Workers

[Rittarx the Bol]

I'm juust wondering what everyone else does with their workers. Is automation the best route? I usualy just automate them, but have been having some trouble in some recent games and maybe changing my worker stragedy might work.

 

[vmxa]

I never automate, not even on a milk run. If automated workers did a good job, we would be losing to the AI on many of the levels.

It is extra bad for newer players as they are most likely to have wide spaced cities and find workers are mining a moutain that is not even going to be worked. Irrigating tiles that are not in your city border and on and on.

 

[Rittarx the Bol]

If automated workers did a good job, we would be losing to the AI on many of the levels.

I don't really what you meant by that

See, I was under the impression that automated workers do fairly well, but recently found them to be slackers doing things that you mentioned. I've sadly become too adjusted to just sending them on their merry way. Bad habit I really need to break.

 

[Zelda's Man]

The AI automates its workers and the AI is dumb. It will send a stack of workers to one tile, then decide there is more pressing business elsewhere and move a whole stack of workers off the tile without roading it. They also seem to irrigate too much in the early game. They mine where the sheilds are wasted. They run to a city to hide when enemies approach instead of working elsewhere. You can also find a stack of workers walking across twenty or thirty tiles to get to some far off city on the same continent. Etc.

You are smart so tell your workers what to do.

 

[Ansar]

The AI automates its workers and the AI is dumb. It will send a stack of workers to one tile, then decide there is more pressing business elsewhere and move a whole stack of workers off the tile without roading it. They also seem to irrigate too much in the early game. They mine where the sheilds are wasted. They run to a city to hide when enemies approach instead of working elsewhere. You can also find a stack of workers walking across twenty or thirty tiles to get to some far off city on the same continent. Etc.

Wow, I didnt know the AI was so... stupid.

The AI doesent deserve the I

 

[Rittarx the Bol]

Thankee! I've seemed to have hit a brick wall when it came to my game. It's the little things that I've been neglecting that seem to be hurting me the most.

 

[gmaharriet]

Thankee! I've seemed to have hit a brick wall when it came to my game. It's the little things that I've been neglecting that seem to be hurting me the most.

I always manage my workers now, but the very first time I tried it, I just started a "practice" game concentrating on worker management and not worrying about winning. It helped so much I won by "accident".

The next step for me was citizen management. Citizens aren't so obvious unless you zoom in on your cities to see what they're up to. Now I don't manage them every single turn, but every 4 or 5 turns I cycle through the cities using the arrows on the City View screens, and undo the mistakes the City Governor has made (I set all City Governors to max production, but they don't always obey.) I suppose my game would improve even more if I checked EVERY turn, but I'm just not ready for that yet.

I've been playing smaller maps since I began doing the management myself, because it does take longer, but the more you do it, the faster you get at doing it. You get better at spotting problems quicker. I just work at improving one game technique at a time, and I'm in no hurry to reach Deity or SID level, but I do get steady improvement.

 

[namliaM]

The next step for me was citizen management. Citizens aren't so obvious unless you zoom in on your cities to see what they're up to. Now I don't manage them every single turn, but every 4 or 5 turns I cycle through the cities using the arrows on the City View screens, and undo the mistakes the City Governor has made (I set all City Governors to max production, but they don't always obey.) I suppose my game would improve even more if I checked EVERY turn, but I'm just not ready for that yet.

Try using CivAssist II (see utility forum) it can show the worked tiles color coded to show which city is working which tile.
You can spot problems there easy.

Also it lists the f/s/c per city/per turn giving you a convenient overview. Also Shield loss due to over kill (to prevent them darn 18 shield warriors/workers) and will warn you of lost beakers due to research overrun etc, etc.

It will drasticaly reduce your MM time....

 

[brennan]

Back in the old days of civ1 we couldn't automate our workers, 'cos they didn't exist. Nor did the command. We had to manually improve everything by settler. So I guess I got used to it and have never automated anything.

I remember when all this were fields...

Rules for workers/citizens:
Link all cities by road.
Look for the most useful tiles; road them, then mine or irrigate as appropriate. 2 or 3 irrigated grassland is good to get population up, then mine to maximise shields.
Make sure your citizens are working the improved tiles.

 

[JMK]

If you still have a doubt about automate workers or not, just read this wonderfull article from Cracker.
http://www.civfanatics.com/civ3/strategy/cracker/civ3_starts/index.htm

 

[gmaharriet]

Try using CivAssist II (see utility forum) it can show the worked tiles color coded to show which city is working which tile.
You can spot problems there easy.

Also it lists the f/s/c per city/per turn giving you a convenient overview. Also Shield loss due to over kill (to prevent them darn 18 shield warriors/workers) and will warn you of lost beakers due to research overrun etc, etc.

It will drasticaly reduce your MM time....

Thanks, namliaM. I already use CrpMapStats and I was about to download Civ Assist just about the time it changed to version II. It seemed to have a few bugs at first and I've been waiting for it to sort of "settle down", since I'm not very computer literate. I've also wondered if I'd be overwhelmed with notifications running both programs. Any insights you have would be appreciated.

 

[namliaM]

Try switching between one and the other. Running one during one game and the other the other game ... duh...

Find what you like most and use it.... I love CAII.. Have tried CrP once or twice but ..... I think it just doesnt cut it....

 

[Takfloyd]

I never automate my workers even when I have 30 or so of them. I never use governors either. It is always best to control everything oneself.
When I' m 3 turns away from victory I might not worry about micromanaging stuff though.

 

[Ginger_Ale]

I never automate as well. Workers are one of the areas where controlling them yourself has a big effect (unlike the AI, you won't irrigate grassland in Despotism). Even on a world map game I'm playing, I have 73 workers and 134 slaves and I control them all each turn.

 

[Evil Tyrant]

Never automate your workers, the idiots will clear the jungle your precious rubber lies in before putting the road in even though you need the rubber as soon as possible owing to large numbers of enemy cavalry.

 

[Rittarx the Bol]

The results are startling! I went from struggling on Regent to dominating! I played a few practice games just so I could break myself of the habit.

I got hooked automating things while play Alpha Centauri, but I do remember the good old days of CivNet when settlers had to run around and do everything. Thanks for all the tips and suggestions.

I've been playing Civ ever since I could reach a keyboard and never even thought to look for a community

 

[Tomoyo]

Never automate your workers, the idiots will clear the jungle your precious rubber lies in before putting the road in even though you need the rubber as soon as possible owing to large numbers of enemy cavalry.

Umm... clearing jungle doesn't kill the rubber... The locations of resources are determined when the game starts...

EDIT: Wait, I don't know what I'm talking about.

 

[Rittarx the Bol]

I think what Evil Tyrant meant is that they(the workers) clear the jungle before building a road to it, which can be very annoying

 

[vmxa]

Yeah that is what he meant. You may have chosen to have them road the tile and give you the rubber, but the AI may elect to clear the jungle first, while you wish you could built that infantry.