Cities: Skylines II News

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

[h2]Download it now:[/h2] https://mods.paradoxplaza.com/mods/91931/Windows


Discover Germany's distinctive architectural style with the German Pack, brought to life by community creators Armesto, Feindbold, and Titan. This asset pack features a collection of German-inspired service buildings that reflect a harmonious blend of modernity and tradition. Two zones, each tailored to different aspects of German urban design, allow you to add a touch of German character to your city.

[h2]Included in the German Pack:[/h2]

• Service Buildings
  
  • Mixed Housing
    
  • Medium Density Housing
    
  • Signature Buildings

[h2]Creator Dev Diary:[/h2]
The creators of the German Pack have also written a Developer Diary about their work on their pack. If you want to read it, you can find it here: https://pdxint.at/4hAQ8IZ

[h2]Stay tuned for Travel Tips:[/h2]
Over the next two weeks, we will share two travel tips, along with more information and tidbits about German architecture and inspiration. We’ve already posted two for the French pack that you can watch here - https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL6kotTknxXVRaXB-UaWDsjGp0MFpA2wf4

[h2]Cities Around the World Giveaway:[/h2]
We’ve kicked off some cool giveaways as we kicked off our journey two weeks ago, and that can be your chance to play weekly and win exclusive limited-edition Cities: Skylines collectibles. Find out more about the Cities Around The World Giveaway here - https://www.paradoxinteractive.com/games/cities-skylines-ii/modding/cities-skylines-ii-region-packs/signup-giveaway?lid=k0pdimy2eega

[h2]Stay on top of your travel itinerary:[/h2]
The next pack is the UK Pack, which will be released on November 25th. Keep an eye on all our social channels for more news, updates, and information!

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https://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum/forums/cities-skylines-2.1147/

Community Channels
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Guten Tag and welcome to the Dev Diary for the German Region Pack. Today, we want to dive into the creation process of this newest addition to Paradox Mods and the second of all the Region packs. The German Pack was made by Armesto, Feindbold, and Titan - all of which you surely know from the Cities: Skylines workshop. We are happy to be here for yet another round of content for our favorite city builder.

If you haven't already, you can download the pack now!

We want to show you what style we chose, why we selected the buildings, and what workaround, learning curves, and drawbacks we experienced in creating those models.

[h3]Concept and Inspiration[/h3]

Before we started working on the pack, we had to agree on a style to use. As some of you who either are from or have visited Germany in the past might know - there is no such thing as a “German” style. The whole country is a patchwork of different landscapes, regions, dialects, and various local styles of architecture. You will see lots of brick being used in the north, while the south offers many of their typical half-timbered houses - though this is a general rule.

Various styles in German cities.

Of course, if you ask people from around the world, these half-timbered houses are most often associated with Germany. Still, these days, you will find them rarely in large cities - which is the goal in Cities: Skylines II, after all. To create bustling neighborhoods full of life, something more sturdy is needed here.

Meet “Gründerzeit,” an umbrella term that describes all the architecture from around the end of the 19th century - when towns and cities boomed and exploded far beyond their historic cores in the surge of industrialization. Suddenly, cities drew extensive grids of roads on empty land and looked for developers to inhabit them and fill them with life.

German Gründerzeit

It turns out that there is no single German style, but there is a prominent style that fits every region in Germany. In addition, while some other styles might be prominent in churches, some in palaces, and some in old cities along the cost - “Gründerzeit” fits every function and every purpose - because, of course, when cities exploded, every type of building was needed to provide the masses of new people with city services - a theme that is known to all of us so well in Cities: Skylines as well.

[h3]Visual Inspiration[/h3]

Thus, the visual style was born, and we knew what the goal was. In the next step, we gathered an array of different examples for each of the buildings we knew we wanted to cover - from service buildings to signatures and zones.

Example of an early planning sheet.

This was years ago, of course, and some things have moved since then. Our team changed a bit through the years, and with that, the scope and plan of our pack. In the end, we covered the most important services and zones to deliver the essence of what’s necessary to make a city feel German. As a result, we picked buildings from Braunschweig, Berlin, Dresden, and Leipzig to represent all of Germany. You be the judge of how successful we were, but you’ll see that they all blend together perfectly and create a cityscape that’s quintessentially German - or even Polish, Czech, or Austrian to some degree.

[h3]Creation of the Pack[/h3]

Creation of the Pack: Planning stage and asset production

Despite the limited knowledge about how to prepare and create content for Cities: Skylines II back then, planning for the region packs essentially started back in early 2020. However, we were provided with very detailed early documentation and guidelines by Colossal Order, and based on these, we were able to develop our production workflows.

