Simtropolis Q&A about Cities: Skylines with Paradox Interactive

[Shy Dude 149]

Will procedurally generated buildings and lots ever be implemented in the game? It would solve many problems with working with cites with a non-grid-like road pattern not to mention, a small set of "pieces" that will probably take the same amount of work to make as one pre-made building will add an almost unlimited variety of building possibilities.

[Jamonbread 222]

Thanks CO, Paradox and everyone here for asking and answering these amazing questions. I just want to confirm that things like more realistic highways and the idea of neighboring cities are my number one wish list items. 

 

I have two questions... 

1. Are there any terrain modding tools (like mini leveling and raising like mayor mode sc4) while simulating? I used those so much for everything from creating coastlines and harbours to highway interchanges. If not is it something thats been thought about?

 

2. Will modding in your opinion be able to go beyond new lots and cosmetic features? For example dragging roads is such a powerful tool I can imagine draggable canals, fences, hedges...

[Jasoncw 11,941]

In SimCity 4 and in other city simulator games there are scale problems. 

 

In SC4, buildings are more or less accurately scaled, and done in meters.

 

However, because of the low resolution of the game, and the desire for street level elements to function as gameplay feedback cues, everything at a small scale in the game is scaled arbitrarily large. For example, a lane for a surface road in real life might be about 10 feet wide, while the same lanes in SC4 are 15 feet. Pedestrians are almost 4 meters tall when people in real life are comfortably under 2. The side effect is that the game has a bad sense of scale, and this makes it hard for transit modders and building makers to make good content, and makes it almost impossible for players to make cities that have the feel and vibe of real cities.

 

So my question is, is everything in the game consistently scaled to real life units, and are the dimensions of things realistic?

 

And, if not, would it be easy for modders to go through and modify all the content to make it that way? 

[Aaron Graham 4,417]

My questions to Cities: Skyline is will there be a elevated rails stations that can transport passengers, I've seen that there are elevated rails in the game but will there be a station for the elevated rail to transport passengers. Another question is will there be a way to connect the underground metro to a elevated rail, in Sim City they have that feature and I would love to see that in the game.

 

Edit: I have more questions, will there be mix zoning where apartments can be on the first floor and the apartments and be on the upper floors, or shops on the first floor and offices on the upper floors, and if not will it be moddable for custom creators? Can we zone large farms in the game, I would love to see large fields and not a neighborhood garden. What about building styles will we see that or will they be a way to mod the game for that, this is a cool way to control the styles of cities you dream of building. It will be cool to see North American, South American, Europe, Asian, and even Middle Eastern style controller for the type of city you want.

[esopla 3]

Thanks Paradox, CO, and Simtropolis. I have 3 questions.

 

1. Do you have any plan to available language version other than already announced?

2. Does C:S support 2 byte font, such as Japanese, Chinese and some asian character? (About 2 years ago, I tried to make Japanese translation mod for CiM2 but I couldn't because CiM2 doesn't have these character set.)

3. Can modding tools replace word in game such like CIM2 Translator?(http://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum/showthread.php?703771-CiM2-Translations)

 

Thanks.

[Vampirovibrio 43]

Hi! My questions are:

1) Are there ambient sounds when you zoom into the city.. i.e. Children's laughter in the parks, indistinct chatter from the sims as they walk around the city, ambulance/ police sirens as they zip to the place of emergency? One of the main problem with Cities XL is that it appears dead as there is little to no ambient sounds. If there are no ambient sounds on launch, are there plans to add them to the game post launch.

2) I think it was mentioned during the recent PDXCON stream that sims will continue to leave in the same house and work at the same job unless the workplace is replaced by something else. Can I ask then, if say a citizen's education level increases in his/her lifetime and thus would be eligible to get a higher paying job, would the simulation after a period of time, chnage the job of the citizen?

3) what are the factors that the simulation would take into consideration in deciding what mode of transport a particular sim will take?

Thanks.

[gman42 1]

From what I understand, there is no in-game terraforming. You must terraform from the map editor. Will this be moddable? Will it be possible for a mod to be created, or are there plans for there to be a patch or DLC to include in-game modding?

[xannepan 513]

Count me in for creating custom content! This game looks fantastic.

[BlitzPackage 19]

How about airport sizes?  The airports in the videos look unrealistically small as if trying to fit them in a small box.  Can we build airports that are more realistic in size?

