Cities: Skylines II News

Hello everyone and welcome back to another development diary. Today we’re sharing our plans for the Editor in Cities: Skylines II. Currently, the game does not include the Editor, but we will update the game post-release to include it as soon as it’s out of beta testing.

From the start, we knew we wanted to include an in-depth editor powerful enough to bring your ideas to life. This time around we have a good sense of what modders and creators may need, based on all the amazing things they created for Cities: Skylines, and our goal is to support that with the new Editor currently being worked on for Cities: Skylines II. We’re developing it in close cooperation with the modding community, and while the tools are something we’ll use internally as well, the goal is to offer you the possibility to create your own content for the game. That’s what the Cities: Skylines experience is really about: Freedom to create!


[h2]ONE EDITOR TO RULE THEM ALL[/h2]
In Cities: Skylines we had several different editors for different functions. If you wanted to create assets you would open the asset editor, and within it, you would select specific categories all bringing you a subset of features. If you wanted to work on a map, you would need a different editor to do that.

In Cities: Skylines II we have one Editor capable of everything. Whether you’re making a new map or creating a new building, you will enter the same Editor. This means you will have a lot of options at your fingertips, which can be a little daunting at first, but it comes with a lot of benefits too.

Your new building doesn’t exist in a flat empty world. You can load a map, place the building in the environment, and place other buildings or roads around it to get a better sense of what it will look like in your city. The same goes for maps. You can place buildings as you’re shaping the landscape to ensure the scale of hills and valleys is how you want them.

Preview your asset in the surroundings you want while adding finishing touches


[h2]ROADMAP[/h2]
The Editor is currently in beta and being tested by our modding beta group, which consists of seasoned modders and asset creators. The Editor will be released in several steps, the first of which will include map creation, asset import, code mods, and sharing those as well as savegames through Paradox Mods.

Creating custom maps in Cities: Skylines II includes what you might expect: Shaping the landscape, setting up water sources for rivers and lakes, painting in natural resources and forests, and setting up the basic outside connections for a city. But map creation also includes setting up the map’s climate, including its temperature variations and weather.

The initial release of the Editor supports the creation of custom buildings with more asset types to be supported in the future. It allows you to import custom .fbx files with a matching set of textures, set up color variations, decorate the asset, and tweak its stats to fit your new asset. You can of course also edit existing assets, giving your favorite building a new look through different color variations and decorations. All the technical information about modeling and texturing assets can be found on the official wiki, which will be updated as more information is available.

Last, but definitely not least, this update will support code modding. We have given a lot of the prominent modders from Cities: Skylines early access to Cities: Skylines II, giving them a chance to get familiar with the game and get inspired to create mods. That said, please remember that the game uses new technology and has a deeper simulation, so mods need to be created from scratch and nothing done earlier for Cities: Skylines can be used as such. We’re very excited to see what the modders create for this time around!

This first update will also enable sharing to Paradox Mods. Here you can share and download custom maps, buildings, and code mods, as well as share your savegame or download other people’s cities to explore. Paradox Mods will be available on all platforms, not just PC, within the limits of each platform. We’ll get into the details of what will be included for console closer to their release.

THE NEXT STEP
Following the release of the Editor our next goal is to expand its capabilities to include more asset types. We want to give you the ability to create your very own vehicles, trees and bushes, as well as the option to import custom citizen models. Both trees and citizens are more complex than their counterparts in Cities: Skylines.

As trees go through a lifecycle in Cities: Skylines II, from saplings to adult trees and eventually to dead trees, custom trees require several models corresponding to each stage of their life. Similarly, citizens go through different life stages which are reflected in their character models changing from children all the way to seniors. We’ll take you behind the scenes of character models in a future development diary which may help potential creators get a sense of what to expect once the Editor supports custom characters.



YOUR FEEDBACK
We have intentionally left our plans for the Editor open-ended. Besides the features we have planned for it, we want to leave room to implement improvements and features that will help you create modding content for Cities: Skylines II. While we of course cannot make any guarantees, we’re excited to hear your feedback and wishes for the Editor, both now and once you get your hands on it.

