I’m a fickle mayor, it seems. My first Cities: Skylines 2 city ended up within the bin after solely a few hours—however I believe for utterly comprehensible causes. It regarded lumpier than my middle-aged arse. The way in which Colossal Order’s city-building sequel offers with terrain, and the best way buildings work together with it, is bizarre and generally extraordinarily irritating, necessitating loads of map modifying earlier than you plonk down your first zones.
Like the unique recreation, constructing on flat areas makes for fewer complications, however Cities: Skylines 2’s launch maps are fairly bumpy. That is extra of an issue within the sequel as a result of the best way terrain morphs while you begin constructing on it’s so way more excessive, creating places that look completely weird, bordering on non-euclidean. Even a slight incline or tiny hill can have a radical affect on how a neighbourhood seems to be, which is much more noticeable now that Colossal Order has ramped up the extent of element.
With some work, it was doable to make some relatively picturesque areas on the unique recreation’s hills, however to this point I have been unable to make a metropolis with any totally different ranges of elevation within the sequel with out them trying totally weird, with terrain being dramatically raised or lowered beneath the constructing, whereas the encircling space typically maintains its authentic form, or turns into much more exaggerated.
This results in steep partitions of grime and grass sitting subsequent to buildings, as should you’re designing some sort of iron age fortification relatively than a contemporary metropolis. You’ll be able to see the bizarre impact within the screenshot under.
At first look, it a minimum of seems to be just like the constructing plots themselves are flat, however look carefully and you may see anybody making an attempt to sit down on the bench within the backyard will instantly slide proper off it. Buildings themselves are at all times flat, however how a lot the sport flattens the remainder of the plot is inconsistent. In some circumstances, I’ve seen buildings seem subsequent to one another, constructed on the same incline, the place one backyard is good and even, and the opposite is all over.
Within the neighbourhood under the impact is much more peculiar, creating the beginnings of a residential impediment course. Nice for first-time consumers or anybody needing extra cardio of their life. Fortunately my residents are capable of merely clip via it as a substitute of getting to abseil out and in of their properties every single day. The sport can also be having some bother rendering the automotive and bush textures right here—an issue that crops up so much regardless of my beefy rig (RTX 4090, Intel i9-13900k, 32GB RAM).
Most buildings comprise props exterior them, from indicators to swimming swimming pools to backyard furnishings, giving every neighbourhood and avenue an additional dose of persona. I’ve spent a hell of loads of time zoomed in simply snooping round gardens. However this simply makes the imperfections a lot extra noticeable, and the way the props conform to the terrain is inconsistent. Some objects act like buildings, so issues like swimming pools and greenhouses are flat, even on the steepest slopes. Generally meaning they seem like they’re floating, but when the slope is steep sufficient generally a pillar will seem to prop them up. Only a regular factor to stay under a greenhouse.
For some, this may not be a lot of a bugbear. If all you care about is making an environment friendly metropolis, quirks like this could be straightforward to disregard. I like my cities to be fairly, although, and Cities: Skylines 2’s extra real looking fashion and additional little particulars make these terrain morphing points inconceivable for me to disregard. They have been driving me correctly crazy every time I’m going right down to avenue degree.
Fortunately, there’s a resolution: landscaping. It is doable to boost, decrease, flatten and easy out each map, moulding it to your specs, and conveniently it will not have an effect on your metropolis’s financial institution steadiness. You should utilize the instrument as a lot as you need with out spending a penny. There are restrictions, although. You’ll be able to’t panorama any areas the place you’ve got already began constructing, whether or not it is a highway or a row of homes. The instrument will ignore these areas, solely elevating or decreasing the terrain round them, which will not enable you to in any respect.
Since maps take time to completely unlock, you may want to make use of these instruments everytime you achieve entry to a brand new space, however it’s best to begin instantly, smoothing out the terrain you initially have entry to earlier than you even plonk down your first highway. And belief me, you do not wish to eyeball it. What would possibly seem to be a wholly flat location at first will nearly definitely have a number of tiny, inconceivable to note bumps.
Bear in mind to be cautious should you’re landscaping a brand new space and do not make the error I did: smoothing out some terrain that was subsequent to a river, inadvertently flooding a complete district. I can solely apologise to my extraordinarily damp residents.
It’s miles from an ideal resolution, necessitating various faffing round and making your cities look flat and uniform as a substitute of resembling real-world places. However it’s higher than the choice.
It is laborious to think about that is working as meant, nonetheless, particularly given how hilly a lot of the maps are. I counsel ready to see if Colossal Order makes some enhancements, and never simply due to the terrain wonkiness. The dire efficiency even on highly effective PCs and the persistent texture points are each good causes to carry off for the second. There are some nice city-building options in Cities: Skylines 2—a number of the finest within the style—however frankly it looks like an early entry recreation relatively than launch-ready.
If you’re taking part in in the present day, it’s best to check out our Cities: Skylines 2 ideas information, telling you every thing it’s best to know earlier than to position your first constructing.