City Overview (top)
Cities are the cornerstones of every Empire in Humankind. They are the primary generator of FIMS yields, the production center of Units, Districts, and Infrastructures, as well as the controller of Territories. The development part of the game largely involves developing Cities.
City Creation[]
Nomadic Tribes cannot create Cities; City creation is only available from the Ancient Era.
Once in Ancient Era and afterwards, existing Outposts can upgrade to Cities through City Creation actions. All City Creation methods will create a Main Plaza District on the tile, serving as the center and the anchor point of the City.
- City Creation (Ancient Era, no technology required)
- Colony Model (Medieval Era with Feudalism technology)
- Colony Plan (Early Modern Era with Three-Masted Ship technology)
- Colony Blueprint (Industrial Era with Steam Engine technology)
- Colony Grid (Contemporary Era with Civil Engineering technology)
In addition, the Settler and Construction Team Units can create Cities without Outposts, with a couple of built-in Infrastructures. However, this army action consumes them.
Yield Production[]
FIMS (Food, Industry, Money, and Science) are produced every turn in cities by 4 main sources:
- Districts;
- Exploitations;
- Specialists ();
- And other yields that directly applies to Cities, such as from Trade Routes, Infrastructures, and Luxury modifiers.
City Policy[]
The City policy defines where the newly grown Population will be assigned, therefore controls which types of yields should the city focuses on. There are five preset policies and one customizable by the player.
- Balanced Policy: Each Population will be distributed evenly among the Specialist Slots.
- City Growth: Each Population will be distributed evenly among the Farmers Slot and the Workers Slot. After those filled up, the newly grown Population will be distributed evenly among the Traders Slot and the Researchers Slot.
- Economic Exports: Each Population will be distributed evenly among the Workers Slot and the Traders Slot. After those filled up, the newly grown Population will be distributed evenly among the Farmers Slot and the Researchers Slot.
- Public Control:
- Technology Subsidies: Each Population will be distributed evenly among the Traders Slot and the Researchers Slot. After those filled up, the newly grown Population will be distributed evenly among the Farmers Slot and the Workers Slot.
- Expert Policy: This policy can be customised by dragging and dropping the FIMS icons below the policy selector.
Constructibles[]
With the yields generated - especially Industry and Money - every City can produce items in the production list, known as Constructibles.
Every City can produce the following Constructibles, either using Industry or Money buyout:
- Shared Project (including Wonders, Holy Sites, and National Projects)
- District (including Generic Districts and Emblematic Districts)
- Infrastructure
- Unit
- Public Ceremony (also known as Repeatables)
- Planting Forest
- Clearing Ruins
City capacity[]
Each Empire starts with 2 City Capacity in the Ancient Era. This value represents the number of Cities the culture can handle without penalties. The cap is usually increased by researching certain technologies, but it can come from multiple sources (listed below).
City cap sources[]
- Philosophy Technology (Classical Era): +1
- Theology Technology (Medieval Era): +1
- Supply Lines Technology (Early Modern Era): +1
- Urban Planning Technology (Industrial Era): +1
- Space Orbital Technology (Contemporary Era): +3
- Leadership Civic - Small Council: +1
- Prohibit choice from The Combine Event (Industrial Era): +1
- Achaemenid Persians Legacy Trait (Classical Era): +1
Going over the available City Capacity costs an increasing amount of Influence. If the Influence gain per turn falls below zero, all Cities will suffer Stability loss.
Penalty formula
P = -10n³ - 10n² - 10n + 20
n = number of Cities over Cap
P = overall penalty
| n | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| P | -10 | -120 | -370 | -820 | -1530 | -2560 | -3970 | -5820 | -8170 | -11080 |
Territory expansion[]
It is possible to combine multiple Territories to reduce the amount of Cities required to control them. Each City can Attach Outposts or Absorb Cities to increase controlled Territories. Attaching and Absorbing costs Influence, with the price increasing with the Territory count of the City. Each extra Territory cost the city -20Stability. Attaching Territories requires no prior technologies, and may be done as soon as the Ancient Era.
It is possible to detach a Territory from its City to Attach it to a different City or to create a new City from it. The Territory will become an Outpost again and Districts left uninhabited, and will no longer yield resources. The City's Stability will increase by +20.
