A look at Planning, Cities Skylines and how via Mixed Reality I work with both (in game play)
I have started a series via Twitch which will be uploaded to my YouTube channel on Planning with Cities Skylines. It is a six-part series look at the more advanced mechanics of Transport Planning in the game as well as my playthrough style.
I will be uploading both the raw and edited versions to YouTube for you consumption, as well as sharing it here with any further commentary on this blog.
A rundown on the series:
Part 1 of 6: The Overview The first of a series of Live Tutorials and AMAs on all things Planning, and Planning with Cities Skylines. Mods are in use including Real Time, Transport Manager: Presidents Edition, and Transport Lines Manager.
Part 1: Overview
Part 2: Buses and Trams Part
3: Metro, Heavy and Mono Rail
Part 4: Freight and Roads
Part 5: Active Modes and Hubs
Part 6: New City
Part 1: The Overview
[This is the raw version; highlights will also be available]
Part Two I look at buses and trams (aka Light Rail)
After a break I am slowing getting back into streaming and creating Cities Skylines content using Neo South Auckland as my current example.
I usually upload both the RAW version for those wanting the entire run through of a city building session, as well as snippets highlighting specific elements like a piece of Urban Design or a Scene.
My latest raw run through from last week can be seen below. The focus was on building the supporting infrastructure for the Riccarton Centre I was also building alongside. This is my second ever attempt in 6 years to build Bus Rapid Transit (it is not my normal play style as I use the rail types more) given I have actual dedicated BRT assets available to do so.
So how did it map out and where will this lead next run through?
I will fetch highlights of the completion of Riccarton Centre, the set up of Riccarton South as a residential support node, further establishment of more residential for the City, and the full operation of one if not two of the Rapid Bus Transit Lines.
Using Mixed Reality to build South Auckland as it might have been
After giving my second ever only Winter map a go (Antarctica City) I went back over to my stock standard Temperate Maps reopening Vanilla Coast to have another crack it (the first had to stop as the Industries DLC had come out when the city was in its end phases).
With that I introduce South Auckland, a Mixed Reality build named after my IRL home sub-region here in Auckland, New Zealand. If you are wondering what Mixed Reality is the term means the blending of Virtual and Real World concepts for the purpose of education, entertainment or showcase. Given I stream Cities Skylines on Twitch the Mixed Reality version is more around education as I go through the real life motions of building a City in its various stages of its life on a virtual platform.
Day 1 of South Auckland, a Mixed Reality creation named after my home sub region:
Day 1: Outlining the Methodology of founding a City
Day 1 looks at the methodology I use in laying the foundations of the City. Basically I am doing the equivalent of the real life Auckland (Spatial) Plan in working out how things will be shaped followed by laying down key transport routes the spatial form be influenced by.
Note: This is the full play through of this particular segment of Cities Skylines. From time to time I will publish Highlights as separate blog posts.
Next up: Day 2 and looking at Hierarchies
Day 1 in creating a city named after my home Sub Region – South Auckland
As a Spatial Planning and Urban Geographer in real life the concepts I practice there can make its way into Cities Skylines and vice versa. For more on tactical urban see this post over at my main blog: Tactical Urbanism Reaches South Auckland!
So can Tactical Urban be done in Cities Skylines? Yes it can. Below is a high level overview of doing Tactical Urbanism in converting a painted cycle lane to a separated cycleway on a main thoroughfare route:
Part 1 is the high level overview and doing the most basic form of tactical urbanism. As this particular City grows and evolves I will do further videos on Tactical Urbanism with some being more complex than others. Other Spatial Planning and Urban Design concepts will be outlined as well.
Hopefully these videos can give some inspiration to provide some extra realism in your cities based on real world concepts today.
Outlining the infrastructure in the new CityTrust me I have done more than just four roads and a roundabout
Slowly getting use to the new DLC + Japan Content Pack
After a small interruption on Sunday I have managed to settle back into Cities Skylines DLC + Japan Content Pack with the continued build of Palpatine City. Palpatine City uses the Craters Fall Map that came with the new DLC and is based around a small flat area in the centre of map surrounded by mountains while criss-crossed by rivers.
Crater Falls that will become Palpatine City
It might not look like much land area but that does not mean NOT to use your imagination. So let’s take an initial tour shall we?
I did not have my usual Mods and assets until last night (still do not have my Tram roads yet) so using the Vanilla tools proved to be interesting if not derpy.
