The industrial area needed a better highway link without destroying two secluded neighbourhoods. Fair Banks County tries an inner-city tunnel under the elementary school (the tunnel portals looked wrong), widens a road to four lanes with tight complex curves, moves the recycling centre, builds a small bridge and connects the highways — and the evening jam turns out to be just rush hour.
What happens in this episode
The new ramp and roundabout from episode 22 connect the incoming highway with the one down to the industry and the secondary downtown. But the large industrial area still needs a better highway connection. Two residential areas sit in the way, and I didn’t want to destroy them, because they feel secluded and should stay that way.
How it was built
A tunnel under the school
Reshaping the slope gave me an idea: a small inner-city tunnel under the elementary school. The first tunnel portals made no sense visually. Tunnels looked much better in the first game. So they were deleted and the approach changed.
Four lanes and tight curves
In the end a few houses had to go. The roundabout from the last episode had to stay intact, so the road is widened to four lanes and threaded through with the complex curve tool: a tight curve, a steep section and no left turns via lane management. I may have underestimated that people want to go places other than the highway, but it had to be tried.
Moving the recycling centre
The connection was too close to the recycling centre, so it moved. A small roundabout was tried and dropped, the highway stretch was connected directly, and a small bridge carries one road over another. It’s better, but the industrial area still isn’t perfectly connected.
Rain and rush hour
When it rains, the game slows down noticeably, not the frame rate but the simulation itself. The new link is used more than expected. The extra traffic was just the evening rush home from work. In the long run an extra one-way off- and on-ramp may help.
At this point, money played no role anymore. Past a certain threshold in Cities: Skylines II there’s no micromanaging, and it becomes pure city design without objectives. Chasing milestone titles doesn’t motivate me, but improving the city does.
Video chapters
- 00:00Linking the industry without losing homes
- 04:24A tunnel under the school — and odd portals
- 10:59Four lanes and tight curves
- 15:10Moving the recycling centre
- 19:20A small bridge, rain and performance
- 24:36Rush hour and money that no longer matters
Clicking a chapter starts the video above at that point.
FAQ
Why do tunnel entrances look odd in Cities: Skylines 2?
The portals often don't line up with the terrain the way they did in the first game. I deleted my first attempt and reshaped the slope before placing the tunnel again.
Does rain affect performance in Cities: Skylines 2?
In my experience the simulation slowed down noticeably when it rained, even though the frame rate stayed the same.
Does money matter late in Cities: Skylines 2?
Not much. After a certain threshold I stopped thinking about money at all — which takes away micromanagement and turns the game into pure city design.