• 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! Now it's time to take a look at new maps and policies coming with the Campus expansion.

Maps

Cities: Skylines - Campus features five new and exciting maps for you to build your city in.

Murky Coast is divided by two rivers that briefly join together only to be separated once more before flowing into the wide, open coastal waters of the area. Maybe the fresh, a bit salty air is what a newly founded campus area needs to flourish? Perhaps this is the spot where the first ever campus area in Cities: Skylines will rise? Who knows!

dev_diary_05_murky_coast.png

Murky Coast.

Nestled in the mountains and away from the rest of the world but still with all the adequate connections to neighboring cities, Wolf Creek looks like a haven for a flourishing college or university town. Beautiful natural vistas, steep cliffs and the Nordic atmosphere fills anyone with fresh, new ideas and the enthusiasm to carry them out.

dev_diary_05_wolf_creek.png

Wolf Creek.

Northwood Hills make history really come to life. Interesting terrain topography, old, dried up riverbeds and rolling hills challenge anyone settling a new city in the area but also bring great possibilities to anyone willing to harness the untamed power of these natural formations.

dev_diary_05_northwood_hills.png

Northwood Hills.

In Marin Bay you break ground on an island smack in the middle of a bay leading to open waters. After making the most out of the limited building space on the island, you can start expanding your city along the bay shores. In the south, you'll have relatively flat land before it starts climbing up towards the hills while in the north you'll come across interesting smaller bays and a river breaking the landmass to smaller sections. Bridges come in handy when building new suburbs and commercial areas.

dev_diary_05_marin_bay.png

Marin Bay.

Roslyn Peninsula is a large landmass that extrudes from the mainland and into the ocean with a mountain range running through it from north to west like a spine. Featuring small but lush forests, palm tree decorated sandy beaches and few larger islands off the coast, Roslyn Peninsula is a great place to found a city and build a world-renowned campus. What's not to like about going to school in a tropical paradise, right?

dev_diary_05_roslyn_peninsula.png

Roslyn Peninsula.

Campus policies
With campuses comes a collection of campus-specific policies. These policies enhance the campus life in various ways.

Healthy student is a happy student! It's important to take care of the student populace in your campus because if the students are sick, who's going to create all those fancy Academic Works and bring fame to your campus and city. Student Healthcare policy brings free healthcare to all students studying on campus. At a small extra cost in campus upkeep, your students are healthy as a chirper on a summer day! School food quality is always a topic for discussion. Whether it's too much bread, too rubbery potatoes or not enough salad options, there doesn't seem to be a good consensus among the debaters. Regardless of what is on offer during lunch, Free Lunch policy makes sure that everyone gets to eat it for free! And hey! It's always better to study on a full stomach than not (according to a little known Babylonian proverb)! It's going to cost the campus but it's one of those quality of life improvements that can make all the difference.

Ever wanted to go on a lecture by some famous academic mind? Well, now you (or, well, your students) have that exact chance! When the policy Visiting Scholars is active, the campus invites great thinkers, scientists and professionals of different fields of study to teach in the faculties. This'll give the faculties a great boost in their city-wide bonuses. But on the flip side, it does cost quite a lot, as well. Who said experts were cheap, right? And finally, the campus policy that has been debated more than anything else in the history of education. Will you shun away from it or will you embrace it? Will you put your students' best interests before your city? Or is the city's budget closer to your heart? Universal Education is a loaded concept. On one hand, everyone gets a chance to gain the best possible education. On the other hand, students won't pay tuition fee and it will strain the city's budget quite a bit. It's the antithesis of for-profit schools. Good thing is, with the Campus expansion, you'll be able to try out both: completely free education for all as well as turning the campuses into purely for-profit institutions where the entire upkeep is covered by tuition fees. It's your choice! You have the power!

