The Facts of Water in SC2000:

-Having water in a city DOES NOT actually affect the growth of that city. (This has been tested)
-However, ratings can drop and those water shortage messages are annoying.
-You can get around the water issue by using a "Phantom Pump" which does not provide water but does get around the water shortage messages.

1.  Place a pump in your city in the center of a 3x3 tile area but do not connect it to the water system.
2.  Make sure the pump is powered, but do not place the plant directly next to it.
3.  The water shortage messages should go away, though your city does not receive water.

The Double Fund Trick
     For both DOS and Mac:

1.  Before you start building, type fund.  
2.  Accept the bond.  Repeat steps 1 and 2.
3.  Go into the bond window and take out a bond.
4.  If you like, you can repay the two 25% bonds.
5.  Exit the window and you'll get lots of dough!

Magic Eraser (not confirmed to work):

*WARNING: You might want to make a back up copy of your city in case something goes awry.

1. Click the Trees/Surface Water Icon and select trees.
2. Hold down the shift key and press the left mouse button.
3. Drag your cursor over the tiles you wish to erase - you should see any structures disappear!

Dancing Arco
     For Windows SCURK only:

After SKURK finishes starting up, type in "vaudeville". A launch arco with a top hat and a cane will dance by the screen. He will go one way, then back again. There is no limited amount to doing this.

All About Military Bases

-Choosing a military base:
When your city's population reaches 60,000, you will be asked to accept a military base.  If you decide to accept the base in advance, you can generally control which type of base you will receive by editing your terrain a bit.  The type of base you get generally depends on several things, but is not 100% predictable.  Below is listed the types of bases you can receive depending on the terrain:

1.  Your city has a seacoast (is located next to the ocean and has only three neighbors): Naval base.
2.  A very mountainous terrain: Army base and/or missile silo.
3.  A fairly flat terrain: An air base

If you have decided beforehand which base you want, edit the terrain to match the list above, then save your city before the population reaches 60,000.  Now just let the simulation run, accept the base when asked, and cross you fingers.  If you edited your terrain correctly, there is a good chance of getting the base you had in mind.  If your military base didn't turn out right, just reload the city from the last save and run it again.  If things still don't turn out right, you might try editing the terrain still more too see what happens.

-How to remove military bases that don't grow:
1.  Place ground water within the military zoned area.
2.  Clear the water and the zone should be gone.

-Encouraging a base to grow:
Ok, so you've had this little military base for a while and it just won't grow farther than a runway.  What do you do?  Well, one thing you can try is to encourage growth by simply editing the base in SKURK, (SimCity Urban Renewal Kit) if you have it.  Here's how:
1.  Start SKURK and load your city.
2.  Click on the Windows menu and select "Place and Print."
3.  Under the Object Group menu at the top of the screen, select "Transportation and Military."
4.  The window at the bottom of the screen should now display some not-so-familiar objects - missile silos, tarmacs, military control towers, etc.
5.  Scroll down this small window until you see a jet, the military control tower, and a parking lot.  Select one of these items.
6.  Place the item next to your lone runway within the military zone.   Go back and select the other facilities and fill the zone with these three items.
7.  Make sure that all buildings within the military zone are connected to power by running lines into the facility (SKURK allows this!).
8.  Now save your edited city and close SKURK.  Return to SimCity 2000 and load the city.
9.  You may want to set the simulation speed to its highest setting so that whatever changes the military decides to make to the new base happen quickly.  Once that's done you should have a healthy, happy, and (most importantly) developed military base!

The Truth of Power Plants

   A lot of web sites out there may tell you that the best power plants for your city are Coal plants.  To put it simply, they're wrong.   When you're starting out, it's best and inexpensive to stick with HYDRO-ELECTRIC plants.  Though Coal and Hydro plants both produce about equal amounts of power per $, Hydro-electric plants pollute so much less and over time, they require hundreds of dollars less in maintenance costs.  The only problem with this strategy is that a lot of the time you have to edit the terrain in order to make Hydro plants work.

Multiple Llama and Mayor's House

1.  Click Llama Dome.
2.  Click and drag it along terrain.
3.  Destroy one of them.
4.  Llama Dome re-appears in the menu again.

The Double Fund Trick
     For both DOS and Mac:

1.  Before you start building, type fund.   
2.  Accept the bond.  Repeat steps 1 and 2.
3.  Go into the bond window and take out a bond.
4.  If you like, you can repay the two 25% bonds.
5.  Exit the window and you'll get lots of dough!

Dancing Arco
     For Windows SCURK only:

After SKURK finishes starting up, type in "vaudeville". A launch arco with a top hat and a cane will dance by the screen. He will go one way, then back again. There is no limited amount to doing this.

Multiple Llama and Mayor's House

1.  Click Llama Dome.
2.  Click and drag it along terrain.
3.  Destroy one of them.
4.  Llama Dome re-appears in the menu again.

Raising Land Values:

1.  Build lots of parks!
2.  Make sure that you don't mix your zones, keep industrial zones away from residential. 
3.  If you place industrial zones near the edge of the map, a lot of the pollution will travel outside the city!
4.  Especially, keep your industrial sections away (but not too far) from residential zones.
5.  Reduce traffic using bus stations.
6.  Place lots of trees!  Combined with sloped, rolling land this adds value and a nice touch to any city.
7.  Sloped land, trees, water, and educational facilities will all boost the surrounding land values.
8.  Remember: Commercial zones can actually increase your land values!

Complete Tips List:

-When making zones, make sure power is connected or else your sims will not build.
-Use some form of public transit like busses, subways, or railroads to keep pollution down.
-To keep crime down, set funding to 70% or more and build police stations every 6 blocks or so, maybe more.
-Bonds are EVIL!  Don't use them unless you absolutely must!
-Do not make zones too far from roads.
-Water is not necessary, but if you want a dense population it is essential, very essential.
-Rather than using Solar or Wind power plants as a primary energy source, use nuclear, fusion, and microwave instead. (Oil and Coal are OK to, but they really pollute things).
-You're going to need highways if your population is over 50,000.
-A highway is useless without an onramp.
-Place you industrial zones on the edge of the map so that some of the pollution won't fall to you.
-Always make connections to your neighbors.
-Arcologies will bring a lot of time, so build police stations nearby.
-You only need a few fire stations if you put it on no disasters.
-Build lots of schools near residential areas to help keep crime down.
-Once you have enough money lower taxes to help the population grow.
-Promotional ordinances can bring people to town.
-Once you have enough money by a fusion power plant if they are invented.
-You should zone by 1/2 Residential, 1/4 Commercial and Industrial.
-Read the newspapers regularly, they provide useful info and let you hear what the sims have to think.
-In areas with high crime build lots of parks.
-Whenever one of the gifts become available build it, it's free and it helps the city.
-Building an airport will bring in more residents.
-When zoning, use dense for more population but more pollution or light for less of both.
-To avoid airplane crashes do not place tall buildings near the airport.

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