2. Skyline Client for modding purpose !?

[OwiHH 240]

I really like creating stuff.

There is one big issue i have with skyline not doing it:

You can pay as much attention on what to subscribe (mod,assets) if the list reachs a decent amount the game takes ages to load stuff(even if turned off) the game hangs, crashes, lags, esc to menu ctds ...

The work flow is getting zero.. if you want to mod something you wait more time to load up the game or wait on loading screens, then anything else - im totaly sick of this and it ruins my fun moding some stuff for that great game. I tried a few times having a clean working Skyline but you know yourself it dosnt work. There comes a time where it all gets $%&^!ed up and all you can do is unsubscibe  reinstall install again.

 

I was thinking about a second client with a different workshop folder or even better a own offline workshop folder where you just put in mods for asssets for editing only.

Any ideas how you can get a 2. mod Client going with a own modfolder like the on from cs4?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Judazzz 1,936]

When modding, I use the --noWorkshop parameter, which makes my test city load 90% faster than normal. Once everything works, I remove that command line parameter and test my work under normal conditions. When dabbling with assets (I can't model, so all I can do is editing existing assets, or creating new, purely prop-based ones), I use the --disableMods parameter, so mods aren't loaded yet all custom props are available - unfortunately this doesn't reduce loading times by much, but I don't know how to do it differently.

You could have a look at the Assets and Mods Configuration mod to create a bare-bones config profile specifically for when modding - I haven't used it yet so I don't know how well it works, but imo. the mod does hold promise.

[OwiHH 240]

Yep - thanks men. It works for common modding and yes thanks for the links was searching for this commandlines.

Problem is if you want to mod prober you need a few mods installed and also a bit of assets (Props).

A second instance of the game is a must from my point of view - i cant get it working - google solutions wasnt successfull for Skyline.

If i get a 2. game instance working that have a different setting folder (...\AppData\Local\Colossal Order) i could drop the requite mods and assets into that localfolder without need of workshop access but currently im stuck getting the 2. client working at all - seems like links are missing, either to this settings folder or steam - dont know. =(

 

 

[Judazzz 1,936]

3 hours ago, OwiHH said:

Yep - thanks men. It works for common modding and yes thanks for the links was searching for this commandlines.

Problem is if you want to mod prober you need a few mods installed and also a bit of assets (Props).

A second instance of the game is a must from my point of view - i cant get it working - google solutions wasnt successfull for Skyline.

If i get a 2. game instance working that have a different setting folder (...\AppData\Local\Colossal Order) i could drop the requite mods and assets into that localfolder without need of workshop access but currently im stuck getting the 2. client working at all - seems like links are missing, either to this settings folder or steam - dont know. =(

 

 

You can always copy a few must-have mods and assets to your local folder, so you can still use them when --noWorkshop is active. If you're familiar with modding, you can even create a local config files for your local mods, so you won't mess up your in-game mod configurations when testing stuff.

It's all a bit awkward and workaround-ish and still far from ideal, but it does make the current - rather inelegant - situation somewhat tolerable.

[OwiHH 240]

ya men - thats some good solution - -noworkshop and local modconfig folder - woop - will try that

[Macronomicus 128]

One more tip to save you some steps, just make a shortcut to the game with the launch parameters, that way you dont have to go into the steam client to add/remove them ever.

Just make the target for the extra game shortcut the following.  The 255710 is cities skylines id, this still works even though my steam library is on another SSD from steam itself.

"C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\Steam.exe" -applaunch 255710 --noWorkshop

You can also use any of the other steam launch parameters just add them to the end with a space separating them, there are quite a few.

[Judazzz 1,936]

Brilliant, never thought of that - many thanks for the tip!

[Macronomicus 128]

The launch parameters are uber cool, I had no idea steam did that until recently.  Im really looking forward to testing one WIP parameter from Unity the -force-d3d12  , it forces dx12, might have to wait until CS goes to the next Unity version, but perhaps not, ive not researched that aspect yet.

 

[Judazzz 1,936]

Is that on any official roadmap?

[Macronomicus 128]

1 hour ago, Judazzz said:

Is that on any official roadmap?

Im not entirely sure if CS will do it, could be too much work to be worth the trouble.  dx12 is definitely supported in Unity though, it has been since last year.

[OwiHH 240]

14 hours ago, Macronomicus said:

"C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\Steam.exe" -applaunch 255710 --noWorkshop

 

woop woop. Yes was thinking about the shortcuts while working - now im home you allready did it - must be remote! ;-)

[Judazzz 1,936]

Yeah, I was aware of the Unity DX12 roadmap, but obviously it can only be an item if CO decides to upgrade the engine themselves.

[Macronomicus 128]

4 minutes ago, Judazzz said:

Yeah, I was aware of the Unity DX12 roadmap, but obviously it can only be an item if CO decides to upgrade the engine themselves.

Yeah, from what I hear it would likely mean refactoring things to gain the best benefits, not sure that seems too feasible unless windows 10 is really that popular and would equal more potential sales of the game.  dx11 is decent, and CS is already the most modern, capable city builder.

[Judazzz 1,936]

Well, the thing is that under certain conditions DX12 can result in a quite noticeable performance increase, especially on lower-specced machines (iGPU's would benefit a lot). So that could mean that more would be possible while maintaining the same minimum specs.
The one downside is that you would split the Windows player base in two - those with, and those without a DX12-ready system (I know Win10 is required for it, but no idea whether GPU DX12 support is universal or limited to more recent hardware).

[thomas_bk 25]

Not a great solution, but. I use a laptop, besides my gamer pc, with a seperate CS installation where assets and mods are disabled. Since the vanilla game is not so taxing for a modern computer this works fine. Also i use the lunch parameters mentioned above. It would be nice though if there was a parameter for disabling assets but not mods. 

[Macronomicus 128]

whatever mods you put in your local directory will still be loaded, I keep mod-tools in there and a few others, plus bring in whatever ill need for props etc.

14 minutes ago, thomas_bk said:

Not a great solution, but. I use a laptop, besides my gamer pc, with a seperate CS installation where assets and mods are disabled. Since the vanilla game is not so taxing for a modern computer this works fine. Also i use the lunch parameters mentioned above. It would be nice though if there was a parameter for disabling assets but not mods. 

 

[OwiHH 240]

I made 2 folders within the colossalorder folder and rename them on for whatever i do modding or gaming. Also 1 shortcut from desktop to the folder and init 2 shortcutlinks pretty good solution sofar - that way i dont get any badassfiles within my mod settings client.

[Macronomicus 128]

On 4/21/2016 at 7:53 AM, Judazzz said:

Well, the thing is that under certain conditions DX12 can result in a quite noticeable performance increase, especially on lower-specced machines (iGPU's would benefit a lot). So that could mean that more would be possible while maintaining the same minimum specs.
The one downside is that you would split the Windows player base in two - those with, and those without a DX12-ready system (I know Win10 is required for it, but no idea whether GPU DX12 support is universal or limited to more recent hardware).

Surely anyone without windows 10 is missing out on massive improvements, not only is it a FREE upgrade still, but it runs a lot faster, even on hardware designed for older versions of windows like the ancient XP lol.

Nice work OwiHH, glad you're finding a good workflow, one stitch in time saves nine, as they say