Questions before buying

[DatGuyAsh 0]

Hey all, completely new to sim building games even thought I bought Sim City (2013) a good while back.

So few questions..

1. Is Cities: Skylines worth the buy?

2. Is there any MODs I should use as a beginner?

3. I got told you can build your own maps? Does this cost money or is it totally free to build roads etc?

4. Is there a mode were you can get unlimited money?

5. Is there any type of quests/missions to guide you through the game etc?

Sorry for so many questions but that's it for now.

[Cool_Z 1,547]

1 - YES !!!! If you paid for SC2013 you will have a ton more for your money with Skylines

2 - The game is enjoyable as it is. You'll want to add a first person view to enjoy your cities even more and maybe some mass transit capacity mods to make things more realistic... after that, there are tons of useful and life-changing mods (allowing fine control of buildings that grow, fine control over circulation...) but I'd want to keep it simple to begin with.

Citizen aging speed and Slow trash production will help you for sure.

3 - I've never ever opened the map editor, but I think you can do pretty much what you want in it (and later on inside the game you can always use the unlimited money option to create whatever you want).

4 - Answered with 3

5 - Not really. There are a few tips given each time you use a tool and at some stages in the beginning... but if you've already used a city-builder before this should not be too difficult. And there are tons of videos, titorials, etc etc on the web. And if you've got some questions, well you've come to the right place

[Linoa06 1,374]

You can use the map editor before playing the map, though choice of roads will be limited. 

 

Mods are up to you. Traffic++ might before the new NAM, though it conflicts with some other mods. You might want to look at terraforming mods as well as the one that lets you lock buildings at a specific level, though the name escapes me. 

 

Otherwise there are no mods you really need, but modding is relatively user-friendly so I wouldn't fuss and browse the workshop and the Simtropolis exchange and just grab what I fancy :3

[The Avatar 1,089]

I can also vouch for the game being worth the buy. Cities Skylines is loads of fun, whether you're a city building veteran or new to the genre. If you enjoyed SC2013, you will probably enjoy CS as well. The core gameplay (building roads, zoning, providing utilities and services, etc.) is similar, but CS offers more freedom and depth because of the larger maps, ability to control density, more expansive transportation options, improved simulation, and of course, the modding capabilities. Visually, SC had more colorful and detailed models, but CS looks more realistic. I would compare playing SC to playing with a toy city set - everything is pretty, but it's limiting and simplistic. In contrast, Skylines feels more like you're actually controlling a real city with real people. It also has its flaws, but overall, I think it's far more detailed and true to city simulation than SimCity'13. CS provides over twice the amount of content and possibilities for half the price (considering launch prices) than SC.

As far as beginning mods go, I would recommend City Vitals Watch, which adds a menu to quickly check important city stats, Tree Brush, which allows you to cover larger areas with trees, and Automatic Bulldoze, which automatically removes abandoned and burned buildings. None of these are necessary, but I find them very helpful.

There are achievements through Steam, but they don't really guide you. The game does, however, have certain city stages that you progress through as you increase your population. Unless you're using a mod that unlocks everything, you gain new buildings, city tiles and services when you reach the next population benchmark. This is sort of like a mission system, as it gives you a goal that you need to achieve, but it doesn't necessarily help you learn and it does limit you when you first start out. Like I said, though, there is a mod that provides you with everything at the beginning, and there are tons of other mods that allow you to customize your experience to your liking.

Hope this helps! If you're interested in city simulation games, I'd go for it. Cities Skylines is one of the best. 

[pieuponieu 70]

1. Is Cities: Skylines worth the buy?

Yes, it beats the pants off SC 2013 and Cities XL (or XXL).

