In this longer highlight I go through the basic notions of Road Hierarchy and its planning, building and optimisation. Note: the City is still in very early stages so transit and cycling infrastructure will be in its infancy (localised) until the City further establishes.
I do cover both Vanilla and Modded game play styles.
Once you have settled into the basic mechanics of Cities Skylines with a functioning transport system, the zones nicely laid out and the civic infrastructure all working does the fun really begin.
Fun what fun?
As the city gets larger it gets more complex as an organism especially if playing modded as I do. This means regular check ups across the City to make sure the transport and transit systems are working as optimally as they should. The good news is that most fixes you come upon are not major and can be done very quickly and cheaply. That said from time to time a major overhaul might be needed but that is for another day. The point being that six lane roads and motorways are not and should not be the go to fix – PUBLIC AUTHORITIES TAKE NOTE.
In this post I go through some medium and advanced play throughs in using some extended tools to help fine tune your City as well as giving it more realism. Note: I use Real Time Mod which simulates the full day/night cycle and includes the rush hours, shopping, events, and shift work effects upon a City. More HERE.
Of course as the City continues to grow and evolve more checks and tweaks are done, especially as more transit lines are added and old ones might need replacing.
I can be found on Twitch doing Cities Skylines play throughs: https://www.twitch.tv/palpatine001
In Cities Skylines your city can fail in one of two ways; population abandons it because your City Management was less than desirable, or the City has become too successful and both housing and infrastructure have not kept up.
Well for Valhalla City we had a case of the latter. After the ore and farming industries opened up we had a massive influx of residents which meant an influx of traffic to boot. Queue the City’s housing and infrastructure in a bit of a pickle. So over the space of several streams (or strims) I attempt to fix one crisis after another. But unlike the real life New Zealand Finance Minister we do not engage in tinkering, we engage in full blown Public Works – NO HOLDS BAR!
So did I fix both sets of crisis that had hit Valhalla City? Find out in the full video streams of the week’s play below. For live streams see: https://www.twitch.tv/palpatine001
What does the future hold for Valhalla? Tune in and find out!
A brief fly through of Valhalla City as of September 2020. It includes a fly through of the Valhalla Cycle Super Highway:
An often overlooked feature using Cities Skylines is that you can stylise individual Districts to your tastes or objectives. Most often we will select what is known as a “Theme” and implement it city-wide. For example my go to city-wide Theme is European and European Suburbia as I don’t like the high rise and super-talls that come with the International theme (Europe also has higher people density as well ironically).
However, using Building Themes I can set individual Districts to have individualised Districts. For example I use the University housing content pack and the Building Theme to create a University district with student housing and commercial services. In the video below I did another theme with Kiwi housing and civic assets (commercial is still being worked on by the asset maker).
How do you do individualised District styles? Check the video below:
You can find me at: https://www.twitch.tv/palpatine001
Have fun with your stylised Districts that add spice to your city creations
A question often asked in the real world as well as Cities Skylines: How to upscale your residential area – that is how to trigger intensification or how to get a new residential area started.
This is a crossover post with my Talking Southern Auckland blog on amenities and residential areas. Amenities or rather facilities, services, conveniences, comforts and creature comforts are things we all need but things we often forget about when it comes to residential planning. Specifically when a residential area has been upzoned for intensification or a new residential laid down (Greenfield) what encourages their developments.
The question above gets asked in the Cities Skylines forums as players struggle to achieve their aim of a new residential area or an existing residential area upgrading to a more intense and more wealthy one. That struggle can apply to a real life City as well.
Yes we can all lay down some roads, put in the pipes, maybe add a bus line or two and put down a school. But that is not quite it is it? Sure you get the basic housing going in your new area but not the more high-end stuff you are looking for.
Remember what the synonyms for amenities are: facilities, comforts etc and so on.
Let’s take a look at a new residential area I started in San Solarian City:
This is a new Greenfield area next to an existing urban area. The basics such as roads, pipes and a bus line have been laid down. But if you look deeper the amenities reveal themselves and would be what attracts new residents to the area quickly.
Parks, public loos, a cycle way connecting to the existing urban area, ferry station, some basic shops, lane ways, a busway and shared space roads. All are classed as amenities, facilities, comforts and creature comforts and are what makes the area suitable for rapid development.
Looking at an existing area:
This is that existing urban area I was talking about just earlier. A high density area that is still developing. Amenities are still needed to trigger further intensification as there is still quite a bit of blank land especially commercial land available. Simple things such as a new park or loo will often do the trick while upgrading the road or transit line requires a bit more investment.
In this case improving access through that large roundabout in the picture triggering off further urban development after the busway construction triggered off the last round.
