Cities: Skylines (the Sim City we deserve)

[MatskiMonk]

Hmmm, I've not been playing the game properly long enough to go through the update/mod's failing process. Was trying to beauty up one of my farming industry districts and noticed the Prop Line Tool seems to glitch out most of the camera controls, and some farming assets I've got just cause the computer to hang now.

 

[ProjectWHaT]

Does anyone have an alternative to Network Extensions 2? I really want to get back into this game and this was one of the mods I depended on a lot for more road options, but it appears to be broken and the developers seem to be either MIA or slow on fixing it

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=812125426

 

[MatskiMonk]

Does anyone have an alternative to Network Extensions 2? I really want to get back into this game and this was one of the mods I depended on a lot for more road options, but it appears to be broken and the developers seem to be either MIA or slow on fixing it

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=812125426

I'm running NE2, and AFIAK it's not causing any issues.

edit: latest version of the game with Industries, Park Life, Campus, Sunset Harbour, After Dark and Green Cities DLC running.

 

[eran0004]

Does anyone have an alternative to Network Extensions 2? I really want to get back into this game and this was one of the mods I depended on a lot for more road options, but it appears to be broken and the developers seem to be either MIA or slow on fixing it

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=812125426

Two-lane highways and the national roads (“highway” with one lane in each direction) are available in the Mass Transit DLC.

However, I have NE2 and haven’t noticed any problem with it. As far as I can tell, the only difference from before is that zoning goes half a grid space away from the tiny roads now. Did you try launching the game with the mod enabled?

 

[ProjectWHaT]

Ah, did some testing and I think it was something else messing up. 👍

 

[eran0004]

Some beauty shots of areas I've been working on.

 

[MatskiMonk]

Good news: the metro tunnels are working! Turned out that the issue was caused by Fine Road Anarchy, if building a station while anarchy is on, it incorrectly flags one end as being above the ground. With anarchy off the tunnels connect properly to the station.

Biffa on YouYube has just done a video about issues with metro stations, might be worth watching if get any issues.

 

[MatskiMonk]

Oh man, I've been wanting to detail my city a little more comprehensively then I normally do... Take a little more time over placing buildings in a little less vanilla looking fashion. Took to YouTube for inspiration and ended up watching a bunch of videos by citywokcitywall.... Yeah... Think I may as well just give up now.

Check out his Kobayashi Harbour series and new Mars series on YouTube. I good example of what can be achieved with the skill, patience, right assets and mods.

 

[redhed17]

Oh man, I've been wanting to detail my city a little more comprehensively then I normally do... Take a little more time over placing buildings in a little less vanilla looking fashion. Took to YouTube for inspiration and ended up watching a bunch of videos by citywokcitywall.... Yeah... Think I may as well just give up now.

Check out his Kobayashi Harbour series and new Mars series on YouTube. I good example of what can be achieved with the skill, patience, right assets and mods.

I found some of his videos last week. Some of the stuff he did on the Kobayashi Harbour was I'm still at the basic level of trying to get city's to 'work', and beautification is way down the line. Though I suspect the assets needed may push my computer over the edge, as it seems to be running flat out now.

It is good to see what what can be done with the game though. Some of the work done by Skibitth and his 'Little France' project is stunning too.

 

[eran0004]

Seems like the Industries DLC is draining my offices of workers, so my focus has been on building new residential areas to make sure there are enough employees for everyone.

Also, I made this highway connection that is also linking three previously isolated areas together. I like how the collector lanes and the main highway are alternating going above/under between this interchange and the next. It creates an interesting dynamic.

 

[MatskiMonk]

Err... be careful if placing any new dams in existing cities after the update. I just had unprecedented flooding after installing a dam exactly as I have done before. The rise in water level wiped out 4 districts, and a further 3 partially, and has stabilised significantly higher than it was before, the affected districts now sit with massive dykes around them and are below the level of the water. I've never had this problem before, despite working in the same map for the last few cities.

 

[eran0004]

It's getting hard to come up with new designs for each block, so I've started looking at Google Earth for reference. This residential block was inspired by one I found in Barcelona:

As the mayor of the city I needed to build a little house for myself, so I borrowed some taxpayer money and made this modest baroque palace. It proved a popular destination for the locals, with endless streams walking and cycling to the area. Just hope they're not all gathering for the purpose of storming the gates and reclaiming their money.

The light aircraft of the aviation club are cute, and they provide a nice viewpoint of the city:

 

[MatskiMonk]

I'm in the habit of rapidly changing the outgoing/incoming settings for Industries assets in the EDS mod... this can give some spikes in traffic around Unique factory/warehouse locations... ended up building this...

.. it's sloppily made, but it worked. The top tier is only a roundabout for visual effect, the the top two tiers do allow for a little expansion for the area to the bottom.

