Summary at a glance
Goal: Understand how populations drive production by converting food and housing into labor.
Do this first:
- Check location type and geography
- Ensure food and housing are met
- Fill jobs before building more
Pitfall to avoid: Building new structures when current buildings are unstaffed or lack inputs.
Why Pops Matter
Populations (pops) are the foundation of your economy. They convert food and housing into labor, which staffs buildings and produces goods and taxes. Without satisfied populations, your economy cannot function.
Pops convert food and housing into labor. Populations need food and housing before they can work. Staffed jobs produce goods and taxes, while unmet needs cause unrest and lost output.
Unstaffed buildings drain maintenance without producing. Buildings that aren't staffed cost maintenance but don't generate income. Always check employment levels before building more structures.
How to Read a Location
When examining a location, check these in order:
1. Immutable Geography
Location type, terrain, and climate set ceilings for food and capacity. These don't change. Check location type (agricultural, urban, coastal), terrain, and climate first. These determine what the location can produce and how efficiently.
Immutable geography sets ceilings for food and capacity. A location's geography limits what it can produce. Don't try to build beyond these limits—it won't work.
2. Employment and Inputs
Check employment levels and input availability. Are jobs filled? Are required inputs available locally or via trade? Unstaffed buildings or missing inputs mean production won't work.
Check employment, inputs, and satisfaction before building more jobs. Only build new structures when current buildings are staffed and inputs are available.
3. Access and Control
Check market access and control levels. Low access means the location can't reliably participate in markets. Low control means you're not collecting taxes efficiently. Both require infrastructure (roads, ports).
Ignoring access/control means goods don't arrive even with routes set. Even with marketplaces and routes, poor infrastructure prevents goods from reaching your buildings.
Promotion & Staffing
Understanding how populations promote and staff buildings:
Jobs Enable Promotion
Jobs enable promotion. Populations promote to higher tiers when jobs are available. Without vacancies and inputs, promotion stalls. Prioritize buildings that match your labor pool and import missing inputs via your primary market.
Without vacancies and inputs, promotion stalls. If you build manufactories but don't have workers or inputs, promotion won't happen. Check employment and inputs before building.
Promotion Loop in Practice
Create vacancies with profitable buildings, ensure inputs via capacity, then watch promotion absorb unemployment within 12–36 months. If not, you have an unmet need (food/housing) or access deficit.
Step-by-step:
- Build profitable buildings that require workers
- Ensure inputs are available through your market capacity
- Wait 12–36 months for promotion to fill vacancies
- If promotion doesn't happen, check food/housing and market access
Match Buildings to Labor Pool
Prioritize buildings that match your labor pool. Build structures that your populations can actually staff. Don't build advanced manufactories if you don't have skilled workers.
Import missing inputs via your primary market. If a building needs inputs you don't have locally, import them through your main market. Build marketplaces to enable imports.
Early Rules
Follow this sequence to manage populations effectively:
- Food → Housing → Jobs: Ensure populations have food and housing before building jobs. This is the foundation of your economy.
- Short-term gaps use imports and market capacity: If you have temporary food or input shortages, use imports and market capacity to bridge gaps. Don't build new structures to solve short-term problems.
- Staff existing jobs before expanding: Fill all existing jobs before building new structures. Unstaffed buildings drain maintenance without producing.
- Check access and control: Build roads and ports to improve access and control. Without infrastructure, populations can't participate in markets effectively.
What to Avoid
Common mistakes that waste resources and stall production:
- Overbuilding with no workers: Building structures without available workers means paying maintenance for nothing. Always check employment levels before building.
- Ignoring access/control so goods don't arrive: Even with routes set, poor infrastructure means goods won't reach your buildings. Build roads and ports to improve access and control.
- Building beyond geographic limits: Don't try to build beyond what a location's geography allows. Check location type and terrain first.
- Promoting without inputs: Building advanced structures without required inputs means promotion stalls. Import inputs first, then build.