Questions Re Power Plants

[Galen Dietenger]

I have a number of questions\obersvations to share re power plants and how they 'stack' and a few other related issues.


Ill start with Hover Dam wonder. Now according the the Civlopdedia, HD increases factory output +50% and generates NO pollution, yes cities continue to generate signifgant amounts of pollution despite this. HD is not a pollution control item at all of course-but its main beneifit seems to be the production boost, In my observation-HD does little(if anything) to mitigate pollution

Now once other power plants become available, how or do, they stack? Is a solar collector additive with HD wonder(or hydro plant even) or with nuclear plant? Or can only 1 power source supply a city, In that case, if you build a N-Plant, does that in effect, negate the Hover dam wonder(or again hydro plant, SC etc)?*
Also I notice despite the latest energy plants being avaible, the coal plant sticks around(just like warriors) I guess in the selection list despite being obsolete. Now im pretty sure that the underlying theory behind power generation isnt well explained in the manual? and game provides more-if rather hyphenated coverage. So is there a 'optimal' or preferable power plant-or combination(if they even do combine)** that we should aim for?


Heres another way to look at it. The SC stats are 50% to factory production, no pollution, replaces any other power plant in the city. How would this work if you (again) have HD wonder or Hydro plant already there? And since ALL power plants 'replace any existeing plants in the city' how does that work? If you have a N-Plant and build a coal plant-the N-Plant is gone and replaced with a filthy primitive power plant?



*If your city has a solar collector AND the HD wonder-both show on view city-but weither there both 'active' im not sure

**One also wonders since power plants have 2 aspects to conder 1)the production boost and 2) pollution mitigation, is there a additive effect on factor 2. Now im pretty sure it isnt mentioned anywhere just how *much* pollution is mitigated so it really is hard to ask if again muliple powers sources combine to reduce pollution either


Questions...Questions...

 

[Yeti]

Only the nuke plant reduces pollution.

Solar and hydro (and HD WoW) produce no ADDITIONAL pollution - they allow you to increase factory output by 50% without creating more pollution.

I'm not sure what happens if you go and build a worse power plant after already having a good one. If you have a coal plant and build a solar plant, you now have the same 50% factory boost, but minus the extra pollution that the coal plant was adding. If you did them in reverse order.... beats me.

 

[Callahan]

Yeah, I think this is changed from Civ2. I seem to remember that hydro plants reduced pollution from shields.

ANyways, my big cities never stop polluting until I drop Mass Transit on them, which typically reduces polluting output to 4 or 5 little radiation-symbols, unless the city had a truly gross amount of shields to start. Once you get environmentalism(?) you can build recycling centres which should eliminate most of the rest of your cities' pollution.

Then the trick is beating the crap out of your opponents so THEIR pollution doesn't cause so much global warming that all your nice big cities die out because allt he surrounding terrain morphs to desert.

 

[Muad'Dib]

You cannont stack older power plants. If you re-build the coal plant after you have built the solar plant, the solar plant will be replaced with the coal.

 

[Easy Rhino]

pollution can come from (I guess) three sources:

1) production
2) population
3) factories

So I guess you need to combine recycling + mass transit + clean plants.

Or, you know, just don't build anything

ER

 

[Yeti]

Along the lines of your #3 - certain city improvements create pollution - coal plants, factories, offshore platforms, research labs, manufacturing plants, and airports. I think that's all of them.

 

[Easy Rhino]

yeti, yeah, you're right, what I meant to say was "power plants", but I think it's any of the mega-shield producing things cause extra pollution.

ER

 

[Lappen]

Originally posted by Muad'Dib
You cannont stack older power plants. If you re-build the coal plant after you have built the solar plant, the solar plant will be replaced with the coal.

Well the "old" Coal plant still remains in the "city building" when u have built the Hover Dam wonder and have hydro plants in every city. Does that mean tha u can sell your Coal plants? Have anyone verified that u dont get the extra production when u have mutiple power plants?

 

[Lonewolf359]

Originally posted by Lappen


Well the "old" Coal plant still remains in the "city building" when u have built the Hover Dam wonder and have hydro plants in every city. Does that mean tha u can sell your Coal plants? Have anyone verified that u dont get the extra production when u have mutiple power plants?

Verified, at least for the Hoover/Coal Plant combo. Had coal plants in all my main cities, built Hoover Dam, sold coal plants...no change in the cities' production values, MUCH less pollution

Haven't tried the Nuclear Plant vs. others, though.

 

[DavesWorld]

Hydro Plants: they don't cause pollution from the bonus production *they* produce. They used to, in CivII, reduce the total pollution from the city (the total Industrial pollution). Now they only affect their own bonus production with the pollution reduction effects.

Number of plants: you can have one per city. If you build one, the old goes away if it existed (is replaced). If you have a plant built and build Hoover Dam, the old plant isn't replaced I don't think.

Basically the pollution model is more realistic in my opinion now; you actually have a "dirty" Industrial age in CivIII. Same as it was in reality.

Normally I've fully developed my map squares by the time I get to Industrial, so I'm starting to pare down my Worker force. I'll keep a good number around for pollution duty, and generally research Ecology and Recycling first thing in Modern so I can put up the anti-pollution buildings. Once I do that I end up with only a small handful of workers for the occasional pollution that'll pop up after that.