Colossal Order has rolled out a fresh update for Cities: Skylines 2 that brings in some significant tweaks to the simulation mechanics, including adjustments to how citizens look for jobs and the way garbage accumulates in the city. This update doesn’t stop there; it also tackles frame rate issues that were previously caused by custom climates and makes a slew of user interface enhancements to boost overall gameplay, largely based on what the players have been saying.
Being a highly detailed city-building game, Cities: Skylines 2 constantly evolves through updates and patches, reflecting the changing needs and feedback of its player base. This dedication to improvement was evident when Paradox Interactive had to swiftly address a malware issue in the popular Cities: Skylines 2 Traffic mod. Now, with this latest patch, the developers are once again fine-tuning the gaming experience.
The new changes introduced are tailored to amp up the realism in the city simulation. For instance, the mechanics of job-seeking among citizens have been refined for better accuracy. Meanwhile, the garbage accumulation in buildings like the Post Sorting Facility and various power plants has been decreased. Additionally, colleges and universities can now accommodate more students, and there’s now a unique feature called "University Interest" associated with the Radio Telescope Research Center.
Among the noteworthy enhancements is the fix for lag issues when players used custom climates on their custom maps. Prior to this update, players often experienced slow performance with such settings, but now map creators can modify climate settings without these setbacks. Should a custom climate file be absent, the game will default to a standard climate to avoid crashes or slowdowns.
User interface improvements also form a crucial part of this patch. Feedback-driven changes include better color contrast in infoviews, refined citizen tracking in the lifepath panel, and adjustments to tool modes to accommodate various languages and screen scaling preferences. This should ensure a more seamless experience across different user settings. Moreover, for mod enthusiasts, this update has introduced new measures to guarantee compatibility and ease when working with custom climate features on shared maps.
Colossal Order stays committed to enhancing Cities: Skylines 2 and invites players to continue reporting any issues via the game’s forum. These updates are part of the developer’s ongoing mission to deliver a stable and captivating city-building adventure.
Cities: Skylines 2 New Update Patch Notes
Gameplay Fixes & Improvements
Citizens’ job-seeking calculations have been streamlined, and garbage accumulation values for particular buildings, such as the Coal Power Plant and the International Airport, have been reduced. Institutions like colleges and universities now hold more students, and a new "University Interest" effect enriches the Radio Telescope Research Center. Additional fixes cover various crashes and errors, such as those occurring when dealing with certain road segments.
UI Fixes & Improvements
The user interface has seen various improvements, such as enhanced colors for better visibility, minor performance upgrades in tooltips, as well as several adjustments to input actions and controller hints. Audio issues have been rectified as well.
Modding Changes
Safety protocols have been established to ensure maps revert to a default climate in the absence of custom climate files, preventing lag and visual disruptions in shared maps. Issues with the sharing of custom climates and starting tile selection in the Editor have been resolved.
Known Issues & Tips
Currently, a known issue is that hotels may report "Not enough customers" even when rooms are fully booked due to a slow usage rate of the "Lodging" resource. The team is aware and working towards a fix.
Cities: Skylines 2, released on October 24, 2023, under the capable hands of Colossal Order and powered by the Unity engine, continues to draw strong reviews, reflecting its engaging and detailed city-building mechanics.
