Westfield's 40,000 citizens felt far too few for its high-rises, so this episode tries the Realistic Population Revisited mod mid-game. Colossal City arrives quickly, the space per residential unit is tuned, shops run short of workers, and the city gets a new park, four-lane upgrades and parking bans. It started as a test — 'episode 25.1' — but the mod stays.
What happens in this episode
Westfield’s population of about 40,000 didn’t match what the city looks like. With this many high-rise homes and offices, an American or Japanese city of this size would have several hundred thousand people. So I installed Realistic Population Revisited and called this a test, “episode 25.1”, in case I had to uninstall it and go back.
How it was built
Installing and first effects
The mod was active, and after a few in-game minutes people poured in. Colossal City came quickly, and 65,000 is the next milestone. The day-night cycle stays off so viewers can see more, even though I prefer night views. It takes a while for the mod to kick in fully.
Tuning the settings
The default residential space per unit looked far too generous to me, so I lowered it to 700. Side effect: shops and other businesses ran short of workers, because capacities changed. Income came mostly from ore and the IT cluster. Utilities were fine: heating via hot-water pipes, plenty of power and garbage capacity, and health at 90%. Sewage capacity needs work, and leisure was missing in one area.
A new park
A new park area, King Gardens, gets a gate, freeform paths, restrooms, an info booth, gazebos and lots of trees to make it inviting. Student attractiveness rose too.
Four lanes and parking
A congested section turned out to be a one-way left over from the highway upgrade. Residents never like four-lane roads next to their homes, but sometimes you have to. Parking is banned on the circular road, the main road and through-routes, with lane rules to stop late lane changes. A service road with trees leads to a parking lot.
Verdict
The mod didn’t immediately bring the improvement I hoped for, and needs more tweaking, but it stays: this is episode 25, not 25.1. I understand why the developer recommends using it from the start. If you try it, keep a safe save first. My Realistic Population Revisited tutorial explains the settings.
Video chapters
- 00:00Why 40,000 is too few
- 03:11Installing the mod and Colossal City
- 07:08Tuning space per resident
- 10:40Side effects: worker shortages
- 14:03A new park
- 20:44Four-lane upgrades
- 28:03Parking and lane rules
- 31:17Verdict: the mod stays
Clicking a chapter starts the video above at that point.
FAQ
Can I install Realistic Population in an existing city?
Yes — I did it at 40,000 citizens. The developer recommends starting with it, and there are side effects such as businesses short of workers. Save your game first so you can go back.
Does Realistic Population change building capacity?
Yes. Residential and workplace capacity are calculated from floor space. I lowered the residential space per unit to make the numbers feel more realistic.
Why does the population feel too low in Cities: Skylines?
Vanilla capacities are small compared with real high-rises. A city that looks like it holds hundreds of thousands may show only 40,000 residents.