SoopahMan

Is there a mod or plugin that will set schools, hospitals, etc to the appropriate budget automatically, either to make the efficacy 100% at all times, or some % you set? Is this even possible given the coding options available to modifying Simcity 4? I've searched the web and these forums for this and haven't turned up anything except one post that immediately changed the subject to an unrelated bug, so I apologize - this must have been asked before with different terms than I'm searching on. I've always loved this game, but the constant fiddling is a real waste of time.

Found it! Because I refused to build any City size Rewards my Mayor Rating slid just below 55. I added the Mayor's House to my city and can now build Solar again.

Those are some pretty funny tricks. A lot of the mods that would solve minor issues I have go so far that I feel like I'd be cheating and lose the challenge, so I'm not willing to use them. I can double-check on my High Wealth Sims but, with a population over 80,000 I can't see how I possibly have below 3,000 High Wealth Sims (the requirement for Solar). Must be a danged glitch. As for cost-effectiveness, try maxing out the funding on the Solar Plant; it will get down as low as 19 cents per MegaWatt, which is great for 100% clean energy. Wind can get to about 23 cents it seems. To move from Wind to Solar effectively, let Power demands max your Power budget, then just as they overwhelm it a little build the Solar; then, reduce the Power budget and max out the Solar - cheap, clean energy. If only I could just build a second one! Wind is filling up my city! I might cave and enable all Rewards afterall... .

A while back I received the Solar Power reward by having enough High Wealth Sims. I built it because it's just slightly cheaper than Wind, yet still 100% clean. I wanted to then build only Solar from then on, but found it to be greyed out - do you earn just one Solar Power plant and never receive another? Seems a little ridiculous... . Is there a Mod that just unlocks Solar Power permanently to be built immediately and indefinitely? It's 2006 people.