Cities: Skylines

bsmaff

International
11 August 2003
Hertfordshire
Exeter City
Cities: Skylines is a city-building game by the Finnish game developer Colossal Order and published by Paradox Interactive.
Video game journalists perceived it as a competitor to 2013 city-building game SimCity. On 10 March 2015, Skylines was released on digital distribution service Steam for Windows, OS X, and Linux.

Cities: Skylines is a single player open-ended city-building simulation. Players engage in urban planning by controlling zoning, road placement, taxation, public services, and public transportation of an area, working to maintain the city's budget, population, health, happiness, and employment, air, water, and noise pollution, traffic flow, and other factors.

Cities: Skylines allows for construction of cities without an underlying grid structure, and a variety of transportation options.
Players start with a plot of land - equivalent to a 2 km x 2 km area[8] - along with an interchange exit from a nearby freeway, as well as a starting amount of in-game money. The player proceeds to add roads and residential, industrial, and commercial zones and basic services like power, water, and sewage as to encourage residents to move in and supply them with jobs. As the city grows beyond certain population tiers, the player will unlock new city improvements such as schools, fire stations, and waste management systems, tax and governing edicts, and other features to manage the city. One such feature enables the player to designate parts of their city as districts. Each district can be configured by the player to restrict the types of developments or enforce specific regulations within the district's bounds, such as only allowing for agricultural industrial sectors, offering free public transportation to residents in the district to reduce traffic, or increased tax levels for high commercialized areas.[5] Buildings in the city have various development levels that are met by improving the local area, with higher levels providing more benefits to the city. For example, a commercial store will increase in level if nearby residents are more educated, which in turn will be able to allow more employees to be hired and increase tax revenue for the city. When the player has accumulated enough residents and money, they can purchase neighbouring plots of land, allowing them to build up 8 additional parcels out of 25 within a 10 km x 10 km area.[8] The parcel limitation is to allow the game to run across the widest range of personal computers, but players can use Steam Workshop modifications to open all 25 parcels if their computer can handle this size.

The game is rendered using tilt shift effects to give an impression of scope for the simulation.
The game also features a robust transportation system based on Colossal Order's previous Cities in Motion, allowing the player to plan out effective public transportation for the city to reduce traffic. Roads can be built straight or free-form and the grid used for zoning adapts to road shape; cities need not follow a grid plan. Roads of varying widths (up to major freeways) accommodate different traffic volumes, and variant road types (for example roads lined with trees) offer reduced noise pollution or increased property values in the surrounding area at an increased cost to the player.

Modding, via the addition of user-generated content such as buildings or vehicles, is to be supported in Skylines; the creation of an active content-generating community is an explicit design goal. This content will be available for download from the Steam Workshop.The game includes several premade terrains to build on, and also includes a map editor to allow users to create their own maps, including the use of real world geographic features. Mods are also available to affect gameplay; prepackaged mods include the ability to bypass the aforementioned population tier unlock system, unlimited funds, and a higher difficulty setting.
 
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I have seen some this has been listed on a couple of websites now for £10..

So has anyone actually played it and what sort of recommendations are there for the game, I have played the last Sim City game which was pretty pants TBH especially compared to Sim City 4 which IMO is probably the city building game there is.. The reviews for the game have been pretty positive, I am thinking that for £10 it is probably worth a punt, but would prefer actual player impressions compared to reviewers as can't really trust reviews these days.
 
Preloaded this yesterday but im at work today. Would like to see some impressions if someone gets to play it. Mostly interested in differences vs CS1 and performance (most reviews of pre release build mentioned it wasn’t very optimized and had a few bugs)
 
Preloaded this yesterday but im at work today. Would like to see some impressions if someone gets to play it. Mostly interested in differences vs CS1 and performance (most reviews of pre release build mentioned it wasn’t very optimized and had a few bugs)
I'll try it on gamepass but most probably it will run on 20fps on my (decent) system if the previews are correct.
If the performance is bad I expect a huge backlash from pc users. Idk what's wrong with these gaming companies. Are they testing our patience? This game is a city builder, the majority of pc gamers who play this kind of games don't care about fancy graphics. They care about features and functionality.
If again the previews are correct Colossal Order will be in huge trouble and I don't think they're CDPR to overcome it.
Fingers crossed I'm wrong.
 