Turned up the graphics settings for the screen cap... boy, that was a mistake.

 

[eran0004]

I'm in the habit of rapidly changing the outgoing/incoming settings for Industries assets in the EDS mod... this can give some spikes in traffic around Unique factory/warehouse locations... ended up building this...

View attachment 907293

.. it's sloppily made, but it worked. The top tier is only a roundabout for visual effect, the the top two tiers do allow for a little expansion for the area to the bottom.

Turned up the graphics settings for the screen cap... boy, that was a mistake.

I like the look of it! Very futuristic

 

[redhed17]

I feel a little bit of satisfaction on the current city I am playing with atm, and I love watching all the buses coming into a bus station one by one, and most of the cims scattering to wait for the other buses to come in. Simple things.

As I have been doing up to now, I start a scenario map, and if I enjoy it, I'll carry on playing the map. It is amazing how things can swing on a map, and then trying to track down reasons for changes, either to changes I have made, or random changes within the game, and if I can't find reason, what changes to make to fix things. Wild swings from 2.5m credits down to 1m, back up to 2m, down to 800k.

Another thing that is bothering me is certain metro stations having too many cims waiting, and not being able to clear them no matter how many trains I put on. The cims seem to favour metro over any other transport type from what I am seeing so far. I'm still trying to get my head around how things work, although I'm sure some things are random.

One person's videos I have found over the last week or so is ImperialJedi on YT. He has started a city from zero over the last week or so, and then will start to incorporate the new Sunset Harbour DLC. His style is a bit random, going off on tangents for detailing things etc, but I have been picking up a few tips. One of the things that I had not thought about was when filling in areas, rather than totally fully filling in areas solidly, filling in areas with different numbers of squares adds to the variety of the houses/buildings spawned rather than relying on the game to introduce some randomness. Worth a look if you haven't seen his vids before. If you want something to fill the time you may have at home atm.

Something that may have something to do with the length of this post.

 

[MatskiMonk]

I like the look of it! Very futuristic

It's effectively a 7 lane roundabout with 12 exit lanes and 12 entrance lanes, taking up the space of only a normal roundabout. I might employ the 'stacked' technique on other roundabouts.

filling in areas with different numbers of squares adds to the variety of the houses/buildings spawned rather than relying on the game to introduce some randomness.

I do this for two reasons, firstly to get denser looking neighbourhoods of low density housing, secondly, if you start by doing alternate areas, then going back and filling in the gaps later, it helps stagger deathwaves a bit.

edit:

Another thing that is bothering me is certain metro stations having too many cims waiting, and not being able to clear them no matter how many trains I put on. The cims seem to favour metro over any other transport type from what I am seeing so far. I'm still trying to get my head around how things work, although I'm sure some things are random.

I suck at Metros, I've had a similar problem before. To fix it I built a second line just connecting the two busiest stations along the whole metro line - kind of like an express train. IIRC I had 7 stops along one line, two were always maxed out, so I built a new line between the two stations, and had a route just with those two stops on.

 

[MatskiMonk]

I think when it's finished, I'll call this one the Cape Ring Junction.

 

[eran0004]

My city reached 25'000 citizens! Just focusing on one block at a time, it's a nice challenge to come up with ideas on how to use the available space in each block.

 

[MatskiMonk]

That looks fantastic Eran0004!

 

[eran0004]

I reworked the waterfront area and added some fishing industry. Also built a @MatskiMonk patented Cape Ring spiral pedestrian/cyclist bridge.

 

[eran0004]

I bought the modern Japan pack to give my skyscraper some company. The RICO settings for those buildings have a ton of workplaces though, so again I need to construct some more housing... But I'm happy about the result, walking the streets around this area with the first person camera mod is awesome!

I needed a new connection to the motorway at this point but had a hard time fitting it in because of the lack of space. Solution: A roundabout interchange with a ramp inside the roundabout! I thought it would be a nightmare to try to make it look nice, but it turned out pretty good in the end.

To finish this post off, I recorded two roadtrips with the first person camera. The frame rate is not super steady, but it's the best my laptop could do. The first roadtrip goes from the port to the post sorting facility by the airport (not sure why they send mail by boat, but okay). The second goes from the pulp mill industry, located across the river, to a residential building in the downtown area (which is still work in progress, so there's a lot of empty space there).

 

[redhed17]

I enjoyed that first person view video. Thanks for posting Eran. I have only seen first person view in Biffa's videos. I didn't realise they go to the trouble of having brake lights on the vehicles work. Rather than tailgating the Police car, I thought you were going to overtake it at some point. It is weird how late they leave it to dash across the lane to take the off ramp.

What are the specs of your laptop? I haven't even tried the first person mod because my computer seems to be running flat out, processor and graphics card, just running the game.

