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Author Topic: Population Caps.  (Read 1172 times)

lordnincompoop

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Population Caps.
« on: June 20, 2009, 03:32:50 pm »

I seem to have problems with population caps. I set it to 50 originally so that I could pursue a project without worrying about provisions and stuff to much, but the dwarf population went aboue that (into the 60-70 regions), so I figured, "Screw that. I'll just put it back to 200 then", so I did. But now my population is at 208 (54 children, I swear these guys breed like rabbits) and I'm worried it'll go over 200 as well, and continue rising into the skies. What should I do?
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selbram

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Re: Population Caps.
« Reply #1 on: June 20, 2009, 03:39:59 pm »

From my experience all the pop cop in the ini file stops is immigration. Your dwarves will still spawn like crazy if they can. Your original setting of 50 was probably exactly what you wanted before. Also to note, even with the pop cap set if, for example, you have it set to 50 and you have 49 dwarves, you can still get a migrant wave of more than the cap. After that you should get the message telling you no migrants came this year.

I know there is stuff you can tweak with the baby settings but I am less familiar with those and will let someone with more experience fill you in on that.
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lordnincompoop

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Re: Population Caps.
« Reply #2 on: June 20, 2009, 03:49:38 pm »

Then how can I stop these damn rabbits from birthing every single minute?
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selbram

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Re: Population Caps.
« Reply #3 on: June 20, 2009, 03:58:54 pm »

Maybe changing this entry in init.txt:
[BABY_CHILD_CAP:100:1000]

to:

[BABY_CHILD_CAP:0:0]
?
Give it a try.
 ;D
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Samus1111111

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Re: Population Caps.
« Reply #4 on: June 20, 2009, 04:08:53 pm »

ya, that will work, it will not allow pregnancies
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Shadowics

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Re: Population Caps.
« Reply #5 on: June 20, 2009, 11:34:31 pm »

When I do small test forts for this and that, I often set pop cap and child cap to 0, so I don't have to worry about food, or beds, or anything like that, just seal up the entrance to my fort and do whatever.

[POPULATION_CAP:0]
[BABY_CHILD_CAP:0:0]

Regardless, I still get immigration waves 10-12 at a time, who mill about confused at the edge of the map until something or other kills them. And my original 7 have had 2 children so far in my current fort.

The Init settings do have some effect, but frustratingly, it seems that they, like the traffic zones, are only 'suggestions' and you can't absolutely keep more immigrants from showing up or babies from being born.
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dragon0421

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Re: Population Caps.
« Reply #6 on: June 20, 2009, 11:42:39 pm »

It's a soft cap. If you have a cap set at 50, but have 49 dwarfs, you qualify for an immigration wave which could easily be 30 more dwarfs. Once you're at or beyond the cap, you should stop getting waves, though I've read that occasionally you add a dwarf or two anyway.
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Shadowics

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Re: Population Caps.
« Reply #7 on: June 20, 2009, 11:44:45 pm »

It's a very soft cap. If you're over the cap, you will get less immigrants and children, not none.
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Albedo

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Re: Population Caps.
« Reply #8 on: June 21, 2009, 12:32:56 am »

It's not soft at all.  It's a hard cap for immigration, just not a cap for population - not at all.

Read the wiki, "init.txt".
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Shadowics

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Re: Population Caps.
« Reply #9 on: June 21, 2009, 12:40:11 am »

It's not soft at all.  It's a hard cap for immigration, just not a cap for population - not at all.

Read the wiki, "init.txt".
Wikis are not always right. I can guarantee you that, in 40d, with pop cap 0, you do still get immigration, just less.

I probably ought to register a wiki account and fix that...
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Malicus

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Re: Population Caps.
« Reply #10 on: June 21, 2009, 12:41:30 am »

I read somewhere that the pop cap actually has a minimum value, so a pop cap of 0 doesn't mean what you hope it means.
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lordnincompoop

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Re: Population Caps.
« Reply #11 on: June 21, 2009, 01:52:06 am »

What does the second number (default 1000) on the baby cap mean?
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Shadowics

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Re: Population Caps.
« Reply #12 on: June 21, 2009, 02:02:26 am »

What does the second number (default 1000) on the baby cap mean?
Quote from: init.txt
The second is a percentage of the current number of adults in your fortress (the default is the essentially meaningless 1000% here).
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WeAreGodzilla

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Re: Population Caps.
« Reply #13 on: June 21, 2009, 02:03:23 am »

There's thirteen dorfs in my reclaim fortress, embarked with fourteen, one death.

The init.txt is set at:

[POPULATION_CAP:10]

[BABY_CHILD_CAP:0:1]

I've NEVER had an immigration or pregnancy.  However, the fortress is also sealed from the outside, so I've never traded or had a meeting with a liason from the mountainhome either.
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lordnincompoop

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Re: Population Caps.
« Reply #14 on: June 21, 2009, 02:19:40 am »

What does the second number (default 1000) on the baby cap mean?
Quote from: init.txt
The second is a percentage of the current number of adults in your fortress (the default is the essentially meaningless 1000% here).
But what does that mean? Should I be changing that to some other number when I change the cap?
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