In the end it comes down to more than just a road, a pipe and a bus stop to develop or intensify a residential or even commercial area. It comes down to what facilities or amenities are available for those residents, employers or shoppers.
Back to the real world simulators such as Cities Skylines look at:
| The use of simulation games such as Sim City 4 in the USA and Cities Skylines in the EU has thrown up the question on their value to give input into urban planning. With Cities Skylines – How Cities: Skylines is being used to build a real-life city district was trialled with interesting results (see: http://www.pcgamer.com/how-cities-skylines-is-being-used-to-build-a-real-life-city-district/ ). The premise of Cities Skylines is around a few universal rules such a Government provided public amenities and infrastructure with urban development set around a basic framework of loosely defined zones. The urban environment adapts and evolves within the interactions and rules of the public amenities and the zones. |
It seems a simulator has quite a bit to offer planners and elected representatives in how residential and commercial demand is driven within a City.
The new residential area developing. Notice I did Phil Goff’s million trees program too. Those trees act as amenity as they are a comfort to the new residents. So never forget your trees!
Finally a drive through of my latest residential area:
Layton City is still my only City that used heavy rail as part of the commuter transit system. All my other cities either use a combination of subway and elevated light rail, trams and/or busses with heavy rail relegated to inter-city movements.
Consequently there are four heavy rail lines that run either around or through Layton City all of which pass through the City Central Interchange in the City Centre. The four Lines are:
I will post the other Lines later on. But today Metro Line #2 (City Central to Manukau and back around to City Central going in a clockwise direction if looking from the south:
After some teeth gnashing and a reset my flagship City has returned.
Find out tomorrow in Ben’s Cities!
Someone careless buffoon caused a fire at the San Solarian Forest last night triggering a response from nine fire trucks and a fleet of 10 fire helicopters to put the blaze out. Damage was contained to the trees and some minor damage to production buildings.
Investigations are underway on who started the fire:
Night time mode is when I leave the simulator to run on Cities Skylines if I had done a large scale urban development project in the previous day cycle. Night time mode also means some pretty looking pictures of your city at night time as well.
So let’s follow around a GT2000 as it decided to pass just about every power station in the City:
Contrary to Twitter claims it was not Minister Gerry Brownlee trying to find a car park after he couldn’t find one in Christchurch City Centre the other day…..
As for power ratios in San Solarian City:
The City currently consumes 1,300MW/h of power with geothermal central heating supplying another 300MW/h of thermal heat equivalent.
Transit and active cycling play a big role in my Cities Skyline cities whether it be Layton City or San Solarian City. We often see the exploits of the transportation system as it moves people and goods around. But what is it like on the ground?
Today we here from the bus driver of Route 17 who took the afternoon-evening run on San Solarian’s biggest bus in the fleet – the 135 seater bendy bus.
Interviewer: so what is it like on Route 17?
Driver: First the route. Route 17 runs from Glade Hills Transport Interchange to Cozy Clifftops via the new Hill Park development. Unlike the older bus routes, Route 17 runs through the fringe of the City.
Interviewer: So what kind of people do you get on the route?
Driver: Route 17 serves mainly low density residential areas with their low density commercial local centres. In places there is high density residential apartments but otherwise the route mainly serves families and seniors rather than professionals and university students.
Interviewer: So….
Driver: Schools, especially high schools. This is where the fun begins especially on the afternoon run with the Ministry of Education having a flexi-timetable policy (no fixed timetable as schools are open 7am – 6pm). Route 17 has two high schools on its route serving some 2400 students. Come afternoon it gets rather “comfortable” even on my big bendy bus. The Hill Park West Bus Station is pretty chocker with students in the afternoon and it can take about ten busses to clear all the students out from the high schools (the rest walk or cycle).
Interviewer: How do we fix the crowding issue?
Driver: The San Solarian City Council is busy building a new metro subway line from the City Centre out to the western fringes of the City. With that and a new cross town route in the plans the crowding pressures should relieve themselves on Route 17.
Driver: Route 17 is also known as the Wow route. Wow as in the views from the cliff tops over looking the ocean as you traverse through Cozy Clifftops back down to Hill Park.
Interviewer: Would you change anything?
Driver: Apart from speeding up the construction of the new Metro line? No, the Route is a pretty sweet one and the kids are often well behaved. Route 17 is like taking a scenic drive through the City unlike some of the other routes that go through the core of the hustle and bustle of the City.
Interviewer: Thank you for your time
Driver: You are welcome. Don’t forget to tag off as you leave the bus.
Following around busses and trains reveals interesting sights not seen at bird’s eye level in Cities Skylines. It is often nice just mingling with the people taking timeout from City building and transport management in a booming city.
We also managed to get some pictures from Route 17 on its run. Have a look below:
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