I would disagree a little there, Jorgen. Many Earth nations have developed well despite not being self-sufficient. Just to give three examples of high-tech & rich countries that absolutely could not feed their existing populations without food imports: Finland, the UK and Japan. Similarly, very few countries are truly self-sufficient when it comes to natural resources - we don't even have to go for rare earth minerals as even more mundane minerals cannot be found everywhere and have been traded for centuries. Sure, many countries have implemented methods (tariffs/subsidies) to protect their domestic food production to maintain some local capability but it's not like it's enough to feed the population, it's more to placate local populace.

Similarly, I disagree with Migi that low-value bulk goods would be transported through space. Of course, in the real world that makes no sense because the cost of KG from Earth surface to orbit is exorbitant and will probably be prohibitive for that sort of trading for decades if not centuries to come. But just like 17th century galleons couldn't transport low-value bulk goods in numbers enough and fast enough to make it economical, modern bulk carriers can and do. And in Aurora, the miracle of TN-tech means that launch costs and transportation costs are negligible, to a large extent.

Combined, this means that in Aurora economy, it very well might be entirely feasible for certain planets to export gigantic amounts of food stuff - not just rare delicacies - to other planets where food production is more difficult/expensive. Just like the current trade goods seem to include low-value bulk goods. But adding food currently is not beneficial on its own, it should be part of a larger economic overhaul of the system. Maybe for version 3.0!

I don't think I meant that every little country is in any way 100% self sufficient in every category that is obviously not possible depending on where that country is, especially in natural resources. In many cases you have to view societies in areas or regions rather than countries. A small country with only a million people for example can't possibly have a viable industry in every sector, trade is therefore very important, food today is just one industry among many.

What is meant is that any society will try to be as self sufficient in every area of industry as possible as this enhances the industrial versatility, innovation and wealth of the nation as a whole. In some cases you have to look not at just countries but at regions or collective economical areas.

When it comes to food there is also a very large difference between bare minimum for a society to survive and the wealth of luxury food that we consume, especially in wealthy nations. When we talk about entire planets resources and needs you would need to secure enough basic goods for survival, relying on imported base goods is very dangerous, that is why having a larger trade deficit in certain areas can be very dangerous, especially food. It is one thing to trade in order to secure variety another to be completely reliant on it, which happens and also objectively had serious consequences in history, ancient Rome is a good example.
Also... when you look at food trade for example allot of it is food that we don't need, luxury products, things that can be replaced by more basic products if really needed. We can all drink just water instead of Coca Cola for example.

Countries that have over time been successful and developed their economy have generally been those with a high degree of dynamic industry, not the ones that relied on producing one thing or rely on natural resources only, that generally only produce inequality and wealth for a few and not the society as a whole. You need to spread the wealth in order to have real sustainable growth and productivity in a society.

It obviously does not mean that most societies have above average proficiency in some areas and less in other, that is just natural. But trade will not only be for natural resources but also to distribute a wealth of choice. No one like to buy just one and the same pair of clothes, car or food, you want variety.

From a gameplay perspective, I would not welcome the added micromanagement of balancing low-value good shipments like food, regardless of possible lore justifications. IMO, if we're going to add a more complex economic model, we need the automation tools to handle it (and more importantly for the NPRs to handle it!) at empire scale. Particularly in multi-player-race games as for these especially it is critical to minimize the amount of repetitive tedium when it is multiplied by the number of player races.

Making certain planets better at producing food than others would allow for some efficiency gains from food trading. The number of people working in agriculture would plummet empire-wide. You would end up with some sort of globalization and blockades and wars could lead to supply chain issues and starvation. This could lead to quite some hyper realistic game mechanics.

In my opinion, from a realistic perspective, it makes very little sense. No world would allow itself not to be sufficient in the basics you need for survival. You never know when the next shipment of resources will come, it would be very risky. Societies in general also develop much better when they are more or less self sufficient in most basic technologies and industrial products, at least in reality. Trade of course is still important as it produces huge excess in wealth and knowledge transfer. But even in our world the poorest and less wealthy countries are those with very little self sufficiency in both industry and natural resources, these societies are also very dependable on others and very vulnerable to changes in the global trade network.

In my opinion Aurora are pretty realistic in this sense as it relies mostly on trade for luxury items. Although I do think that trade should increase colonies wealth income as that is usually what trade does.

But then again the economy in Aurora are quite abstracted and not very detailed aside from TN resources which in no way are consumed or used by the population at all, that is only for the state to worry about. I wish that TN material was a bit more like in Distant Worlds, that the state needed to compete with the population for and civilian merchant fleet for TN resources. If a world is blockaded and they can't consume the TN resources they need their wealth level should drop significantly as well as their political stability modifier over time. This would also be good for role-play as a world that does not get enough TN materials would suffer political instability and eventually you would break it if into its own entity, it would declare independence in order to secure what it needs by itself.

You now could also use the civilian ships to move TN resources... each world you simply would set a demand level and the civilians would try and satisfy that by moving the resources. Civilian mining complexes also would get a different meaning in the game as they would always produce the resources.

