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With Snowfall, all players get a free update to spice up the game. We wanted to make improvements to many things, and make sure there’s something completely new for everyone.


Weather you have already read about, and of the different weather phenomenons, all players get rain and fog on existing maps. While these weathers are almost purely cosmetic, we have put lots of effort into making them look good, so you can really see your city engulfed in rain or under a mattress of fog. For users with Snowfall, weather affects temperatures on all maps, but for people who only want the free update, weather is just a visual effect.

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My personal favourite of the free stuff is the new public transport interface. It’s inspired by the very popular mod by the name of “Extended public transport UI”, made by user AcidF!re. Our take on the issue is to add more control for the user over public transport, as cities with a large number of lines can become a bit hard to understand. With the new interface, you can change line colours, name lines and see more detailed information about your lines. Seeing trips saved on all lines makes it easy to see if a line is performing badly compared to the others ones, and the passenger numbers are visible for all lines of the chosen type at the same time.

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I know people feel strongly about Chirper, so this might be something that you either love or hate. Chirpy would have gotten a cold in the winter weather with no hat on, so we created the Chirpy Hats! Depending on your game version (deluxe edition, regular base game, or base game with Snowfall) you get a collection of gorgeous hats Chirpy can wear. You can choose the hat to wear, or keep your Chirpy as is, just as you like.

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And the best thing: a modding tools update to allow creation of new map themes! This means that you can change the map textures and save them as a new theme that can be shared with other users. Not only can you make things like new tropical themes and themes resembling your home area, but you can also change how the moon looks and go for completely alien looking maps. The sky is not the limit! These new tools are very powerful and open up lots of new possibilities. You can now mod the game to look like a space colony or a dark fantasy world. What will your theme look like?


More detailed, technical information about the map themes is coming soon, so you can start planning your new worlds!
 
No new screenshots. :(
What about the popular mods that build on the transport UI like the "Improved Public Transport" mod. Are you working together with the modders? Will the mod break? Or, even better, will it get updated right with the DLC because you worked together and wanted to provide a great start for the tramlines! (Like vehicle unbunching .. select how many cars and so on ....)
 
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You know, I think people would like Chirpy more if we could change the sound he makes in the settings menu. Like an actual bird chirping! Or mute, if you have no soul.

Apart from that, he can be a great way to convey information to the player, this is probably one aspect that could be improved upon as well.
 
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You know, I think people would like Chirpy more if we could change the sound he makes in the settings menu. Like an actual bird chirping! Or mute, if you have no soul.

Apart from that, he can be a great way to convey information to the player, this is probably one aspect that could be improved upon as well.

There is already Chirpy volume control slider. So you can mute it.
 
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My personal favourite of the free stuff is the new public transport interface. It’s inspired by the very popular mod by the name of “Extended public transport UI”, made by user AcidF!re. Our take on the issue is to add more control for the user over public transport, as cities with a large number of lines can become a bit hard to understand. With the new interface, you can change line colours, name lines and see more detailed information about your lines. Seeing trips saved on all lines makes it easy to see if a line is performing badly compared to the others ones, and the passenger numbers are visible for all lines of the chosen type at the same time.

This is screaming for a screenshot...
 
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Love the fact that a popular mod is now becoming an official part of the game. It's one of my favourites.

I have a question regarding rain though, will this alter assets meaning new textures are needed? or is this coded in globally so that the change happens automatically? As I'm guessing we'll see shiny wet buildings?
 
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I like the sound of this update. Maybe I'll go look for the mentioned mod since you guys like it enough to adopt it. I know you will modify it to your own liking but still...

:)
 
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Having watched the video post on Youtube I have to admit that the weather effects do look fantastic- snowfall & rain are really impressive- those shiny wet roads are so realistic. The trams also look good. The theme editor is impressive and this free upgrade will be a massive hit. For all those critical of the game and who continually make comparisons to SimCity 4 surely the new content will go along way to silence/sate them. Sure the game still lacks the depth of SC4 but it is now streets ahead in so many other levels- warts and all- and all within 12 months of its launch. I admit I was sceptical initially but having seen a bit more of what's on offer I'm warming to this expansion. The biggest challenge now is how to cope with the avalanche of new mods/assets that will appear following release date- I'm already at the upper limit!
 
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Love the fact that a popular mod is now becoming an official part of the game. It's one of my favourites.

I have a question regarding rain though, will this alter assets meaning new textures are needed? or is this coded in globally so that the change happens automatically? As I'm guessing we'll see shiny wet buildings?

In the game play\theme editor video linked above (in #6) they mention that the snow is generated in code to apply to most assets so it sounds like in most cases you will not have to touch your assets for them to become "winter\snow" versions.
 
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Why do people expect the developers to talk about bug fixes in a developer blog about a DLC?

This is a developer blog about the free features in the patch accompanying Snowfall. PDS does this all the time for CK2 and EU4, but they go into more detail about the patch features than CO seems to do. And every thread has people asking about info on any bug fixes, so people really want to know.
 
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This is a developer blog about the free features in the patch accompanying Snowfall. PDS does this all the time for CK2 and EU4, but they go into more detail about the patch features than CO seems to do. And every thread has people asking about info on any bug fixes, so people really want to know.

I don't see PDS talking about bug fixes in their DLC blogs though. So again, why are people expecting CO to talk about bug fixes in their DLC blog?
 
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In the game play\theme editor video linked above (in #6) they mention that the snow is generated in code to apply to most assets so it sounds like in most cases you will not have to touch your assets for them to become "winter\snow" versions.

Except perhaps for assets with tree and flower props on them. A palm tree would look pretty silly with snow on it as would a deciduous tree with leaves on it.