Population

from GalCiv2 Forums
It seems, no matter what race I begin with (usually Terrans, Yor, or Ios are preferred), playing a Huge or Gigantic Star Field in Challenging Mode, I cannot keep up in population with the AI races (usually 5-7 competitors).

At first I thought I was getting bad planets or perhaps too far away from others, etc. But it seems after playing about 6 different starts over the past two weeks or so, I am always behind in Population after the first few months.

What am I doing wrong and how can I improve this?

7,431 views 9 replies
Reply #1 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
Here are some possibilities:

1. check you morale. If it is too low pop won't grow as much (or at all). In the first 20 or so game turns I set taxes to 0% for 100% morale to get the pop growth bonus.
2. If you are actively colonizing worlds, this slows down your growth rate initially, although over time due to the extra worlds things are good. If the computer players aren't colonizing, their pop will continue to grow.
3. In the early game you describe the pop limits likely are not a problem, but if you hit them you need farms to continue to grow.
Reply #2 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
Morale boosts population growth. Keeping morale at 75% increases reproductive rates and keeping it at 100% doubles them, supposedly. Morale of less than 50% slows it and less than 30% halts it. I'm not clear on whether that's planet-by planet or whether it's your whole civilization's approval, though I think it's planet-by-planet. Thus, by lowering taxes for a while, you can literally buy higher populations. It's also a good idea to put Entertainment Networks on your planets early, especially your homeworld (most races can't hit that initial 100%, even at 0 taxes, but with a Network on your homeworld you can get 100% morale at 10% taxes).

Of course, there's always the population bonuses you can buy for your race, too.

I think there should be a tooltip on each planet detail screen's population indicator that tells you what your growth rate is and why.
Siege of Centauri
Reply #3 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
Keeping taxes so that morale is 100% is about the best way to start if you want immediate population growth. You might go 1 round where you tax like mad for a ship or building, but recon the area during the beginning to plan for colonization and starbases. Until population grows some, you won't be madly populating places anyhow.
Reply #4 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
An even better way to keep morale at 100% is using entertainment buildings. During colonization I have my social spending at 100% and immediately build 1 or 2 factories, then 4 entertainment buildings on every planet I colonize. This allows you to keep a high tax rate and still get the double population growth bonus.

That early on in the game you wouldn't be able to fund manufacturing or research on those tiles anyway. Of course, you'll eventually be destroying them and replacing them with factories or labs, but the fast start it gets you means it's not a waste.

Oh, one other small thing: if you want to really max population growth, don't let any of your planets go over 2.5B population. Growth is capped and you'll get identical population growth from 2.5B on a planet as you will from 10B (assuming equal morale)
Reply #5 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
um.... Are you building farms ?

By the end of the game most of my planets have one farm, and the nice planets have 2 intense farms or 1 advanced. I generally have a racial morale boost, and try to gooble up morale resouces early.

I also almost always have +20% pop growth in racial bonus as well. Combined with aphrodisiac, you can fill out planets quickly. The AI usually beats me to it, so i have to trade for it. (don't care for PQ boosting tecs early)
Reply #6 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
The AI always uses FARMS to boost the pop.
So as your best planets reach max pop ...
Add FARMS ... but gradually ... to avoid moral drops.
Reply #7 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
Get 130% population growth, they will never catch u then.

Easy to do as well, buy +70% pop. growth as a starting ability, universalists government and then build aphrodisiac.
Reply #8 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
An even better way to keep morale at 100% is using entertainment buildings. During colonization I have my social spending at 100% and immediately build 1 or 2 factories, then 4 entertainment buildings on every planet I colonize. This allows you to keep a high tax rate and still get the double population growth bonus.


Hmmm, that could be a good idea. I usually stop at 1 Network per planet and then work on production and such, trying to get Stock Markets up and running fast (which IS good for morale, after all). But since Networks are cheap, and since everything is cheaper to upgrade into than to build, your method might work really well (modified by going straight to the morale buildings, though). I might have to try that...
Reply #9 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
Dreadarchon, I usually play on gigantic with plenty of habitable planets so my priority is sustainable expansion. This strategy enables me to have a 59% tax rate throughout the colonization phase (about as high as you can get away with without starting morale on a planet going below 25% where population drops), and a few turns after it's over and the last planets are finishing their entertainment buildings, I can immediately put the tax rate up to 80% with no problems.

Actually, I wouldn't recommend going straight to the entertainment buildings unless you're short of cash. If you start off with a 500M population, you'll break even overall (including the production and maintenance costs) sooner with the one factory approach than jumping straight to the entertainment networks, although it does make each colony cost slightly more before it reaches breakeven on a turn by turn basis.