• We have updated our Community Code of Conduct. Please read through the new rules for the forum that are an integral part of Paradox Interactive’s User Agreement.

Hello there, city-builders! It's time to talk about what the academic year is, what kind of events happen during it and also take a look at the very special campus unique buildings, the faculties.

The academic year is an integral part of education and in Cities: Skylines - Campus we have also included it as part of the campus life. Most of the action happens during the year and the results can be seen in a special Academic Year Report that is published after every academic year coinciding with the graduation ceremony.
dev_diary_03_graduation_ceremony_animation_v2.gif

Academic Year
Academic year represents the time span, 40-week long cycle, after which students graduate and new academic works are created. At the end of the academic year the campus holds a graduation ceremony and the player is presented with the Academic Year Report listing all the things achieved by students and varsity sports team as well as all the events that happened during the year. During the academic year the player is able to hire academic staff to increase the odds of creating Academic Works at the end of the year and the earlier the staff is hired, the higher the chances are to create Academic Works. The academic year progress bar can be seen in the Campus Info panel. When the year ends and if the player has built a Commencement Office on campus grounds, a visible graduation ceremony is held on the building lot. After reading through the Academic Year Report, you are able to take a look at students throwing their academic caps in air in celebration of receiving their degrees. If your city has multiple campuses the academic year cycle synchronizes with the first one.

Academic Year Report
Academic Year Report collects all the details of the previous academic year. Here you can see how the student amount changed, how campus attractiveness was affected by your campus management choices and how many Academic Works were created. Also, reputation change is recorded here also, the report showing the current reputation level as well as the previous level.
dev_diary_03_academic_year_report_v4.png

Academic Year Report lists details about the school year, such as student numbers and Academic Works created.

All of the Academic Works that were created at the end of the academic year are listed below the basic statistics with icons for which categories they belong to as well as a description of what the works are.

If your campus varsity sports team has been successful during the year and won most of its matches, it'll get a trophy at the end of the year. These trophies are also recorded in the Academic Year Report per sport type. Each trophy gives a campus attractiveness boost that lasts for the next two years.

School events
During and after the academic year, there are several events happening on campus. Most visible, of course, is the graduation ceremony where students receive their degrees after years of hard study and to massive student loans. After you receive the Academic Year Report, head over to the Commencement Office building and take a look at the plucky young people, ready to face whatever the world throws at them!
dev_diary_03_graduation_ceremony.png

A group of students receiving their degrees during the graduation ceremony held in front of the Commencement Office.

What would the Greek life be without the appropriate parties, right? So, get the linen cloth ready for some fabulous toga party fun! Every now and then the students on campus hold toga parties, turning the the school into a campus-wide party zone. You can see people walking in togas around campus. Of course, some side effects might occur such as trashed campus flowerbeds, broken bottles and egged buildings and thus making the campus groundskeeping crew work extra hours increasing campus upkeep for the duration. But in the end it's all harmless fun so party on!

If your campus has invested in varsity sports arenas, you can host varsity league matches where your team competes against other varsity teams from other cities. In addition to hosting home matches in your own arenas, your team will also travel outside your city and play in away matches. When hosting matches it's good to make sure that road connections to the arenas are in excellent order so that visitors can travel to the matches with ease and cheer the home team to victory. The more people that visit the arenas on varsity sports match days, the higher the chances for victory are.

Unique Faculties
Faculties are a new type of unique building. These massive education facilities are divided into three campus types, each reflecting the nature of its campus. They represent the various academic majors in the world of education and are each visually distinct from each other.

Trade School faculties include the Police Academy, School of Tourism and Travel and School of Engineering.
dev_diary_03_trade_pol.png dev_diary_03_trade_tou.png dev_diary_03_trade_eng.png
Trade School faculties: Police Academy, School of Tourism and Travel and School of Engineering.

Liberal Arts College steers more towards humanities with its faculties. These include School of Education, School of Environmental Studies and School of Economics.
dev_diary_03_lib_edu.png dev_diary_03_lib_env.png dev_diary_03_lib_eco.png
Liberal Arts College faculties: School of Education, School of Environment Studies and School of Economics.

University faculties focus on bettering the society as a whole, decreasing crime with School of Law, influencing citizen healthcare with School of Medicine and pushing technology forward with School of Science.
dev_diary_03_uni_law.png dev_diary_03_uni_med.png dev_diary_03_uni_sci.png
University faculties: School of Law, School of Medicine and School of Science.

Faculties are campus buildings first and foremost. They function as an education building similar to other campus educational building but also increase campus attractiveness. Their most special feature, however, is the city-wide faculty bonus they give when built. Each faculty influences one aspect of the city management, from boosting education to affecting crime and increasing income from various zones and more. Faculties are large and expensive buildings but due to their bonuses, definitely worth investing in. They are also visually grand and elevate any campus area to new heights when built.

So, what do you guys think about the academic year and the unique faculties? The bonuses are quite powerful and can really affect the city in a positive way but to unlock them requires work and their upkeep balances the boost they give. Do you have any favorite faculties so far? Write down below and keep the discussion going!

See you next time, city-builders!

Colossal Order dev team
 
It's not a common practice in France and I personnaly find that ridiculous. But that's personal taste and that's why I hope a Campus can be efficient without this building and the ceremony which come along.
 
It's not a common practice in France and I personnaly find that ridiculous. But that's personal taste and that's why I hope a Campus can be efficient without this building and the ceremony which come along.

Hmm, that's actually interesting, I thought it was a thing throughout the entire Western world.

You learn something new every day.
 
The only schools with graduation ceremonies are private and/or willing to mimic a US thing because, and I don't know why, people think it's cool. Public universities traditionally never organize graduation ceremonies (except perhaps for the highest diploma such as Doctorat), with some exceptions for diploma that are not part of the public education system. But 90% of the french students will never have one.
I have a Master and never heard anyone suggesting that a graduation ceremony whoud have been a good idea.

I think it's simply that the graduation do not have, in France, the same symbolic value it has in other countries like US or Great Britain. A diploma is a diploma, it's not a ritual which let you enter in a new era. However, it seems to happen more and more, probably because students WANT to be like the fictional characters they see on television.o_O

When I think about it, perhaps there is a way with the building maker to use another building as Commencement Office and get ride of the animation. Will look about that after the release.
 
It's not a common practice in France and I personnaly find that ridiculous. But that's personal taste and that's why I hope a Campus can be efficient without this building and the ceremony which come along.

Am also from France, and I like the idea in game even it isn't a common thing here, some cool animations can't be bad. :)
At worse, don't watch it :)
 
Like I said, that's personal taste. I just don't want to have that kind of thing in my city. if I can erase the whole thing by creating a replacement building in the modding tool, I will be happy.:D