At the End of Growth.

[Blaupanzer]

Anyone have any ideas how to stop that city with an odd number of food resources in the BFC from growing past that number, then starving until that last citizen is gone? Then the cycle repeats. Since what is really going on is the appearing/disappearing specialist, it only matters if the city is not native to me. The starving triggers unhappiness and that can cascade.

I know you can add a Great Merchant, but I am short on such.

[rah]

I usually leave one square unimproved so I have some flexibility.

[Boracks]

have workers change one of the food squares to adjust the number to something even

[Thedrin]

Isn't there a button in the city screen that halts city growth?

[slnz]

Build a Supermarket or Baray

[Jaybe]

Yeah, turn on Avoid Growth, build Supermarket, convert mine/windmill, or let the growth/shrinkage occur.

Then some trade deal will change and your happiness/health parameters will cause you to need to make other arrangements -- CONSTANT VIGILANCE is required!
This is particularly true with Sid's Sushi, of course.

[Ming]

I just never worry about it in most cases... Maybe in my Capital or one other key city, but frankly, who cares

[Krill]

when it is 1 food from growing use a specialist.

[rah]

Yeah, its the constant changes that get annoying. I usually neutral growth cities at some point later in the game but something always comes along to change it.

[Blaupanzer]

I just never worry about it in most cases... Maybe in my Capital or one other key city, but frankly, who cares

Reason I started this thread was I am holding half a dozen Arab cities (I am France, l'état, c'est moi ) and, as a vassal, Arabia becomes involved in war with me fairly regularly. With other issues, I am not yet strong enough to reduce Arabia to history. These Arabian cities require an offset for unhappiness whenever this war status exists as they make noise about the motherland and our brothers and sisters of the faith. Some of them don't even have that "faith" and all are of my faith, different than Arabia's. All are near max food consumption. If one goes over on food during this period, the starving has a BIG effect on unhappiness. Apparently, starvation does not increase unhappiness additively, but has some multiplying effect.

As an experiment in another game, I pulled all the troops out of a similar city while at war with their mother country -- immediate revolt. I was in Republic and the city was + 10 on happiness prior to the pullout. Concern for their safety interacted with the other non-pop unhappiness factors to eat up all the remaining happiness plus a bit.

[Ming]

When I go to war, I try to make sure that the "motherland" will never be a problem long term... I simply eliminate anybody I start a war with if I'm keeping any of their cities

[slnz]

Starvation does not give unhappiness in any way or circumstances, btw In fact, it reduces it because it's less crowded!

[rah]

When I go to war, I try to make sure that the "motherland" will never be a problem long term... I simply eliminate anybody I start a war with if I'm keeping any of their cities

Yeah, that's usually the plan till you take what you think is there last city and you don't get that satisfying "xxx civilization has been destroyed" message. And they have that one square island in the middle of nowhere so you demand their map for peace so you can figure out where the heck it is to take out later.

[Blaupanzer]

Starvation does not give unhappiness in any way or circumstances, btw In fact, it reduces it because it's less crowded!

Part two of the quoted sentence is clearly true when the citizen dies, but that takes the time to lose 1 food per turn until the 1/2 of the foodbox is empty (w/granary).

Are you sure part 1 is right? My guess had been that the point of unhappiness I can't account for came from there. I suspect this works like the city garrison programming. (When your city has no garrison, the unhappiness jumps up immediately then seems to increase gradually.) I haven't tested the food/unhappiness ratio at all. Have you? Would be useful to know who dies first in an occupied city in this state. One of the old owner's, one of mine, how much unhappiness, if any.

[Blaupanzer]

In war the darn "motherlands" vassal up and not to me. Thus the question arises: Is it worth fighting everyone but my own vassal(s) just to eliminate the cities of a civ including those you would not be keeping? Is it time for peace and my hassle here? Lastly, the AI vassals of AI are notoriously bad about backfilling cities on tundra, islands, desert hills and so forth where the land is open. This puts "the motherland" in some freaky places due to your own initial conquering. Of course if you are sweeping thru all comers like grim reaper at apocalypse, then what do you care where the cities get stuck? I usually don't have that scale of a tech and soldier building lead.