 

Also, can we ever see the underground trains?  I would love to see them and even ride on or follow one.

 

By the way, I love the chirper!

 

Thanks

[dysonraf 37]

How about airport sizes? The airports in the videos look unrealistically small as if trying to fit them in a small box. Can we build airports that are more realistic in size?

Also, can we ever see the underground trains? I would love to see them and even ride on or follow one.

Thanks

Ive read most of the posts on Paradox forums for months now in anticipation. I believe CO have stated that a) airports can be modded and b) they know they are small but said they didnt have resources to spend making more realistic ones and instead focused on mechanics. The same goes for small farms and seaports. Im fairly hopeful CO will fix these themselves overtime but in meantime modders might beat them to it!

Tunnels are expected to be released as a free DLC fairly soon after release. I dont know if they specify if this includes rail?

[Azurespecter 506]

Fantastic questions! Not to seem lazy, but I do want to re-link our FAQ as I think that's a great source of easy-to-access information: http://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum/showthread.php?836421-FAQ-Guide

 

We've got a lot of questions about modding, and that's awesome! I know you're eager to find out what we'll be capable of modding, changing, and creating in Cities: Skylines. Honestly though, I'm not the subject matter expert. So rather than try and give you tidbits of info, I'm going to ask you to wait for our big release of modding details that's coming very soon, straight from the experts. This way we don't get any confusion, misinterpretation, and very importantly: no overpromising.

 

This thread might be a good start for some modelling questions though, and I think it might give you an idea of scaling as well: http://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum/showthread.php?836585-Technical-Info-about-modding-available!!

 

I'm most excited about the dam-able rivers. Please tell me this mechanic is still in the game.

 

One last question, what system, precisely, is used to simulate the agents in the game? In my work and research into multi-agent systems there is a exponential cost in processing as the number of agents go up. So how do you simulate a million agents and not kill the frame-rate?

 

This particular question, and some others posted here, would best be asked directly of Colossal Order during their upcoming Developer AMA. Way out of my league though, haha, sorry!

 

I am extremely excited to dive into this game. I haven't created new STEX content in years, partially due to family life and other RLS stuff, and partially due to the feeling that SC4 custom content has been pretty much saturated by now. But if this game is as versatile as it appears it will be, I will definitely be back on the scene creating custom architectural goodies for the STEX. Now if only I can get SimGoober back here too. 

 

I'm excited to see you back! If I need to bribe SimGoober, I will =)

[Micah 16]

Very exciting indeed. Hopefully this is the game we have been waiting for for so long. I never did mod for SC4 but maybe I'll be able to with C:S.

[Funky McBain 1]

I haven't been this excited since SimCity 2013 was announced. I'm really looking forward to this, my Windows desktop has just been sitting waiting for a chore, this looks like it could be it

[iwanturmind 2]

I have a couple of questions about this great game Im excited to play.

 

1) How is the economy in the game when it comes to building your city.  Will they be different levels of funds and will the community be able to make mods or banks for income if possible?

2)  You said there is a 1million limit on city population and there will be no region play at the beginning.  Will CO make region play possible in the future and if not can you connect your big cities and make a mega metropolis.

3) Education and Civic services are important. Will be different options and if not since the community can mod will CO support Simtropolis by possible putting their creations in the game.

4) Can CO Hire Simgoober, NAM, Arron and other great batters to make creations or lease them to get content to the game quicker?

5) What is the best system to run this game on I have a 4 year old HP Envy with 6gb or ram and 600 HD with a Core i5 first generation processor.  Will this be enough to run my game and still keep my game running once I download all the STEX future bats?  Will it be able to run on the New Windows 10 and be able to run?

6) Transportion is very important but can you mod street signs, Highway signs, Civic signs and etc?  How about power and energy, will their be different choices like new power choices or old school power and utility choices to power a big city at one time so we dont have to spend money building excessive power, water adn sewage systems like in SC4.

Thanks for letting us ask questions.  I'm going to get the game and stop trying to get my Sim City 4 to run on my pc it's been over 2 months and it's still crashing.

[Xenocity 343]

Are you guys planning to have paid DLC for this game?

[iviaarten 534]

Are you guys planning to have paid DLC for this game?

They already stated they're going to follow the paradox / CK2 DLC model.