A couple of questions for anyone who may know.

On the map I am currently playing, I have three rail tracks entering the city off the map, and every so often, (I have been playing this map for awhile) the inner city tracks all get blocked up. Up until now I have deleted a few trains to get things moving. Now they are blocked at the entrances to the map. If they are blocked coming into the city, are there any options other than deleting loads of trains?

Also, I have a Zoo, and have built it up over time so that I have it filled with all the attractions available, and suddenly it is getting no visitors. I have a Leisure Park next to it, and that is still getting visitors. Anyone have ideas why that would happen?

 

[MatskiMonk]

On the map I am currently playing, I have three rail tracks entering the city off the map, and every so often, (I have been playing this map for awhile) the inner city tracks all get blocked up. Up until now I have deleted a few trains to get things moving. Now they are blocked at the entrances to the map. If they are blocked coming into the city, are there any options other than deleting loads of trains?

Do the railway junctions have 'off' and 'on' one way sections? Using standard junctions where railway 'lanes' have to cross each other can slow things down.

 

[redhed17]

Do the railway junctions have 'off' and 'on' one way sections? Using standard junctions where railway 'lanes' have to cross each other can slow things down.

Thanks for replying MatskiMonk.

I don't have any one way tracks. I do have an area where lines do cross, as it was an area in the middle of the city I started (a Scenario) and had to adjust it to make a container station not affect the passenger trains, and I wasn't able to put in a pre-made junction next to the container station in the space. I maybe should have just got rid of the container station but I wanted to build on what was there for the most part.

Here is the junction I started with, and the changes I made. The container station was only one entrance, so I made it so that trains could enter and leave from either direction. The turn out of the container station was very sharp, so that is why I made the larger loop. That seemed to work pretty well after some failed alterations.

I also tried to make a parallel main rail line through the city, to hopefully allow more options, and in some sections the parallel line is used, but mostly not.

I have trains coming into the city from the top and both sides btw. I may just delete a load of trains from the middle an see how it goes, just to get something moving. I have links to some passenger stations where the trains a pretty full, so that is a lot of Cims not doing anything.

Start of game

Current position

Current game

 

[eran0004]

Rather than tailgating the Police car, I thought you were going to overtake it at some point. It is weird how late they leave it to dash across the lane to take the off ramp.

Yeah, actually I think this specific truck had the advanced AI from the traffic manager mod, since it did overtake that forestry truck in the city. Not sure why it didn't attempt to overtake the police car. The lane-dashing is due to how the game deals with shallow exit ramps, I can fix it with the traffic manager mod to make it a little less lethal

What are the specs of your laptop? I haven't even tried the first person mod because my computer seems to be running flat out, processor and graphics card, just running the game.

It's a Lenovo ideapad 710S that I bought a few years ago. Hardly a gaming laptop, but it works alright. Intel i7 2.5 GHz, 8GB RAM (I would need about 12 for this game though). I don't think the first person camera mod requires any special performance, because it just provides a different way of moving the camera around. However, if you use a narrow field of view (which I prefer) you might want to increase the graphics settings since you will be able to see more details (or more lack of details if you run on low settings) of objects far away.

A couple of questions for anyone who may know.

On the map I am currently playing, I have three rail tracks entering the city off the map, and every so often, (I have been playing this map for awhile) the inner city tracks all get blocked up. Up until now I have deleted a few trains to get things moving. Now they are blocked at the entrances to the map. If they are blocked coming into the city, are there any options other than deleting loads of trains?

Also, I have a Zoo, and have built it up over time so that I have it filled with all the attractions available, and suddenly it is getting no visitors. I have a Leisure Park next to it, and that is still getting visitors. Anyone have ideas why that would happen?

I don't know if it's the same thing, but once I had trains blocked at the exit of a map, which meant that every other train coming behind it were also blocked. I have no idea what caused it, but I think deleting the stuck train helped.

If the trains are stuck coming into the city then it's probably something inside the city that is not working as it should. From your screenshots it seems like there is a lot of railroad instersections which could cause issues when they need to stop and wait for each other. Try to separate the tracks and have them go over/under each other rather than straight across. Another problem that might occur is where a road is crossing a railroad. On my previous map I had one occasion where there was a traffic jam and the AI of some cars glitched out, meaning they were just sitting there and blocking the crossing. That quickly brought everything to a grinding halt, so check for traffic jams at any of your railroad crossings. If you have the traffic manager mod you can easily just wipe all the traffic with a single click of a button, which is useful in extremely chaotic situations.

The zoo issue reminds me of something I read about a tourism bug. In that case, having too many attractions in a city caused the tourism attraction value to "overflow" and reset to zero. Perhaps something similar has happened with your zoo? Try to remove or turn off some attractions and see if it helps.