We’re very interested in hearing about your experience with the editors in Cities: Skylines. Which ones did you use? What worked well? What did you find challenging? And of course, we want to hear about what you would love to create for Cities: Skylines II, whether it’s among the items supported with the initial release of the Editor, something that will be supported down the line, or perhaps something completely different. Let us know in the comments below.

In the next development diary, we take you behind the scenes of Game Balancing, diving into the process and challenges that come with balancing a deep simulation like Cities: Skylines II.

[h2]We've written a new FAQ, this one specifically about Paradox Mods. We're looking forward to you all being able to experience it for the first time when it launches.[/h2]

Will Paradox Mods look different on Cities: Skylines II than on Cities: Skylines (1) or other games that already are on the platform?
We've been planning and working on the Paradox Mods platform for Cities: Skylines II from the very beginning of the development of the game, and will continue after it's release.

The version made for Cities: Skylines 1 was made so that a few hand-selected assets could be used on XBOX, and the idea for Cities: Skylines II is much grander. We want to make the creation, uploading, sharing, and downloading experience as smooth as possible for a community that enjoys modding as much as you do. We will have full freedom to make any changes, improve any feature, and take any suggestions and make them into reality, so when you get your hands on the platform we will be listening eagerly to all your voices!

How will the Paradox Mods as a platform perform on it's release?
As always, performance (download speed) all depends on how many mods the player is running and their size.

If a user has a significant amount of mods and a large portion has received updates when the game is started, it might take some time for those to download.

We are working on optimizing this process to allow for e.g. differential updates (basically meaning that only the new/updated part of the mod will actually be downloaded) and also being able to sync more than one mod at a time (aka parallelized sync).

Will you have to log into Paradox Mods separately from Steam or Microsoft Store?
As long as you have connected your platform (Steam, XBOX, PSN) account with your Paradox account, there is no need to log in separately to Paradox Mods.

Will Cities: Skylines II launch paid mods or Micro-transaction on Paradox Mods?
No. There will not be any paid mods for Cities: Skylines II on Paradox Mods.

How will Paradox Mods handle creations with updates? Do they download as soon as Steam is opened?
When any mod that you're subscribed to has an update it will start downloading and updating automatically once the game is started.

Will you be able to publish copyrighted buildings or copyrighted brands?
You are able to publish anything that you create, but if we receive a cease-and-desist it will be removed. It is the same process as on Steam Workshop.

Will you be able to vote, thumbs up, give stars to creations you like, and what consequences will that have?
You are be able to rate mods with stars from 1-5. This will impact "best" and "highest rating" sort orders.

Will there be any way to link two creations together if one needs the other, like Harmony Mod in Cities: Skylines 1?
Yes. Additionally, if dependencies exist, players will be asked if they wish to add the dependencies as subscriptions as well.

Is there any way to share comments on the page of a creation?
There will be a possibility to display links to common social channels such as Discord, X, YouTube - and Paradox Forum - for each mod. Eventually, a Paradox Forum thread can also be displayed directly with the mod, if the creator chooses to.

Who is handling the moderation of the Paradox Mods assets?
The moderation of Paradox Mods will be handled by Paradox, and all reports that are submitted will go through us. (This is also the case for Steam Workshop, so no change in the process).

How big will the game be when I download it?
The game will be about 50GB at release.

Will we be able to Pre-Load it before release?
No, we will not be able to offer pre-load.

[h2]We've written a new FAQ, this one specifically about Paradox Mods. We're looking forward to you all being able to experience it for the first time when it launches.[/h2]

Will Paradox Mods look different on Cities: Skylines II than on Cities: Skylines (1) or other games that already are on the platform?
We've been planning and working on the Paradox Mods platform for Cities: Skylines II from the very beginning of the development of the game, and will continue after it's release.

The version made for Cities: Skylines 1 was made so that a few hand-selected assets could be used on XBOX, and the idea for Cities: Skylines II is much grander. We want to make the creation, uploading, sharing, and downloading experience as smooth as possible for a community that enjoys modding as much as you do. We will have full freedom to make any changes, improve any feature, and take any suggestions and make them into reality, so when you get your hands on the platform we will be listening eagerly to all your voices!