 

In short this will mean there will be mix of DLC released; regular free DLC/fixes; paid DLC that will add more funcionality to the core game or give some visual improvements (giving you the opportunity to financially support a company you like).

 

The way things are looking (and what I hope will happen) is that the modding community will be large / active enough to provide new buildings and eyecandy, so that the developers will be able to focus on new functionality instead of having to invest time in to building diversity.

[Metalpuritan 160]

 

-snip-snip-snip-

I know a lot of people are worried about the 1 million citizen limit, but honestly I don't think very many people will hit that many citizens.

-snip-snip-snip-

 

I must say, it's a little intimidating for me to be answering questions from all of you! Some of you I consider to be Simcity Legends, so I'm quite loving it. It's like Russell Crowe coming up and asking me for my autograph.

 

Now I just need Tarkus to drop in here. I've said it before, but the way he signs every post is just so classy!

 

 

We are worried for good reason.  I think you are underestimating the city building community.  If you go to YouTube and search for "biggest city ever simcity 4" you will find a lot of attempts and cities with sizes in excess of 5 mil and up to around 5 billion.  We are going to try and many of us are going to succeed in getting to the 1 million mark.  We know how to build already.  People are going to get to the million mark, this much is guaranteed, I will back that guarantee with the same thing that backs the U.S. dollar.  The only question about the city size that is yet unanswered is, what is going to happen when a city hits this magic million number?  

 

My personal question is, will there be a way to unlock the maximum zone size, currently locked at 4X4, either by the development team at CO, or by the mod community?  I don't know about the cities where you live, I don't know where you live, but in cities here in the U.S. we have buildings that take up whole city blocks.  The Carew Tower here in Cincinnati is, along with at least 5 or 6 others in this very same city, big enough to completely take up entire city blocks all by themselves.  Cincinnati is not even big by U.S. standards.  I will actively be looking to unlock the maximum zone size through whatever means necessary.  I personally feel that locking the maximum zone size to 4X4 is an error, not a game breaking error as I am going to pre-order the game, but an error nonetheless.  I also feel that unlocking the zone size from its current maximum of 4X4 will allow for the much talked about farms that are obviously too small and already very much talked about.

 

I understand that cities will feel big, that much is given with the more personal nature of having individual sims clients running around about their daily lives and all of them actually being individual.  But I know people are going to build big, real big.  Within days people are going to hit that million mark.  I guess we will just have to wait and see what happens, huh?

 

I sincerely hope I am not going get misunderstood here, I am very grateful and appreciative of the time and effort put towards making this obviously amazing game.  CO makes it a point to be better than SimCity and also wants to at the same time replace the old SimCity 4.  You cannot do both those things though with a game that has things that are just common sense missing from it.  Again, I am already looking forward to Cities: Skylines, it is guaranteed that I am going to buy it, that is not in question.  Anyway, that is my question, will the zone sizes be able to be modified to be larger?  Is there a way?  Even if it should not be done for whatever reason, CAN it be done?

[T Wrecks 10,210]

I see an even bigger problem with small lots in case of industrial structures and some low-density commercials. Factories, large suburban stores and shopping malls tend to have large footprints and, hence, require large lots in order to look halfways realistic.

 

For industrial compounds, the problem could be alleviated somewhat by using a similar system as SC4, i.e. various individual lots combining to form one complex. I have no idea if such a system is planned, though. The problem remains for large monolithic structures such as warehouses and shopping malls.

 

EDIT

 

This reminds me of a very fundamental question: Will the game feature a uniform scaling of objects?

[SAGG 4]

I'm curious to know if there will be a European only look to the cities because I'm wondering if cars will be only on the left side. I want an American look for my cities. No offense...

[London-b 90]

Most Europeans drive on the same side as Americans.... 

[Xenocity 343]

I'm curious to know if there will be a European only look to the cities because I'm wondering if cars will be only on the left side. I want an American look for my cities. No offense...

Technically only the UK and its dependecies drive on the left side in Europe (Japan drives on the left side too, though not in Europe).

Since UK typically is the #1 spender on video and computer in the EU passing Germany and France by in market size, we might get a Europe theme that reflects the UK (you don't want to insult the British).

 

This is one of the main reasons why Simcity has always had a UK exclusive edition seperate from the Europe Edition.

