Takaoka's farms were sitting on top of a large oil deposit, so the whole farming district is demolished and rebuilt: two-lane roads instead of country lanes, a small bridge, oil extraction where the fields were, a stone quarry, individually placed Japanese houses, an extra on- and off-ramp for trucks — and a city that passes 50,000 residents.
What happens in this episode
The industrial harbour isn’t completely finished, but episode 9 of Takaoka turns to the farming district, which got a cargo terminal in episode 8. A look at the natural resources view showed a problem: a large oil deposit lies right under the farms. As long as the fields are there, the oil is out of reach.
How it was built
Tearing down the farms
All farms are demolished and the layout is restructured. The narrow country roads become standard two-lane roads, a small bridge goes in, and Move It nudges a node closer. Some homes had to be rebuilt because the wider roads cut into them. The whole area is flattened for smooth access to the future oil industry, a stone quarry goes on the other side, and new farms are laid out around them.
Some patches are left open on purpose for Japanese low-density houses, placed one by one instead of filling the space with zoning.
Schools, services and complaints
The education view showed far too few elementary schools again, and they’re still too big to place easily. Residents dislike police, industry dislikes fire stations, and a medical clinic doesn’t impress anyone, but the city needs them. A second road maintenance depot goes in for the outskirts.
Where’s specialised industry?
What I miss most here: being able to choose what kind of industry a zone produces. I felt bad putting general industry in a farming area instead of food processing or woodworking. Specialised industry areas only define the resource. A district setting for industry type seems like an easy win for realism.
Stone, decoration and a new ramp
A stone quarry fills a gap in production. Mining matters from the start, because a city needs stone to build. After a decoration speed run on the homes, a new on- and off-ramp gives trucks a convenient way back onto the highway towards the industrial harbour. It became a cloverleaf, not my best, because it had to cross the rail lines from the rail yard. Pedestrian crossings at the highway ends go, because they only cause congestion. A road that looked sunken turned out to be a bridge, a small mistake of mine. Low-rent housing and mixed residential-commercial zones fill the space around it.
Production and 50,000 people
The oil plants are growing (level 2 of 5), producing 5.9 tonnes a month with a surplus everywhere except oil. Stone is fully covered, and coal and metals are next. Some crossings near the industry are getting busy, which will need better lane management later. Takaoka passed 50,000 residents a while ago. Income is good, people are happy, and the extra post offices fixed the mail complaints. Next: the area between the industrial harbour and new residential districts, and a rail connection to the outside world.
Video chapters
- 00:00Farms blocking an oil deposit
- 04:15A new farm layout
- 09:58Japanese homes and too few schools
- 13:58Why specialised industry is missing
- 18:28Stone quarry, decoration and a new ramp
- 38:35A cloverleaf over the rail lines
- 42:52Production stats and 50,000 residents
Clicking a chapter starts the video above at that point.
FAQ
Why can't I extract oil under my farms in Cities: Skylines 2?
The farm fields block the deposit. Check the oil layer in the natural resources view before laying out farms — in Takaoka the farms had to be demolished and rebuilt elsewhere to free the oil.
Can you choose which industry spawns in Cities: Skylines 2?
Not for general industrial zones. Specialised industry areas define the resource (farming, oil, ore, forestry), but you can't tell zoned industry to be, say, food processing. A district setting for that would help realism a lot.
Why build a stone quarry early?
A city needs stone for construction from the start. In Takaoka the quarry closed a gap in production; coal and metals were the next shortages to fix.