Modifiers[]
- Land Rights Civic: Allows to Claim, Attach and Merge Territories with Money instead of Influence
- Legitimacy Civic: Modify Attach Outpost cost by -20%
- Conquest technology: Modify Attach Outpost cost by -10%
- Mauryans Legacy Trait: Modify Attach Outpost cost by -10%
- Expansionist Avatar Strength: -25% Attach Outpost cost; -25% Absorb City cost
Attach Territory Cost
T1 =Attached Outposts on this City
Ta=Attached Outposts on all Cities
Merge Cities cost
T=Total Territories in Both Cities
D=Districts in the city merging in (the one whose Main Plaza will be eliminated)
I=cost to Buyout all the Infrastructure that is in either one of the two cities but not the other
City actions[]
| Name | Description | Effects | Cost | Unlocked by |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Start Inquisition | Sacrifices 1Population to increase Stability of this City. | +10Stability for 5turns | -1Population | Unlocked by enacting Eliminate Unbelievers from the Unbelievers civic. |
| Banish Population | Sacrifices 1Population to increase Money in this City. | +20Money for 5turns | -1Population | Unlocked by enacting Banish Unbelievers from the Unbelievers civic. |
| Procession | Spends Money in order to increase Stability in this City. | +10Stability for 10turns | -5Money per Population | Unlocked by enacting Communal Rites from the Religious Rites civic. |
| Sacrifice Population | Sacrifices a 1Population to gain the Celebrating status for several turns. | +20Stability for 10turns | -1Population | Unlocked by the Sacrificial Altar Emblematic District. |
Effects on Cities[]
Stability[]
Each City has its own overall Stability. The City Stability provides bonuses based on the actual Stability percentage. If City Stability falls below 30%, the City loses its capability to build new Districts or continue existing constructions, with the exception of Constructibles that increase Stability. Should it drop even further, the City may revolt. If the city has over 90% Stability, it receives additional Influence and positive Narrative Events are more likely to appear. To keep the Stability high, Cities can build additional Infrastructures, run repeatable actions, or build specific Districts like the Commons Quarter. But keep in mind; most Districts, as well as increasing the City Territory count, can reduce Stability.
Stability effects[]
- +5Stability per Unit standing on a City's District.
- -20Stability per additional Territory
- -10Stability per District
- -1Stability ^² per turn (adds up each turn), when Influence per turn is negative.
- -1Stability per turn (adds up each turn) Money per turn is negative.
- See more in: City Status
Growth and population[]
City Population is required to build Units and work Specialist Slots that generate additional yields based on which District they are slotted in. When a City produces more Food than is needed to feed its Population, it is considered to be in a growth state. While in a growth state, the surplus Food, in turn, feeds Population growth. Surplus Food is calculated after the City’s current Population is fed. A bigger surplus means fewer turns pass before the City’s Population increases by 1. A negative deficit means the City will begin losing Population after a number of turns defined by the size of the Food shortfall.
The Population limit of a City equals its number of Specialist Slots. Exceeding this limit gives the City a -10Food penalty per Population over the limit.
Population food consumption formula
Food consumption = 0.25 * P2 + 6 * P
P = Population count
Absorb Cities[]
To Absorb Cities, Cities require the Military Architecture technology in the Medieval Era. The Influence cost of Absorbing a City can increase depending on the number of Districts the absorbed City contains, as well as what Infrastructure are in both Cities. The Influence cost will increase depending on the number of differing Infrastructures in the two Cities. As such, the Influence cost will always be lowest when both Cities have identical sets of Infrastructure.
Merge Cities cost
T=Total Territories in Both Cities
D=Districts in the city merging in (the one whose Main Plaza will be eliminated)
I=cost to Buyout all the Infrastructure that is in either one of the two cities but not the other
Many Cities vs Wide Cities comparison[]
A Wide City refers to a City controlling more than 1 Territory, whereas Many Cities refers to multiple Cities on the same number of Territories.
Example: a Wide City of 2 Territories, vs 2 Cities on 1 Territory each.
| Many Cities | Wide Cities | |
|---|---|---|
| Drawbacks | Going above City Cap drains Influence | -20Stability per attached Territory |
| Costs | Creation cost is high (no cost with the Settler starting in Early Modern Era) | Attaching costs are low (and can be reduced even more) |
| Infrastructures | Must build Infrastructures on each City | Shared Infrastructures (group Territories with common Terrain features like Coasts or Rivers) |
| Queues | Multiple build and Population queue | One build and Population queue per City including its Territories |
Strategical Implication[]
It is faster to claim land by Attachment in the early game, because of the cheaper Influence costs and the shared Infrastructures, however it results in lower production and Population growth.
This can be solved later in the game by detaching the Territory and creating a new City with all the Infrastructures of previous Eras (starting in the Medieval Era with the Colony Model (Feudalism tech).
Later Cities can be built with the Settler unit for free in the Early Modern Era (Three-Masted Ship tech).