Based on the provided technical documentation, we had to adjust our workflow from the established Cities: Skylines workflows by quite a bit. Among the differences in the sequel were much higher limits in terms of model complexity as well as a switch to square 4096x4096 textures. There were also some changes that needed adjustments regarding our UV mapping techniques.

As we had no access to the actual game back then, we used different tools and engines to get a better grasp of how assets and materials look and behave in a PBR environment. One of these tools is Twinmotion, a UnrealEngine-based visualization software.

Various German Pack buildings in a PBR Environment.

Most of our team was already known for and used to very complex meshes, even for Cities: Skylines standards. The most significant change in terms of mesh fidelity for us was to adjust to the new parallax window system.

Examples of Cities: Skylines Workshop content of German Pack Team.

As the windows need to be separated meshes, every single window frame needs to be modeled out in detail to guarantee a seamless transition. As the amount of potential window frames scales up substantially with taller and more complex structures and the detail on these window frames can often take up a significant portion of the available budget, it was essential to prototype various techniques. For example, some of the buildings have up to 250 window frames, so saving a few triangles for each frame will reduce the overall complexity of the building by 1000s of triangles.

Three different types of window frames that can be re-used on various parts of buildings.

[h3]Creation of the Pack: Work in the Editor[/h3]

Once we finally got access to the editor, it was time to import the assets and start propping. As most of our assets were already finished beforehand, we started with an initial quality control. So, all the assets were imported and checked, and potential issues were screenshotted for later fixing.

The work in the editor was streamlined to increase efficiency. As the German pack heavily relies on color maps for the main facades to achieve more variety, setting up these color variations and making sure they look great in-game was the first step. We saved finalized color variations as hex codes to copy-paste them to other assets quickly.


[h2]Example of various assets with their colormaps as hex codes.[/h2]

The next step was propping all assets. For this, we once again placed between 10 and 20 assets and propped them all at the same time. The final step was then to duplicate L1 and L3 to L2 and L4, just like how it is done in the base game, to create a fully functional set.

A batch of German Pack buildings in the editor, L5, L3 and L1 are propped at the same time.

[h3]Pack Content[/h3]

[h3]Zone Types[/h3]

The German pack comes with two zones: a medium-density zone and a mixed-density zone. The medium density zone is based on the previously described dense “Gründerzeit” districts that can be found around the city centers of pretty much every German city.

The height of these buildings can usually be a good indicator of the size of the city they can be found in, or with bigger cities, they become an indicator of how far they are from the city center. Most smaller German towns have three-story tall buildings, while medium-sized cities are usually filled with four-story tall buildings, with buildings in the inner cities sometimes up to five floors tall. In contrast, in Berlin, you can find these five-story buildings that are up to 10 km from the center. To incorporate this, our buildings start with three floors at Level 1 and then gain floors at Level 3 and Level 5.

Dense blocks of the medium residential zone.

Dense blocks of the medium residential zone.

The mixed zone is based on slightly less detailed buildings from the early 1910s due to different technical limitations related to the mixed zone.

Dense blocks of the mixed zone.


[h3]Signatures[/h3]

The German Pack contains 3 signature buildings, all of which are commercial.

A large 1920s German department store. Based on Karstadt am Hermannplatz.

A corner department store inspired by architecture from the early 1900s.

A department store inspired by architecture from the early 1900s.


[h3]Services[/h3]

We put a focus on service buildings that both fit the “Gründerzeit” setting and offer basic services. Each of the service buildings comes with at least two interesting upgrades. The pack contains these service buildings:

• Firehouse and Fire Station
  
• Police Station and Police Headquarters
  
• Elementary School, High School
  
• Train Station
  

Firestation, Elementary School, and Police Headquarter, each with and without their upgrades.

A small German firehouse that houses a few fire engines.

A large German station that houses several fire engines. Based on a fire station in Leipzig.

The fully upgraded Elementary School and -

- the fully upgraded High School.

A large urban German police headquarters. Can be upgraded with an office extension and extended garages. Based on a police building in Braunschweig.
A small German local police station.

[h3]Closing Remarks[/h3]
Planning for the Region Packs began in 2020, shortly after we got the confirmation that Cities: Skylines II was in development. We aimed to deliver custom content crafted by experienced community members for everyone to enjoy in Cities: Skylines II. We’re thrilled and glad that this work is finally accessible for players and fans to use.

We hope the entire Cities: Skylines community enjoys the outcome of this project. As the German team, we’re excited to continue creating more content for Cities: Skylines II!

Thank you for reading, and please share any feedback or questions in this thread or on the PDX forums. You can also find us on the Cities: Skylines Modding Discord and PDXMods.


