To plant or not to plant...

[Lunacy]

Hi guys,

Got a question about the various types of plants you can build once you get into the industrial and modern ages. I know that you can only build hydro plants in towns that have rivers within the town radius. However, if you build the Hoover Dam great wonder ALL your towns seem to end up with hydro plants whether they have a river or not. Does the Hoover Dam GW simply invalidate the river rule?

Second question - are there any benefits to building more than one plant in a city? For instance, if you already have a hydro plant - should you bother building a solar and nuclear plant too? If you get the Hoover Dam GW should you not bother with any of the other plants at all?

Thanks in advance for any help offered.

Lunacy

[Locus]

The Hoover Dam does indeed provide hydro plant power to all of your cities on the same continent regardless of whether or not the city has a fresh water source within its radii. There is no advantage to building more plants. The new plant you build will replace any pre-existing plant.

[Backpack]

Actually, There is a benefit to building a nuclear plant in a city that has a Hoover Supplied Hydro Plant. the Hydro Plant gives a 50% bonus, while the Nuke Plant gives 100%.

[Bella Hella]

keep in mind that muclear plants can only be built in cities w/ rivers. if i somehow miss the hoover dam, i build nuclear plants in river cities and solar in non-river cities.

[Jaybe]

Other than Nuclear Plants, all power plants are equal in production gains. The differences are in availability, cost/maintenance, and pollution. If you have one and build another, the previous one is replaced in function (so don't replace a hydro with a coal unless you are doing it to increase pollution).

Manufacturing Plants are not a power plant, but advanced factory type. Additional production and pollution; factory required.

[vmxa1]

I do not build nuc plant as by that time you do not need them and they can go three mile island on you.

[planetfall]

Power plants are an easy method of increasing shields and are a multiplication effect with combined with later manufacturing plants, or iron works. You simply cannot afford not to build them in the long term. For short term some other build options may be more important.

Best power plants:

1. Hoover as puts hydro in all cities. Only way to get hydro in cities without water source.

2. Replace all hydro plants with French Nuclear Power plants. {French Nuclear Power plants are made by removing "meltdown" from nuclear power plant in editor}.

3. If don't have Hoover, and no water, don't forget to put in solar power.

[ Coal are only worthwhile for a short period. They are the old style coal plants and are too messy unless you modify their characteristics in the editor to have 1 pollution. ]

Caution: last built plant takes precedence. You could replace a 100% clean nuclear power plant with a more inefficient solar power plant.

-- PF

[vmxa1]

I don't make manufactoring plants either, only hydro or solar. Like I said at that stage it is over and I do not want the extra pollution, just to have more shields in a city that is probably doing over 80 already. I do not like any mods, so French nukes are out. Ok, terrains mods are ok. So if you want to say they can make you more productive, fine, to say I can not afford to do with out them..... I mean what long term is there by the time I have mfg plants?

[planetfall]

Agreed, just a style of play question. By this point in the game it is either won or lost. There is no functional need for power plants. I think they were put in the game so if someone got stuck, they could build plants and work themselves out of the messy play in the first half of the game.

-- PF