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Anyone play Cities: Skylines yet?

Started by Zeffy, March 12, 2015, 10:15:56 AM

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Roadgeekteen

Quote from: jakeroot on June 28, 2021, 12:31:35 PM
Quote from: vdeane on June 27, 2021, 08:34:02 PM
Quote from: Roadgeekteen on June 27, 2021, 07:25:27 PM
Quote from: jakeroot on June 27, 2021, 01:15:43 PM
The mods these days make it good enough that there doesn't need to be C:S2.

There are definitely very good traffic simulator mods. TM:PE is very well coded at this point.
Although if you play the game on console, you can't use mods. Also it can be tedious to look for mods so it would be easier if features were in the base game.
Plus some of the DLCs would be better if they were properly integrated into the base game rather than grafted on.  The fact that they're added in DLC makes for some inelegant implementations (such as snow maps rather than seasons).

Proper seasons would be in my top three most-desired features. But, you can still load saves with snow on or off (thanks to mods), so they've kind of met us halfway. I would also like some integration of mixed-using zoning. I have to fake it now.

Realistically, a lot of key simulation changes that players have expressed interest in, have already been integrated through mods. Could DLCs be better integrated? Possibly, but the mod community is where the action is. Colossal Order is about making games that are fun, and I don't know if deeper DLC integration is going to make games more fun. If anything, the potential is that (a) development times are increased significantly, (b) players experience performance loss from running more complex simulations, and importantly (c) the game becomes too complex. For some, complexity is great. But that added complexity is why the mod community exists. For those who want deep integration, you're never going to get that from DLCs because the market doesn't seem to support that kind of game.

I'm going to avoid discussing consoles beyond this: it's a small fraction of the Skylines market, and games designed for the PC (pretty much every sim and 'tycoon' game ever) are objectively superior on PC for numerous reasons. Console versions of PC games are almost universally half-baked and that's not likely to change.
Mods are why I game on PC more than console.
God-emperor of Alanland, king of all the goats and goat-like creatures

Current Interstate map I am making:

https://www.google.com/maps/d/u/0/edit?hl=en&mid=1PEDVyNb1skhnkPkgXi8JMaaudM2zI-Y&ll=29.05778059819179%2C-82.48856825&z=5


jakeroot

Quote from: Roadgeekteen on June 28, 2021, 01:06:18 PM
Mods are why I game on PC more than console.

And it's exactly why I do as well. Mods just add too much to the game for them to be ignored.

As far as I'm concerned: base Cities: Skylines (with or without DLC) is unplayable.

Scott5114

Quote from: stridentweasel on June 28, 2021, 06:10:44 AM
Quote from: Scott5114 on June 27, 2021, 11:47:11 PM
Kind of depends on the career and how specialized your degree is. Someone with a business degree can probably work in whatever sort of for-profit organization they want.

I don't know.  I have a computer science degree, which is sort of like the a business degree, because it's what you get when you don't know what you want to major in but you want to prove that you're smart.  Most things I've read online say you basically need a civil engineering degree to work in traffic engineering, and nobody will entertain any of the job applications I've put in for traffic engineering assistance jobs.  I haven't had good luck trying to apply for street maintenance jobs, either, although I at least got a couple of interviews.

It's kind of a stretch applying computer science to traffic engineering, though, because traffic engineering requires a specialized skill set. Now if you applied for the IT department at a traffic engineering firm, that might work.

A business degree probably wouldn't get you into an engineering position either, but it would get you into something like human resources, or management, or a number of positions like that which businesses in every industry have.
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johndoe

While I was sort of joking about traffic modeling programs, you could reach out to the manufacturers and see if they offer a student / limited license.  I imagine if you're not using it for profit they may not charge all that much (but I could be wrong).  tradephoric has posted Synchro files before - they may have more info.

Quote from: stridentweasel on June 28, 2021, 06:10:44 AM
Most things I've read online say you basically need a civil engineering degree to work in traffic engineering, and nobody will entertain any of the job applications I've put in for traffic engineering assistance jobs.  I haven't had good luck trying to apply for street maintenance jobs, either, although I at least got a couple of interviews.

Well if I read right upthread you've just started a new gig...so maybe the following isn't worth considering.  But one thing to keep in mind - if you're a roadgeek it'd be a bummer to get a job in the industry and then get burned out on it.  Let's say you hypothetically had a bad boss or terrible assignments- while some people suggest "do what you love" some others think it's best to keep your hobbies fun...don't risk resenting it.

