|
 What is Cities Skylines? Cities Skylines is a city building and management simulator released in 2015. It sparked a flurry of YouTube LP's in the wake of Sim City and has received massive praise for its scale and depth. I have never been amazing at strategical thinking or heavy duty forward planning but I still find this game fun nontheless. With that in mind, join me as I bumble my way through the creation and management of a city that could prove to be my undoing. Bear in mind that this will be my first real time trying to fully manage a city unaided. By unaided I mean without unlimited money. Why LP This Game? I wanted to LP this game because I feel it is a genre of game I have never really embraced before, and what better way to apply the pressure than recording my way through this game? I used to play this game on my friends PC when I visited his house and it held me captivated and seemed really interesting. Although playing in sandbox mode I never really got the full immersion of the game. After looking at some other LP's, (notably Sips and Keralis), I am amazed at how much depth this game has and rewards LP'ers that fully immerse themselves in the game, which is what I intend to do. Can I Make Suggestions? As I progress through the LP I will be wide open to suggestions on things I should and shouldn't be doing and also what mods I should install (Like I said, this is my first real time managing a city). I am also open to discussions about the game itself of course! Playlist Videos Episode 1: I Am A Mayor Kicking things off I set about laying down the different zones and utilities. (Yes, I use coal power, Fossil fuels must be used!) Starting this Let's Play off was a bit daunting. Because this game requires a lot of forward thinking I needed to make sure I had enough cushion to develop the city. Episode 2: Steady Growth So this phase of the game becomes a game of attrition as I slowly make my city bigger and try to manage all my utilities. This can become a balancing act as I need to make sure my income is constantly in the green. Episode 3: A New Village I wanted to keep growing my population to reach the next milestone but I didn't want my main city getting too big too early. So I thought it would be best to build a new town to spread out the population. Episode 4: Trident Commercial District The demand for residential seems to be lowering as the demand for commercial zones increases. So I continue explanind my city infrastructure whilst creating a new commercial area. Episode 5: A City With A Backbone As the traffic starts ramping up in my city I decide to start planning ahead. I do this by blowing a lot of money and a huge bridge. Episode 6: Incinerators In order to stop garbage becoming a problem later on I spend lots of money on Incinerators. I also expand a few areas to help my population grow. Episode 7: Overpass Because the main road into my city is getting congested I decide to better direct the traffic flow. What better way to do this than a huge bridge? Episode 8: Interchange I notice that my bus lines have next to no coverage of my city. So I decide to build a centralised location where all of my citizens can use every bus route. Episode 9: Not Enough Workers As my city upgrades itself I find myself stuck with a lot of "Not Enough Workers" issue boxes. So I build a little hamlet out of the way to boost the population of uneducated workers. Episode 10: Ring Road The industry section is starting to get gridlocked. What better way to resolve this by building more roads? Episode 11: Roundabouts The industry section traffic jam continues. So the next thing I try is using roundabouts. Episode 12: Traffic Management Yet another episode where I am trying to solve the mass of traffic issues in my city. This time in the residential area. Episode 13: Metro Lines I need more services to level up all my zones. Let's build the metro lines! TapersCrazy fucked around with this message at 21:42 on Sep 19, 2016 |
#
?
Aug 27, 2016 11:31
|
|
|
|
| # ? Apr 20, 2024 03:36 |
|
|
Well don't build too fast too soon and I hope you will do well without literally infinite cash. 
|
|
#
?
Aug 27, 2016 18:27
|
|
|
Yeah, it's hard to not just build ALL THE THINGS straight away. Especially after looking at the insane city Keralis built on his series. I hope mine can be somewhere a portion of that awesome. Only time will tell 
|
|
#
?
Aug 27, 2016 19:17
|
|
|
I stated it on one of the videos but thought to bring it up here as well. It feels like trying to give more options for the traffic to move around just keeps it congested in whatever is the quickest route. Perhaps because the AI can't see that it would be faster to take a different route knowing that the main roads are busy. Which is how I get around my city more efficiently. If possible avoid the traffic. So perhaps the only way to stop congestion is upgraded roads? I'm not sure. I always have traffic problems when I play this game.
|
|
#
?
Sep 4, 2016 15:23
|
|
|
Roundabouts. Everywhere. Really, traffic is what every city I ever built falls apart on - eventually.
|
|
#
?