I'm also VERY interested in this.. Skylines 1 was a solid game but not "gritty" enough for me.. Seemed like it was not as feasible to create a city with real problems, pollution, traffic, like other Simcity games. As a HUGE fan of city simulators, I really want to see how this one plays (and hopefully I can run it on my PC as well)..
 
Preloaded this yesterday but im at work today. Would like to see some impressions if someone gets to play it. Mostly interested in differences vs CS1 and performance (most reviews of pre release build mentioned it wasn’t very optimized and had a few bugs)

Bought this myself and not tested yet.

However online, they are stating that is just isn’t at good as a Skylines with all the expansions and mods.
 
Bought this myself and not tested yet.

However online, they are stating that is just isn’t at good as a Skylines with all the expansions and mods.
Good luck. I haven't tested it yet but almost everyone says the game is running on 10fps in the menu. Currently sitting at mostly negative on Steam and it might break all records for negative reviews.
 
So I went in with the lowest expectations for this game, especially because I saw all the reviews regarding performance and because when I logged in the main menu my computer went into full jet engine sound.
However, I have to say after I logged in I didnt experience any bugs or anything weird. Granted, I am playing on 1080p. I do not have an FPS counter to see how it was doing but to my (unrefined) eyes it was fine, also didnt experience any crashes.

I thought I was just going to see how was performance but ended up playing a couple of hours. Also I didnt experience any crashes and prob didnt run into any problems because my city was pretty small (~7K pop), so maybe once that increases things will get worse. I do want to point out that I found the game to be pretty fun (a small evolution to CS1 albeit without mods), the progression was pretty good and I felt more of a city manager than the first game (although it doesnt seem too challenging, I wasn't managing my budget and moved buildings everywhere, bulldozed and never had to worry about money, at least starting out).

I'd say if you have gamepass give it a try, if not wait to see if they fix some performance issues.
Cant wait to see what mods they create. Its a pretty chill game. if you liked the first one you will enjoy this one
 
Played a few hours and uninstalled. Performance was ok (better than expected) but it was roasting my PC. I don't mind high GPU temps but there's clearly something very wrong with the optimisation of the game.
My main issue is the gameplay though. There are some QoL improvements but the game feels half-baked. I really can't see the reason this one was released at this state when anyone can play the first one with tons of DLC and mods.
I think the industry is run right now by technocrats and people who don't have a clue about the history and importance of videogaming. There's no way me or anybody else in this forum for example would give the green light for this game to be released like this.
 
I just saw that the minimum specs include an core i7 processor.. I have i5, so it seems like I won't be able to play it for the time being.. (added to the high GPU temps).. why a city building game would need more processing power than PES 2021 is beyond me. :(
 
I just saw that the minimum specs include an core i7 processor.. I have i5, so it seems like I won't be able to play it for the time being.. (added to the high GPU temps).. why a city building game would need more processing power than PES 2021 is beyond me. :(

I would say if you have gamepass still give it a try. Ive seen people play it on low settings with less specs. I enjoy the gameplay and if you have the subscription you've got nothing to lose.

In theory i'd like city buidling simulator games to require processing power, in order to simulate traffic and population trends. this is a big IF as I dont know if CS2 does that but in theory these type of simulators would require more processing power than a simpler game as PES (hopefully). Kind of when you reach a certain pop limit you can see the AI asking for more power in order to keep chugging along decisionmaking (in the same vein as Civilization games when you reach endgame).
 
