# Cities: Skylines II is out **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Tags:** video-games-e-games\ **Created:** [October 24, 2023, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cities-skylines-ii-is-out/992032 "2023-10-24T19:25:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![wolfman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/a8b319/32.png) [@wolfman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfman)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2023, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cities-skylines-ii-is-out/992032/1 "2023-10-24T19:25:44Z")
For PC at least. šŸ˜‰ Such a busy time for games right now. There are so many I want to play! Especially after the last couple years have had some very lean seasons for interesting things. But I ordered CS2 a while ago, and did the Preload yesterday. So it was good to go, and I got about 15 minutes in. I did start the tutorial so I wouldnā€™t overlook anything new, But really didnā€™t see anything that struck me as new in the short time. Probably a mistake though. I really got the Jones to make a glorious city. But have no idea how Iā€™m going to fit it into the 4-5 other games Iā€™m playing plus that stupid job thing. Anybody been keeping up with it and know of any canā€™t miss features early in the game? ---
**Author:** ![Palooka](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/palooka/32/2902_2.png) [@Palooka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Palooka)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2023, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cities-skylines-ii-is-out/992032/2 "2023-10-24T22:52:55Z")
Colossal Order wasnā€™t kidding about their performance warning. It makes Starfield feel like an idtech game. At first pass, they really stepped up the complexity of the simulation, which is a nice improvement. I remember folks criticizing the original as a ā€œcity painterā€ and I thought was pretty much spot-on. ---
**Author:** ![Pleonast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pleonast/32/1183_2.png) [@Pleonast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pleonast)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2023, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cities-skylines-ii-is-out/992032/3 "2023-10-25T01:45:47Z")
Iā€™ve got it but havenā€™t had much time to play it. The tutorial is super annoyingā€”it keeps popping up after Iā€™ve dismissed it. So I had to disable it entirely. Connecting power and water plants to the networks is very finicky. I probably wonā€™t get serious with the game until the map editor is available. Iā€™m not a fan of the premade maps. ---
**Author:** ![Babale](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/babale/32/15666_2.png) [@Babale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Babale)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2023, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cities-skylines-ii-is-out/992032/4 "2023-10-25T03:08:59Z")
> [@Palooka](#): > > At first pass, they really stepped up the complexity of the simulation, which is a nice improvement. I remember folks criticizing the original as a ā€œcity painterā€ and I thought was pretty much spot-on. That sounds really promising actually, Iā€™m interested to hear what the verdict is. ---
**Author:** ![Disinfectus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/disinfectus/32/11085_2.png) [@Disinfectus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Disinfectus)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2023, 3:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cities-skylines-ii-is-out/992032/5 "2023-10-25T03:49:43Z")
It has a ton of negative reviews on Steam right now, all performance-based. I bought it, then had to turn all of the settings way down to play it on a computer that has no problem playing anything else. I can run Red Dead Redemption at the highest setting and it is flawless. This game, not so much. Which sucks, because it really looks like a big improvement over the original, which I enjoyed. Years ago, I recall purchasing Roller Coaster Tycoon 3, only to find that it was really developed for the next generation of computers. Thatā€™s what this feels like. Iā€™m still within the window where I can return it, and Iā€™m strongly considering it. ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2023, 3:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cities-skylines-ii-is-out/992032/6 "2023-10-25T03:51:01Z")
> [@Pleonast](#): > > Iā€™ve got it but havenā€™t had much time to play it. > > The tutorial is super annoyingā€”it keeps popping up after Iā€™ve dismissed it. So I had to disable it entirely. > > Connecting power and water plants to the networks is very finicky. > > I probably wonā€™t get serious with the game until the map editor is available. Iā€™m not a fan of the premade maps. Map editor, mods, custom buildings and other assets, DLCs. Iā€™m sure it will be great eventually, just like the first one. But right now it feels a little plain vanilla, just like the first one when it came out. ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2023, 3:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cities-skylines-ii-is-out/992032/7 "2023-10-25T03:55:45Z")
The first Cities Skylines is great because it has 8+ years of mods and DLC (although the DLC is expensive). While this has some improvements it needs a little more time in the oven I think. Iā€™m gonna wait a bit and let the mod community get rolling, some bug fixes out and maybe a DLC or three before I go for it. I really want to play it though. ---
**Author:** ![Love\_Rhombus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/love_rhombus/32/10694_2.png) [@Love\_Rhombus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Love_Rhombus)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2023, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cities-skylines-ii-is-out/992032/8 "2023-10-25T15:12:43Z")
I want to know how they missed the obvious and didnā€™t call it City Skyllines? ---
**Author:** ![Babale](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/babale/32/15666_2.png) [@Babale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Babale)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2023, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cities-skylines-ii-is-out/992032/9 "2023-10-25T15:18:36Z")
> [@Whack-a-Mole](#): > > The first Cities Skylines is great because it has 8+ years of mods and DLC (although the DLC is expensive). Is there a good modlist youā€™d recommend? CS2 coming out means CS1 is ā€œlocked inā€ so now may be the best time to get back into it šŸ˜› but playing it previously I agree that itā€™s mostly a city painter (with a dash of traffic simulator) and Iā€™d love a slightly more ā€œhardcoreā€ ruleset. ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2023, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cities-skylines-ii-is-out/992032/10 "2023-10-25T20:43:45Z")