Sep 4, 2016 15:25
|
|
|
My conclusion to how the traffic in the game works is that even if you put roundabouts everywhere, which should theoretically alleviate traffic with options, won't matter. I feel like traffic will always take the fastest route no matter what. Which means you'll have roads going unused at times. At least that's what I think is going on.
|
|
#
?
Sep 5, 2016 15:17
|
|
|
Eh, you can work around that a bit with city planning and district settings, given the biggest offenders are the trucks going from and to the industrial districts. Height is another underutilized tool. Still, I think the emphasis on traffic is this game's biggest problem.
|
|
#
?
Sep 5, 2016 15:48
|
|
|
TapersCrazy posted:Yeah, it's hard to not just build ALL THE THINGS straight away. Especially after looking at the insane city Keralis built on his series. I tried watching the Keralis series, but he was just too obnoxiously "Youtube personality" if you know what I mean. Your videos are great! E: Enact the "Free Mass Transit" ordinance to make more people take the bus. You're just making 300 monies a day from bus fare anyway. Philippe fucked around with this message at 17:11 on Sep 6, 2016 |
|
#
?
Sep 6, 2016 16:17
|
|
|
So watching this has gotten me back into playing the game. I've steadily reached a population of 26000-27000 but it seems I've plateaued. My population is steadily decreasing by 10 each week and I can't seem to find out why. The general happiness is really high for all districts and all needs are being met, aside from leisure in the industrial and high commercial districts. I'm really at a loss as to what the problem is. There's no desire for residential, commercial, or industrial growth so I really have no idea what it could be. Maybe I need to get that leisure up in those two areas, or maybe I need to get rid of general industrial all together. Maybe it's traffic? But I only have traffic congestion in a few places. I'm really at a loss.
|
|
#
?
Sep 7, 2016 14:10
|
|
|
The only reason I know about this game was because people were asking for alternatives when the latest SimCity came out dead on arrival, and this was the most recommended one.
|
|
#
?
Sep 9, 2016 00:43
|
|
|
Tasteful Dickpic posted:I tried watching the Keralis series, but he was just too obnoxiously "Youtube personality" if you know what I mean. Your videos are great! Thanks for the support man. I try to just be myself in my videos  I think I will enact the free transit policy. I want as little road traffic as possible because it's definitely my biggest headache at the moment :'(
|
|
#
?
Sep 9, 2016 21:24
|
|
|
Warmal posted:So watching this has gotten me back into playing the game. I've steadily reached a population of 26000-27000 but it seems I've plateaued. My population is steadily decreasing by 10 each week and I can't seem to find out why. The general happiness is really high for all districts and all needs are being met, aside from leisure in the industrial and high commercial districts. I'm really at a loss as to what the problem is. There's no desire for residential, commercial, or industrial growth so I really have no idea what it could be. Maybe I need to get that leisure up in those two areas, or maybe I need to get rid of general industrial all together. Maybe it's traffic? But I only have traffic congestion in a few places. I'm really at a loss. Hmmm... I'm still a rookie at city management so I am unsure why that would be. Have you attempted dropping the residential tax a bit. My brain says that should encourage growth?
|
|
#
?
Sep 9, 2016 21:25
|
|
|
anilEhilated posted:Eh, you can work around that a bit with city planning and district settings, given the biggest offenders are the trucks going from and to the industrial districts. Height is another underutilized tool. I've noticed the largest issue in my city at the moment is the traffic in and out of the Industry section. I'm trying to solve this with a high loop road and failing at one way systems :'(
|
|
#
?
Sep 9, 2016 21:26
|
|
|
That one way road system is how downtown works where I live. It actually can make it better and worse as long as you know which roads go which way when heading into it. But I have no idea how that would work for residential. As for my Skylines city. My solution was to go in and micro manage everything. I basically got rid of all the red I could. Meaning the only thing that was red at the end was some traffic areas. And I cut out an entire farming district I created. I also gave a couple more roads connecting my different areas so that it would be easier to get around town. I did all this in pause mode, so while I don't know what in particular fixed the issue, something did. I now get demand again and the population is going up. I really like how you did your bus system there. And I think I might do the same with my own. Something similar at least as it gives a very good opportunity for people to switch between the different areas. I'm up to 30,000 people and I have 0 walking paths. Do they actually help out with the traffic or what is there purpose?
|
|
#
?