Played a few hours and uninstalled. Performance was ok (better than expected) but it was roasting my PC. I don't mind high GPU temps but there's clearly something very wrong with the optimisation of the game.
My main issue is the gameplay though. There are some QoL improvements but the game feels half-baked. I really can't see the reason this one was released at this state when anyone can play the first one with tons of DLC and mods.
I think the industry is run right now by technocrats and people who don't have a clue about the history and importance of videogaming. There's no way me or anybody else in this forum for example would give the green light for this game to be released like this.
Same here. I bought this game on release day and refunded it minutes later. The game is poorly optimized.
 
Same here. I bought this game on release day and refunded it minutes later. The game is poorly optimized.

I myself really didnt have a problem with the game, once in a while I could hear my fans going off full power but besides that is has been good. What did you experience? Im asking because they have released a couple of patches that have improved performance for a bunch of people.
I myself have been having a really good time with the game. Too bad performance wasnt good to start with as I think there is a good game there and once Mods come out itll be a different ballpark.
 
I myself really didnt have a problem with the game, once in a while I could hear my fans going off full power but besides that is has been good. What did you experience? Im asking because they have released a couple of patches that have improved performance for a bunch of people.
I myself have been having a really good time with the game. Too bad performance wasnt good to start with as I think there is a good game there and once Mods come out itll be a different ballpark.
I was experiencing frame drops throughout the course of my playthrough. I lowered some of the graphics settings and it didn't make much of a difference. In fact, it made the graphics ugly. It couldn't keep a consistent frame rate and I have a 3060. My PC can handle games like Cyberpunk with mods at the highest graphics settings.

I really want to like this game because they have some good improvements to the game but I couldn't continue playing the game at it's current state. I might revisit this game in the near future when it's goes on sale and it goes through a cycle of patches.

I saw that they've released several patches to address performance but I don't wanna the chance.
 
@pesfooty29 What are your system specs bro? I've been thinking of getting Skylines 2 as well but if the game isn't optimized for my 16 GB RAM, Intel Core i5 Asus laptop, then it might not be worth it..

I absolutely loved Simcity 2000, 3000 and 4, the grittiness and toughness of it, and I really want to play this kind of simulator again.
 
@pesfooty29 What are your system specs bro? I've been thinking of getting Skylines 2 as well but if the game isn't optimized for my 16 GB RAM, Intel Core i5 Asus laptop, then it might not be worth it..

I absolutely loved Simcity 2000, 3000 and 4, the grittiness and toughness of it, and I really want to play this kind of simulator again.
I would recommend to stay away from it now. The whole release doesn't make any sense and you can have a great city building experience with the first game and mods without performance issues.
This must be the worst ever release performance/optimisation wise for a strategy game. Imo console release will not come out until late 2025 and there's a possibility it will be cancelled.
 
Even though I bought City Skylines 1 and I have it in my steam library, I haven't played it too much because it seems, in a way, like a beautiful "city designer", like it seems geared towards creating a beautiful city, but one thing I really prefer about SC3000 and SC4 were the problems and griminess of the cities, with more possibilities of pollution, traffic, etc. Then again, I am not familiar with Skylines 1 mods.. Are there any mods that make the game grittier, with slums, etc? :)
 
@pesfooty29 What are your system specs bro? I've been thinking of getting Skylines 2 as well but if the game isn't optimized for my 16 GB RAM, Intel Core i5 Asus laptop, then it might not be worth it..

I absolutely loved Simcity 2000, 3000 and 4, the grittiness and toughness of it, and I really want to play this kind of simulator again.
I have a i7, 11th Gen with an nvidia rtx 3060. I also have Simcity 4 on my steam library and it's still a very good city building game. Simcity 3000 will always have a soft spot in my heart. It has a 90s vibe to it. Loved that game.
 
