A useful tip

[Willem]

I'm sure everyone knows that if you Alt-click on a unit in the city screen, that city will keep building that same unit over and over again. And most people know that if you add something to the queue list after that, the city will alternate between the perpetual build and the other selections.

What many may not know however is the alternations also work with partial builds. So for example, in your West Point city, you can Alt-click an Infantry, wait a turn then Alt-click a Machinegunner, wait another turn and Alt-click an Artillery. The city will then keep cycling through all these units forever until you cancel the orders.

This makes it very handy for building up your military since you don't have to keep selecting which ones to build, it's all done automatically. Once one type of unit is completed, the city will start building the next Alt-click in the list.

[Crossfire]

Now I see what happens when you actually RTFM! I guess I should someday. I didn't know this till now. Thanks.

[Urban Ranger]

Quick question: how do you switch the unit you want to build in mid-production? I read about it in chop rushing settlers, but I couldn't find a way to do it. I know how to insert something at the beginning of the queue, but that unit/structure doesn't "inherit" the existing production points.

[Loader2k]

You remove the unit from the queue and build something else. The game remembers the hammers for the old build.

[tijuanacowboy]

The game does remember, but I belive shift-click will put the newest clicked thing to the front of the queue.

[PrinceBimz]

Re: A useful tip

Originally posted by Willem
I'm sure everyone knows that if you Alt-click on a unit in the city screen, that city will keep building that same unit over and over again. And most people know that if you add something to the queue list after that, the city will alternate between the perpetual build and the other selections.

What many may not know however is the alternations also work with partial builds. So for example, in your West Point city, you can Alt-click an Infantry, wait a turn then Alt-click a Machinegunner, wait another turn and Alt-click an Artillery. The city will then keep cycling through all these units forever until you cancel the orders.

This makes it very handy for building up your military since you don't have to keep selecting which ones to build, it's all done automatically. Once one type of unit is completed, the city will start building the next Alt-click in the list.

These are useful tips and I did not know about any of it, thanks for mentioning them.

[Willem]

Originally posted by Urban Ranger
Quick question: how do you switch the unit you want to build in mid-production? I read about it in chop rushing settlers, but I couldn't find a way to do it. I know how to insert something at the beginning of the queue, but that unit/structure doesn't "inherit" the existing production points.

If you have an Alt-click that is partially constructed, selecting another Alt-click will automatically place the new one at the top of the list. To overide an existing build to place say a Wonder, press Ctrl-click. This will place the new selection at the top of the list. Shift-click will place it at the bottom. When the Alt-click is completed, the city will then go to that selection and the Alt-click will go to the bottom of the list.

[redstar05]

thanx for mentioning this

[unamablebuiler]

thanks i must of missed it though by accident i got a city to only build units now i know why

[Willem]

I've refined this somewhat and it's been working great. Playing on Noble, I build a Barracks in every city I own. Once it's done, I Alt-click a unit for it to build then add the next building I want at the end of the list. When the unit is complete and the building starts, I add another building to the list. So each city alternates between a unit and a city building. I've been way on top of the power graph through the whole game doing it this way, and I have much less micromanagement when it comes to building units. I'm also getting very good infrastucture in all my cities.

[Urban Ranger]

Dude, you are building too many units (unless those are workers )

[Urban Ranger]

Also, I don't seem to be getting the hammers when I use <alt> or <ctrl> build orders to insert a unit or structure at the beginning of the build queue. For example I was training a warrior until I discovered hunting, then <ctrl> build a scout. However, the scout took the same number of turns as if I were creating it from scratch. Any idea why?

[Metaliturtle]

You do build from scratch, it will save shields specifically for another warrior, this is to prevent people misusing the carryover hammers.

[Willem]

Yes, the Hammers spent creating the Warrior remain with the Warrior. So when you resume building it, you more or less pick up where you left off. There is a certain amount of decay however, you'll lose a few Hammers doing this. It's not an issue with the Alt-click technique though, since the city will finish building the first unit before it moves on the next.

[Willem]

Originally posted by Urban Ranger
Dude, you are building too many units (unless those are workers )

Obviously not since I got my backside handed to me when 6 civs declared war on me all at once.