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[quarague]

so started a new fort in 3408, got through the first year and my first non hardcoded migrant wave arrives. The only metals I found so far are galena and sphalerite, so I don't really have a metal industry, I got one artifact, but it is a slate crown worth only 4800, total fortress value just below 70.000, exported wealth 6000. Seems to me that by any reasonable standards this should count as a poor to average number for one year. As usual no real military action yet, so nobody died so far.
The migrant wave I got was 27, so close to the max of 30 and more than my entire fortress population before.
The number of migrants you get is supposed to depend on how well your fortress is doing, which is a great idea,  but it seems this is badly off balance. If you don't do anything stupid and provide enough food and basic infrastructure you are already at the max values. You only get smaller migrant waves if half your dwarfs die in the first year, which usually only happens if you want it to. The wealth dependence on migrant waves is completely irrelevant because practically any fort will be scored as maximum wealth no matter whether you make candy armor or just dig a few holes in the ground.
For me this has been an issue since I started playing, about 3404 I think.
I know migrants can have accidents on the way to the fort but I feel this is a very nice feature of the game that has been broken for several updates and only takes changing a few numbers to fix.

[Garath]

my first "open" wave has always been between 20 and 30, regardless of whatever. Think of it compensating for the first two being only between 3 and 10, most likely not even taking you above 20. The 4th and 5th migrant wave are then usually around 10 or 14

By the way, I never knew there was a max of 30, as people have had larger waves in various migrations

[Telgin]

I think one unfortunate soul got a migrant wave of over 60 once.  Mostly children.

I'm not sure how the game calculates migrant wave size, and I don't think anyone but Toady himself knows.  It's partially random, likely.  In any case, yes, it seems that wealth is only a small factor in the wave size and is mostly unpredictable.  I've had a fort with little wealth pull in a 20 migrant wave and one that made a few dozen suits of armor attract 3.  Both with no deaths to affect it.

It's arguably not broken so much as a placeholder feature that Toady hasn't fleshed out.  People have been asking for a revamp to how it works since at least .31, and probably long before.  It's on Toady's to-do list, but it's going to be a while before anything is likely to be changed since it's going to be part of a larger change that introduces regional population transfers (I think that's how it worked).

In any case, setting the pop cap in your init file will help, but won't stop you from getting those random enormous migrant waves for no apparent reason.  It's the best we can do for now.

[slothen]

use the LNP to be more proactive about your pop and child cap.  Otherwise build a big dorm and enjoy the labor surplus.  Pass out those picks and axes.  I LIKE it when the hauling and cleaning get done.

[DTF]

I LIKE it when the hauling and cleaning get done.

That sure is nice.
But my 4th wave put me over my 100 pop limit with a 52 wave, mostly novice milkers, shearers, 10 fisher dwarves and of course lots of children. I feel like this sort of pop explosions would have never happened in earlier versions where you would not only get fewer migrants but also often more valuable ones.
90% of my migrants have some rudimentary combat skills ( 3 axe, 1 armor/shield/dodge, etc) which is okay, but these also only have civilian skills up to 3 to 4 at best. Getting a 'master tanner' feels like christmas at times.

Doubling your population in one month and thus also doubling your food/drink & living space requirements and organizational problems without any real benefit (since most of the time you would have to build up relevent skills from scratch) is neither expected nor enjoyed by most players, I'd say.

And what's up with the children? SO MANY OF THEM. They are everywhere! I remember back in .31 having children in your fort was somewhat uncommon at least in the first few years, but now 1/3 to 1/2 of my forts are made up of constantly partying pre-teens.
I wish there were computers in DF so we could give one to every child and be happy with them staying in their quarters not socialising and staying away from the real world.

[FuzzyZergling]

And what's up with the children? SO MANY OF THEM.

This is because migrants are now drawn from existing populations, so everyone drags their kids along when they migrate in.

