Welcome to this guide to modding cities Skylines for beginners!
If you’ve just bought the game, or finally got tired of playing vanilla, here’s a handy guide on how to get started. Modding this game isn’t a simple matter of plug & play, if you do it wrong or don’t read properly, things will not work and your game may crash. Read on!
- READ THE DESCRIPTIONS.I will say this a thousand times more because mods are NOT plug&play! If you forget a required mod, things won’t work. If you install a broken mod, your game won’t work. If you don’t read how a mod works, things will behave strangely.
If you can’t be bothered to read everything, please leave the workshop. Modding isn’t for you. - Every asset in this game, both vanilla and custom, is loaded into the RAM on level load.
If you have more assets than RAM, your game will crash. This can only be avoided by using fewer assets or buying more RAM.
If you have 6GB RAM or less, you can't use custom assets. If you have 8GB and DLC, you can't use custom assets.Don't complain if you ignore this and your game crashes. The more assets you want to use, the more RAM you need. 12GB is the bare minimum. But 16GB is the minimum recommended.
No, putting them in the Local folder doesn't magically make them not use system resources.
No, having the devs add it to the game does not magically make them not use system resources. - Every game update breaks mods!
You can not continue playing after the game updates. You must wait for the mods to update, and manually keep track of each mod that is and isn't updated. The list of broken/dead mods (see below) usually contains a list of broken mods after a patch, but is by no means definitive nor complete. Manually checking the update date, comments and description of each mod is mandatory. - NEVER DO A SECOND LOAD!Always quit to the desktop between loads!
This is a Unity game. This means you can’t do a second load if you mod the game.
A second-load is loading another map/save when one has been loaded before in the current session, including after quitting to the main menu. The game loads mods in two halves, one part on the Paradox logo, and one part during the loading screen. By loading a second time, the game forces mods to load themselves twice, which causes problems. - Do NOT use the 'Subscribe To All' button on a collection!
This will subscribe to all content, regardless of whether your system can run it, and doesn't check if required mods are included. Don't be the idiot who subs to a 999 item Youtuber collection, then complains his game crashes. - If you disable or unsubscribe from a mod, it may break your save.
Always check if a mod is safe to disable or unsubscribe before doing so! If you disable or unsubscribe an asset, it will disappear from your game and your city. In some cases, this may break your save. Be careful. - If you use mods, the game will probably crash when you use the 'Exit Game' option.
This is completely normal, and nothing to worry about. Some mods prevent you from going to the main menu. This is for your own safety. - Disabling a mod does not fully disable it.
Mods still run code even if they are disabled. Always unsubscribe mods if you don't use or need them, or if you're using a mod that does the same thing. - Mods that do the same thing are always incompatible. Don't use two mods that do the same thing.
This causes conflicts, bugs, errors, and can break your game and/or save. This includes old and new versions of the same mod. - NEVER OVERWRITE A SAVE FILE.ALWAYS make a new save when you save your game.
"Save often and in different slots." The oldest mantra in gaming history. This should be basic common sense, but apparently, it's not.
Make them incremental, so city_1, city_2, city_3, etc. Don't rely on one or two saves, they can become corrupted very easily, and you don't want to lose your entire city just because you only have one save.
- Your system specifications. And an understanding of what they are.
- Sufficient RAM.
- Patience.
- The ability to read.
This mod reduces the amount of RAM used by assets, improves the speed with which the game loads (by anywhere between 20% and 800%, depending on your CPU, RAM, and hard drive), and improves stability. Use the process below to install it.
Vanilla
Vanilla is a software term used to describe the original state of the software.
In the case of video games, this means the game, as it was made by the official developers, without custom content or mods.
DLC made by the official developers is also considered vanilla.
Vanilla Mods are the mods that are made by the official developers that come with the game.
Custom Content
Custom Content is everything for the game made by people who are not the official developers.
There are three main types of custom content:
- Mods
- Assets
- Environment
Mods are snippets of code that alter or add game functionality. These are usually run on the CPU, and can slow down your game depending on how powerful your system is. Mods regularly break with every update, and using the wrong mods can prevent the game from working properly.
Assets
Assets are all the useable content in the game. There are several different types of assets:
- Buildings
Buildings come in various types. The two main types are Growables and Ploppables.- Growable buildings grow in zoned areas, and have a size limit of 4x4 units. They work just like the grown buildings from the vanilla game. People live, work and shop in them as normal. When installed, they will be added to the list of buildings that can grow and appear automatically.
- Ploppables are zone-free buildings, but only function as services, parks or uniques. These are generally bigger than 4x4.
The Ploppable RICO mod adds RICO functionality to ploppable buildings and growables to make them into usable homes, shops, factories and offices. More on that later. - District Styles/Building Themes are text files that mention the name of every asset in that style. They don't contain any assets, you still need to subscribe to the actual buildings.