[Azurespecter 506]

People are going to get to the million mark, this much is guaranteed, I will back that guarantee with the same thing that backs the U.S. dollar.  The only question about the city size that is yet unanswered is, what is going to happen when a city hits this magic million number?  

 

My personal question is, will there be a way to unlock the maximum zone size, currently locked at 4X4, either by the development team at CO, or by the mod community?

 

Oh, I've seen them! And I totally agree, we know that some people will see that 1 million max as a challenge and they'll hit it. If we made it 10 million max and doubled the minimum specs required, people would still hit that number. At some point we had to decide on a balanced limit, due to technical limitations.

 

When you hit 1 million citizens, no more citizens move in.

 

As for the 4x4 zoning, as an answer to both you and T Wrecks: I strongly suggest you try and ask our developers this question during their AMA tomorrow. You're not alone in wanting large plots, but I know they have reasons for choosing 4x4. It wasn't just arbitrarily decided on as a way to limit players. Also, remember that you can make bigger buildings, they just aren't zonable, they would have to be ploppable. As of now.

 

I see an even bigger problem with small lots in case of industrial structures and some low-density commercials. Factories, large suburban stores and shopping malls tend to have large footprints and, hence, require large lots in order to look halfways realistic.

 

For industrial compounds, the problem could be alleviated somewhat by using a similar system as SC4, i.e. various individual lots combining to form one complex. I have no idea if such a system is planned, though. The problem remains for large monolithic structures such as warehouses and shopping malls.

 

EDIT

 

This reminds me of a very fundamental question: Will the game feature a uniform scaling of objects?

 

Ok, scaling. I know that each grid square is 8x8 meters, so a two lane street is roughly 26 feet (including sidewalks and curbs). Cars and citizens seem to be scaled appropriately.

Maybe I should ask an artist from CO about this, as I don't really know how to answer this appropriately, other than it looks fine to me. Nothing super abnormal.

 

I'm curious to know if there will be a European only look to the cities because I'm wondering if cars will be only on the left side. I want an American look for my cities. No offense...

 

The option to choose left side or right side traffic is built into the game. One click of a button is all it takes =)

 

Please note that the Developer AMA is schedule for this Wednesday. We will be releasing lots and lots of modding information as well. I hope that you can get your answers about modding straight from our developers, but if something goes unanswered then I'll do my best to find answers.

[SAGG 4]

Okay, thanks. I think I'll never play Simcity2013 again after choosing this...

[BlitzPackage 19]

This game is shaping up to truly be something special.  It seems like we will have a winner on our hands.

[Ocram's Razr 964]

I have 2 sets of questions:

 

1. Are there any other variations of the chirper bird than these two? 

 

2. How is tourism handled? Are there different wealth levels of tourists? Are there hotels in the game?

Thank you!

--Ocram

[dysonraf 37]

I have 2 sets of questions:

1. Are there any other variations of the chirper bird than these two?

2. How is tourism handled? Are there different wealth levels of tourists? Are there hotels in the game?

Thank you!

--Ocram

I'd also love to know some more about hotels and casinos. Are they in the game at launch and if so are they spawned or ploppables? How do they work? If not in game are they on the agenda?

Thanks

[Tarkus 6,933]

 

Now I just need Tarkus to drop in here. I've said it before, but the way he signs every post is just so classy!

 

 

Mission accomplished.   Been completely swamped with RL over the past month (good RL, just really, really busy), but the tankadillo still rolls on.  Intrigued with the goings on here.

 

-Tarkus

[Haljackey 17,385]

Hi there! I am an avid SimCity 4 player. I've decided to go into Cities: Skyline blind. Did the exact opposite with SC13. Looking forward to it!

 

For someone who is somewhat trying to stay in the dark (but not actively avoiding news), what do you think experienced city building players will like most about this game?

[Ganaram Inukshuk 906]

Question concerning quality of gameplay: will you be able to change the keyboard controls? I ask this because some of us don't use Qwerty keyboards, where WASD translates to something like ,AOE or WARS. (Last time I asked this kind of question, I never got an answer back, so...)

[Turjan 1,048]

Question concerning quality of gameplay: will you be able to change the keyboard controls?

 

I've seen someone change keyboard bindings in a Let's Play. WASD is used for panning the map (which you can also do with the mouse), and he remapped "S" to "build a street".