How much can automated Settlers/Engineers do?

[George Garrett]

No DaveV, don't think mine is 2.42 version...no mention of that designation anywhere in the manual. I tried pressing "k", and my settler proceeded to build a road from the enemies capital into my camp!..with the eventual result that my civ was wiped out ere it got properly started
[This message has been edited by George Garrett (edited April 11, 2000).]

[Steve Clark]

Just goes to show what happens when you let the AI do things for you.

[George Garrett]

As a matter of fact,Steve,I think it might be interesting to play an entire game at the behest of the A.I.
I'd click on the tutorial build/irrigate/mine
wherever it advised (there go the roads!), then within each city turn the auto on - balanced 'twixt military and domestic - and see how long I last in the cruel hard civ world.
I think I'd have to be "President Lincoln", with the A.I. representing the Congress, and Senate, opposing my natural bent at every -er- turn.

[crowatbitemedotcom]

inca - not quite sure what you mean by does the AI do it, but I have on occasion noticed a lone plains square surrounded by desert with no access to water have both irrigation and a road...with a hut still in the square!

[poppawoppa]

Update on Automated Engineers:

Have now had the upgrade to engineers from settlers, and quickly established a city, inland from the sea, and with no water in the city square. Put another engineer on a city suqare inside the radius, and said 'automate'
and immediately, the engineer headed off to I think, its home city.... STOP. So I re-routed him to the new city and made that city its home. Then I moved him inland, away from the ocean, and actually outside the city squares, and again put him on AUTOMATE. This time, he did a road on the square he was on, outside the city limits (no good for anything) and then he next moved over to a square near the ocean, where he again built a road and finally irrigation. But of course, not a square with no water resource, it WAS right next to the ocean. In a few more moves, he built road, irrigation and then did a railroad square from the city toward another city. At that point, I had other uses for him, so I terminated the Automate function and just directed his efforts myself.
So, maybe not conclusive, but in this case, the engineer, later in the game did NOT put in irrigation withOUT the access to river or ocean squares. Thought I'd pass it along. '

Maybe someday in the future, I'll load up the all grassland world I made, to test to see the pattern of goody huts, and Create an engineer and automate him to see if in the vast grassland area, the engineer can "dig a well" to find water so he can irrigate with out any rivers, or oceans nearby.

By the way, I seem to remember trying to irrigate a square next to an oasis, and was informed I could not since it had no "access to water" but later after irrigating the oasis square itself, the nearby squares were able to be irrigated as well.

Hope this information is useful. Good Civin'

[Jim W]

Some moderate checking has proven that the automated Settler/Engineer has only moderate usefulness. For one thing, they don't seem to understand city borders, and will blissfully go out and buiod roads and irrigate squares beyond the city territory. But if you keep an eye on what they're doing, and steer them a bit sometimes,. they can do a lot of work without you having to go to them every time.

Jim W

[Scouse Gits]

George - you are aware that v2.42 is available as a free upgrade from this site, the Microprose site and many other places? It is strongly recommended as earlier versions had many bugs that degraded the playability. Hope this helps.

------------------
____________
Scouse Git[1]

"CARTAGO DELENDA EST" - Cato the Censor

[George Garrett]

So THAT'S why I'm doing so poorly lately - it's all them bugs!

Thank you, Scouse, lah - I'll look into it.