Cities Skylines
Discussion
Anyone play this?
It's ages since I've played a sim, but I remember enjoying building cities and managing services, traffic, buildings etc. I fancy giving it a go having found out it's on Xbox Game Pass, and the sequel is due out in October.
It may be a game that's better suited for PC with a mouse, but I will have to make do with Xbox controller.
It's ages since I've played a sim, but I remember enjoying building cities and managing services, traffic, buildings etc. I fancy giving it a go having found out it's on Xbox Game Pass, and the sequel is due out in October.
It may be a game that's better suited for PC with a mouse, but I will have to make do with Xbox controller.
Play it on and off, with home and work life I struggle to give it enough time as you can sink 2/3/4 hours easily into a session.
Played it on both Xbox and PC and it works well with a controller
Its a great city builder, much more on the simulation side of the scale than easy play (i.e. later SimCity) as you really need to thing about layout etc to be successful.
Can be quite overwhelming for the first few hours until you get your head around the mechanics, it's been around for a while so plenty of mods/development and YouTube videos to watch and learn from.
Played it on both Xbox and PC and it works well with a controller
Its a great city builder, much more on the simulation side of the scale than easy play (i.e. later SimCity) as you really need to thing about layout etc to be successful.
Can be quite overwhelming for the first few hours until you get your head around the mechanics, it's been around for a while so plenty of mods/development and YouTube videos to watch and learn from.
Edited by acricha3 on Tuesday 29th August 10:00
Put around 50 hours into it, I enjoyed it until the death waves came. Tried to build up the residential areas gradually but the death waves kept happening (which end up ruining most parts of your city) so I lost interest.
Apparently there's a mod on PC which addresses it but I never got around to it.
Still looking forward to the sequel though.
Apparently there's a mod on PC which addresses it but I never got around to it.
Still looking forward to the sequel though.
Something along the lines of a third of city occupants all die at what feels like the same time (they all have the same lifespan). The funeral services get overwhelmed and the business sectors lose customers and employees so everything goes downhill.
You finally get on top of it all for it to happen again straight after.
It's supposed to be eased if you build your residential areas gradually, I tried doing this but must have still built too quickly!
You finally get on top of it all for it to happen again straight after.
It's supposed to be eased if you build your residential areas gradually, I tried doing this but must have still built too quickly!
rich861 said:
Something along the lines of a third of city occupants all die at what feels like the same time (they all have the same lifespan). The funeral services get overwhelmed and the business sectors lose customers and employees so everything goes downhill.
You finally get on top of it all for it to happen again straight after.
It's supposed to be eased if you build your residential areas gradually, I tried doing this but must have still built too quickly!
Deathwaves. It really does help to build in stages rather than pause and do it all at once. You finally get on top of it all for it to happen again straight after.
It's supposed to be eased if you build your residential areas gradually, I tried doing this but must have still built too quickly!
I'll have say, 4 areas for zones in a single district and I'll start by filling two with zones. This will also give me time to add/ tweak services before adding more zones.
Also it helps to have a lot of crematoriums. They also help houses and buildings get to higher levels.
Also Cities Skylines 2 is being released next month. I'm excited for that as the metro tool has been broken for years (you used to be able to lay metro lines underneath roads like a sensible city planner, now they try to snap to the road).
I haven't played for a couple of years, mainly because my aging laptop has struggled to run it with all the mods I've installed. Planning on replacing it later in the year to enjoy CS2 when that comes out, really looking forward to it 
In the meantime here’s an old screenshot from when I last played
In the meantime here’s an old screenshot from when I last played
Edited by Zetec-S on Monday 4th September 13:53
I can't believe the thread on Cities Skylines is so dead!
This is one of my favourite games of all time.
Currently building my last-ever city until the sequel comes out in October!
Only at 17k population so far, about 22mil in the bank.
Slow and steady is my favourite way to play - as much detailing as possible.
I play on PC, mostly vanilla - the only mods are more quality of life - nothing that fundamentally changes the functionality of the game.
Currently still developing the Campus area among other things. Will work on building a downtown area soon.
This is one of my favourite games of all time.
Currently building my last-ever city until the sequel comes out in October!
Only at 17k population so far, about 22mil in the bank.
Slow and steady is my favourite way to play - as much detailing as possible.
I play on PC, mostly vanilla - the only mods are more quality of life - nothing that fundamentally changes the functionality of the game.
Currently still developing the Campus area among other things. Will work on building a downtown area soon.
