Hello, long time player of Gal Civ here, it's been a while since I've played it but I now have a PC capable of playing GalCiv3.
I have found GC3 mostly similar to GC2, apart from the Hexboard obviously, but I have a bit of a problem with the Population cap. In the previous game, there was a generally agreed upon limit meaning 10 or 12 Billion peeps was basically as far as you were going to get. In the new game however there doesn't seem to be, as far as I can tell, any limit whatsoever, Morale be damned. Checking the forum I read a thread with someone saying that the bigger the Population then the more of everything (Manufacturing, Research, Economy) you produce even with Morale penalties because Population is directly linked to Production. Having played GalCiv and other Civ-type games before I can't help but cringe at all those angry, red faces but I feel I have no choice if it means falling behind in the Production race. I also know from past experience that GalCiv has a tendency to hide gameplay mechanics, that go largely unexplained, under the bonnet.
Is there an unofficial population cap in place like GalCiv2 or is pumping a ridiculous amount of farms pretty much the only way to play effectively? Now, I'm pleasantly surprised farms finally play an important role but this is too much and I'm thinking perhaps a Population cap might be linked with Planet size but I'm not certain.
Essentially what I am asking the more experienced players here is whether there is a sweet spot between Population, Production and Morale? Is it possible to have an Empire where everybody is happy?
Thank you.