Workers - Automate or no?

[L-Plate Ruler]

I use to automate workers but believe the act itself encourages a lack of focus on maximising benefits. Like others have said they're very inefficient, hooking up resources 'out of order' or before they can actually be used.

Manually controlling workers...

• Is not micro management, and it's certainly not hard, but could sometimes be laborious.
• Forces you to think about what your doing (I hope).

Automating trade networks is acceptable, if you're happy to have spaghetti roads everywhere

 

[Orzio]

Wish there was a option for automate remove all jungle/forrest for when you get to a new island full of jungle.

 

[bestbrian]

Automation just leads to lack of improvement in quality of play, and handicaps your game vis a vis the AI.

 

[TheMeInTeam]

Automation just leads to lack of improvement in quality of play, and handicaps your game vis a vis the AI.

That depends if you know what you are doing or not and when automation is viable.

 

[bestbrian]

That depends if you know what you are doing or not and when automation is viable.

Well, you're not going to learn unless you do. Automation inhibits learning.

 

[TheMeInTeam]

Well, you're not going to learn unless you do. Automation inhibits learning.

I got to Immortal with some deity wins here and there just fine with learning supposedly inhibited in this fashion.

 

[bestbrian]

I got to Immortal with some deity wins here and there just fine with learning supposedly inhibited in this fashion.

I was using the proverbial "you". And, yes, I'm aware of your progress from your very first postings, but you also have a very unique skill set for mastering the game that more casual and less gifted players (such as myself) don't possess.

I stand by my statement to the OP, which is that IMHO one more rapidly learns and becomes proficient at improving land and developing cities by actually controlling workers, as opposed to abdicating those functions to the AI.

 

[Dumanios]

I've never actually tryed automation, but I do miss planting forests.

 

[conception]

I usually play about half automated and half doing my bidding to get improvements that I personally want around certain cities. On some larger maps, I like to send a few workers to build roads to empire's seperated by a fair amount of unsettled land. This allows me to trade with them, and I'm usually planning on invading somebody via this route and it expedites the process.

What I really despise about automation is the fact that the AI will build a dozen forts around my cities, nevermind the fact that I am the only resident of my continent and that having a fort on the tip of a peninsula is the last thing I am going to use in case of an invasion, which as we all know doesn't come very often by sea if you are being aggresive late-game.

 

[smackthewise]

For me playing Civ isn't a competition or such, I enjoy building and customising my own little Civilisation and I focus on all aspects of this. I rarely use automated works except for late game trade-network. Though as mentioned, they build roads/railway bloody EVERYWHERE.

-I have always set the options "leave forests" and "don't build over improvements"
-Early and mid game the workers are always controlled manually. This also should help you focus on what each city should be geared towards, i.e. Production, commerce, food.
-I sometimes automate workers to an extent late game with conquered cities and such.
-Settings Governor control in the City will make workers build the appropriate improvement to a good degree of accuracy.

 

[davelisowski]

i give stacks of workers huge build queues. Every time they move they build a route, then an improvement, then continue building a route somewhere.

By the time Railroad comes along, I'll usually have a good road infrastructure and plenty of improved tiles. Then I might automate a group of workers to 'build a trade network' because they will lay RR over all the roads. It's not always efficient because they will go off to some random corner that no unit will ever travel on and build something there.

and yes, I have 'leave old improvements' and 'leave forests' checked for the workers also. I don't need my workers 'thinking.'

 

[Artful]

i give stacks of workers huge build queues. Every time they move they build a route, then an improvement, then continue building a route somewhere.'

I don't like to do it that way, because when one worker in the stack finishes the work on a tile, the rest of them sit idle instead of going to the next tile, and I hate to have idle workers. But your approach is easier...

 

[StargazingDog]

Forests will not spread to where there is a road? Interesting.

 

[Artful]

Forests will not spread to where there is a road? Interesting.

I believe forests WILL spread to tiles where there's a road, but I'm not sure I've seen it in BtS

 

[Nilmerf]

I believe forests WILL spread to tiles where there's a road, but I'm not sure I've seen it in BtS

Nope, never seen it and I doubt anyone could come up with proof. Maybe it was different in previous versions but I don't remember.

 

[Artful]

I do believe that forests won't spread to a tile currently being worked, which makes sense.
If it's true that forests don't spread to tiles with roads, then that would be a disadvantage of building uneeded roads, but I'm still not sure about that.

 

[davelisowski]

i'll have to pay attention to see when forests pop up. i usually ignore stuff like that.

that's interesting. and i guess i've wondered too if a forest would pop up if a road is there.

as for the workers sitting idle. you're right. sometimes you can get a stack on the same cycle. i think i use stacks of 3s. then with steam power stacks of 4s.

or you copy the queue and assign it to each individual worker. that's a bit tedious, but then you don't have to worry about idle workers. and you don't have to deal with them for a large number of turns.

btw, i play marathon so that might change the dynamics of workers.

 

[Badtz Maru]

I only use trade network automation until later in the game where I have all my older cities fully improved, then I may turn some loose to improve my newer cities. I often put off using trade network automation as well as it's annoying how they will build forts on resources that are outside of BFCs - this makes me have to go manually improve them later when I capture the border city that is next to them or build a new city near them.

 

[r_rolo1]

Nope, never seen it and I doubt anyone could come up with proof. Maybe it was different in previous versions but I don't remember.

Forests can spread to a road tile, they just have the chances of spread halved ( well, they are low to begin with, so it even gets worse ). As for proof... well, there is the code if you care to read it ... besides that, I *think* I have a save with that in my other computer

 

[L-Plate Ruler]

By the time Railroad comes along, I'll usually have a good road infrastructure and plenty of improved tiles. Then I might automate a group of workers to 'build a trade network' because they will lay RR over all the roads. It's not always efficient because they will go off to some random corner that no unit will ever travel on and build something there.

A downside with this approach is one of the main benefits of railroad... extra hammers on mines. If the workers are trotting around on the flat, production cities can lose the benefit. My workers are typically idle by the time railroad comes along so I have them parked at production heavy sites so mined hills are the first to be railroaded. Might only be one hammer per hill but over time (like compound interest) she pays off.