How will the Paradox Mods as a platform perform on it's release?
As always, performance (download speed) all depends on how many mods the player is running and their size.

If a user has a significant amount of mods and a large portion has received updates when the game is started, it might take some time for those to download.

We are working on optimizing this process to allow for e.g. differential updates (basically meaning that only the new/updated part of the mod will actually be downloaded) and also being able to sync more than one mod at a time (aka parallelized sync).

Will you have to log into Paradox Mods separately from Steam or Microsoft Store?
As long as you have connected your platform (Steam, XBOX, PSN) account with your Paradox account, there is no need to log in separately to Paradox Mods.

Will Cities: Skylines II launch paid mods or Micro-transaction on Paradox Mods?
No. There will not be any paid mods for Cities: Skylines II on Paradox Mods.

How will Paradox Mods handle creations with updates? Do they download as soon as Steam is opened?
When any mod that you're subscribed to has an update it will start downloading and updating automatically once the game is started.

Will you be able to publish copyrighted buildings or copyrighted brands?
You are able to publish anything that you create, but if we receive a cease-and-desist it will be removed. It is the same process as on Steam Workshop.

Will you be able to vote, thumbs up, give stars to creations you like, and what consequences will that have?
You are be able to rate mods with stars from 1-5. This will impact "best" and "highest rating" sort orders.

Will there be any way to link two creations together if one needs the other, like Harmony Mod in Cities: Skylines 1?
Yes. Additionally, if dependencies exist, players will be asked if they wish to add the dependencies as subscriptions as well.

Is there any way to share comments on the page of a creation?
There will be a possibility to display links to common social channels such as Discord, X, YouTube - and Paradox Forum - for each mod. Eventually, a Paradox Forum thread can also be displayed directly with the mod, if the creator chooses to.

Who is handling the moderation of the Paradox Mods assets?
The moderation of Paradox Mods will be handled by Paradox, and all reports that are submitted will go through us. (This is also the case for Steam Workshop, so no change in the process).

How big will the game be when I download it?
The game will be about 50GB at release.

Will we be able to Pre-Load it before release?
No, we will not be able to offer pre-load.

Greetings everyone. We have a new mini-series of development diaries as we count down to the release of Cities: Skylines II. In this series, we take you behind the scenes of development sharing some of our processes and philosophy behind certain features as well as give you a sneak peek at our plans for the future.

To start with, we’re going to talk about modding in Cities: Skylines II. While modding isn’t supported at release, we want to share what modding means to us and how we approach modding support, so you know what to expect. Modding in Cities: Skylines played an important part in making the game a success, so it was obvious to us that Cities: Skylines II also has to be moddable, and we can't wait to see what the modders come up with this time around!


[h2]MODDING IN OUR GAMES[/h2]
Our journey with modding started in a somewhat unexpected way with our first game, Cities in Motion. Back then, we hadn’t initially planned extensive modding support, but as the game used our own technology and was very accessible to players, a modding community grew surrounding the game. While not intentional we soon discovered how much modding can add to a game with players customizing their gameplay experience, creating and sharing content with each other.

We carried that lesson forward to Cities in Motion 2, though it wasn’t until Cities: Skylines that we really realized the full potential of supporting modding. As we were developing the game, we had one of our two programmers focus on creating tools to mod the game. When Cities: Skylines was released, we had a map editor, that let you create your own maps to build cities on, and an asset editor to import custom 3D models to the game. These, along with code mods, could then be shared on the Steam Workshop and downloaded by others. Through the years we expanded the capabilities of the asset editor to include more options, and as map themes and scenarios were added to the game, we included editors to make your very own.

Today, the Cities: Skylines Workshop has over 400,000 mods with everything from maps and themes to buildings and code mods changing the rules of the game. We were absolutely blown away by the creativity and dedication of our modding community, and throughout the game’s lifetime, we have continued to improve how we interact with the modders.

The built-in editor and easy sharing through the Steam Workshop brought more modding opportunities to Cities: Skylines than our previous games had.

