Is There a Cheaper Skylines? (And Does It Work on My Laptop?)

[Propfam 2,294]

Hello,

I want to buy Cities:Skylines in distant future because it has good flexibility comparing to SC4. The base game starts from IDR 199,999 (or around $15) or if I wanted the Deluxe Edition, it would be $20 from Steam. But, if I want to buy all the expansion packs, they'll cost me around $65 dollar, which is ridiculously expensive to me. As comparison, SimCity 4 is priced at $19.99 or around IDR 280,000 and still gets tons of benefit by installing the free mods here on STEX. Yes, SC4 mods have some limits that making them not flexible but still worth it. OK, is there a cheaper C:S, especially with (possibly) all the EPs? If yes, where and when should I buy it? Also, my laptop runs on Linux with 4 GB of RAM, 500 GB of storage, Sandy Bridge Core i5 and HD Graphics 3000. Can I run the game? Is it smooth?

Thanks.

[hemeac 11]

A friend of mine just picked up the game and all of its expansions from green man gaming when the base game was 75% off and a number of the expansions were about 50% off.  However, the system requirements note that it does not support integrated graphics and I've seen people talk about how the minimum requirement is too low to be playable.  With only 4GB of ram, you certainly would not be able to use any user-created content.

[rsc204 21,836]

You can forget about playing Skylines on a HD3000 GPU, the minimum specs very specifically state such integrated GPUs are not supported. Moreover, the entire game is much more resource intensive than SC4, your computer IMO simply isn't up to running it well, if at all. As for the price, yeah it's only decent if you exclude all the expensive DLCs which hugely inflate the cost of the game. Wait it out and likely a deal will come along with all the DLC for a sensible price at some point, but that could be a ways off.

[Avanya 2,605]

Your laptop will struggle with Cities: Skylines. Your RAM doesn't leave much space for workshop content if you get all the DLCs, your CPU isn't up for large populations and your graphics card isn't supported (meaning it might not run at all). If you manage to run the game it won't be smooth and you won't be able to heavily mod it or use lots of custom content. Expect to run graphics at the lowest settings and that you can't run any graphical mods.

About prices you really can't compare SC4 and Cities: Skylines. There's 12 years between them, so ofc the price will be lower for the older game. I'd like to stress that you don't need all the DLCs to enjoy the game. They add some cool stuff, but you can still do a lot of stuff without them. And if you do buy the game, I honestly wouldn't recommend you go all out on DLCs with your laptop. I'd stick to the base game to start with to see how it runs for you and if you like it. It isn't just a fancier version of SC4, the games are pretty different in more ways than just the look.

If you'd like to buy the game and DLCs, then there's always gonna be a sale. The latest DLC will release here the 24th of May and it's likely the base game and some of the DLCs will go on sale - at least they have done so with most of the DLCs that have come before. So it's a good time to get the game or DLCs. If you just get the base game, you can always get the DLCs at a later point if you enjoy the game and it runs ok for you.

[Propfam 2,294]

Why C:S is so heavy? Even, SC2013 runs fine on my now-broken old laptop with low settings of course. It has some lags especially when zooming from region to a city but still can be enjoyed. There are lightweight laptops (yes, I want laptops because I want to work with others seamlessly) that equipped with current-gen CPUs and >8 gigs of RAM has integrated graphics better than mine (including all 13-inch MacBook Pros). Is it true that all integrated GPUs can't play C:S smoothly? If yes, that's an ironic. In the world where dedicated GPUs are still expensive and getting mobile, C:S demands people to buy GPUs to play their games*. There must be optimizations to the game or the market share may be dropped in the future.

For now, SC4 is the best choice for the hardware. Any computer should run the game seamless. One of few problems is lack of flexibility. We can make a game having gameplay similar to C:S and SC4 with reasonable graphics.

Sorry for my words. Don't be angry. Thanks.

*Yes, you can still play C:S in console but unlike the desktop one, they may have some limitations. Also, true mobile people also don't want to buy the (almost) uncarryable consoles.

[Turjan 1,048]

On 5/11/2018 at 12:12 PM, chfzdn said:

Why C:S is so heavy? Even, SC2013 runs fine on my now-broken old laptop with low settings of course.

SC2013 is a tiny game. It can't be bigger because it's a 32-bit application with all the limitations that come with this. This was a deliberate decision in order to reach the market of weak laptops. C:S gives you much more freedom, but that needs a 64-bit engine. It's also a moddable game. All extensively moddable games that I know stress the hardware. And no, SC2013 is not extensively moddable.

The GPU complaint is a bit unfair. When C:S was planned, everyone expected GPU prices to fall further, and nobody could foresee the cryptocurrency craze that drove GPU prices to ridiculous heights within the last years. It's a problem all players of moderately modern AAA games face.

[Propfam 2,294]

17 minutes ago, Turjan said:

SC2013 is a tiny game. It can't be bigger because it's a 32-bit application with all the limitations that come with this. This was a deliberate decision in order to reach the market of weak laptops. C:S gives you much more freedom, but that needs a 64-bit engine. It's also a moddable game. All extensively moddable games that I know stress the hardware. And no, SC2013 is not extensively moddable.

The GPU complaint is a bit unfair. When C:S was planned, everyone expected GPU prices to fall further, and nobody could foresee the cryptocurrency craze that drove GPU prices to ridiculous heights within the last years. It's a problem all players of moderately modern AAA games face.

But, the decision of using the GPU extensively even all integrated ones can't play it smooth isn't ideal. iGPUs are being used in new ultrabooks now and there are some iGPUs that are powerful, like the Intel Iris Pro series (see the 13" MacBook Pro lineups). With the GPU price craze, people will opt into mobile or console. Without giving up the "iGPU not allowed" rule, C:S can't revolutionize mobile city simulator industry, which SimCity BuildIt leads. Even PUBG Corporation created the mobile version of their game because PUBG knows that GPU prices goes up. Not perfect but still better than none.

Yes, extensively moddable games can stress the hardware, especially if the mods is installed. But, it's unfair to say Minecraft for instance is super heavy because it can be extensively moddable, it's caused by mods installed. Regardless of the moddable status, all games should have some kind of optimization so iGPUs can play the game.

Thanks.

[Turjan 1,048]

11 minutes ago, chfzdn said:

Regardless of the moddable status, all games should have some kind of optimization so iGPUs can play the game.

Thanks.

You know, I can personally understand that you want this. However, there's the other side of the coin. C:S already has a few very unfortunate limitations to cater to people who only have 4 GB of RAM (I'm not even sure you can play the game + all DLC at once with such a computer). Lots of people really want CO to stop catering to people with weak computers, because this causes many of the frustrations people experience with this game. CO basically chose a medium ground here, and I guess the sales numbers show them that this was the right business decision, as much as it pains people who are left out on both ends of the spectrum.

Anyway, you see that there are often diametrically opposed interests at play. I would very much appreciate if they set the minimum requirements higher than they are now and made the game better.