Cities: Skylines (the Sim City we deserve)

[MatskiMonk]

It looks really good!

It's passable, but the frustrating part is it doesn't look like I wanted it too. I'm basing it on some lumber yards in the North West US, that I found on Google Maps.

Some of the mods didn't quite do what I wanted. For example, the invisible roads didn't work so I had to search for a decal that would cover the roads that run through the yard. Since there's about 50 decals covering the ground, using the MoveIt mod is a PITA. I also have one that I thought would let me delete the trees and fences from the storage yard assets, but it doesn't quite work like that. Also, there's a lot less props for stuff than I figured, so I need to put more functional buildings in to make it look a little 'denser'.

Edit: Also, half of it goes to pot because of LOD when you zoom out a bit, which means I might need to mess around with a LOD Mod too.

 

[MatskiMonk]

Niche Memes!!!

 

[eran0004]

I figured out how to grab the heightmap from the CSL MapView file so I imported it into Blender and did some renders with HDRI-lighting, ray-tracing and adaptive tessellation.

I imagine it's some kind of preview to the graphics we can expect in Cities Skylines 3
Next I would like to find a way to import the buildings as well.

I then imported the heightmap into my old GT6 course maker tool and created a point-to-point rally stage across the island, just for the sake of it.

 

[MatskiMonk]

Bloomin' 'eck @eran0004 ... you continue to impress with your digital dexterity!

 

[eran0004]

I tried a new mod from the workshop, it's called Walk n' Drive and basically it allows you to... well... walk and drive in your city.
For some reason you are a cow in the walk mode (perhaps it's a random selection of characters, I only tried it twice), and the driving model is an insult to physics, but all in all it's actually pretty fun. Pulling out from a parking lot, navigating through the neighborhoods... I was entertained

Don't expect too much, but I could recommend giving it a try.

 

[MatskiMonk]

Ha, I might have to give that a go!

@eran0004, I see you're using Procedural Objects. How are you getting on with it? Does it slow the system much?

 

[eran0004]

@eran0004, I see you're using Procedural Objects. How are you getting on with it? Does it slow the system much?

I just started using it, haven’t really figured out how it works. So far I just scaled up some rocks with it. I haven’t noticed any slowing, but perhaps it depends on how much you use it?

 

[eran0004]

It's a great day for democracy! The island just got its very own parliament building. And a rather expensive one. I tried a few different locations before I was happy with the spot, and each time I moved the building it cost me 70,000. Sorry taxpayers, but if we're going to do this democracy thing we might as well do it in style.

I also built a block for the government and its departments:

Student flats and dormitories close to the university. Most of them are old, but there are a few modern ones as well.

The nature reserve got an upgrade. The waterfall had some detailing. I also built a side entrance and connected it to the rest of the park via a bridge across the canyon. I wish I could make it a suspension bridge, I have to check the workshop and see if I can find something suitable.

On the far side of the lake, a camping site with a nice view of the skyline.

 

[eran0004]

There's not a lot of pedestrian bridge assets on the workshop. I only found one asset that matched my criteria, a pylon with cables that someone uploaded about five years ago. I scaled it down with Procedural Objects and then moved each cable so it connected to the bridge. It took some time, but the end result looks pretty good.

 

[redhed17]

I think I found out last night that my graphics card has not been running at its maximum. I saw a YT video by Jaystwocents talking about some free software that may be useful. He mentioned one called GPU-Z which I had not heard of before. I already had CPU-Z by the same company, but didn't know about the other software. Anyway l run the software to see what info it was giving about the graphics card just out of curiosity.

The is a section in all the information it gives where it says Bus Interface, and had a question mark next to it, and it said my interface was running at Gen 1.1. Looking into it, and following the link to more info about the card, it said the card can run at Gen 3. So I went into the Bios to look if there was a place to change anything. There was a setting to change, and it was set to Auto, and I would have assumed that the motherboard would have sensed that the card could run faster as it said it would do, but it didn't seem to be doing that, so I set it to 3. Starting Cities Skylines again, it all looked a bit sharper and with more detail close up with the same settings. The graphics card seemed to be running a bit louder, but I can live with that. Hopefully this won't push temps over the edge.

