[Arkcon]

Originally posted by Elowan:
Is that possible? By that I mean - is it possible to deplete your 'parent' planet's population to a level so as to adversely affect production and/or research rates if you send out a 'sh-tload' of colony ships too quickly?

Has anyone done a test to determine the percentage population ratio to change in the rate of production/research?

The same question also pertains to transporting pop to newly established colonies. It seems to me that it would be possible to shoot one's self in the foot here.

#1 - colonizing - that doesn't happen too often, wars start, borders get defined, etc. Early on colonizers don't hold much population. Think about it, you've tweaked the design and your const. bonus to let you build a colonizer a turn (or 2 or 3). If you beat the population down, you'll notice it takes longer to build. And you'll stop building them there.

#2 - transports - that happens often, if you use the minister or leave a transport on automatic. You dont want to spread yourself too thin. But your first major research planet, intel planet, or a shipyard planet close to your border all need a performance boost. But your homeworld's production is important in the early game too. I would never empty it of population to the point that it didn't have (at least)a small bonus. Unless I found a larger, better world. Your mileage may vary.

[ September 14, 2002, 18:02: Message edited by: Arkcon ]