2. Is there any MODs I should use as a beginner?

I only played for a few hours and quit when the game first came out, feeling very disappointed.  But a few months, many mods, and an update from the game creator later, and I find the game delightful.  I have spent about a month with the game now, and I have been adding mods and other custom content daily.  Yesterday, I had to clean it up because I was starting to experience game lag as a result of loading so much content.  And when I considered mods to delete, I realized that I had forgotten how much of the gameplay that I find essential isn't built into the game itself.  My picks for beginner mods:

• ground-level camera so you can walk around your city: http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=406749417
• precision engineering to help you draw roads: http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=445589127
• control building level up (like SC's make historical feature): http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=410535198
• auto line color so you can visually see your different transit routes more clearly: http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=408760323

I have 29 mods total that I don't think I could live without, so this is just the tip of the iceberg, but they helped me early on.

3. I got told you can build your own maps? Does this cost money or is it totally free to build roads etc?

I find the map editor to be difficult, and frankly, I have no idea how so many people create such beautiful maps.  It seems that whenever I make a mistake with water, there's no undoing it.  I wish someone would come out with a tutorial on building maps (or show me where one exists).  

4. Is there a mode were you can get unlimited money?

Yes.  The game has a built-in sandbox mode with unlimited money and most items unlocked.  But there are also mods that achieve similar results.

5. Is there any type of quests/missions to guide you through the game etc?

I don't really remember.  Ever since I discovered sandbox mode, I haven't gone back to the usual way of playing.  I like planning a city out in the beginning instead of building it up in a limited way.  The regular gameplay starts out with one square of land and giving you the option of expanding out and purchasing (with in-game money) the surrounding 8 squares.  There's a mod that allows you to unlock 25 squares and another that unlocks 81.  I haven't ventured into 81 myself, but I find 25 essential.

 

In the end, I give Skylines two thumbs up and look forward to a lot gameplay for years to come.  Highly recommended!

[xonedl 342]

For starter, best sink a couple of hours into the vanilla game first to get to understand most of the game's features and also learn about the lack of something - only then you will know what mods you will require to overcome those restrictions.

For recommendation -
- Fine Road Heights (although some people report crashing) that reduce road level from 12m to 3m per "step" (each time press PgUp / PgDown)
- http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=445589127recision Engineering, showing tons of great info such as angle of the current road you drawing, must have.
- SomeRoads, German Roads, Traffic++ for additional road types including smaller highway, faster avenue, specific bus lanes and more
- Improved Asset Panel, Improved Mod Panel, as the name suggested.
- Tree Brush, as the name says.

Due to the recent game update, it is best to check properly if the mods you getting working for the latest version or not. Here is a thread someone made that listed compatibility of frequently used mods: http://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum/index.php?threads/patch-1-1-mods-which-are-safe-mods-which-are-not.856770/page-5#post-19429433

The map editor... Seriously that is best if you know how to deal with height map - a grey scale PNG file of 1081x1081 pixels.
"Paint" the terrain in your image editor, then import into the game and it will generate the terrain for you, much accurate than just using the terraforming tool.
It certainly not easy, although I still manage to make a few decent map out of it (edit: looks like I lost them after game reinstall...)
Just Google "Height Map" and you'll see example of what they are. White = high point, black = low point.

There is also online tools to grab real world location into greyscale height map directly useable for the game, read here: 
http://www.skylinescity.com/2015/03/height-map-creation-tool-for-creating-real-world-location-maps/
Accuracy isn't that great though.

I don't know how other people deal withe the river but here what I did.

  Edited June 26, 2015 by xonedl  
edit lah!

[Linoa06 1,374]

 

3. I got told you can build your own maps? Does this cost money or is it totally free to build roads etc?

I find the map editor to be difficult, and frankly, I have no idea how so many people create such beautiful maps.  It seems that whenever I make a mistake with water, there's no undoing it.  I wish someone would come out with a tutorial on building maps (or show me where one exists).  

 

I find that removing water sources, flooding the map (water height 500 or similar), dragging it back to 0 then back to whatever the initial level was helps a lot and effectively resets any mistakes I've done with water.