But one thing I do love about the new DLC is the transit hubs in which I got two laid down thus far. They being the Inter-City/Metro Bus Hub (thus opening connections with the region rather than rely on an inter-city train station which is both expensive and floods young cities with more tourists than the infrastructure can handle at that time).
I managed to set up a Salmon and a general fishing industry that catches, processes and either sells fish at the market or sells it for export thus generating revenue for the City.
Trolley Buses! I despite not being a fan of them (cheap version of a tram) I decided to build a Trolley Bus circuit to serve the tourist area of Palpatine City.
As of last night this is where we are with Palpatine City:
The City has matured into a nice young town with most amenities now provided for the population. The next phase is to bolster the Industry which still faces strong demand as well as making sure we have workers for the factories, mines and farms. Later on in the week I will be starting on the City Centre, and Metropolitan Airport Complex.
Day 1 and already having to adjust bus frequencies
After some glitches with Twitch I finally got streaming and recording. In the stream I noticed a sea of people heading to a bus station even though it has just opened 5 hours earlier.
A highlight from today’s stream with PEOPLE USING TRANSIT – GO FIGURE:
Already I had to increase frequencies on one bus route and will be watching another carefully as it hits 85% occupancy utilisation. Also a summary of thoughts on urban geography and future streams (see: https://www.twitch.tv/palpatine001/ )
The full one hour video will be up Friday morning.
A concept I developed in Cities Skylines that I advocate for out in the real world is the Urban Islands. Urban Islands are where transport infrastructure, water or Green Belts break up the urban mass of a City giving an island effect. However, for Urban Islands to be Urban Islands one little feature needs to happen first – and that I explain in my first video here:
City Building and Urban Islands
In Part Two I zoom into the new Trade School then take a tour on a couple of the buses:
If you would like to know more about Urban Islands and other Urban Geography concepts I study and advocate for (including dual core cities) give me a yell in the comments below.
In the mean time Shop Safe!
Transport Line Manager in use
I realise in Part Two the Cities Skylines video was rather loud. I will make sure the volume is down on the next stream.
Urban Development in full flight in Grand Manukau/Layton Cities
After some path finding issues with the transit system and realising you can not start a Metro Line at a “deactivated” station (a station that has been built but not online to receive passengers) I got some good old fashioned urban development underway in Grand Manukau/Layton Cities.
The objective this week was two-fold:
Establishment of the Ore Industry
Continued residential expansion to support a City Centre and the new Industry
So the Ore Industry has been established and is functioning well while Parnell and Franklin District have both come on-stream.
At the moment I am in Expansion Mode – that is pretty much cookie-cutter standardised urban development through the Twin Cities and Urban Islands Urban Geography concepts. This is because the major infrastructure is already laid down from the earlier Planning and Building Mode thus all that is happening is existing infrastructure is simply being extended rather than adding entirely new Lines and so on. The other mode is Consolidation/Mature Mode where I have stopped expanding the City and am going through the existing urban area either upzoning or optimising the infrastructure for efficient operations.
Let’s Ride the Metro
So to start the videos off today we get to ride the newly expanded Metro Line 1:
Let’s ride Metro Line 1Transport Line Manager in use
Checking Out the Ore Industry
I built some Ore Industry – this is how it went:
Ore Industry – after a quick ride on the Metro
And finally a look at the new urban areas of Parnell and Franklin District. Also a final drop down to First Person mode to see the Downtown and LOTS OF TREES!
Bus lane woes, logistics and a new urban area
Next week we are traffic problem finding and bringing online another heavy rail line to help remove some of the road congestion. Also more urban expansion and the placement of the Lemonade Factory in time for Christmas!
After the issues with the Mods things got back on track. So here we are with this week’s stream a tad late – but it is here.
This week I focus on building the Downtown, the East End, and the first ever Metro line for Grand Manukau/Layton Cities. Layton City Downtown is a Tourist area while the East End is a Leisure area, which is controlled using the game’s District commands. As usual the first video is also of the Q+A from questions that come up from the previous week’s thread.
I must say the Metro Overhaul Mod gives beautiful renders. I used the Classic version rather than the Modern version for the Metro line. However, other Lines as they are built might be the modern version.
Next week we continue with City building as I continue to extend the East End and Watson Heights. I will also start laying the infrastructure down for the Ore Industry as well.
Ben's Cities 