4k HDR vids look a bit better, but I am not sure that is imagination as I have only looked at a couple of vids to see if it made any difference.

Anyway, a nice free improvement which I come across by accident.

 

[MatskiMonk]

My 'skylining' is taking a hiatus at the moment. Now I've got my wheel set up properly again I'm back to playing GTS a bit more. I've been following Cities Skylines on Instagram and what some people do is pretty incredible, I can't help but feel that I'm hoping to achieve things that I'm not good enough to, and that my computer is not good enough to. I've still not bought a new PC yet and I'm feeling like I don't want to start another 100+ hour project until I do.

The idea of asset creation is fading too, since getting my head around blender again is PITA.

 

[eran0004]

My 'skylining' is taking a hiatus at the moment. Now I've got my wheel set up properly again I'm back to playing GTS a bit more. I've been following Cities Skylines on Instagram and what some people do is pretty incredible, I can't help but feel that I'm hoping to achieve things that I'm not good enough to, and that my computer is not good enough to. I've still not bought a new PC yet and I'm feeling like I don't want to start another 100+ hour project until I do.

The idea of asset creation is fading too, since getting my head around blender again is PITA.

Same here, but for different reasons. University has started after the summer so I don’t have a lot of free time at the moment. I also feel like the island project is close to being complete.

I don’t know if anyone here is following two dollars twenty on YouTube, but his next project is going to be the city of Springfield from The Simpsons. I look forward to watching it

 

[eran0004]

On the topic of asset creation, I'm curious to try making the model in Revit and then exporting it to Blender for cleaning it up before exporting to the game. Revit is much better for architectural modelling, you don't work directly with the faces, edges and vertices but instead with building components, so the whole process is much faster. And it's easier to make changes to the model if you want to tweak some things.

I started on a model just to see if it can be done, this one is inspired from a building in the city center of my hometown. The bottom floor is shops, second floor offices and the rest is apartments. It's much wider in reality, but I cut it short so that it would fit on a 4x3 lot.

 

[eran0004]

I need to try the node controller mod! This seems to be exactly what I have been missing, especially regarding the flat junctions. It would make building in the hills a lot easier.

 

[eran0004]

I downloaded the Node Controller mod. It has a ton of dependencies so I was a bit hesitant at first but once I tried it I was not disappointed. It makes it a lot easier to build realistic junctions.

(^ Kindly ignore the bridge pillar in the middle of the road)

You can also give the road some camber, which is a neat feature. Makes the roads look more fun to drive

 

[eran0004]

I downloaded some vehicles from the workshop to replace a few vanilla ones that looked kind of bad.

^ A Chevrolet van to replace those vanilla ones with huge donuts and hotdogs on the roof.

^ A Peugeot 406 replacing the weird single-seater office chair car.

And lastly, a VW Passat and an Opel Corsa replacing the police car.

 

[MatskiMonk]

How did you get on with the revit > blender asset creation @eran0004?

 

[Samus]

Bought this on both PC and PS4 a month or so ago, wanted something I could just play on and off and just mess around rather than a serious story etc. Didn't expect to get that into it but it's now the only game I've played the last month!

Playing it mostly on PS4 because my current living situation makes playing on PC in a relaxed state tricky, and whilst I can see I'm missing a lot on PC with mods it's still super fun building stuff up. Version of the game I got came with Park Life, i've since bought Industries and Green Cities.

First few cities weren't great but the fifth or sixth one got to 100,000 before things started getting messy. Currently building up a Scandinavian style small city which i'm pretty happy with, doing lot's more detailing than when I first started.

My current specific frustration is trying to make neat double width pedestrian paths. Has anyone got any tips, without mods? Whenever I do them they end up with those ugly dash holes in the middle, and the snapping doesn't want to let you get them closer.

 

[MatskiMonk]

My current specific frustration is trying to make neat double width pedestrian paths. Has anyone got any tips, without mods? Whenever I do them they end up with those ugly dash holes in the middle, and the snapping doesn't want to let you get them closer.

I've got zero experience with the console version so I can't really help, however, what's the purpose of the double width path? I don't think you've any options if it's just aesthetic. Maybe using cycle paths would give you the look you need?