 

[redhed17]

It's a Lenovo ideapad 710S that I bought a few years ago. Hardly a gaming laptop, but it works alright. Intel i7 2.5 GHz, 8GB RAM (I would need about 12 for this game though). I don't think the first person camera mod requires any special performance, because it just provides a different way of moving the camera around. However, if you use a narrow field of view (which I prefer) you might want to increase the graphics settings since you will be able to see more details (or more lack of details if you run on low settings) of objects far away.

Thanks for replying Eran. I have an i5 desktop with 16Gb of RAM. I may try the first person view mod if it doesn't seem to push the whole thing over the edge. Sounds like the processor is having a greater impact than the graphics card if you can play the game well on a laptop. Stuck it on my laptop initially (i5 and 8Gb RAM) but felt it is better on a bigger screen.

Yeah, actually I think this specific truck had the advanced AI from the traffic manager mod, since it did overtake that forestry truck in the city. Not sure why it didn't attempt to overtake the police car. The lane-dashing is due to how the game deals with shallow exit ramps, I can fix it with the traffic manager mod to make it a little less lethal

I found the tilt on the truck at the start of your vid quite funny. You know they tilt on corners, but funny seeing it close up.

I don't know if it's the same thing, but once I had trains blocked at the exit of a map, which meant that every other train coming behind it were also blocked. I have no idea what caused it, but I think deleting the stuck train helped.

I've just watched Biffa's latest fix vid, and he mentions checking whether there is a node right at the edge of a map, which can cause problems, and something I will check next time.

If the trains are stuck coming into the city then it's probably something inside the city that is not working as it should. From your screenshots it seems like there is a lot of railroad instersections which could cause issues when they need to stop and wait for each other. Try to separate the tracks and have them go over/under each other rather than straight across. Another problem that might occur is where a road is crossing a railroad. On my previous map I had one occasion where there was a traffic jam and the AI of some cars glitched out, meaning they were just sitting there and blocking the crossing. That quickly brought everything to a grinding halt, so check for traffic jams at any of your railroad crossings. If you have the traffic manager mod you can easily just wipe all the traffic with a single click of a button, which is useful in extremely chaotic situations.

I sorted it out last night quite drastically. I deleted a load of trains. Set it so no stations were receiving intercity trains. And for that junction, I changed the cargo station back to a single entrance/exit and set the line to go under the other line as you suggest above. Turned all the cargo stations off until it cleared, which it did quite quickly after deleting so many trains in the first place, and then slowly turning them back on.

I never have train tracks and roads cross each other. I don't think it is a good idea in real life, so I'll keep them out of my cities.

The zoo issue reminds me of something I read about a tourism bug. In that case, having too many attractions in a city caused the tourism attraction value to "overflow" and reset to zero. Perhaps something similar has happened with your zoo? Try to remove or turn off some attractions and see if it helps.

Weirdly the Zoo seems to be a simple fix. After the Cims were seemingly happy to pay to get in, once I maxed all the attractions, people stopped coming. Changed it back to free, and people instantly started to come back. Just slowly upping the entrance fee back now to see what they will tolerate. The leisure park the other side of the roundabout, has stayed popular at full price thankfully.

It is a great game for whiling away the time atm stuck at home.

 

[eran0004]

Good news! My airport is working again! I demolished it and built a new one at the same location and almost instantly the planes started coming in. I’m not sure what caused it to not function earlier, but my best guess is that the fact that I used the move it mod to fine tune the placement caused some invisible nodes to not connect properly.

Now it’s just the passenger ship terminal that’s needs fixing, I’m going to try the demolish-rebuild method tomorrow and see if that does the trick.

 

[eran0004]

Some recent developments:

^The lack of workforce prompted me to launch a mass housing project with lots of cheap apartments in a new district just across the motorway. Good access to public transport with two metro lines (one elevated and one underground) and a bus line.

^ I expanded the suburban neighbourhood as well, since I'm still some 1500 workers or so short. A bit of cul-de-sac and some nice natural surroundings. i decided to "build" a forest to serve as a recreational area.

^ An overview of the suburban expansion. Just a few streets are currently filled with houses.

^ I also added a new motorway connection because I realised this area had quite a bit to drive to their nearest access point.

^ An overview of the road network in map view.

 

[redhed17]

Looking good Eran.

How do you get the map view? Is it in game or a Mod?

 

[eran0004]

Looking good Eran.

How do you get the map view? Is it in game or a Mod?

Thanks! It’s a mod called CSL MapView. When you have installed it, go the the options menu while in the game, and from the mod options click on “export”.

Then you can open a separate application (think it’s also called CSL MapView or something like that) and that lets you see the map of your city.