Modding Discord - https://discord.gg/ExfdGrYvS4
Armesto PDXMods - https://mods.paradoxplaza.com/authors/AArmesto
Feindbold PDXMods - https://mods.paradoxplaza.com/authors/Feindbold
Titan PDXMods - https://mods.paradoxplaza.com/authors/_Titann_

[h3]Showcase: Final Assets[/h3]


[h3]You can download the amazing German Region Pack now, for free, on Paradox Mods; https://mods.paradoxplaza.com/mods/91931/Windows

In two weeks, it’s time for the next pack. Tea bags and kettles are mandatory on our trip to the UK![/h3]

The analysis shows that the threat is specifically a DLL hijacking attack aimed at stealing Exodus cryptocurrency wallet information. The actor placed a malicious DLL file (fastmath.dll) in the Traffic mod directory, which gets loaded by the game executable when the game is launched on the target machine. The malicious DLL is the first stage of the malware chain.

Once loaded by the game executable, the second stage of the malware activity begins,
where the DLL searches for Exodus crypto wallets on the computer inside the AppData local
Folder.

If users do not have any Exodus cryptocurrency wallets on their devices, they are not impacted by the second phase of the attack.

Only the “Traffic” mod was affected. We have confirmed that the account of the “Traffic” mod’s author was compromised, and the malicious upload originated from an unauthorized location. The account has now been secured, and no further tampering with their work is expected.

If you didn’t start the game with the version of the Traffic mod containing the DLL downloaded and installed, you are entirely unaffected. If you do not have an Exodus cryptocurrency wallet on your computer the malware should not have been harmful.

[h2]If you have Exodus crypto wallet on your computer:[/h2]
We recommend manually deleting the secondary DLL file located in the following path: C:\Users\\AppData\Local\exodus\app-\profapi.dll

For more information if your Exodus wallet has been compromised we refer you to their FAQ.
For general security measures related to Exodus, please refer to their official guide: Exodus Security Practices.

[h2]General information for those who use Code Mods: [/h2]
While we work hard to minimize risks, there is always an inherent risk in downloading a mod that changes the contents of a program, no matter what platform is used for distribution. We cannot guarantee that malware incidents won’t occur, as malware is constantly evolving and can adapt faster than detection tools. Fully preventing such incidents would require prohibiting and removing code mods altogether—a step we’d prefer to avoid. We know that our players are sharing creative, wonderful work with us and with our community, and we intend to support that.

Every mod uploaded to Paradox Mods undergoes scanning, but it’s important to note that these tools, while thorough, cannot offer complete protection due to the rapid evolution of malware. We are actively looking into how we can further implement security measures around mod publishing to strike the right balance between security and usability.

We encourage users to exercise caution when using code mods. We deeply appreciate those who report any suspicious activity or updates on mods; if you notice anything unusual, please press report on the mod in question on the Paradox Mods platform.

Additionally, always keep your firewall and antivirus software installed and updated.

Additional information regarding malware suspicion on the Mod “Traffic” on Cities: Skylines II.

Over the weekend, we have had our experts - along with other DFIR teams - investigating the file, and we believe our initial suspicion of malware was accurate. While we cannot 100% confirm its purpose as of yet, our current belief is that it is a file designed to target Crypto Wallets on exposed systems, specifically Exodus crypto wallet. Regardless of whether this turns out to be confirmed or not, the file has enough suspicious activity that it should still be considered harmful.


Since our initial identification of the .dll file, 30 out of 72 security vendors now flag it as malware in their scans. Please update your antivirus/antimalware software as a general preventative measure. All mods uploaded to Paradox mods always get run through a virus scan as a general precaution.

If you have not read the original alert, you can find it here and the additional update with the precautions put in place since 24-11-01:

• We have conducted a specific, thorough scan of other files on the Paradox Mods platform for this malicious file, and no other mods appear to have it.
  
• We have worked in close cooperation with the author of the affected Mod “Traffic” to ensure their account is secure and no further tampering should occur with their work.
  

We will continue to share updates as we receive them, and we thank you for your cooperation.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Original statement shared on 2024-10-31:

Important update for all Cities: Skylines II Players:

There is a potential security issue that has affected the “Traffic” mod for Cities: Skylines II. Late Monday evening, an outside actor pushed an update to the mod, which includes a .dll file which we believe is malicious. We have already removed it and the current version as of 2024-10-31 15:35 CET is safe to download and use, but if your mod synced and you played the game using the mod between Monday and then, there is a possibility that you may have the malicious file.