- Networks
These are roads, walls, tracks, etc. Keep in mind that removing networks from your game may break your save, and networks like roads and tracks are required items for assets that use them. - Props
Props are decoration pieces. This includes everything from benches to advertising signs. Since the Park Life DLC we have access to some of the props, but for most you still need a mod like Find It! - Trees
Trees are what it says on the box: trees, plants, grasses, flowers, bushes, etc. They can be placed via the Landscaping menu.
These are maps, map themes, and LUTs.
- Maps are the world you play on.
- Map Themes are the textures that make up the terrain, such as grass, gravel, dirt and pavement. The heavier the texture, the more RAM and VRAM it uses.
- LUT’s are colour overlays. These are colour filters that change how the game looks. Contrary to popular belief LUTs do not affect system performance, as the game always uses one, even if you select ‘none'. LUT's can be enabled from the in-game Options > Graphics menu.
The Workshop is not the most well-maintained system in the world. (Hah, an understatement.) A lot of content on it is severely outdated and can be considered dead and/or broken.
A dead mod is a mod that has been abandoned. This doesn't necessarily mean that the mod is broken, it may still work. If a game update doesn't change the code the mod relies on, the mod usually isn't broken and doesn't need updating.
A broken mod is a mod that is, as it says, broken. These mods will cause your game to misbehave, throw errors, and/or crash completely.
The following document contains a comprehensive, but nowhere near complete, list of broken/dead mods.
Through the Steam Workshop.
Please note: The Steam Workshop and Simtropolis are the only legitimate sources of custom content. Other sites host stolen content and qualify as piracy. I can not and will not vouch for the safety and functionality of mods and assets acquired on third-party sites. Use at your own risk.
- Step 1: Accessing the Steam Workshop
The safest and most stable way to do this is via the browser.
Make sure you are logged in with your Steam account.
Please note: Do not subscribe/unsubscribe to content whilst the game is running, even on the main menu. This is not safe to do, and it will also reset certain mods. If you use Network Skins or Surface Painter, all modifications made with those mods will be undone.
You can also access the Workshop via the Steam Client and from inside the game. However, the Steam Client is not the most stable at the best of times, and using the Workshop whilst the game is running will reset certain mods and cause instabilities.
- Step 2: Locating mods
When you open the Cities Skylines Workshop, you'll find yourself on the Workshop's front page. There’s a lot of stuff here, so let’s quickly go over the basics.
- Most Popular Items: This gallery is the 9 most upvoted items in the Workshop this week. You can click the title ‘Most Popular Items’ to view a larger list with everything in the workshop sorted by the popularity in the past week.
- The search bar. Use this to search for content. Searches are done in both the title and description.
- This is the top-rated content of all time, some of it might be quite old but retains its place in the rankings. If it is a mod, check if a newer version is available.
- The categories. If you’re looking for a specific type of item, use these to quickly filter. You can also use these when searching.
- Browse. Under the drop-down menu, you will find the Subscribed Items options, which list everything you subscribed to. The page also has a handy ‘Unsubscribe All’ button.
- Step 3: Content page
WARNING: USING THE GREEN + ICON ON THE ASSET PICTURE.
This will bypass all important information and skip the ‘Required Mods’ popup. This might result in you missing important requirements for the item to work.
WARNING 2: USING SUBSCRIBE ALL IN A COLLECTION
Same reason as Warning #1. Also, most collections are either made by people with 64GB RAM, or made to be a catalogue and not meant to be subscribed to completely. If you subscribe to them with anything less than 64GB RAM, your game will simply crash. So don't.
Click on the image of the mod you’d like to use. For the moment, I’ll use one of my own maps.
- The Subscribe button. This will add the item to your Library. Don’t click this until you’ve read the rest.
- Required DLC. This lists the DLC needed to use the content. If you don’t have the DLC, the subscribed asset/mod can’t be activated inside the game.
- Required items. This lists the content required to make the asset/mod function. If you skip a required mod, the asset or mod will not work. Don’t ignore these.
- Linked collections. Some items, such as maps or massive mods, come with a collection of items required to use it. A collection makes it easier to subscribe to these. Creators will also link a collection if the item goes together with other items (like a set of buildings), or to group all of their content together.
- The description. Here comes the reading! This will tell you what the item is, what it does, and how to make it work.
READ THE DESCRIPTIONS!
If you like an asset or mod, give it an upvote!This way you can thank the creator for all the work they put into the item. It also puts it higher up in the Popular list we saw on the front page.
- Step 4: Enabling the content
Once Steam has finished downloading the content, launch the game.
Mods need to be manually enabled before they can be used in the game.
Assets and environment content are enabled by default.
On the Main Menu, select the Content Manager.
This will open the content manager menu. From here you can enable and disable content.