I also think that all resources probably should belong the to civilian economy and the state need to pay for it when they use it in wealth. You should then be able to tell a certain colony to only consume say 80% of their needs, but that would then effect their wealth and political stability, you could oppress it with military if you wish... but it would be a way to play more oppressive regimes or something you would need during wartime to use the TN resources for building military ships rather than consuming it for wealth.

In my opinion this would be more interesting than introduce something as insignificant as food, something that is just a measure of energy and basic none TN materials.

Above replies are absolutely correct, particular Jorgen's point about faster growth as smaller colonies grow much more quickly.

I do also want to point out that food is far from the only resource not explicitly modeled. If you compare the build cost of any component or facility in terms of minerals to the size of that component or facility, you will see that the minerals are clearly not the full composition of that component. One unit of any TNE requires two tons of cargo space to ship in a freighter, yet a mine or factory which takes up 25,000 tons requires only 120 units of TNE (240 tons)? This only makes sense if we realize there is a lot of non-TNE material which is used - conventional materials like wood, steel, glass, plastics, alumin(i)um, and so on. It makes sense why these are not modeled and instead we have TNEs to deal with, since most of these materials are expected to be fairly common in the universe whereas in Aurora mineral scarcity is a critical gameplay mechanic.

When you dig into it, there is really a lot of resource and economic factors which Aurora doesn't model, simply because it wouldn't make for very much addition to the gameplay even if it would be "more realistic". 

Some people say that in modern society food isn't a problem but our modern society doesn't have colonies on barren planet. I would love to see the civilian side of thing being more model. Food would be a nice addition. Or maybe make it as a option in the same ways civilian transport companies can be active or not.

Aurora's resource model assumes that conventional materials are post-scarcity (presumably due to economic improvements brought by TN technology).

Any society that can casually build fusion generators doesn't really need normal agriculture anymore - instead it can manufacture its staple diet in hydroponic farms and microbe vats. Of course, there will always be those that prefer traditional foods (an apple probably tastes better than Synth Paste), but that's what the "luxury food", "spices", and "wines" trade goods are for!

Some people say that in modern society food isn't a problem but our modern society doesn't have colonies on barren planet. I would love to see the civilian side of thing being more model. Food would be a nice addition. Or maybe make it as a option in the same ways civilian transport companies can be active or not.

To be fair, some sort of "planetary Blockade" might be an interesting addition to the game. For example, if colony is large enough (lets say 40% max population) It starts to not only demand protection, but also connection to trade. If for whatever reason (Pirate attacks) not enough Trade ships will trade with the planet to satisfy its Commercial needs, It will start to get small morale loss. If the "Blockade" will commence for longer, Planet growth will stop and eventually start to decline. If NPR/Player is the one who enforced the Blockade/destruction of Trade ships, System will surrender because of the prolonged morale loss. It will give both Players and NPR a slow,safe and at least for me RP attractive way to takeover developed worlds. As all the work would be done by commercial ship lines no micro will be needed, only when the trade note is at risk player/npr would have to react. I Think it might play really nicely with new faction, and maybe will allow for some more impact full behind the lines action.

I think a 40% max population trigger would be a bad choice, it should be a fixed amount like the limit for generating trade goods and CMCs. Otherwise asteroid mining colonies will be impacted nearly immediately but a Mars colony will take decades before it hits the limit.
I don't agree that population growth should be impacted, trade goods are likely to be high-value low-volume goods. I find it hard to believe that low value bulk goods will be transported for profit by the civilian market.
Morale impact is more plausible, but the real reason to protect civilians and systems is to protect the ships, which have inherent value.

The other issue is that trade is fulfilled by the civilian shipping lines, and I personally would not want any planet morale entirely dependant on them having their act together and fulfilling trade deals regularly. Any colonies a long way away from the rest of the empire might not receive visits sufficiently regularly because of the travel time.
The obvious fix (allowing player controlled cargo ships to fulfil trade routes) is very unlikely to be accepted.

Above replies are absolutely correct, particular Jorgen's point about faster growth as smaller colonies grow much more quickly.

I do also want to point out that food is far from the only resource not explicitly modeled. If you compare the build cost of any component or facility in terms of minerals to the size of that component or facility, you will see that the minerals are clearly not the full composition of that component. One unit of any TNE requires two tons of cargo space to ship in a freighter, yet a mine or factory which takes up 25,000 tons requires only 120 units of TNE (240 tons)? This only makes sense if we realize there is a lot of non-TNE material which is used - conventional materials like wood, steel, glass, plastics, alumin(i)um, and so on. It makes sense why these are not modeled and instead we have TNEs to deal with, since most of these materials are expected to be fairly common in the universe whereas in Aurora mineral scarcity is a critical gameplay mechanic.

When you dig into it, there is really a lot of resource and economic factors which Aurora doesn't model, simply because it wouldn't make for very much addition to the gameplay even if it would be "more realistic".