There are a bunch that always seem to land on various ā€œmust have modsā€ list like ā€œMoveItā€ (for tweaking placement ofā€¦everything) or ā€œTraffic Managerā€ (for fine tuning your road networks. Fortunately a lot of them seem to be baked in to CS2. CS1 was a great game and I have logged thousands of hours crafting all sorts of cities. But Iā€™m also realizing a big reason it was so ā€œgoodā€ was because they offloaded a ton of what IMHO should have been included features onto the modding community. Iā€™ve only had time to play a little bit of CS2 but Iā€™m often finding myself trying to do something that I forgot was actually only possible in CS1 because of a mod. ---
**Author:** ![EllisDee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellisdee/32/4531_2.png) [@EllisDee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EllisDee)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2023, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cities-skylines-ii-is-out/992032/11 "2023-10-25T21:54:05Z")
> [@msmith537](#): > > ā€œTraffic Managerā€ Is that what itā€™s called now? I remember it being called TMPE, which I think stood for traffic manager president edition. > [@Babale](#): > > CS2 coming out means CS1 is ā€œlocked inā€ so now may be the best time to get back into it I am legitimately thinking about getting back into CS1. Just yesterday I rewatched my 30-minute ā€œvanilla startā€ video and started remembering how fun it was. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/yE4csnTN0r0/maxresdefault.jpg "Cities Skylines Vanilla Start") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yE4csnTN0r0) ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2023, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cities-skylines-ii-is-out/992032/12 "2023-10-26T15:32:24Z")
Itā€™s been on my wishlist since I heard about it. Iā€™ll be getting the ultimate edition around Christmas; my SO always gives me $50 for Christmas (and my birthday). I hope at least most of the issues will have been addressed by then. ---
**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2023, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cities-skylines-ii-is-out/992032/13 "2023-10-26T15:56:15Z")
> [@msmith537](#): > > But Iā€™m also realizing a big reason it was so ā€œgoodā€ was because they offloaded a ton of what IMHO should have been included features onto the modding community. I just heard, yesterday, that the first game was made by 10 people. That is really small number for the quality of game they made. ---
**Author:** ![Pleonast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pleonast/32/1183_2.png) [@Pleonast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pleonast)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2023, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cities-skylines-ii-is-out/992032/14 "2023-10-26T17:26:21Z")
Thereā€™s a helpful thread on the gameā€™s forum to help with slow graphics. My summary: - Disable depth of field - Disable volumetrics - Disable motion blur - Disable dynamic resolution (that is, set to ā€œconstantā€) - Lower the resolution to 1920x1080 > **[Tips: Our Guide to Optimize Performance](https://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum/threads/tips-our-guide-to-optimize-performance.1603423/)** > > Cities: Skylines II is a performance-heavy game, and with the diverse array of hardware you as a player use, you might find this guide helpful. > > It's important to us that everyone has access to as smooth of a gaming experience as possible, and... ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2023, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cities-skylines-ii-is-out/992032/15 "2023-10-26T23:46:21Z")
CS2 Devs: You donā€™t need more than 30fps for a city builder Also CS2 Devs: You know what this city builder needs? Motion blur. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Bravo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_bravo/32/493_2.png) [@Johnny\_Bravo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Bravo)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2023, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cities-skylines-ii-is-out/992032/16 "2023-10-27T00:07:42Z")
Been playing it on Game Pass with my shiny new PC, so performance isnā€™t an issue. Having fun so far, even though Iā€™m pretty bad at city builders. Iā€™m on my fourth attempt to not fuck up. I was doing pretty well on #3, but tried to get fancy with high-traffic roads leading into self-contained suburban enclaves and completely fucked my traffic patterns. Iā€™m back to a much simpler grid. Handy tip: it asks for ā€œhigh-density housingā€ pretty early on, but you donā€™t unlock high-density zoning until level 8. What it actually wants is **low-rent** housing, which is also high density even though it doesnā€™t say so. ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2023, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cities-skylines-ii-is-out/992032/17 "2023-10-27T19:49:48Z")
> [@Pleonast](#): > > Thereā€™s a helpful thread on the gameā€™s forum to help with slow graphics. > > My summary: > > - Disable depth of field > - Disable volumetrics > - Disable motion blur > - Disable dynamic resolution (that is, set to ā€œconstantā€) > - Lower the resolution to 1920x1080 > > [Tips: Our Guide to Optimize Performance | Paradox Interactive Forums](https://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum/threads/tips-our-guide-to-optimize-performance.1603423/) I wish I could disable the damn rain and snow. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2023, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cities-skylines-ii-is-out/992032/18 "2023-10-27T19:56:38Z")
Adding GTA-style ā€œfunnyā€ radio announcers was such a bad idea. ---
**Author:** ![Kron](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kron/32/12444_2.png) [@Kron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kron)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2023, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cities-skylines-ii-is-out/992032/19 "2023-10-27T19:56:41Z")
> [@Jophiel](#): > > Also CS2 Devs: You know what this city builder needs? Motion blur. The first time I read any of the ā€œperformance fixā€ reviews, I was flabbergasted by the fact that this game has motion blur (which I hate in all games, but what is its purpose in a city builder?). ---
**Author:** ![Pleonast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pleonast/32/1183_2.png) [@Pleonast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pleonast)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2023, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cities-skylines-ii-is-out/992032/20 "2023-10-27T20:48:00Z")
I think the idea of the motion blur is to help the camera panning feel smooth and natural. In contrast to a ā€œrotoscopeā€ effect. But itā€™s only effective if the frame rate is high enough and not stuttering. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cities-skylines-ii-is-out/992032.md?page=2)