Here's a guess on your past job search: you may be talking to HR people.  See if you can talk to the actual engineers and express your interests/degree to them.  Maybe you can get contacts by reaching out to your local agencies ("hey I noticed this sign isn't clear", "this signal timing could be improved", "when is this road going to be repaved?")  and demonstrate your ability / interest.  I'm surprised that "technician" positions wouldn't exist for folks with a degree like CS... things like IT, traffic counts, ITS devices, CADD technician.  If you're willing to do maintenance (which seems like a whole different animal IMO) to be honest I'm shocked you got turned down.  From what I know there is high turnover in these areas and they are constantly hiring in those departments (at least based on advertisements I hear for nearby DOT).  Have you inquired at private or public entities?  I'd imagine there are more openings and less competition with public places (cities, counties, state DOT).

vdeane

Quote from: johndoe on June 28, 2021, 07:09:29 PM
While I was sort of joking about traffic modeling programs, you could reach out to the manufacturers and see if they offer a student / limited license.  I imagine if you're not using it for profit they may not charge all that much (but I could be wrong).  tradephoric has posted Synchro files before - they may have more info.
There's also the free/open source SUMO: https://www.eclipse.org/sumo/
Please note: All comments here represent my own personal opinion and do not reflect the official position of NYSDOT or its affiliates.

Ned Weasel

Quote from: vdeane on June 29, 2021, 10:12:38 PM
There's also the free/open source SUMO: https://www.eclipse.org/sumo/

Nice, I hadn't heard of this one.  "Open source" is the best pair of words in software language.  I shall give this a try!
"I was raised by a cup of coffee." - Strong Bad imitating Homsar

Disclaimer: Views I express are my own and don't reflect any employer or associated entity.

vdeane

Quote from: stridentweasel on June 30, 2021, 06:33:32 AM
Quote from: vdeane on June 29, 2021, 10:12:38 PM
There's also the free/open source SUMO: https://www.eclipse.org/sumo/

Nice, I hadn't heard of this one.  "Open source" is the best pair of words in software language.  I shall give this a try!
I found out about it when some students at Shenendehowa Middle School used it and gave a presentation to the Bike/Ped Advisory Committee at the local MPO.
Please note: All comments here represent my own personal opinion and do not reflect the official position of NYSDOT or its affiliates.

yand

Here's a city I made with a parallel bicycle road system. Its just a square without much "design" since my primary goal is to just prove the core concept.
Wide shots:
https://youtu.be/PRiXFmSXQDQ
POV videos from various road users:
https://youtu.be/APFh61RTm6w
Discussion video:
https://youtu.be/xfUn7rMLvCo
I make videos for Full Length Interstates. FullLengthInterstates.com redirects to my channel at youtube.com/FullLengthInterstates

CoreySamson

Quote from: johndoe on June 10, 2018, 11:38:01 AM
Bump!  I saw some people talking about the game in the MUT thread and it got me thinking... what if we all did sort of a scenario and compared results?  I'm sure everyone's would look a little different with different mods etc. but it might be a fun exercise.  I enjoy the game and it's been awhile since I played but it gets a little boring IMO without a goal so maybe we could agree on parameters and all give it a shot.  Anyone interested?
I know this post is really old, but this idea sounds extremely fun! Maybe every month we could have a new challenge.

Here's one to get us started, if anyone else wants to join:

- Build a city without any freeways (i.e, Winnipeg) with over 100k people, and see how high of a traffic flow you can get.
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paulthemapguy

If you don't make a transit map for your passenger rail system in your city, did you ever even build a city to begin with?


Transit Map Q by Paul Drives, on Flickr
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Ned Weasel

A thing I did that might be boring, but oh well:

https://youtu.be/KeDmuqiznG4

I honestly think this game has given me a better appreciation for public transit, because I can at least build fantasy cities where it's fast, readily available, and goes where I need it to.
"I was raised by a cup of coffee." - Strong Bad imitating Homsar

Disclaimer: Views I express are my own and don't reflect any employer or associated entity.

Roadgeekteen

If anyone doesn't more the more vehicles mod it's a must.
God-emperor of Alanland, king of all the goats and goat-like creatures

Current Interstate map I am making:

https://www.google.com/maps/d/u/0/edit?hl=en&mid=1PEDVyNb1skhnkPkgXi8JMaaudM2zI-Y&ll=29.05778059819179%2C-82.48856825&z=5

jakeroot

Crosspost:

Quote from: jakeroot on February 02, 2022, 08:58:06 PM
Quote from: tradephoric on February 02, 2022, 03:42:55 PM
YUMBLtv just designed a Michigan Left on Cities Skylines that doesn't require signalized U-turns.  The main issue i see with this design is that all U-turn traffic is dumped onto the left-most lane along the arterial making it difficult to safely merge to enter a close driveway on the right hand side of the road.  Very cool design though.