 

[Samus]

I've got zero experience with the console version so I can't really help, however, what's the purpose of the double width path? I don't think you've any options if it's just aesthetic. Maybe using cycle paths would give you the look you need?

Yup, since I can't create real pedestrianised areas I wanted to do the best I can with a wider path going between some buildings, especially those European style high density commerical, as the single width path looks a bit small and lost between them.

Tried cycle paths, didn't seem to be any different. Guess it's just not doable and i'll have to live with the little gaps.

 

[MatskiMonk]

Yup, since I can't create real pedestrianised areas I wanted to do the best I can with a wider path going between some buildings, especially those European style high density commerical, as the single width path looks a bit small and lost between them.

Tried cycle paths, didn't seem to be any different. Guess it's just not doable and i'll have to live with the little gaps.

Unhelpful comment incoming: I have zoneable pedestrian paths, which would give you a few options for the look you are after even if the functionality wouldn't be perfect... I thought they came with one of the DLCs, but I can't see them listed... but then, I can't find them on the workshop either. Strange.

 

[Samus]

Unhelpful comment incoming: I have zoneable pedestrian paths, which would give you a few options for the look you are after even if the functionality wouldn't be perfect... I thought they came with one of the DLCs, but I can't see them listed... but then, I can't find them on the workshop either. Strange.

Yeah it's part of a mod, I already saw that when googling, Network Extensions 2.

I would play on PC but it's just not convenient right now. Will have to stick with limited console cities for the time being.

 

[MatskiMonk]

Ah, NE2, that explains that.

There's plenty of fun to be had with the vanilla game. Parklife, Campus and Industries help add variety to the city and give different mechanics to worry about. If you're into scenarios Natural disasters feels like a whole different challenge, though if it's detailing you're getting into... be very careful if you ever get that! Mass transit brings a bit more variety too. Industries was probably my favourite, but the AI logistics is so borked without mods on the PC, don't know if it's the same on consoles.

Looking at the frame rate and smoothness of the game on the console, and the ability to have it on my 55" screen rather than a 24" has tempted me in the past, I see a big drop off in performance on the PC at 100k population... but... there's no two ways about it. Once you get into mods, even just the basics, it's ten times the game, if not more, and I'm definitely not someone who finds PC gaming comes naturally! I hope you get to enjoy it soon.

 

[TheCracker]

Yup, since I can't create real pedestrianised areas I wanted to do the best I can with a wider path going between some buildings, especially those European style high density commerical, as the single width path looks a bit small and lost between them.

Tried cycle paths, didn't seem to be any different. Guess it's just not doable and i'll have to live with the little gaps.

You could try planting small bushes on the little patches of ground that exist between the parallel paths. Kind of disguises those awkward shapes that get created. Could maybe try some of the street furniture too. Benches may do the job.

Looking at the frame rate and smoothness of the game on the console, and the ability to have it on my 55" screen rather than a 24" has tempted me in the past, I see a big drop off in performance on the PC at 100k population... but... there's no two ways about it.

I'm always surprised when i see you guys complaining about frame rate and smoothness on your PC versions. Even with full 9-tile cities with 100k+ populations i've never experienced any visible degree of slowdown on the PS4.

 

[Samus]

Ah, NE2, that explains that.

There's plenty of fun to be had with the vanilla game. Parklife, Campus and Industries help add variety to the city and give different mechanics to worry about. If you're into scenarios Natural disasters feels like a whole different challenge, though if it's detailing you're getting into... be very careful if you ever get that! Mass transit brings a bit more variety too. Industries was probably my favourite, but the AI logistics is so borked without mods on the PC, don't know if it's the same on consoles.

Looking at the frame rate and smoothness of the game on the console, and the ability to have it on my 55" screen rather than a 24" has tempted me in the past, I see a big drop off in performance on the PC at 100k population... but... there's no two ways about it. Once you get into mods, even just the basics, it's ten times the game, if not more, and I'm definitely not someone who finds PC gaming comes naturally! I hope you get to enjoy it soon.

