I think we're entering a new epoch with Cities Skylines 2. Last year and for the first half of 2024, Colossal Order's city-building sequel was struggling. Fan sentiment was resentful, performance issues were still happening, and the simulation, especially with regards to the in-game financials, was uneven. The gigantic Economy Patch marked a turning point – the Cities Skylines 2 comeback has started – but CO isn't resting. In a new update, the developer provides transformative changes to wages, roundabouts, and buildings, while also delivering free material to all players. I'm ever more hopeful that CS2 can become the game we always wanted.
The new city building game, named the Detailer's Patch, fixes this problem also.
But what of the all-important roundabouts? In the original Cities Skylines, without mods, you had to build roughshod versions of these yourselves – one of the biggest and most welcome changes in CS2 is the addition of prefab roundabouts that alleviate the majority of your small-road traffic problems. But they look a little drab and, no matter where they're placed, they're always the same. Not any more. The new patch adds zoneable roundabouts as well as eight different decorative objects that you can use to customize them.
As the name of the patch betrays, there's a considerable focus here on fine tuning and aesthetic perfection. After placing trees, you can now manually age them, to create a differentiated, autumnal look in certain parts of your city. Similarly, there are two new concrete, sand, pavement, and grass surfaces (that's two each), and three new tile surfaces.
And there's a whole lot of free stuff. All told, Colossal Order has added 27 fresh variations on service buildings including new police stations, post offices, water towers, parks, and parking lots. There are also new service vehicles. The garbage truck, snowplow, enger train, and front-driving train engine all have new models and liveries, available to every Cities Skylines 2 player for free. The Paradox Mods platform has also been updated and there are numerous intricate changes to the CS2 UI.
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