City policies
Cities: Skylines - Campus comes with few city policies, as well. For-profit Education encompasses all education buildings in your city (or district). When you need to cut back costs and share the burden with your citizens, this is the policy to use. When it's active, all students are required to pay for studying, even in elementary schools! It'll cut the education building upkeep in half while still keeping the student capacity at the same level as before. But it also reduces citizen happiness a lot. With the addition of the new education building type, the Public Library, you can host Book Fairs. Book fairs are fun! You'll discover new authors and buy some good books, hear great talks about all things books and can discuss endlessly whether the book was really better than the film version. Book fairs increase citizen wellbeing in the Public Library's radius and also entertainment in the surrounding areas.

So, what do you think? Do you already have plans for campus areas in your cities? Will you continue your established cities and build a new campus in one of them or will you delve into the new maps and make a fresh start with far-reaching plans for your next city? Write down below what your future plans are!

See you in the next dev diary, city-builders!

Colossal Order dev team
 
I wouldn't imagine so, it's a new building. Patches just tend to include fixes for bugs and compatibility stuff.
patches include free stuff all the time, day/night cycle, tunnels and canals etc. they accidentally revealed libraries were in the free patch during the first live stream.
 
Libraries are part of the free patch :) More information about them on today's dev diary!

Interesting.

I'll probably still get the DLC though. I thought it was lame at first, but the feature for improvement through buildings/possible academic works sold me (plus the pretty, pretty buildings, dammit CO you keep doing this!)
 
Additional question, which they didn't respond to (but maybe on Stream?): Could you make the Match Day-Stadium also a non-unique building like the varsity arenas?

We have not planned for this, but thank you for the feedback and we will think about it! But no promises at this point. In the meanwhile there is the mod "Not So Unique Buildings" by BloodyPenguin which will allow you to place as many unique buildings as you want :)
 
We have not planned for this, but thank you for the feedback and we will think about it! But no promises at this point. In the meanwhile there is the mod "Not So Unique Buildings" by BloodyPenguin which will allow you to place as many unique buildings as you want :)
Thank you! I'm hoping for it, it seems like a not-so-big-deal, since the varsity areans are introduced. And thanks for the mod suggestion.:)
 
It is explained in a comment above. I want the University areans from Campus to work like the Match Day DLC, rather than restricted to inside campuses only.
they have already shown in the official youtube videos on the official youtube channel how the stadiums work, maybe go get readily available information instead of harping on the devs to answer your every tiny question.

Hint: it's the video titled "Varsity Sports"
 
they have already shown in the official youtube videos on the official youtube channel how the stadiums work, maybe go get readily available information instead of harping on the devs to answer your every tiny question.

Hint: it's the video titled "Varsity Sports"
I apologize if I didn't know. I don't watch much Youtube videos recently due to lack of time available.
 
I know it won't be my first campus since I've been building my own for four years already ;p

It reduces my happiness a lot too. For profit education is abhorrent. I'm quite surprised by CO for promoting it over free education for all.

My plans are to continue building my own campus and creating my own maps. I might consider this DLC in 6 months time for half of the cost, but otherwise I'm not overly excited by what I've seen so far. It's a little too American and a dream for Betsy Devos. The maps will probably require an edit to the intercity connections as always too.

Lighten up, Francis. They let you offer free to students education for a cost in money, or make students pay, for a cost in happiness. Its just another way for players to balance a budget versus public approval.

Really, ‘abhorrent’ is so over the top for a video game.
 
Lighten up, Francis. They let you offer free to students education for a cost in money, or make students pay, for a cost in happiness. Its just another way for players to balance a budget versus public approval.

Really, ‘abhorrent’ is so over the top for a video game.
You hit the nail on the head there as it is a game and nobody actually pays for the education in the game.
If I offer to provide free education, the city's/my coffers pay for it and if the students pay, they can use their magical pockets of unlimited wealth.
Why then is there a happiness cost at all?

As for abhorrent, perhaps that was too harsh an adjective for the policy of 'for profit education' and so perhaps, as it is my own experience and opinion, I should have used despicable instead.
Did you, may I ask, receive a full education that you had to pay for? And if you did, what was it like to live with student loan debt?
I did and personally, I despised it and abhorred it.