Yup as I say I've got Parklife, Industries and Green Cities already, planning to get Mass Transit when its next on sale. Not sure I like the idea of disasters but I suppose it would add some extra challenge. Industries seems to work OK in terms of all the factories but like regular industrial it creates an absurd amount of traffic, looks silly a small farm area with 50 tractors constantly running around! So I just keep the industry areas really small now, they'll never reach 5* but that doesn't really matter, not like money is hard to earn otherwise.

I really want Mass Transit for the two lane highways more than anything, it's tricky trying to create a realistic Nordic city with only a dual carriageway running through/around it, not motorways, because the only option is the regular two lane road with a 40mph limit the cims all try to ignore it and take the 60mph roads branching off them because they're faster.

The console version grinds to a halt once cities got big. I didn't really notice it that much whilst playing but when I started a new city and put it on 3x I had forgotten just how fast they're supposed to move. At 100k the 3x mode is basically the same as regular 1x speed!

You could try planting small bushes on the little patches of ground that exist between the parallel paths. Kind of disguises those awkward shapes that get created. Could maybe try some of the street furniture too. Benches may do the job.

Yeah just going to make do the best I can. The console version is obviously limited but I'm still having a lot of fun!

 

[eran0004]

How did you get on with the revit > blender asset creation @eran0004?

The revit-to-blender step has been solved, just need to figure out how go from blender to the game

 

[Samus]

This is my current city. Think it's looking OK. Only just started on the city centre area but you can see the double paths I was trying to do. Was pretty happy with the roundabout exit junction, took a lot of trial and error getting it the right depth.

Only three tiles/15,000 pop. so lots left to do, but other than the city centre it's going to be mostly small residential to be realistic, maybe a stadium and few other things.

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[redhed17]

Biffa had an interesting vid the other day for anyone who has not seen it, looking at the Intersection Marking Tool & Node Controller Mods. Not sure I would get into the Intersection Marking Tool as I am more into function atm rather than beautification, but the Node Controller looks useful. If I can get that to work.

 

[MatskiMonk]

I'm always surprised when i see you guys complaining about frame rate and smoothness on your PC versions. Even with full 9-tile cities with 100k+ populations i've never experienced any visible degree of slowdown on the PS4.

The worst part is moving around the map. Generally, with the graphics set sensibly the lower frame rate isn't that bad, given that the 3× and 2× games speeds stop working, and the whole thing feels more like 0.8×... but really, when you move around the map it can get down to single frames per second, and that can get really tedious. This is no doubt one of the downsides of using mods with more ambitious maps. Both @eran0004 and I have experienced the same issue with terrain meshes once we hit a certain system capacity, and that pretty much kills a map.

I look at the YouTubers and 'grammers and it's like they are playing a different game in terms of the visuals. I'll be really curious to see how my existing cities look when I (eventually) get my new PC.

The revit-to-blender step has been solved, just need to figure out how go from blender to the game

I found a couple of videos on the YouTube that pretty much says everything you need to know.

It's the UV Mapping that really ****ed me up. Granted I was importing from Sketchup, but flat surfaces seemed to become Tri's that unwrapped separately.... so for example, to texture a cube would require 12 triangular textures on the map. Even a simple house mesh looked like a shattered mirror to texture, rather than a flat packed kit!

edit:

If I can get that to work.

I had to subscribe to about 10 things to subscribe to that. I'm expecting LOTS of problems when I next start the game!

 

[MatskiMonk]

Excuse the double post.

Spent a while this evening, well, hours in fact getting Procedural objects, node controller and lane markings to work, and figuring out how to use them! Had to disable a few mods and resubscribe some old ones. It all took ages since it takes so long for the game to fire up each time I quit to desktop... grrr....

Anyhow... just learning the buttons... built this...

The walls are PO's with edited vertices, the water barrels are PO's too that were recoloured using the mod. Node mod seems pretty powerful and I'm amazed how well the lane marking mod works. It certainly looks more effective ultimately ... lot of time though.

Using PO I also edited the size and shape of some warehouses to use as props. Handily they're big enough to hide functional assets inside of too, which might help with creating more realistic industrial shipping/freight areas, without generating a crap tonne of traffic. Didn't screen cap those though.