Sep 10, 2016 08:40
|
|
|
The pathways bit is that your townies (Cims?) take walking into consideration as a form of transport but are all model citizens who will never step on grass or jaywalk, so a footpath that turns a long drive into a short walk will keep them on their feet and out of their cars and ease traffic. I'm not 100% but I'm pretty sure they're just roads for people you can tuck in wherever.
|
|
#
?
Sep 10, 2016 09:31
|
|
|
How does freight work in Cities Skylines? Does the Industry section provide consumer goods to Commercial, which sells them to Residential? Or do you have to move it from Industry out of the city? Or do you just have to move your workers and students around? Cause in that case, you're doing a fine job with your bus lines. They seem to cover most of the city, and the interchange makes them easy to use. Maybe you can even lay down some subway tunnels to complement the network. Enact the policy for free transport, make some more bus stops in the Industry section, and expand the road from Industry to the motorway, and you should be fine. Alternatively, according to the wiki, freight trains can be used to alleviate your cargo issues from Industry (and therefore also your traffic issues in that area). E: The wiki says that you should have more than one bus depot in larger cities, to avoid congestion. Not a problem for now, but some food for thought. Philippe fucked around with this message at 09:42 on Sep 10, 2016 |
|
#
?
Sep 10, 2016 09:35
|
|
|
IIRC, you either import goods (general industry) or make them (specialized), then they go to commercial, where folks buy them. It's good to keep this in mind when you're planning your city - putting a residential district between industrial and commercial won't be fun. Another problem is that some buildings require imported goods to function - the coal power plant, for example, will need a constant supply of trucks.
|
|
#
?
Sep 10, 2016 18:55
|
|
|
Jeez I love Cities: Skylines. Happy to see this is a video LP as well - there's something so deeply satisfying about watching a neighbourhood grow. Just discovered the thread but will be following with interest - hopefully I can get some pointers on how not to end up with a gridlocked midden of a city by the time I hit 10,000 population.
|
|
#
?
Sep 10, 2016 19:23
|
|
|
Warmal posted:That one way road system is how downtown works where I live. It actually can make it better and worse as long as you know which roads go which way when heading into it. But I have no idea how that would work for residential. Just watching the interchange I made there are so many people on the paths using it so I think it is doing its job. I'm having a hard time directing the traffic though. I tend to try to force the AI down one way routes for better management.
|
|
#
?
Sep 10, 2016 21:21
|
|
|
Tasteful Dickpic posted:How does freight work in Cities Skylines? Does the Industry section provide consumer goods to Commercial, which sells them to Residential? Or do you have to move it from Industry out of the city? Thanks for the suggestions! I am going to be incorporating a Subway system pretty soon. I am a bit intimidated by the train stations though. Not sure how they will affect traffic. As for how the freight works I am not certain myself either. I think Industry just tries to give you a headache on purpose :'(
|
|
#
?
Sep 10, 2016 21:24
|
|
|
anilEhilated posted:IIRC, you either import goods (general industry) or make them (specialized), then they go to commercial, where folks buy them. It's good to keep this in mind when you're planning your city - putting a residential district between industrial and commercial won't be fun. And my coal power plant is right in the middle of the industry section. Just great... Good forward planning Tapers!
|
|
#
?
Sep 10, 2016 21:25
|
|
|
Skippy Granola posted:Jeez I love Cities: Skylines. Happy to see this is a video LP as well - there's something so deeply satisfying about watching a neighbourhood grow. Hey thanks! Hope you enjoy it as much as I enjoy making it. I try my best not to suck
|
|
#
?
Sep 10, 2016 21:26
|
|
|
|
| # ? Apr 20, 2024 03:36 |
|
|
I have two additional pointers, it seems. Firstly, invest in water treatment facilities, now that they're unlocked. It'll probably do something about the river of poop, and reduce in-city water pollution. Secondly, have you thought about using a rib-style road system for your traffic-heavy areas like industry? Instead of having one way circles, where the outlet is in one corner (and there is perpetual gridlock), try to have small one way roads connected to a central spine, that leads to the motorway. Freight can stream out, and people can stream in. Kind of like this (except with longer horizontal streets, because ASCII isn't a very precise art form): [|] [|] [|] Also, use roundabouts. One of your mods gives you small roundabouts, use them to increase traffic flow.
|
|
#
?
Sep 11, 2016 20:02
|
|