Tremaine - for a mainly vanilla set up that is beautiful, very impressive.
I think my problem is a few years ago I ended up down a YouTube rabbit hole, saw some really impressive builds by players like Pres, Imperatur, Biffa, and wanted to give it a go. Ended up bogged down with far too many mods and it really slowed the game down, ended up losing interest.
Tempted to go back to the vanilla game (with a few essential gameplay mods like traffic manager, fix the death waves, etc) and just enjoy it for what it is. Then when CS2 comes out treat myself to a new machine to run it
I think my problem is a few years ago I ended up down a YouTube rabbit hole, saw some really impressive builds by players like Pres, Imperatur, Biffa, and wanted to give it a go. Ended up bogged down with far too many mods and it really slowed the game down, ended up losing interest.
Tempted to go back to the vanilla game (with a few essential gameplay mods like traffic manager, fix the death waves, etc) and just enjoy it for what it is. Then when CS2 comes out treat myself to a new machine to run it
Thank you!
I agree – following a lot of the YouTubers who are quite mod-heavy ends up ruining the game.
I recommend someone like Overcharged Egg who excels at vanilla builds.
He has some great series - although while you can follow along, it's not exactly step-by-step.
You don’t need mods for death waves, just take your time and build slowly. Spread your zoning out with tons of detailing!
I even stopped using Extra Landscaping Tools and just use the basic vanilla brush – and plop my trees one at a time.
I have no asset mods, nothing visual.
I do use Network Extensions (but only to see how many units a road is in length) and 81 tiles mod (although unlock tiles with milestones not all at once) and a couple of other basic mods but nothing that would stop someone with no mods at all from making an identical build.
I do have pretty much every DLC though, which does help – giving me a lot more plopable buildings to help vary up the aesthetics.
I agree – following a lot of the YouTubers who are quite mod-heavy ends up ruining the game.
I recommend someone like Overcharged Egg who excels at vanilla builds.
He has some great series - although while you can follow along, it's not exactly step-by-step.
You don’t need mods for death waves, just take your time and build slowly. Spread your zoning out with tons of detailing!
I even stopped using Extra Landscaping Tools and just use the basic vanilla brush – and plop my trees one at a time.
I have no asset mods, nothing visual.
I do use Network Extensions (but only to see how many units a road is in length) and 81 tiles mod (although unlock tiles with milestones not all at once) and a couple of other basic mods but nothing that would stop someone with no mods at all from making an identical build.
I do have pretty much every DLC though, which does help – giving me a lot more plopable buildings to help vary up the aesthetics.
Thanks, I'll have to check out Overcharged Egg when I get a chance. You're right though, I think not rushing is probably the best advice, I think I'm always looking a few steps ahead, trying to work out where I want my CBD / high rises, etc, while my city is still no more than a large village. Taking it slow and just seeing where things take you makes a lot of sense and is a more natural way to avoid death waves.
I've got a lot of the earlier DLC's so should be enough variety. If the later packs go on sale I could be tempted, just depends on how soon I upgrade my laptop and get CS2.
I've got a lot of the earlier DLC's so should be enough variety. If the later packs go on sale I could be tempted, just depends on how soon I upgrade my laptop and get CS2.
Impressive work TREMAiNE
Haven't played the game yet but have been watching lots of Youtube videos while waiting for CS2 to release. Seems it worth leaving space with your build to add to and upgrade later. Even when it comes to laying buildings right up to narrow roads, if that road later needs upgrading to a 4 lane road etc?
I guess it's all too easy to cram stuff in during the early stages of the build without thinking how you might want to develop and improve the city later?
Haven't played the game yet but have been watching lots of Youtube videos while waiting for CS2 to release. Seems it worth leaving space with your build to add to and upgrade later. Even when it comes to laying buildings right up to narrow roads, if that road later needs upgrading to a 4 lane road etc?
I guess it's all too easy to cram stuff in during the early stages of the build without thinking how you might want to develop and improve the city later?
Edited by The Gauge on Thursday 7th September 19:13
The Gauge said:
Seems it worth leaving space with your build to add to and upgrade later. Even when it comes to laying buildings right up to narrow roads, if that road later needs upgrading to a 4 lane road etc?
I guess it's all too easy to cram stuff in during the early stages of the build without thinking how you might want to develop and improve the city later?
There is a fine balance between not leaving enough space (unable to upgrade infrastructure later on) and leaving too much space (city looking baron and empty). But ultimately, there is always a way to fill in empty space if needed. I guess it's all too easy to cram stuff in during the early stages of the build without thinking how you might want to develop and improve the city later?
