Food production creates population units () which produce more resources. This makes food vital for growth.

Overview Edit

Food () is produced like other FIDS by  units on planets, according to the type of planet and improvements on the system. The total food produced by all planets of a system contributes to the rate of colony growth for that system as a whole, producing more population units.

As each population unit then generates resources and contributes to the production of the star system as a whole, good initial food production is vital for growth. When colonizing a system during the early game, it is essential to choose a planet with substantial food production so that population growth will occur. Without solid population growth, the FIDS income will remain low, reducing the ability to develop and invest in improvements that would further boost growth. Maintaining a high rate of population growth contributes to a solid economy, and good food production is the most fundamental factor in doing so.

Production Edit

The planets of a system generate  directly from population. The first colonized planet in a newly occupied system should be selected to maximize early food production. Jungle, Terran, and Ocean planets produce the highest base and are therefore the best planets to colonize early in the game. Immediately choosing a food-generating Planetary Exploitation option after colonizing each planet of a system is typically a good strategy until most all planets of a system are fully populated, after which the choice of exploitation for planets can be changed for later-game goals to support manufacturing, research, or dust income.

Researching technologies that offer system improvements and access to bonus resources such as Hydromiel can also significantly increase food production. Assignment of a hero with an affinity for Labor will also increase the rate of food and population growth.

Blockaded planets have a -25% penalty to .

Consumption and growth rate Edit

Each Population Unit consumes 2 . If you have more than this amount in a system, your population will grow; if you have less, it will shrink. The population cannot decrease below 1 per colonized planet and cannot exceed the total capacity of all of the planets. It is possible for a system's population to increase by more than 1 in a single turn. The game chooses which planet in a system to place (or remove) new population unit(s), however players can manually relocate population units among the colonized planets of a system.

The total accumulated excess needed to reach a certain population is given by

4 * (current )^2.4

The amount of accumulated excess since the last population increase needed to increase the population by 1 is approximately given by

(5 * (current  + 0.5))^1.4

This means that more populated systems will grow more slowly, even if the to ratio is the same.

See population table for a table.

Resources
Basic Resources (FIDS)	Food - Industry - Dust - Science
Strategic Resources	Hyperium - Titanium-70 - Anti-Matter - Hexaferrum - Orichalcix - Siderite - Adamantian - Quadrinix
Luxury Resources	Vegetables: Redsang - Bluecap Mold - Dustwater - Hydromiel Gems: Mercurite - Void Stone - Jadonyx - Ionic Crystals Drugs: Eden Incense - Meta-Entactogen - Transvine - Proto-Orchid Artifacts: Concrete Artifacts - Virtual Artifacts - Pre-schism Artifacts - Mundane Artifacts