CITIES SKYLINES II
When we started developing Cities: Skylines II, we knew we wanted the game to support modding as much as its predecessor did. In 2019, as part of our 10-year anniversary celebration, we invited a group of prominent modders to Tampere to help us determine how we can best support their modding efforts. We introduced them to the features Cities: Skylines II would come to include, as well as the level of detail and realism of its art style. We discussed their experiences modding Cities: Skylines and they provided great feedback on how we could support the community in Cities: Skylines II. As an example, our map creators expressed a wish to be able to create taller mountains and deeper valleys, and as you may have seen from our Maps & Themes development diary, this is possible in Cities: Skylines II.

We support modding to celebrate the community and we want everyone to be able to take part in it. This is the reason why we focus on making sure that the modding tools are available on all possible platforms while respecting the limitations that individual platforms may have. To offer the same content for all the players we have chosen Paradox Mods as our portal for sharing your amazing creations across all platforms.

Access the Editor and Paradox Mods directly from the main menu


[h2]MODDING BETA[/h2]
We have always tried to offer as much support for the modders as possible and the modding beta was created for Cities: Skylines as a part of our efforts. The purpose of this was to ensure the modders could prepare updates for mods that might break with game updates. Having the opportunity to access the upcoming builds prior to release provided them time to familiarize themselves with the changes and work on and test updates to their mods.

As the Cities: Skylines Modding community grew, this group was expanded to include asset creators and its purpose expanded to provide direct feedback on the modding tools. The beta gave us the opportunity to get feedback on the road editor before it was released to the public and have direct conversations with our modders about what improvements to the game’s API would be useful to them.

As the updates for Cities: Skylines have ended the modding beta shifted more towards testing and providing feedback on the modding tools in Cities: Skylines II. Currently, the modding beta is testing the Cities: Skylines II Editor, which we'll dig into in the next development diary.

[h2]MORE MODS FOR EVERYONE[/h2]

We know you have been waiting, and now it's time to share the latest developments regarding modding in Cities: Skylines II.

First and foremost, our in-game editor is currently in its beta phase and will launch shortly after release. While we look forward to unleashing the power of creative modification to all of you, in preparation, we are collaborating with a talented group of creators working behind the scenes - ensuring you'll have amazing mods to dive into on its launch.

While the modding tool will have a basic framework at its inception, we are dedicated to its continuous expansion and enhancement, making it a central focus of our development efforts moving forward. More in-depth details about the editor and its roadmap ahead will be shared shortly - keep an eye out for our dev diaries.

Secondly, we're introducing Paradox Mods as the new mods platform for Cities: Skylines II. One of the core reasons for this is its inclusivity; modding capabilities will be extended to players across platforms - both PC and console - aligning with our commitment to provide as many as possible with the opportunity to modify and enjoy the game.

For console users, this means you will be able to access Asset Mods in the library. Yes, you read that right! We know it is a huge part of the Cities: Skylines experience and we're beyond excited to introduce a solution that makes mods available to everyone. As with all major updates, we are fully aware of the learning curve it might present, but we're committed to providing resources to ensure a smooth transition to Paradox Mods.


[h2]A NOTE ON PERFORMANE AND OUR COMMITMENT TO PLAYERS[/h2]

On another note, we've noticed the concerns raised about Cities: Skylines II performance, especially after our previous statement with raised minimum and recommended specs. As we've always believed in transparency, we'd like to further shed some light on the current state of the build.

Cities: Skylines II is a next-gen title, and naturally, it demands certain hardware requirements. With that said, while our team has worked tirelessly to deliver the best experience possible, we have not achieved the benchmark we targeted.

In light of this, we still think for the long-term of the project, releasing now is the best way forward. We are proud of the unique gameplay and features in Cities: Skylines II, and we genuinely believe that it offers a great experience that you will enjoy.

We will continually improve the game over the coming months, but we also want to manage expectations on performance for the coming release. Our ambition is for Cities: Skylines II to be enjoyed by as many players as possible, and we're committed to ensuring it reaches its full potential.

Thanks for your understanding and continuous support. We're lucky to have a community as passionate and dedicated as you.

[h3]If you have more questions on the topic, please refer to our FAQ here:[/h3]
https://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum/threads/cities-skylines-ii-modding-and-performance-faq.1601872/