[slothen]

Doubling your population in one month and thus also doubling your food/drink & living space requirements and organizational problems without any real benefit (since most of the time you would have to build up relevent skills from scratch) is neither expected nor enjoyed by most players, I'd say.

While that is probably how most players feel, they are not really justified.  Food and drink needs are doubled, but that's pretty easy, particularly with the current state of food returns from farming and butchering.  Space requirements are not doubled.  Just toss a few more beds in the dorm and make a slightly larger dining hall and you're good to go.  As for organizing labors, a great number of fortress tasks are made much easier and faster simply with additional dwarves, and new migrants don't suddenly make your existing dwarves less useful.  I still get the occasional master smith or carpenter, which is enough to make me happy, everyone else can speed up block making, plant collecting, hauling, mining, and smoothing.  The only real detriment is running out of booze and being less able to control moods due to having a large unskilled population.  Everything else points to migrants being good.

Of course, FPS concerns are legitimate, but in that case you should have just set your init files ahead of time, and you can't blame the migrant system.

[Crossroads Inc.]

Ok this may sound silly, but where do you go into the RAWs to edit the population cap?
Basically forcing the game NOT to send you any more?

[weenog]

Ok this may sound silly, but where do you go into the RAWs to edit the population cap?
Basically forcing the game NOT to send you any more?

/data/init/d_init.txt

Change [POPULATION_CAP:200] and [BABY_CHILD_CAP:100:1000] to values you consider more appropriate.

[ab9rf]

I admit that I barely notice migration waves anymore.  But I'm a DFHack addict, and so workflow is reliably keeping the fort in food and booze, and autolabor means the new migrants are all given jobs, if there are jobs to do.  All I do is watch the "idlers" number and if it spends much time above 10 or so I start the dwarfs on some new project, run the zone commands required to stash any new animals into their appropriate pastures/pens, and check on the training status of any critters I'm trying to domesticate.  I usually have more work to do than I have dwarfs to do it, so migrants are typically a boon.

[foop]

While that is probably how most players feel, they are not really justified.  Food and drink needs are doubled, but that's pretty easy, particularly with the current state of food returns from farming and butchering.  Space requirements are not doubled.  Just toss a few more beds in the dorm and make a slightly larger dining hall and you're good to go.

The thing that really gets me about huge migrant waves is all the xPig tail sockx churn that it causes.  I like happy dorfs in unworn clothes and find keeping on top of this difficult, especially when about 30% of each wave is chlidren.

Of course, FPS concerns are legitimate, but in that case you should have just set your init files ahead of time, and you can't blame the migrant system.

I've yet to find a pop cap setting which will reliably give me 30-40 dorfs, about all that my small travelling laptop can handle.  With larger pop caps it gets more reliable, but if you're aiming for 30 you're almost there by the first wave and can easily get another wave before the liaison returns to the mountainhomes and stops migration.  I often end up with twice the population I'm aiming for.

[weenog]

With precision unfortunate accidents you can shave your population down to the cap, without falling below it and inviting another migrant wave.

[Tirion]

Dwarf deaths, particularly noble deaths, reduce the number of migrants if the Outpost Liason reports it back to the home civ. You might appoint an useless dwarf to be manager or bookkeeper, arrange an accident before the first autumn, and migration -theoretically- will be moderated.

[greycat]

The thing that really gets me about huge migrant waves is all the xPig tail sockx churn that it causes.  I like happy dorfs in unworn clothes and find keeping on top of this difficult, especially when about 30% of each wave is chlidren.

Yeah.  The increase in demand for clothing (a year or two after the immigration) is much, much worse than the increase in demand for food and booze.  All I can suggest is that you get those pig tails planted, and the workshops ready, before the hordes show up.

[DTF]

With precision unfortunate accidents you can shave your population down to the cap, without falling below it and inviting another migrant wave.

Urist McMagic recommends standing below a raised bridge in full privacy. There will be no screams. Just make sure you ordered that slab. And then *poof*, !!NINJA VANISH!!.