Unlike some other city-building gamesthat allow for outside connections, the population centers inCities: Skylineshave to be completely self-sufficient. This means that players have to build all their own power plants and other energy sources.
Renewable energy is a good way to get this power. Wind turbines and solar power plants don’t create as many megawatts as a coal or oil plant (at least not consistently), but they also don’t pollute their surroundings. Another renewable option inCities: Skylinesis the hydroelectric dam, but to get the most from a dam players will need to find the best spot to build it.
RELATED:Xbox Game Pass Reveals 6 More Games for February 2023
Building a Dam
The first thing players need to do is reach the Small City milestone. This will unlock the dam option in the electricity section of the build menu. Once it’s available, select the dam and then choose a point on a shoreline that’s high above the water level.
Stretch the dam to a point at the same height on the opposite shore, and the game will automatically create a dam that arches towards the water source. Players can also see the expected megawatt output the dam will create, but be aware that this may not be the real result.
Something else the dam comes with is a road along the top. This works like a regular two-lane, two-way road, but while players can connect this road to the rest of their networkthey can’t upgrade this roador widen it.
Players should also be aware thatthe upkeep cost of a dam is very high. A single dam costs 3,200 per week to maintain, while the cost of a wind turbine is 80 and an advanced wind turbine is only 200. Even a solar power plant has an upkeep cost of just 1,200. If a dam doesn’t produce enough megawatts to be worth this cost, players should avoid building one.
How to Make the Most of a Dam
Cities: Skylineshas a dynamic water system that can change flow speed and direction based on what players do to the environment. A canal doesn’t automatically come with water, players have to connect it to existing water sources and wait for water to pour into the canal. And if players use the landscaping tool to block off a river, the river water willoverflow its banks and flood the surrounding area.
What all this means is that there are two big factors that decide how much energy a dam can produce. The first is how fast water is flowing down a river, and the second is how much of a height difference there is between water above a dam and water below it. More speed means there’s more water trying to cross the dam at any one time, and more height means the water will spend more energy falling through the dam’s turbines.
Because of these factors, andbecause of the complex water system, players can use the landscaping tool to make dams more effective. By lowering the river height below the dam, the dam’s effective height will go up and help it produce more megawatts. By narrowing the river, the water will speed up. On the other hand, damming only part of a river will cause water to flow around it instead of through, and players will spend 3,200 per week on a two-way bridge they can’t upgrade.
Dams have the potential to produce more energy than a nuclear power plant, but a regular river crossing will barely produce enough energy to compete with a wind turbine. Players shouldplan their dam locations carefullyif they want to make the most of them.
Cities: Skylinesis available now on PC, PS4, Switch, and Xbox One, and it’s coming to PS5 and Xbox Series X/S on February 15.
MORE:It is Time for a Cities: Skylines 2
