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CO Word of the Week #15

Let’s discuss the status of the modding support today. The Editor has been in the works and we have shared versions of it with a closed group of a few selected modders for feedback. We are very fortunate to have this dedicated group of people eager to try experimental solutions and voice their opinions on them. Their feedback helps us understand how tools are used and how we can improve them. We have been surprised by the modders so many times in Cities in Motion and Cities: Skylines that we have stopped trying to guess what you might want to do or achieve. It’s much more helpful for us to just ask directly how to support those efforts instead.

Collaboration with the closed group has been going on behind the scenes for months now. Together, we have put a lot of effort towards the beta version of the modding tools, and we really can’t wait to share them with you! We believe modding is a pivotal part of the experience with a Cities: Skylines game and we want to encourage everyone to be as creative as possible.

As we’re preparing for the public release with support for Code Modding and the Map Editor, Paradox is running a broader Early Access for modders and creators chosen from the sign-up earlier this year. This gives creators the early opportunity to give the team direct feedback on using Paradox Mods, the new Modding Toolchain, and the Map Editor. We’re looking forward to seeing their feedback, and having the first Code Mods, Maps, and Savegames uploaded to the platform and ready for you on its release! This is all to support the quest of making sure we have a robust start when the tools are released, and this is a good opportunity to test Paradox Mods as well. We’ll be sharing more information on each part: Paradox Mods, Code Modding, and Map Editing later on so you’ll know what to expect.

I would like to emphasize again that there is still a lot of work still to be done: Asset editing is not in a shape or form to be used as-is. We’ll still need more time to make importing the assets work. The Region Packs teased at the end of last year are bundles of assets of varying sizes and content made by some of your favorite creators from the community. These assets rely on us finalizing the asset editor to a point where we are happy that the import pipeline and saving will be in a future-proof state. This is an ongoing effort, alongside improving the Code Modding and Map Editing based on the feedback we’ll receive from the Early Access and eventually from all of you. We have dedicated devs working on the modding support, eager to tackle bugs and implement improvements, so we’ll keep patching the tools throughout the public Beta phase until we have Modding 1.0 available. Naturally, the work will continue even past that as we receive more feedback and suggestions from you.

The creators and modders of Cities: Skylines brought so much cool and innovative content to the game, and we can’t wait to see what you come up with for Cities: Skylines II. There are already some exciting mods and beautiful maps out there (yes, we see you!) and it will be very exciting to see what you create with the added support!

Sincerely,
Mariina
 
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KyoLo the major said:
Please please CO, I beg you this Monday please release a wotw with actual positive information, we are dying out here waiting for you! "Help me, you're my only hope"
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Sometimes there just isn't news. Which is why I suppose they tried to stop the WOTWs to begin with. The Hearts of Iron IV devs do the same thing, they start dev diaries when they have something to actually show the players, because filler content wasn't well received.
I'm sure CO is trucking along, but they have a hugely ambitious simulation to fix. That said, it is weird that bugs that have been easily addressed by modders haven't been fixed by the devs and patched out. Especially since this is something the devs must know players find irritating. I remember one of the reasons I quit playing War Thunder was how annoyed I was that very simple bugs weren't fixed (like stupid language mistakes and tanks spawning in facing the wrong way, or facing some obstacle). There were other reasons, too, of course, but that definitely contributed.
 
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safe-keeper said:
Sometimes there just isn't news. Which is why I suppose they tried to stop the WOTWs to begin with. The Hearts of Iron IV devs do the same thing, they start dev diaries when they have something to actually show the players, because filler content wasn't well received.
I'm sure CO is trucking along, but they have a hugely ambitious simulation to fix. That said, it is weird that bugs that have been easily addressed by modders haven't been fixed by the devs and patched out. Especially since this is something the devs must know players find irritating. I remember one of the reasons I quit playing War Thunder was how annoyed I was that very simple bugs weren't fixed (like stupid language mistakes and tanks spawning in facing the wrong way, or facing some obstacle). There were other reasons, too, of course, but that definitely contributed.
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I don't buy it that there isn't any news. News doesn't have to be a major milestone or an announcement for a feature or change, it can be as much as a progress update or even a behind-the-scenes peek at what's going on. I think most fans would be at least somewhat satisfied if they knew the details of what the developers are working on; something concrete that could give them hope about the game's future, and also maybe show off the skills of the developers in the meantime.

