If you're on a map with 200 colonizable planets in your area, having 200 colonizable planets with 0% approval and no space spent on entertainment buildings is much better than having 80 planets with several slots spent on entertainment buildings, which are all at risk of cultural pressure when the other 120 planets get claimed by your rivals.

So there's really no choice - you take all the planets you can, and you either have Patriotic, use the Malevolent invasions bonus, or just deal with 0% approval.

Even Klingons have entertainment!!

Which is why it is broken. Nuff said?

I am not a programmer, but I really dont know, whats the problem to solve this. As far as I see, the morale penalty has a much greater impact on big maps, than on smaller maps and the reason is, that there is a hard cap, a number of planets when your Empire starts to count as a "Large Empire" with the "Large Empire Morale penalty". Playing patriotic is not a real solution. I played on a insane map and besides the problem, that my game is crashing when I try to save it (after 400 turns ), I was playing patriotic, but the AI wasnt and its not fun, when all your enemies are on low morale. So I will have to wait some weeks anyway, till I like to play the game again, hopefully games like this wont crash anymore.

But why dont you change the hard cap (a certain number of planets that are colonized, before aproval is falling down), to a percentage of colonize planets? For example: Every empire, that owns more than 10% of all colonizeable planets, is a large empire and gets the penalty on aproval. If you are playing on a map with 600 colonize Planets, you start getting penalty with 60 planets. On a map with 60 colonized planets, it starts with 10.  If your empire is still growing, the penalty will grow slowly too. So it wouldnt matter if you are playing on a small map or an insane map, when you reach a certain percentage, you have to start to build entertainment buildings. How much the penalty grows can be easily regulated, so it will be harder to have a high moral, but still isnt impossible to keep up the populations motivation.

It should be also possible to change the percentage, depending on the map size

For example: If 10 Planets cant count as a big empire, start the percentage on small maps at 20%
If 60 colonized are far too much on a 600 planets map, and already an empire with 40 planets should be a big empire, than make a table like this:

10-50 colonize planets >20% = big empire
51-100 colonize planets >18% = big empire

....

501-600 planets >8% = big empire - but penalty grows much slower when getting more % of colonized planets than on small maps.



I am really not a programmer and maybe I just see this problem too simple. Maybe this needs alot of maths, to balance this, but hard numbers cant be the solution

sorry for bad english and so on

This is dumb, right now the only logical option is to completely ignore morale, get every planet you can, and crush your opponents with industry, wealth, and tech. No point even making morale buildings. I have 136 planets, and can pump out ships and troops faster than the rest of the galaxy combined.

Yea.. low morale should have a bigger impact. when Morale is red, the ppl should go on strike. A planet should give no more manufacturing points for shipyards, no more income from Trade, Tourism or Grocery, no more research, and for example half manufacturing for buildungs (so you can still build entertainment buildings). Already on yellow morale there should be a penalty on those things. Planets who arent giving any profit, and even cost money (maintanance) would definitely stop ppl to ignore low morale. But to make this, AI should first be able to handle its morale effectively. (AI should generally start to set up similar buildings next to each other to get higher lvl buildings)

I have to say, I'm not sure that Stardock meant to do it, but they made a game that's actually easier to play if you're a hardcore min-maxer. As documented endlessly, if you follow a few simple rules, you can make all the mechanics of the game disappear. at which point all the numbers and carefully crafted UI becomes just useless cruft.

unfortunately, playing that way not only takes all the challenge out of the game, but it also becomes painful as the game does not have sufficient tools for managing an empire larger than 10 or so planets.

Well said.  My limit is around 25-30, then its cry time.   I really dont have much sympathy for people playing insane maps.  I'm certain its far from the norm.   i would think that to be more for multiplayer.  

It wont happen.  And having approval problems with such a small empire sounds like you are missing out on something. Unless your pop is like +25 on each planet. LEP is mainly meant to be an inefficiency malus, and that intent will forever remain in the game.  

Balancing is the key, so all races, all traits, all types of play styles are on a 'fairly' even playing field.  And the only perfectly valid point is that at extremely high pop levels, apparently is better to build farms and population, and take the -25% from 0% approval in the arse...from a production/economic/research point of view....which is certainly not what the devs have in mind.

I don't completely understand why people have such morale problems.  I have entertainment centers, a few key techs, some approval relics.  I work my way up to 100+ planets.  I take a lot of benevolent ideology choices because I am just that kind of person, and those choices have some approval bonuses.  My initial colonization rush puts a severe strain on that, but it all works out.

As to whether you can go ahead and play with 0% happy people.  No, I can't.  Some of you are obsessed with maximizing an economy.  I am obsessed with keeping my people happy.  I don't think it requires all that much real estate and investment compared to some of the other challenges of the game. I do understand those who want unhappiness made more consequential.

All I can say is try being nice to your people whether it is absolutely necessary or not. 

delete me

correct, if you wanted to.