- Content is split into categories. These are pretty self-explanatory.
- Mod name and Creator.
- On/off switch. Toggle this to turn the item on or off.
- Options. This opens the options menu for the mod. Not every mod has settings, and assets don’t have these at all.
- Workshop button. This opens the Workshop page in the Steam Overlay browser.
- Unsubscribe button. Don’t use this. Unsubscribe content from the Workshop page in your browser. Don't leave the game running.
- Step 5: Using the mods
There is no basic guide to using them. Each item is different.
Mods all do their own thing. Read their descriptions for information on what they do and how to access them.
Ploppable buildings are in their respective interface tabs.
Growables will grow automatically.
Props can only be accessed with a mod.
Trees can be found in the Landscaping tab.
Maps can be selected when you start a new city.
Map Themes are also selected when you select a map to start a city on.
LUT's can be selected from the Graphics Options in the in-game Options Menu.
Mod [name] doesn't work.
Did you read the description?
How many assets can I install on [xx]GB RAM?
It depends on the size of the assets. The game runs on the Unity engine, which loads all assets directly into the RAM on game load. so a 60MB train station uses 60MB RAM. A 10KB prop only uses 10KB, and so you can subscribe to a lot more before reaching the limit.
The average rule of thumb for the base game is:
4GB: 0-10 assets
8GB: 100-400 assets
12GB: 400-800 assets
16GB: 800-1200 assets
24GB: 1200-2000 assets
32GB: 2000-2800 assets
64GB: 2800-6000 assets
If you have the Green Cities, Parklife or Industries DLC, reduce the asset count by another 400 each. Each DLC adds about 250-400 assets to the game.
If it crashes on the loading screen, you've got too many. Remove them or buy more RAM.
How much RAM do I need?
It depends. The vanilla base game requires around 4GB. Once you start using DLC and/or assets, you’ll need a lot more. The game with all DLC will need at least 8GB. Custom content requires more. (Yes, this game is very RAM heavy.)
Can I run the game on an IntelHD Integrated GPU?
As listed in the specifications, Cities Skylines does not support Intel Integrated Graphics Cards. It might run, but it won’t run smoothly. Integrated GPU’s are meant for office use. Yes, that includes a Mac.
Steam / The Workshop doesn’t work
Always check https://steamstat.us/ if Steam is having issues.
The Steam Community Servers (which house the Workshop) undergo scheduled maintenance every Tuesday-to-Wednesday night around 00:00 (GMT, London time).
And if there's a Steam Sale, the servers are permanently overloaded. That's normal.
Can't zone on your roads
The mods New Roads For Network Extension 2, and Network Extensions Project, are broken and completely dead.
RECOMMENDED SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS
What kind of hardware do I need to achieve different levels of modding the game?
There are roughly four different levels of playing: Vanilla, Semi-Modded, Mostly-Modded, and Detailer. Each has a very different level of system requirements. I'll be breaking it down by screenshots, so you can get an idea.
Note: I'm going by recommended specs, not minimum requirements. You might be able to do it with less, or might need more. It isn't an exact science, just a rough guideline
Also, I will be using Intel/Nvidia as a baseline, since I'm not familiar enough with AMD's current catalogue. You can find the AMD equivalent of any of these by looking on https://www.userbenchmark.com/
Warning: Integrated graphics chips such as the IntelHD and Intel Iris are NOT Graphics cards, and are not supported. This includes the ones in most Macbooks!
(Image source: Colossal Order)Also known as the basic game without modifications.
The developers recommend the following official specs, which are pretty accurate.
Recommended:
Processor: Intel Core i5-5th gen or higher
Memory: 8 GB RAM
Graphics: nVIDIA GeForce GTX 660, 2 GB (Does not support Intel Integrated Graphics Cards)
This is the base game with a few custom assets and a handful of mods. Still, everything zoned, a bit of RICO.Recommended:
Processor: Intel Core i5-7th gen or higher, or an i7 6th gen or higher.
Memory: 12 GB RAM
Graphics: nVIDIA GeForce GTX 940 (Does not support Intel Integrated Graphics Cards)
Large parts of the city are made up of custom content, hand-placed with RICO, some detailing, but still some vanilla assets.
Recommended:
Processor: Intel Core i7 6th gen or higher.
Memory: 16 GB RAM
Graphics: nVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050 (Does not support Intel Integrated Graphics Cards)
This is what you see most Youtubers do as well.
No vanilla assets, 100+mods, thousands of custom assets and props. Everything was hand-placed and moved into place with Move It. You need a powerful system for this!
Recommended:
Processor: Intel Core i7 7th gen or higher.
Memory: 32 or 64 GB RAM
Graphics: nVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070 (Does not support Intel Integrated Graphics Cards)
Hard drive: SSD (For load speed. If you don't mind waiting over half an hour to load, an HDD is fine.)
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