I've been building Michigan Lefts for years. Rarely signalize the U-turns or even the right turns:


Michigan U-turn Intersection by Jacob Root, on Flickr

edit: smaller road intersecting major road:


Michigan Left Intersection (2) by Jacob Root, on Flickr

DeaconG

Finally broke down and bought my copy after I built a new computer with Win10, I decided to put up with the Steam client after dealing with GOG for two years. Needless to say, now I can see just how nasty a coinkydink it was that Colossal Order pulled down 500K of orders on it's first day-the same day EA shut down Maxis-North (Sim City)...

I'm impressed...and of course, I'm going to pick all of your brains for some sweet highway designing love!
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King Solovar: "And you're a human with wings! Reality holds surprises for everyone!"
-Crisis On Infinite Earths #2

Scott5114

Quote from: Ned Weasel on October 20, 2021, 08:22:04 PM
A thing I did that might be boring, but oh well:

https://youtu.be/KeDmuqiznG4

I honestly think this game has given me a better appreciation for public transit, because I can at least build fantasy cities where it's fast, readily available, and goes where I need it to.

I like the collision that happens at 1:57. And then the damn cops don't even stop to issue a ticket for violating the laws of physics.
uncontrollable freak sardine salad chef

Ned Weasel

Quote from: Scott5114 on February 03, 2022, 08:01:14 PM
I like the collision that happens at 1:57. And then the damn cops don't even stop to issue a ticket for violating the laws of physics.

I've seen weirder things happen, like--  Did you know that if you intersect a pedestrian path with a bicycle path (not roads, just the paths available in the landscaping tools), bicycles will appear out of thin air as pedestrians approach the bicycle path, so the pedestrians can just conveniently hop on the bicycles and use the bicycle path?  I didn't realize the game had that kind of logic(?) until I saw it happen.

As for all the collision comedy, I have to wonder if the game developers decided early on not to implement collision detection, just because their genius AI cars collide way too often.
"I was raised by a cup of coffee." - Strong Bad imitating Homsar

Disclaimer: Views I express are my own and don't reflect any employer or associated entity.

ran4sh

Pedestrians in the game have "pocket cars", so I'm not surprised that they can have pocket bikes too.
Control cities CAN be off the route! Control cities make NO sense if signs end before the city is reached!

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jakeroot

Quote from: Ned Weasel on February 03, 2022, 09:20:42 PM
As for all the collision comedy, I have to wonder if the game developers decided early on not to implement collision detection, just because their genius AI cars collide way too often.

I think it was a pretty conscious choice. This game, despite a lot of opinions towards the contrary, wasn't really meant to be a traffic simulator any more than it was meant to be a downtown commercial district simulator or school simulator, it just seems to have become that.

Based on the hiring of famous modder macsergey, however, we can assume that C:S 2 is likely to have a bit more complication in terms of traffic control and simulation. So maybe *our dreams of a better simulation may come true.

*not really my dream...the mods I use leave me plenty satisfied.

Ned Weasel

Quote from: jakeroot on February 05, 2022, 09:25:18 PM
Based on the hiring of famous modder macsergey, however, we can assume that C:S 2 is likely to have a bit more complication in terms of traffic control and simulation. So maybe *our dreams of a better simulation may come true.

My biggest gripe by far is that you can't simply end a highway lane and have the other lanes continue straight.  You can sort of end a lane with an exit ramp, but then you have to curve the mainline for the other lanes if you want them to line up at all.  This should be easy to fix.

Quote
*not really my dream...the mods I use leave me plenty satisfied.

And yeah, the above issue can probably be fixed with mods, but I honestly don't like fussing with mods when I just want to fill up 81-tile maps with crazy-big cityscapes.
"I was raised by a cup of coffee." - Strong Bad imitating Homsar

Disclaimer: Views I express are my own and don't reflect any employer or associated entity.

MikeTheActuary

Quote from: Ned Weasel on February 06, 2022, 11:24:13 AM
My biggest gripe by far is that you can't simply end a highway lane and have the other lanes continue straight.  You can sort of end a lane with an exit ramp, but then you have to curve the mainline for the other lanes if you want them to line up at all.  This should be easy to fix.

