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Author Topic: [40d9] Population cap in init.txt doesn't do anything  (Read 1133 times)

ZeroGravitas

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[40d9] Population cap in init.txt doesn't do anything
« on: February 17, 2009, 01:51:04 pm »

Population cap was set to 30 before world was even generated. Game was started, saved, reloaded, etc several times before the following happened.

Fort population: 7
magma accident. -1
Fort population: 6
Immigration wave, +8
Fort population: 14
Immigration wave, +12
Fort population: 26
Immigration wave, +16
Fort population: 42
various mishaps, -2
Fort population: 40
Newest immigration wave: +8

Fort population: 48

this is stupid.
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Fossaman

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Re: [40d9] Population cap in init.txt doesn't do anything
« Reply #1 on: February 17, 2009, 04:26:05 pm »

There's lag in the population cap calculations. The caravan comes, and counts the number of dwarves in your fortress. It goes back and tells the mountainhomes that you're below the cap. Migrants come, but they don't care about the actual number you used for the cap, just that you haven't reached it yet. So it takes a full year for immigration to stop after you hit the cap.
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Footkerchief

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Re: [40d9] Population cap in init.txt doesn't do anything
« Reply #2 on: February 17, 2009, 04:56:39 pm »

^^^ I believe Fossaman's right, but ZeroGravitas, as long as you've got a good test case going, could you run it another year or two and see if the immigrants keep coming?
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ZeroGravitas

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Re: [40d9] Population cap in init.txt doesn't do anything
« Reply #3 on: February 17, 2009, 11:00:03 pm »

I'll try again. I'm pretty sure that was over the course of a few years, but I may have missed my caravan one fall because of a siege.
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Jay

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Re: [40d9] Population cap in init.txt doesn't do anything
« Reply #4 on: February 19, 2009, 09:06:27 pm »

Toady really needs to add a note about the fact that the population cap is enforced realistically, as a reported census + effect from the traders, rather then a hard (HARD!) cap to the number of dwarves you can have, in order to prevent the great many threads we get on it.
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Redd

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Re: [40d9] Population cap in init.txt doesn't do anything
« Reply #5 on: February 20, 2009, 01:28:39 pm »

I've been playing a while and never picked that up before now, so I have to agree.
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Drunken

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Re: [40d9] Population cap in init.txt doesn't do anything
« Reply #6 on: February 20, 2009, 01:53:54 pm »

My experience has been that you need to set just over half the popcap you actually want. 48 sounds close for 30 popcap but I havent tried very high numbers. I use 7 popcap and that usually hangs around ten. I am up to 16 at the moment but 7 of those are children which the cap doesnt restrict. If you want 30 try setting it to 16 or so.
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Noble Digger

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Re: [40d9] Population cap in init.txt doesn't do anything
« Reply #7 on: February 20, 2009, 11:16:39 pm »

Nah, the population cap is loose (to use a bawdy analogy) like throwing a hot dog down a hallway.

I played for 5 years on a fort with POPULATION_CAP:7 and I would receive immigrants twice a year to raise my population back to 9, no matter how many times I killed them off.
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quib·ble
1. To evade the truth or importance of an issue by raising trivial distinctions and objections.
2. To find fault or criticize for petty reasons; cavil.