I currently have an issue with the entrance to my city. Traffic flow was fine up until around 17k population but the really basic interchange I made is starting to be a little overloaded. Nothing too serious, the queues are not terrible - but I don't like them and they will only get worse as the city grows, so it is best I fix it now.
The problem is, there are a lot of other roads and buildings in the area and I don't really have space to upgrade the interchange to something more substantial. I've implemented lots of public transport as well as walking/cycle paths to lessen the issue and it has worked but it's not going to last forever.
My biggest failing is that unless something is fundamentally broken, I cannot bring myself to delete what I've done - and it seems that's a key to success in this game, deleting your work and improving it. But I can't do that!
Instead, I plan to bring in another highway connection from another part of the map to spread the traffic load. There are 2x points I plan to do this on - but I really struggle with expansion and can spend hours deciding on what to do - that'll be the job for this weekend if I get time.
Also, just to give an example, I deleted all trees, props, and buildings - just to get an overview of the city road layout. It just shows that I haven't done anything particularly special - and that the detailing with props and trees and some of the more interesting ploppable buildings makes a massive difference.
And see below a direct comparison - this is a pretty basic road layout which looks pretty crap - the 2 lane roads coming off of the 4 lane road were to be for my schools in one of the suburbs I have.
Once all the buildings are in place, and I fill in the blanks with trees, rocks, paths, grass etc, it looks so much better than it did when it was a boring road network.
Also, something I found out recently (thanks to watching Overcharged Egg) is how much of a difference using different types of fencing makes. I fence EVERYTHING now and love the looks.
Something else I am really careful about is selective zoning.
If I don't like the asset that grows in the zoning area, I delete it and let it regrow - that way I don't have the same shop repeat 3 times on the same street etc.
I'll also mark the buildings as historical if 1) I like the design or 2) don't want them getting bigger as they level up - because you're not getting a 5 story department store on a high street in a small town... So making it historical keeps it looking like a small bookshop, for example - but still lets it level up.
Some of you may have noticed I have RICO installed as a mod - I don't actually use this, I downloaded it as a one-off because I was getting so annoyed trying to get the right assets to grow.
It was in this recent section below. I spent hours deleting the buildings until the same asset (and same colour) would grow and it just wasn't happening, so as much as I hate mods like this, I resorted to using that to get my high res. assets of choice. If they were all different buildings, it wouldn't look as good!
RICO sorted this for me in seconds - but I won't use it unless I really have to, because otherwise you end up getting into a situation where you're manually plopping every asset and to me, that isn't fun.
Absolutely buzzing for Cities 2 though!
Edited by TREMAiNE on Friday 8th September 09:02
Good tips Tremaine.
I was late to the party on this as only discovered the game when I treated myself to a new laptop earlier in the year and got swayed by an xbox gamepass offer : laugh: I've got my city up to about 80k residents now, at first I struggled to get going but watched one youtube clip about using dirt roads at the very start to save money until the city started making a profit and never looked back.
I find it interesting how US based players build all these super complicated highway intersections but I just build normal UK style "elevated roundabout straddling the motorway" style junctions and they work fine. Just have to set all the give ways/traffic lights to suit the flow of traffic.
Haven't messed around with any mods yet just vanilla. I used to love playing SimCity 2000 in the 90s and this feels like a great spiritual successor.
I was late to the party on this as only discovered the game when I treated myself to a new laptop earlier in the year and got swayed by an xbox gamepass offer : laugh: I've got my city up to about 80k residents now, at first I struggled to get going but watched one youtube clip about using dirt roads at the very start to save money until the city started making a profit and never looked back.
I find it interesting how US based players build all these super complicated highway intersections but I just build normal UK style "elevated roundabout straddling the motorway" style junctions and they work fine. Just have to set all the give ways/traffic lights to suit the flow of traffic.
Haven't messed around with any mods yet just vanilla. I used to love playing SimCity 2000 in the 90s and this feels like a great spiritual successor.
Edited by lufbramatt on Friday 8th September 09:23
It's one I come back to occasionally, but as someone above said you need to sink some time in to it, it's not the sort of thing you can just play for 20 minutes occasionally as you need to have a bit of plan in your mind. I usually get up to a small town level and then get frustrated with the traffic jams and give up
If you like builder take a look atCracktorio Factorio too.
If you like builder take a look at
Gassing Station | Video Games | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff