement, and better tactically.

 

[allnightplayer]

It's been so long since I played III that I don't really remember. Either way, it's easier to tell a worker explicitly to change an improvement, and better tactically.

Hmmm....true. Thanks!