• We are working to determine the nature of this .dll, and we will update you as soon as possible. In the meantime, please take the following steps as soon as possible to secure your system:
  
• If you have not played with the Traffic mod and have not subscribed nor downloaded it, there should be no risk to your system and nothing you need to do.
  
• If you have the Traffic mod and have not played Cities: Skylines 2 between Monday and today, let the mod sync as normal, and the malicious file should be deleted automatically. Please still scan your system with an anti-malware program like Windows Defender.
  
• If you have played using the affected version, please check your local files. If you have any malicious files installed, you will find them here; %AppData%\LocalLow\Colossal Order\Cities Skylines II\.cache\Mods\mods_subscribed\80095_13.
  
• Note that it is only specifically the 80095_13 folder that will contain malicious files; if you do not see this folder, you do not have the compromised version of the mod.
  
• If you do locate this folder, use an antivirus or antimalware program to quarantine it and/or remove it from your system, and run a thorough scan of your drives.
  
• As a precaution, we recommend changing your passwords.
  

We are working on the following steps to ensure you can enjoy our mods safely and securely:

• We will be going through all files uploaded to Paradox Mods and see if any other mods have had unexpected updates.
  
• We have contacted the modder whose mod was compromised and discussed our recommended steps to secure their account. They have updated Traffic to a safe version, so anyone playing with version v.0.2.4 is playing with a safe version.
  
• Paradox Mods will receive an update that notifies modders when their mods have been updated so that creators are quickly alerted to changes they have not personally made.
  

Sharing creative game content is at the heart of our community at Paradox, and we will continue to ensure you can explore mods safely.

As an important reminder, do not share your account information or passwords with anyone; we will never directly ask for your password or personal information.

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Update added on 2024-11-01:

We are still working to determine the nature of the malicious file that was added to the “Traffic” mod. As a rule, all mods uploaded to Paradox mods have always been run through a virus scan as a general precaution. We are hard at work to secure our platform against further issues.

Since our original alert, we have taken the following steps to ensure the safety of our community:

• We have conducted a specific, thorough scan of other files on the Paradox Mods platform for this malicious file, and no other mods appear to have it.
  
• We have worked in close cooperation with the author of the affected Mod “Traffic” to ensure their account is secure and no further tampering should occur with their work.
  
• We have engaged a team of IT experts to analyze the malicious file and better understand any current and subsequent risks it may pose.
  
• 
  

As of now, the precautions we suggested in our original statement are still suggested in order to protect your system. Cities: Skylines II should be perfectly safe to play, and will not put you at further risk. We will issue further updates when our security experts have finished their thorough analysis.

There is a potential security issue that has affected the “Traffic” mod for Cities: Skylines II. Late Monday evening, an outside actor pushed an update to the mod, which includes a .dll file which we believe is malicious. We have already removed it and the current version as of 2024-10-31 15:35 CET is safe to download and use, but if your mod synced and you played the game using the mod between Monday and then, there is a possibility that you may have the malicious file.

We are working to determine the nature of this .dll, and we will update you as soon as possible. In the meantime, please take the following steps as soon as possible to secure your system:

• If you have not played with the Traffic mod and have not subscribed nor downloaded it, there should be no risk to your system and nothing you need to do.
  
• If you have the Traffic mod and have not played Cities: Skylines 2 between Monday and today, let the mod sync as normal, and the malicious file should be deleted automatically. Please still scan your system with an anti-malware program like Windows Defender.
  
• If you have played using the affected version, please check your local files. If you have any malicious files installed, you will find them here; %localappdata%low\Colossal Order\Cities Skylines II\.cache\Mods\mods_subscribed\ inside the folder 80095_13 Note that it is only specifically the 80095_13 folder that will contain malicious files; if you do not see this folder, you do not have the compromised version of the mod.
  If you do locate this folder, use an antivirus or antimalware program to quarantine it and/or remove it from your system, and run a thorough scan of your drives.
• As a precaution, we recommend changing your passwords.
  

We are working on the following steps to ensure you can enjoy our mods safely and securely:

• We will be going through all files uploaded to Paradox Mods and see if any other mods have had unexpected updates.
  
• We have contacted the modder whose mod was compromised and discussed our recommended steps to secure their account. They have updated Traffic to a safe version, so anyone playing with version v.0.2.4 is playing with a safe version.
  
• Paradox Mods will receive an update that notifies modders when their mods have been updated so that creators are quickly alerted to changes they have not personally made.
  

Sharing creative game content is at the heart of our community at Paradox, and we will continue to ensure you can explore mods safely.

As an important reminder, do not share your account information or passwords with anyone; we will never directly ask for your password or personal information.