I would recommend to stay away from it now. The whole release doesn't make any sense and you can have a great city building experience with the first game and mods without performance issues.
This must be the worst ever release performance/optimisation wise for a strategy game. Imo console release will not come out until late 2025 and there's a possibility it will be cancelled.
That's what I don't get. City Skylines 1 was a great game. The stuff they added to CS2 could have been ported over to CS1. Now they have a game that not many people are enjoying. The steam reviews are still mixed with the negatives citing ongoing problems with performance, crashes, bugs and other gameplay glitches. From what I've read, the patches aren't doing much to fix these problems. If they can't fix this game, then it's over.

I still don't like the fact that they have done away with the steam workshop.
 
That's what I don't get. City Skylines 1 was a great game. The stuff they added to CS2 could have been ported over to CS1. Now they have a game that not many people are enjoying. The steam reviews are still mixed with the negatives citing ongoing problems with performance, crashes, bugs and other gameplay glitches. From what I've read, the patches aren't doing much to fix these problems. If they can't fix this game, then it's over.

I still don't like the fact that they have done away with the steam workshop.
Exactly. Most of the stuff they added were available via mods already in the first game. I can't really understand what was in their mind with this release. Did they want a game with better graphics? If so, they're a bit out of touch with the base of pc gamers and especially the ones that play this kind of games.
On top of that, I'd be very surprised if younger generations really play Cities Skylines. I reckon the majority of people playing this one are 30+ and especially 40+. A console release also doesn't make any sense. Planet Coaster didn't sell well on consoles, Planet Zoo was initially planned to have a console release but they abandoned the idea.
 
I think they probably released Skylines 2 so that the quality of life MODS which are available on PC can be added to the base game for console users.
It was also a chance to improve the graphics, I suppose - However this is completely irrelevant in a city builder.
We are playing Sim City not Crysis.

But IMO the reason for Skylines 2 is so that they could cash in, there is only so many expansions you can release before the game will start becoming unprofitable - So a new version was always going to come.

It is just a shame that at present Cities: Skylines is the much better option to play at the moment due to the massive amount of DLC and MODS - But probably only on PC.

Cities Skylines 2 needs massive optimisation and additional content to get it up to the same level of Skylines.
They probably should of released the game on PC first and got it working before making it for all systems.
 
Even though I bought City Skylines 1 and I have it in my steam library, I haven't played it too much because it seems, in a way, like a beautiful "city designer", like it seems geared towards creating a beautiful city, but one thing I really prefer about SC3000 and SC4 were the problems and griminess of the cities, with more possibilities of pollution, traffic, etc. Then again, I am not familiar with Skylines 1 mods.. Are there any mods that make the game grittier, with slums, etc? :)

I think its a fun game, but I also think its not exactly what you are looking for in a city builder. It doesnt have the management Simcity had and Im finding it quite simple. It hasnt changed drastically from CS1 , so if you have that in your library give that one a try first. Also CS2 is on gamepass, so you can get a cheap code and try it there. I do think CS1 with mods and 8 years of DLC is more "complete", but CS2 is still fun relaxing experience. Best way to get an idea is some lets play videos on youtube. its more of a design your city vs a solve problems in your city (same as cs1)
cs1 is a more complete game, but im having more fun in cs2.
 
It hasnt changed drastically from CS1 , so if you have that in your library give that one a try first.
I'll give it another try, although in a way, to me at least, it seems more like a city painter than a city builder. I'll just give you a small example: in the Simcity games, you really had to work to get skyscrapers (like in RL). You had to get the property values up, have a large enough city to have a downtown, low crime, low pollution, and then you'd get skyscrapers.. In CS, it seems like you can get skyscrapers within the first half hour to an hour.... Also, slums.. or at least a class system which would be much more realistic, is much better handled in SC. It really feels like I'm managing a city with problems as opposed to a desigining it. Anyway, I'm sure CS1 is a great game in its own right, it's gotten great reviews, but I guess it doesn't scratch the same itch for me as SC2000, 3000 or 4 does.
 
