Automating Workers/Engineers - an alternative?

What would you like to see in Freeciv? Do you have a good idea what should be improved or how?
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tymbusku
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Joined: Sat Jun 16, 2018 7:34 am

Automating Workers/Engineers - an alternative?

Post by tymbusku »

I know that there are some issues with working out an effective AI for worker units and everyone is unhappy and so on.

But here's an idea (that someone has probably suggested before... but)

Rather than telling worker units what to do, you actually indicate separately what you want to be done on certain hexes/squares. You set up a planned road/railway between your cities, you want those grasslands roaded and irrigated, that gold mine on that mountain needs to be roaded and mined. And so on. Priorities can be set up as well, with the player choosing to make that gold mine a priority and then the roads between cities... etc.

And so when you automate the workers, all they need to do is follow your plan and its priorities. And when your plan is complete, they can't be automated.

ie: Give the hex/square orders, don't give worker units orders.
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Alien Valkyrie
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Re: Automating Workers/Engineers - an alternative?

Post by Alien Valkyrie »

Currently, there is a feature partly realizing what you're suggesting in (I believe) version 2.6, which is currently in beta stage: On the city screen, one can designate actions that should be performed on tiles, and an auto-settler in the area will then perform that action. The downsides of the current implementation are that (a) only tiles around cities can be marked this way, (b) one can only designate one action per tile, not a chain of actions, (c) only one unit will work such an action at a time, and (d) after all actions are performed, auto-settlers will revert to their usual behavior, optimising the terrain to whatever the fuck they want, occasionally even reverting the exact actions they were previously told to perform in their quest for some local maximum of whatever they take into account.

So, y'know, it's not perfect, but it might be useful to a certain kind of player.
~ AVL
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