Also uploaded: Arcoland.zip This is my city for Sim City 2000(PC) that makes use of the strategies below. The city has a population over a million and over two million in the bank. It has in high demand for all area of development with 16 Arcologies. I have no pretense to claim to be a master of the game Sim City 2000, but seeing that some people were having trouble getting their cities to take off I have prepared this text file with some hints I have gleaned from playing the last 10 hours straight :) I noticed that when I first started, or later when I placed residential sections far from my previous settlements, my residential areas just were not developing. This is because they are too far from Industrial areas. Place some (even temporary) Industrial\commercial areas next to the residential and they will start to grow. The logic here is that the sims don't want to drive a long way to get to work. First of all these are the rewards on can earn as your population grows: Population Reward 2,000 Mayors Mansion 10,000 City Hall 30,000 Become state capital: Receive a statue 60,000 Offered a Military Base 90,000 Llama Dome- Eifle Tower like monument 120,000 Arcologies Strategies and Hints: This is just what I have noticed about the game, and is by no means complete. Some of it may be wrong, but it is what I have observed or read. My primary hint involves powering your city. The options for power are as follows: (They are available gradually as your city progresses. The dates are given in the manual or you can just start your cities in 2000 or 2500 like me) Power: Type Cost Power (MW*) Cost of Hydro Coal $ 4,000 200 $ 4,000 Hydroelectric $ 400 20 n/a Oil $ 6,600 220 $ 4,400 Gas $ 2,000 50 $ 1,000 Nuclear $ 15,000 500 $ 10,000 Solar $ 1,300 50 $ 1,000 Microwave $ 28,000 1600 $ 32,000 Fusion $ 40,000 2500 $ 50,000 * This should be a MW/h, but I am just following the example set in the game The last column is the cost of building Hydroelectric Generators to produce the same amount of energy. I have included it because Hydroelectric and Wind power plants have a distinct advantage over the other power sources. When you build one of the other power plants it must be replaced every 50 years at the cost of building a new plant. Wind and hydroelectric generators do not need to be replaced, so even though the last column might be higher for some think in a 100 years you will have doubled the original cost, but the cost of the Hydro will not have changed. This is the primary means by which I was able to save enough money to build up my city. Therefore when editing the land of your city be sure to include enough hills, and water falls to power the generators. After you have started the city, you need power, and there are no hills and/or waterfalls you can still use this method. Use the bulldozer to raise one square of land ($25), and then use the water tool ($100) to put waterfalls on all eight squares of tilted land. You can then put hydroelectric generators on all eight of the water falls. Thus for ($25 + (8 * $100) + (8 * 400)) = $4,025 you can produce 160 MW ad infinitum without having to replace the power plant. You can also use this method to just put power anywhere on the map rather than running long power lines. The make water button ($100) is also useful in another way. Water pumps pump twice as much water when placed next to fresh water, thus make a one-square pond and build 4-8 pumps around it to maximize water supply. Highways and roads: In general it is good, once you've got money, to place the highways in such a way to help future growth. Thus plan ahead with the highways to link many diverse areas. Also don't forget to link the highways to many streets with on-ramps. Arcologies: Type of Arcology Description Plymouth Arco Supports heavy industry - lots of pollution Residents: 55,000 Cost:$100,000 Forest Arco Ecologically sound-(a.k.a. Eco-freaks) Residents: 30,000 Cost: $120,000 Darco Weird- Designed by a Mad Architect Residents: 45,000 Cost: $150,000 Launch Arco Largest Arco- Self contained Residents: 65,000 Cost: $200,000 Arcologies are very useful and the only way to get your city beyond a million people:) As you gain lots of money from them you can gradually start to replace your industrial sections with Plymouth Arcos. You can start to replace your Residential sections with the Launch and Forest Arcos. Don't go overboard with the arcos just because then you city won't look very nice :) Also when planning your city before you get to 120,000 leave space for the first few arcos because you don't really want to start by destroying some land to build the arcos. I in no way guarantee the accuracy of the above information. Use it at you own risk (and that of those millions of Sims you control:) Please mail me any inconsistentcies or errors as well as any suggestions/hints. I hope this helps if not at least it was fun to write:). L8R Mathew Lu 71544,550