What I'm quite surprised about though is that CO would provide this in their game. I expected CO, coming from Finland, a country whose quality of education, regarded as second to none in the world and has a policy of free education for all and at every level, would show more favour in a free education model.
 
You hit the nail on the head there as it is a game and nobody actually pays for the education in the game.
If I offer to provide free education, the city's/my coffers pay for it and if the students pay, they can use their magical pockets of unlimited wealth.
Why then is there a happiness cost at all?

As for abhorrent, perhaps that was too harsh an adjective for the policy of 'for profit education' and so perhaps, as it is my own experience and opinion, I should have used despicable instead.
Did you, may I ask, receive a full education that you had to pay for? And if you did, what was it like to live with student loan debt?
I did and personally, I despised it and abhorred it.

What I'm quite surprised about though is that CO would provide this in their game. I expected CO, coming from Finland, a country whose quality of education, regarded as second to none in the world and has a policy of free education for all and at every level, would show more favour in a free education model.

I paid for my own education entirely on mu own, paid way too much, and got way too little education for it. Student debt crippled my personal earning power. On the other hand, it enabled me to meet my wife, so I call it a wash. I personally think the cost of education is far more complex than a simple “students pay for it vs government pays for it” argument. For example, for several years, I lived in on campus housing that was absurdly extravagant and actually better than the house my wife and I own now.

That said, again, they’re giving you the option in the game. The horror. I can also set city tax rates to 29%, a rate which, in real life, would cripple most cities (particularly when combined with other taxes). It is not despicable that I have the option to do this.
 
You hit the nail on the head there as it is a game and nobody actually pays for the education in the game.
If I offer to provide free education, the city's/my coffers pay for it and if the students pay, they can use their magical pockets of unlimited wealth.
Why then is there a happiness cost at all?

As for abhorrent, perhaps that was too harsh an adjective for the policy of 'for profit education' and so perhaps, as it is my own experience and opinion, I should have used despicable instead.
Did you, may I ask, receive a full education that you had to pay for? And if you did, what was it like to live with student loan debt?
I did and personally, I despised it and abhorred it.

What I'm quite surprised about though is that CO would provide this in their game. I expected CO, coming from Finland, a country whose quality of education, regarded as second to none in the world and has a policy of free education for all and at every level, would show more favour in a free education model.
oh ffs it's a game
 
You hit the nail on the head there as it is a game and nobody actually pays for the education in the game.
If I offer to provide free education, the city's/my coffers pay for it and if the students pay, they can use their magical pockets of unlimited wealth.
Why then is there a happiness cost at all?

As for abhorrent, perhaps that was too harsh an adjective for the policy of 'for profit education' and so perhaps, as it is my own experience and opinion, I should have used despicable instead.
Did you, may I ask, receive a full education that you had to pay for? And if you did, what was it like to live with student loan debt?
I did and personally, I despised it and abhorred it.

What I'm quite surprised about though is that CO would provide this in their game. I expected CO, coming from Finland, a country whose quality of education, regarded as second to none in the world and has a policy of free education for all and at every level, would show more favour in a free education model.
When it comes to a game like this, the devs are going to have to avoid biases like preferences towards free education and avoid making it the only option. It's important to give the players as many avenues as possible when it comes to certain mechanics, whether you agree with those policies or not. It would not be wise to make free education the only option players can have, nor would it be wise to have for-profit education the only option players can have. It's all about decision-making, which is one of the most important tenets of a good simulation game.
 
I expected CO, coming from Finland, a country whose quality of education, regarded as second to none in the world and has a policy of free education for all and at every level, would show more favour in a free education model.

The fact they are from Finland it doesn t mean they have to add to the game Findland typical stuff.

It's like saying Paradox should add Ikea furniture in every building of the upcoming Bloodlines 2 because they're swedish.
 
Roslyn Peninsula: What's not to like about going to school in a tropical paradise, right?
Can confirm, having graduated from the University of Hawaii at Hilo: it's awesome. :D

This DLC definitely sounds interesting, I recently got back into playing C:S and am just about to the point where my city needs some university-level education...