Pop-booming

[NorthSwordsman]

This might be a dumb question, but the dumbest questions are those not asked... and I have some problems with this....

Exactly how is a popboom executed? I know CC provides +2 growth, Planned another +2. What I am trying to figure out is how to tell there is a popboom occuring, and how long can you sustain that? I've heard discussion after discussion mention popbooming, but there doesn't seem to be any threads explaining HOW a popboom is done. Doping into a golden age forces a popboom, that much I understand. I want to know more about this in detail so I can get a handle on this.

[Lefty Scaevola]

Population booming require a net +6 growth at a base. In addition to the +4 you get from demo/planned each base that has a creche gets a +2 for it and each base that has a golden age gets a +2 for that. The factions with a growth penalty or who cannot use either planned or demo, would need both a creche and a golden age. Eudamonia, with its growth bonus, comes too late in the game to be useful in a population race.

[johndmuller]

Isn't there also some problem with the Golden Age not working correctly in SMAC (or in some versions of it at least)?

[WhiteElephants]

Yes, the Golden Age pop boom only works in SMACX. The obvious way to sustain a boom is to unsure that you have the +6 growth, but you also need to maintain an excess of +2 nutrients, otherwise the population will not grow. The only way to know if a base is pop booming is to note the population growth, though the population will stop growing if you reach your hab comlex or hab dome limit.

Just to clarify what a pop boom does: A pop boom adds one point of population per turn as long as the base maintains +6 growth and nutrient intake in excess of 2. If a base doesn't fulfill these requirements it will not pop boom.

[NorthSwordsman]

Originally posted by WhiteElephants

Just to clarify what a pop boom does: A pop boom adds one point of population per turn as long as the base maintains +6 growth and nutrient intake in excess of 2. If a base doesn't fulfill these requirements it will not pop boom.

That's one thing that has me stumped.... does that mean a +2 nut for EVERY citizen you want the base to grow to, or just a +2 nut, period, during that whole time? I've had someone tell me one thing, and someone another thing. For example, if I am a size 4 and want to pop boom to 7, I meet the +6 growth requirement, do I just need a surplus of +2 during the whole time, or a +6 nut surplus total?

[WhiteElephants]

Hmmm... lets see if I can word this correctly. What you need is 2 nutrients for every population point and an additional 2 for the soon to be population point you'll get from the boom. So, in your example you'd need 8 nutrients for the 4 population points you already have and an additional 2 to initiate the boom for a grand total of 10 nutrients produced which would show 8 consumed with +2 left over. On the next turn you'll need 10 nutrients for the 5 population points you'll have and an additional 2 to maintain the boom for a grand total of 12 nutrients. Of course you can go above and beyond the +2 nutrients required, but at a bare minimum you need +2 extra.

As I'm sure you know the demand on nutrients increases quickly and more often than not a base that is booming will require a tree farm and/or a condensor/farm on a nutrient special to maintain this escalating demand, not to mention the growth of drones in the rising population that will need to be quelled somehow.

[NorthSwordsman]

WE,

THANK YOU! That is exactly what I needed to know about popbooming. Thank you for helping with that area. Hmm.. fits right in with Vel's strat on "creating synergy", doesn't it? Using crawlers, you could popboom early...

[Slocombe]

Pop booms could go ballistic in ocean bases with lots of kelp - 3+ nutrients per square. There aren't many land-based squares that can produce that in the early stages of a game.

Of course, the problem in ocean squares is lack of minerals (unless you're Svensgaard, in which case the -1 growth faction penalty means you have to Golden Age too... bummer)

[cbn]

Often (if you can control the drones) an initial extra 2 nuts is enough to gain several population points. You can continue the boom (up to hab limits) as long as there is a new 2 nutrient square for the new worker to use.

Kelp is fabulous since 2 workers and a specialist can be maintained.

[SerapisIV]

Is there a way you can tell what the base's individual stats are (growth, morale, etc)? I've been under the impression that you have to golden age to pop-boom. Also, is there any indicator to show a base is pop-booming even if there is no golden age?

[EtheMind]

Even if you only have that +1 Nutrient your bases may grow, and they will. But sustaning the population, each unit requires 2 Nutrients as mentioned.

The growth indicator of the base always tells you the time needed before new unit of population occures. And in this case, it's always 1 turn.

[WhiteElephants]

SerapisIV -- I really like the idea of each base having a separate screen to display its stats, unfortunatley I do not believe there is such a screen in SMAC. Maybe in CivIII and beyond Firaxis will create somthing like the SE screen except each base will have its individual screen for its stats. Great idea.

You don't need to achieve a Golden Age to pop boom unless your playing a faction that cannot run either Demo or Planned. In that case you need to get a Golden Age in order to get that +2 growth you'd normally get from either of those SE choices.


EtheMind -- I'm not sure what you mean by your last post, but just for the sake of clarification your base will grow with +1 nutrients under normal conditions, but it will not pop boom each turn until you have +2 nutrients. During a pop boom the growth indicator on the base also looks like it does any other time, if I'm not mistaken, so the indicator might say you need 10 turns till the next population point is added, but nonetheless it will grow by one point next turn as long as the pop boom requirements are met.

[EtheMind]

if I'm not mistaken, so the indicator might say you need 10 turns till the next population point is added, but nonetheless it will grow by one point next turn as long as the pop boom requirements are met.

I know you're Prince class and you can probably call rank on me , but I'm not so sure about this. I have this feeling in my stomache, and I don't think it has anything to do with tacos I just happened to eat that...it gives you that 1 turn, in case you have a boom. Can someone clear this up for sure?

[WhiteElephants]

I just played some turns today and forgot to look. Doh! If you are correct it would be a somewhat convienent way of checking whether or not you're actually pop booming, rather than checking to see if you meet all the critirea.

Edit -- I guess what I'm thinking here is that pop booming doesn't erase your accumulated nutrient growth and so it shouldn't fill up before a boom and empty after a boom each turn. There have been instances where I've boomed a base one turn and then the next turn I needed to make some adjustments in order for it to maintain the boom and I can't recall seeing the nutrient tank fill up again.

Hmmm... we'll get to the bottom of this sooner or later.

[big_canuk]

I look all the time. WE is correct. During a pop boom, the display looks as it always does, showing the bars, some full, and some not, with 2 or more highlighted, which show the excess nuts. It still says, say 5 turns to growth, even though you will grow next turn.

It is still possible to grow with plus 1 nuts, but then it will be normal growth, only occuring when the "tank" is full. BTW, it is *much* more efficient to switch one crawler from mins or energy to nuts (even if only 1 nut) for one turn to get the growth. Then the crawler can be switched back the following turn if the new worker harvests at least a 1 nut square. Or the crawler can be left as a 1 nut crawler with the new pop being changed to a specialist to provide at least 3 efficiency proof rps or ecs. (Hmm..., better get to work making more farm/condensers.)