Population

Population represents the inhabitants of the planets. The population, and the tax revenue they generate, represents the foundation of the economy in Galactic Civilizations II. The population of a planet also generates:
- influence points proportional to how many inhabitants there are,
- troops (soldiers) for invading planets of other players or defense of that planet,
- negative approval modifier for planetary approval, and resulting problems with elections,
- slight increase (~15% for going from 6B to 24B pop) in trade revenue for trade routes to/from that planet,
- points for social part of the end-game score.

Population growth is affected by the approval rating. For game versions below 1.1 the maximum growth rate in a turn is 200 million inhabitants per turn per planet. The maximum population on a planet is determined by the amount of food the planet is generating. Building farms will allow the population to expand. Each planet also has a maximum population based on planet quality, assuming sufficient food. The absolute population limit for a planet is 100 billion.

Formula for Calculating Maximum Growth-Achievable Population

Maximum Population (in billions) = 0.02 * ( ( PQ + 1 ) ^ 3 )

PQ = Planet Quality

Here are numbers for Maximum Population per Planet quality in billions:

• PQ 1 = 0.16 b.
• PQ 2 = 0.54 b.
• PQ 3 = 1.28 b.
• PQ 4 = 2.50 b.
• PQ 5 = 4.32 b.
• PQ 6 = 6.86 b.
• PQ 7 = 10.24 b.
• PQ 8 = 14.58 b.
• PQ 9 = 20.00 b.
• PQ 10 = 26.62 b.
• PQ 11 = 34.56 b.
• PQ 12 = 43.94 b.
• PQ 13 = 54.88 b.
• PQ 14 = 67.50 b.
• PQ 15 = 81.92 b.
• PQ 16 = 98.26 b.
• PQ 17+ = 100 b.

Notes on maximum growth-achievable population

• Yes, you can still reach your food limit by transporting people from other worlds. It really doesn't make much sense.
• If you transfer to a planet more population than a planet can feed, all excess population will die off when game generates next turn.

Initial Population Growth//Illustrative Numbers for Dark Avatar 1.6b5

(N.B. Need to confirm that the planet approval modifier is fully multiplicative in earlier versions of Dread Lords, check whether Fertility Acceleration Clinics behave differently than normal +25% growth bonuses for very low population planets, and check if the 0-3 million random bonus growth is uniformly or binomially distributed. Please see discussion!)

- minimum growth is 5M. Even on empty planet ("spored" or colonized with empty colonizer) in the next turn there will be 5M pop,
- base growth is (3% + random number between 0 and 3 million inclusive) or 75 million pop, whichever is smaller,
- this base is increased by bonus percentage growth from abilities (sum of Aphrodisiacs, starting growth, two new technologies
  from DA, bonus from anomalies, Fertility Acceleration Clinics),
- finally, this sum is multiplied by the planet's approval modifier.

The planet's approval modifier is:
- if approval is less than 21% you lose 10% of your existing population per turn.
- 0 for approval between 21 and 40% (pop doesn't grow).
- 1 for approval between 41% and 75% inclusive.
- 1.25 for approval between 76% and 99% inclusive.
- 2 for 100% approval without the Super Breeder special ability or 8 for 100% approval with Super Breeder.

• Examples:
  

1) planet at 55% approval, 2B pop, no ability bonuses

  newPop = min ( 3% * 2000M + rand(4) * 1M, 75M ) = 60 to 63 million

2) planet at 80% approval, 4B pop, +10% growth bonus

  newPop = min ( 3% * 4000M + rand(4) * 1M, 75M ) * 1.1 * 1.25 = 103 million

3) Homeworld at 100% approval, with 5B pop, +30% growth bonus, 2 FACs

  newPop = min ( 3% * 5000M + rand(4) * 1M, 75M ) * 1.8 * 2 = 270 million

4) planet at 100% approval, with 3B pop, +10% growth bonus, Super Breeder trait

  newPop = min ( 3% * 3000M + rand(4) * 1M, 75M ) * 1.1 * 8 = 660 million

Notes on pop growth

• Players using Super Breeder trait reported growing 2 BILLIONS pop per game turn.

Population and Food

In Dread Lords, the Civilization Capital provides 10mt of food per week, and Initial Colonies provide 5mt. In Dark Avatar 1.5 Civilization Capital provides 12mt of food per week, and Initial Colonies provide 6mt. In Dark Avatar 1.6beta5 Civilization Capital provides 16mt of food per week.

The chart below assumes that the planet has an initial colony and tells you the number of farms needed to reach the population cap (which might not be the optimal configuration). It applies to Dread Lords only.

• one asterisk indicates that there is no need to upgrade.
• two asterisks indicate that an equal number of lower tech farms will suffice.
• Note: Maximum Population might not be desirable due to morale and approval. At the same time, a player might need it to get additional tax revenue or influence.

Population/Farm Relationship
PQ	Population	Population Need to be fed	Basic Farm (4mt/week)	Xeno Farming (6mt/week)	Intensive Farming (8mt/week)	Advanced Farming (10mt/week)
4	2.5	0*	0	0	0	0
5	4.3	0*	0	0	0	0
6	6.9	1.9	1*	1**	1**	1**
7	10.2	5.2	2	1*	1**	1**
8	14.6	9.6	3	2*	1**	1**
9	20.0	15.0	4	3	2*	2**
10	26.6	21.6	6	4	3*	3**
11	34.6	29.6	8	5	4	3
12	43.9	38.9	10	7	5	4
13	54.9	49.9	13	9	7	5
14	67.5	62.5	16	11	8	7
15	81.9	76.9	20	13	10	8
16	98.3	93.3	24	16	12	10
17+	100	95	24	16	12	10