Takaoka places its new industrial signature buildings — a dairy house backed against a quay wall, an electronics factory and a chemical plant — dresses warehouse lots with textures and props, then builds a mixed-use riverside district with footpaths, a skate park, Chinese buildings and homes squeezed under a raised highway. At the end, dark-red air pollution over the beach sets up the big decision of the series.
What happens in this episode
Episode 20 of Takaoka fills a few blind spots, and it ends with a problem that changes the course of the series.
How it was built
The farms are working after all
The remote farms from episode 19 now do have employees. Maybe it was a glitch in the last session. There’s a small surplus in some crops, but chicken, oil and ore are still short. A couple of chicken farms go into spots that make sense; one on bad terrain was deleted again.
A dairy house and an electronics factory
Industrial signature buildings had been unlocked. The dairy house goes back-to-back with the rail line against a new quay wall, after levelling a large area. It adds +2 industrial efficiency and +2 citywide export profit. The electronics factory is enormous, and deciding where it belongs was hard. It ended up next to the highway, cut slightly into the mountain. A chemical plant, almost as big, is placed for later. A two-lane one-way road gives access.
Warehouse lots with texture
A tip I recently learned: if you want warehouses without chimneys, be patient and zone small lots of about 2×3. The new concrete surface goes all the way to the corner, with varied textures between lots, dumpsters and props. It took little time, but it looks completely different from the standard Cities: Skylines II industrial area. Simple decoration makes all the difference. A large employee parking lot may follow.
A mixed-use district by the river
The half-island near the highway gets a new mixed-use district. An alley and a small bridge lead in, and a footpath runs along the river, which still flows freely. A burning trash can appeared, and then the first homeless people set up camp on a basketball court the moment I placed it. The district looks like it was built by a single architect: the same benches everywhere, and trash piling up because it hadn’t been collected yet. It’s as realistic as it gets in a game.
The Recolor mod gives the buildings a distinct look, though it didn’t work on every building. Eastern and Southwest US buildings fill the street, and a small Chinatown takes shape with Chinese buildings. The dragon gate wasn’t available yet. Gaps between houses are defined as park areas, palm trees keep it green, and a fenced skate park gives skaters a secluded space. The highway was slightly too low and stuck out of a house, so it was raised, which made room for homes underneath it.
Smog over the beach
Then the pollution map turned dark red over the beach and the new homes. Industry efficiency, the stone mine and maybe even the dairy house were pushing pollution towards the shore. Removing an industrial zone near the beach, replacing it with Japanese low-density businesses and moving the recycling centre made it better, but not enough. The conclusion was clear: the industrial harbour area might have to move altogether. That’s episode 21.
Video chapters
- 00:00Farms working after all, livestock deficit
- 04:27A dairy house against a quay wall
- 09:50Chemical plant and warehouse lots
- 14:36Textures and props change everything
- 19:34A mixed-use district by the river
- 24:46A burning trash can and the first homeless
- 34:05Recolouring and a small Chinatown
- 48:11A skate park and homes under the highway
- 56:46Smog over the beach
Clicking a chapter starts the video above at that point.
FAQ
How do you get warehouses instead of smoky factories?
In my experience, smaller industrial lots — around 2×3 — tend to spawn warehouses without chimneys. Be patient and zone small lots where you want storage buildings.
What do the industrial signature buildings do?
The dairy house, for example, adds +2 industrial efficiency and +2 citywide export profit. The electronics factory produces consumer electronics. They're huge, so plan the space and road access first.
Why did pollution suddenly appear over my beach?
Growing industrial efficiency increases pollution, and the wind carried it from the industrial and mining areas towards the beach. Removing a nearby industrial zone and moving the recycling centre helped a little — the real fix came in the next episode.