Population increases maintenance?

[Dog of Justice]

I noticed my city maintenance and civic upkeep jumped right after a "Congratulations, you have half a million souls" message. Coincidence, or is maintenance coded to increase based on such thresholds? If that is the case, it may be advantageous to intentionally hover right below such thresholds for a few extra turns...

Anyone know what other undocumented and unlabeled (at least Inflation is labeled) causes of maintenance increase are?

[acuoio]

I think just the civic upkeep goes up. City maintenance remains the same.

[Quillan]

I don't know the formula, but each city costs maintenance based upon the number of total cities you have and its distance from a governmental center. Once, I was playing a huge/terra map, and I'd started out boxed into a small peninsula on the old world. I had 6 cities crammed into a small area, so I paid more for number than distance. When I got astronomy and started conquering the new world, I captured 8 barbarian cities and my city costs went up a lot, but the maintenance was almost all distance to capital. When I completed the forbidden palace in the new world, the overall maintenance stayed the same, but instead of paying something like 3 for number and 18 for distance, I was now paying 11 and 10.

The maintenance cost of civics seems to be based on total population levels of all your cities. It can change anytime a city increases its pop size. I don't know the thresholds.

[Aileron]

Originally posted by Quillan
but instead of paying something like 3 for number and 18 for distance, I was now paying 11 and 10.

Where can you see that detailed breakdown of maintenance costs?

[Dog of Justice]

Originally posted by acuoio
I think just the civic upkeep goes up. City maintenance remains the same.

This can't be true, because my city maintenance went up (in the Financial Advisor) without my founding any new cities.

[MattPilot]

Maybe "inflation" went up as your population grew.

[Jaybe]

Originally posted by Aileron
Where can you see that detailed breakdown of maintenance costs?

You can mouse over them on the F2, but that is as detailed as the game goes.

Personally, I am convinced that population DOES affect maintenance & civic costs. But I have played only 25-35 hours so far, and haven't been worrying about those costs that much (I am okay with my surplus at 90% (Warlord)).

[byrath]

I am certain that I saw one of my cities go from a maintenance of -3 when I founded it (as seen on the city detail screen) to a -5 after said city finished its lighthouse and was at size 3 or 4.