Why not share some of the challenges the developers faced during the week? What the various teams are working on? Some of the bugs they've encountered? The little victories they've achieved over the last week? Not only does this give fans of the game a better understanding of the development process, but it also helps humanize the team more. Right now, so much of the communication has been corporate in nature that the dev team is a black box. That doesn't encourage support or promote empathy and understanding.

And, at this point, what's to lose by doing this? The game is already out. If the rationale is to keep things as private as possible because it might impact marketing and sales, well, it doesn't really feel like that should matter right now. In fact, it feels like the opposite; by keeping things so opaque it's having the unintended consequence of causing people to lose faith in the game's future. Enough so that you have threads here and elsewhere talking about the game's sustainability. Would seem to me that the strategy needs to be changed, that the current way of doing things isn't getting results, and that silence or absence cannot be the best alternative.
 
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Derigin said:
by keeping things so opaque it's having the unintended consequence of causing people to lose faith in the game's future.
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What's causing people to lose faith in the game's future is how few the game was improved since last year. Making weekly documentaries about the team won't change anything. At this point, corporate communication can only fan the flames. What the customers want to hear from them is like: "next friday, a patch will fix such and such bug while we achieved to cut 20% of the CPU usage and finally we added such or such editor". Or "let's face it, we're completely overwhelmed and we have no idea how to get out of this mess. So don't hold your breath."
 
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Wish people would go easy on the devs. They're building something that's never been done before with a small team. Yes they were ambitious, yes they missed deadlines and targets, but they're trailblazers and they're building a platform that should serve us for the next 10 years. Be kind. They're doing their best, and being as transparent as possible.
 
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Until mod support is ready, it would be nice to play the base game at least. There are so many issues that need to be fixed that I can’t even do that. Land value, demand, unoccupied and/or abandoned buildings, passenger loading, moving cargo around, traffic lights, buses not respecting routes, too many dogs, empty parks, empty parking lots, building rail bridges, color noise on vehicles, “no pedestrian access” errors, rebuilding damaged buildings, productions and export calculations and the list could go on.
What good is a mod when so many things are flawed?! After lvl 5 or so, everything you build and do it’s because a miscalculated demand. So much disappointment and frustration! The game shortcut on my desktop sits untouched for weeks.
 
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blendmode said:
Until mod support is ready, it would be nice to play the base game at least. There are so many issues that need to be fixed that I can’t even do that. Land value, demand, unoccupied and/or abandoned buildings, passenger loading, moving cargo around, traffic lights, buses not respecting routes, too many dogs, empty parks, empty parking lots, building rail bridges, color noise on vehicles, “no pedestrian access” errors, rebuilding damaged buildings, productions and export calculations and the list could go on.
What good is a mod when so many things are flawed?! After lvl 5 or so, everything you build and do it’s because a miscalculated demand. So much disappointment and frustration! The game shortcut on my desktop sits untouched for weeks.
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Code mods are literally game changing.
 
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I mean, there should definitely be something to say. People hanging around here still... are your true fans I suppose (I still am)? It may not sound that way all the time, but text shouldn't scare you. You could enlighten us with just some feedback. I expect you could work on fixing the game AND communicate. We, "city builders," like planning and structure ;)
 
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I think that regardless of what they say - barring an announcement that the major bugs are solved and the product is now as it was advertised - the fanbase is going to be grumpy.

Heck, at this point, other than the occasional remark, I dont even put too much thought into what's going on with Cities 2. I still play it, but it's not the same, and at this point feels more like just waiting for something better/different to come along that tickles the same fancy.

Now it's just a waiting game - what will happen first - will CO fix their product and redeem themselves, or will another developer come along and deliver something the community wants?
 
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