It is, if you have the Node Controller mod.   Among other things, you can use it to select one side of the roadway to be aligned, as well as to allow nodes to be "sloped" (as opposed to the game's tendency to create little plateaus at nodes under certain circumstances).

jakeroot

Quote from: Ned Weasel on February 06, 2022, 11:24:13 AM
Quote from: jakeroot on February 05, 2022, 09:25:18 PM
Based on the hiring of famous modder macsergey, however, we can assume that C:S 2 is likely to have a bit more complication in terms of traffic control and simulation. So maybe *our dreams of a better simulation may come true.

My biggest gripe by far is that you can't simply end a highway lane and have the other lanes continue straight.  You can sort of end a lane with an exit ramp, but then you have to curve the mainline for the other lanes if you want them to line up at all.  This should be easy to fix.

Not sure I understanding, something like this? This used to be difficult but not anymore.


New freeway by Jacob Root, on Flickr

Ned Weasel

#421
Quote from: MikeTheActuary on February 06, 2022, 11:33:06 AM
It is, if you have the Node Controller mod.   Among other things, you can use it to select one side of the roadway to be aligned, as well as to allow nodes to be "sloped" (as opposed to the game's tendency to create little plateaus at nodes under certain circumstances).

Good to know!

Quote from: jakeroot on February 06, 2022, 11:57:45 AM
Not sure I understanding, something like this? This used to be difficult but not anymore.

Yes.

I might give Node Controller a try one of these days.  Honestly, though, making lanes line up is something so basic and fundamental to road-building that I can't believe the game developers didn't include it, and I really hope they fix that in CS2 or an eventual DLC.

EDIT:

It might help if I give a visual example of what I hate about the game's default behavior.



See the way two lanes merge into one?  That's technically okay, as it's a zipper merge, and this is sometimes implemented in the real world, even though it's not always the most desirable solution.  But, see the way three lanes become two?  I can't think of anywhere in the universe where that is okay.
"I was raised by a cup of coffee." - Strong Bad imitating Homsar

Disclaimer: Views I express are my own and don't reflect any employer or associated entity.

vdeane

And the stock ramp merges too... it seems that Cities: Skylines doesn't differentiate highways from regular roads when it comes to ramp merges, changes in road type, etc. - everything is an "intersection" and treated exactly the same when the game engine renders graphics.
Please note: All comments here represent my own personal opinion and do not reflect the official position of NYSDOT or its affiliates.

jakeroot

#423
Quote from: Ned Weasel on February 06, 2022, 12:41:30 PM
I might give Node Controller a try one of these days.  Honestly, though, making lanes line up is something so basic and fundamental to road-building that I can't believe the game developers didn't include it, and I really hope they fix that in CS2 or an eventual DLC.

First, I disagree. Freeways are more of an exception; in real life, it's not uncommon for roads to be widened equally on either side, have a slight jog when the road widens, and a constant center line (example). When freeways are widened, yes, the inside shoulder is generally a constant and the widening occurs on the right, but for surface roads, the rule is substantially more fluid. Because of the game mechanics, it's difficult to implement one rule for highways and one rule for everything else, especially when roads are drawn based on a node-and-segment design whereby the roads are always centered on the segment upon which it is drawn.

Second...why do these features need to be in the base game? The features exist today and have a better implementation and more features than any video game developer would ever include, since those developers would have to dumb it down to work for everyone:

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2462845270 (Node Controller)
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2556133736 (Network Multitool)
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2159934925 (Intersection Marking Tool)

Mods have been an essential part of city builder games for as long as they've been around; they are still making mods and addons for SimCity 4, almost twenty years on, as the developers were basically forced to walk away from the game as it had become a bit too complex. Mods exist for those who want to further complicate the game beyond how it ships; this is the case for almost every game, ever.

Before anyone says "mods aren't ideal solutions", the modding community as it exists for C:S is extremely good: developers are given beta access to game updates to prepare updates to the mods; mods are automatically kept up to date; they are easily sorted, removed, and added; mods are largely open-source so they can be kept up to date when a modder leaves the community...it's just a better experience than any game before it.

Scott5114

Are mods available to every platform the game exists on, though? The only recent game I'm involved with that has an active/somewhat dev-sanctioned modding community is Stardew Valley, and with that game, mods are available on PC only. If we want to play with a mod, we're out of luck, since we play it on the Switch. (Fortunately, Eric Barone has been very responsive to community input as to what goes into base Stardew Valley, so that it's not like you miss out on anything playing it without mods, but it kind of sounds like that's not the case with Cities: Skylines.)
uncontrollable freak sardine salad chef



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