I'll give it another try, although in a way, to me at least, it seems more like a city painter than a city builder. I'll just give you a small example: in the Simcity games, you really had to work to get skyscrapers (like in RL). You had to get the property values up, have a large enough city to have a downtown, low crime, low pollution, and then you'd get skyscrapers.. In CS, it seems like you can get skyscrapers within the first half hour to an hour.... Also, slums.. or at least a class system which would be much more realistic, is much better handled in SC. It really feels like I'm managing a city with problems as opposed to a desigining it. Anyway, I'm sure CS1 is a great game in its own right, it's gotten great reviews, but I guess it doesn't scratch the same itch for me as SC2000, 3000 or 4 does.

I totally understand where you are coming from bc I also liked that aspect of simcity. Just want to let you know that Skylines is not like that. it is indeed mostly a city painter. It does require some time to get skycrapers and it does have to do with the land value and education and demand in Skylines. I certainly didnt get them in the first 30mins.

But from what you have explained you are looking for Id say wait for a sale or get on gamepass. Its more of a plan your city vs a manage your city. Like I said, same formula as CS1
 
@el niche Thanks. :) I have read some reviews and most SC4 enthusiasts (I am part of several SC4 communities) have had that observation as well. But like I mentioned I'll give it a second try (I have it installed anyway on steam), and will try to keep what you said in mind. I still really love the management aspects of SC, but maybe if I approach it as two different experiences it'll work out. Let's see what happens. :TU:
 
@el niche Thanks. :) I have read some reviews and most SC4 enthusiasts (I am part of several SC4 communities) have had that observation as well. But like I mentioned I'll give it a second try (I have it installed anyway on steam), and will try to keep what you said in mind. I still really love the management aspects of SC, but maybe if I approach it as two different experiences it'll work out. Let's see what happens. :TU:

Hey your comment had left me thinking for a while... Given that Simcity was one of my favorite series growing up... I recently loaded up CS2 again, and I felt what you explained. To me its enjoyable, BUT its not a management game, its a city painter. You expand, put services, expand, put services, etc. Its enjoyable because its more of a sandbox game trying to make a beautiful big city. I do think its not "deep" (and there's nothing wrong with it).
I was checking my EA launcher and saw I bought SimCity 2013 almost 10 years go , play-time: 26 minutes.

So I gave it a go.... I completely forgot about the "charm" and life those games had, the silliness, the management aspects, I do feel more connected to the small towns (bc thats what they are bc of the size) than I do with CS1 or 2. I had to think more about money and mining more than in recent games.

You know how we say PES or FIFA would be great if they had changed a few things here and there that prevent them from getting to that point? I feel like that with SC2013: city size. Besides that, I really enjoy it. I'm not saying its an excellent game and def not a good Simcity game, but its a entertaining management game. Too bad it released under the simcity name as it killed the series. Graphics really hold up. If they could just release it with a larger city tile....

If you have gamepass, give it a go. I really need to go back to SC4....
 
Simcity was absolutely one of my favorite series as a kid, and still. I think I might play SC3000 and SC4 forever, I really do think that highly of them!

Haven't played CS2 yet, but from what I've gathered in terms of City Skylines, it does seem more of a "build your perfect city" mode.. Which is cool in and of itself, but doesn't provide the same satisfaction to me as having to build a city AND deal with problems.. Pollution, traffic, crime, land value issues, budget constraints, low education, etc.. CS and CS2 look beautiful, but they don't quite feel 100% right in what I'm looking for a complete city simulator. :)

I only skimmed through SC2013, but wasn't feeling it too much (not zoning seemed a little strange, but then again I will probably give it another chance). But SC3000 and 4, man, what classics. It's a coincidence that you fired up SC3000 recently, as I've been playing it a lot recently! (Here's a screenshot of my newest city, "Windsgate"-built with European architecture. I loved how it developed. Started out as a polluted industrial mining town, and then after so many years, finally flourished as a commercial center. I'm still having huge traffic problems despite building a subway hahahah..)


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