Solution to the long-standing pop issue: adopt the "Imperator: Rome" approach, to have both performance and high pop numbers

[Teodosio7]

The problem with pops is that they destroy performance because their job allocations have to be recalculated every few thicks.

Proposal: why not to adopt "Imperator: Rome" approach instead? That would improve the management of different classes of pops too.
I could see it working like this:

• Every pop produces some small amount of resources, depending on the natural resources of the planet
• Creating a building would produce more of one type of resource and attract that pop class (e.g. a mine would produce more minerals and increase the proportion of workers/slaves)
• Specializing a planet on resources or manufacturing or science would make that planet predominantly populated by that class of pops (labourers, factory workers, white collars).
• Let pops grow and fill back those ring worlds!

An example of how it could work.
Pop types and their base production:

• Rulers: +5 amenities, +5 trade
• Specialists: +1 Science, +1 Unity, +1 Admin
• Workmen: +1 alloys, +1 consumer goods
• Labourers/Slaves: +1 Food, +1 Minerals, +1 Energy

Default distribution:
5% rulers, 20% specialists, 30% workmen, 45% labourers/slaves

Buildings:

• Mining district: +20% minerals, increased weight of labourers/slaves
• Science labs: +20% science, increased weight of specialists
• etc...

Number of pops and of buildings limited by planet size (either can be increased by tech, modifiers etc.).

 

[MatthewP]

I like it better but it’s too drastic a change. It would be a year of development and another two years of balancing, bug fixing (or not), etc. before it was workable.

 

[The Founder]

I:R has a total of 5 jobs - one per stratum.
And they produce a total of 5 different resources (I am including extra tradegoods from Slaves).
The I:R pop system is 2-3 orders of magnitude less complex.
It can not be retrofitted into Stellaris, without loosing half the things that Stellaris is.

Maybe we get some idea like Culture and Religion ported into Stellaris eventually - but the basic System is way to simple for Stellaris.

 

[Amorenkaire]

Problem. What about soldiers, medical workers, roboticists, entertainers/duelists, necromancers, portal researchers, and so on and so on?

A lot of these jobs add quite nice flavor to a world, or give you alternate options to go down (when they're balanced right, looking at you medical worker). The Imperator system would gut it, and need a lot of special event/anomaly awards needing to be reworked.

 

[MatthewP]

Problem. What about soldiers, medical workers, roboticists, entertainers/duelists, necromancers, portal researchers, and so on and so on?

A lot of these jobs add quite nice flavor to a world, or give you alternate options to go down (when they're balanced right, looking at you medical worker). The Imperator system would gut it, and need a lot of special event/anomaly awards needing to be reworked.

I don’t think any of this is insurmountable. Each of those are represented by buildings or features which provide jobs. They could be represented by buildings or features which modify the output and weights of pops or give planet-wide bonuses. But I agree, it’s a complete rework of most of the game’s systems. So whether it would be more or less enjoyable (I think more) is interesting to talk about but irrelevant on some level.

 

[Orinsul]

I'd prefer keeping the current stellaris system or going full Vicky2
Imperator style would simplying but remove gameplay/management leaving the player with less game to play

 

[Equalsun]

I agree with the person above me- imagine Stellaris with Vicky II style pops, building system factory supply chains to efficiently produce materials for a galactic market? Every star system functioning as a state equivalent, with planets producing different resources one can build buildings to take advantage of? I think I would die of happiness.

However, that's not the Stellaris we have right now, and such a drastic change would be worked into Stellaris II, which we will get before Vicky III.

 

[Qwerlancer]

It is basically Endless Space 2 approach. Abstract all jobs, using buildings to develop instead.

 

[DaKahkInYoMowf]

I think the idea of RETHINKING POPS in general and how they work is on the right track to a solution. I take a liking to the suggestions about grouping the pops, so that each pop type only has to be loaded the one time, and then all the pops of that type are just a number. Rather than each pop on each planet being treated as an individual.

Very good discussion points tho to all above^