C:SL Scale Seems Natural

[JaWood 194]

I don't know why, but I feel it much much easier to lay out my city at a more correct scale in C:SL than I did in SC4.  In SC4 I was always struggling to spread out my expansion and would often end up with compact self contained micro-towns where downtown, the suburbs, the airport, the industrial parks, were all just a stone's throw from each other. It looked cool, kind of like a little diorama in a shoe box, but not realistic. I didn't do it on purpose, it was just hard for me to "think big" in SC4.  I would play with the NAM and make big interchanges and think 'this highway is wasting so much space!' But in C:SL it seems much easier to spread things out appropriately. I can lay out large swaths of suburban sprawl and long highway interchanges and it all looks natural. Maybe it's because I'm not tied to the orthogonal grid. Maybe the true 3D perspective helps to see that horizon better, and helps you see the whole city at once. Maybe it's because people will automatically commute farther in C:SL.  Maybe it's because I don't have to load between region sections. All city tiles are running simultaneously, so to speak. I don't know. But it is easier, at least for me.

[Defecto 44]

Interestingly enough I feel kind of like the opposite. While I managed to make cities that felt really sprawling in SC4, even a 9-tile city in CSL feels pretty compact with the center taking up the middle tile and only 1 tile on every side for suburbs.

 

I've installed and turned on the 25 tile mod, but I don't see how to use it (yet). That'll probably solve it.

[mutton noir 170]

I have to agree JaWood everything does feel more spacious and "part of a greater whole". SC4 was frustrating when working on a tile- trying to remember the link to adjacent tiles etc. Skylines "flows" its much more natural and it makes it easier to view the big picture and plan ahead. More successful layouts more satisfying result all round.

[BorisS1990 27]

I definitely prefer not having to load tiles over and over again. It does make the city flow smoother and just makes it less tedious to play.

A common complaint people have about C:SL is that the low density houses look too big when compared to industrial and such. But I find that it's mostly because they zone the full 4-tiles deep. If you make your residential zones only 2 or 1 tile deep and leave the rest of the space in the block unzoned, you get smaller more reasonable looking houses. And just pretend the empty space are backyards or put an alleyway there. Once you're ready to increase the density, you can just zone the empty land.

 

I've installed and turned on the 25 tile mod, but I don't see how to use it (yet). That'll probably solve it.

 

 

I'm pretty sure the rest of the tiles are available once you reach the last milestone. So you unlock them one by one as you reach goals like normal. But on the goal where you would have gotten your 9th tile, it just gives you all the remaining ones at once.

Or you can use the 25 tile mod and the Unlock everything mod that comes with the game, together. And all the tiles are available from the start. You still have to buy them to be able to build on them. but they are all "unlocked".

Atleast start a test city like that so you can check if you installed the mod correctly and it works.

[Ocram's Razr 963]

I like Cities Skylines a lot and I don't think the houses are over-scaled. I know industry and high density are under-scaled. The game would look better with buildings that have bigger footprints.

--Ocram

[Mymyjp 1,052]

I would have to say that for me, both have pros and cons. I always enjoyed the challenge of getting the "perfect" regional view with SC4. I never really had an issue creating a grand scheme with SC4. But I agree that it is pleasant not having to load city tile after city tile to achieve your overall effect.

 

So far, I do enjoy both, but as any players can relate to this, SC4 will always be my favorite since it was the first city building game I ever played (besides a try out with Banished).

 

I guess it will always be a matter of opinion..lol

[mrsmartman 200]

Is it possible to make a map/index outside the game such that several CSL city files become a region. Though, interconnection does not exist between cities, but visually yes, with proper indexing.

[TMRaven 2]

I think the urban sprawl and area size considering low density zones is spot on for a city.  Whenever I see people's area shots with low density zones and a nice organic road layout, it looks very realistic.

 

However, high density stuff in this game is ridiculous I feel.  I can't recall how many times I've seen cities with populations of 20-50k, yet they have such huge numbers of high-rises and they come off looking as something like Hong Kong.

[Linoa06 1,374]

I'm fine with Skylines, even the population feels closer to what I'd expect. Most people don't, but I suppose that's a case of reality being, well, unrealistic. At least as far as low-density is concerned (I only build high-density sparingly and after I hit 200k).