Day/Night cycle in Mass Transit DLC

[KocLobster]

I've had difficulty in searching for my answer to this question on these forums and the Steam discussion board. I purchased the Mass Transit DLC (& Snowfall, but that's irrelevant). I have an option in my settings to turn on the day/night cycle.

I'm trying to figure out how this actually works. In my budget, I have sliders for day & night, but I can't really tell if there's a difference. The day/night cycle was added with the After Dark DLC (and I don't own it), so my question is...is the day/night cycle purely visual, or is it actually affecting the game mechanics and I just haven't been able to tell? Do I need to purchase the After Dark DLC in order use the day/night mechanics, or have I gotten that for free with my purchase of the Mass Transit DLC?

 

[dj97]

I've had difficulty in searching for my answer to this question on these forums and the Steam discussion board. I purchased the Mass Transit DLC (& Snowfall, but that's irrelevant). I have an option in my settings to turn on the day/night cycle.

I'm trying to figure out how this actually works. In my budget, I have sliders for day & night, but I can't really tell if there's a difference. The day/night cycle was added with the After Dark DLC (and I don't own it), so my question is...is the day/night cycle purely visual, or is it actually affecting the game mechanics and I just haven't been able to tell? Do I need to purchase the After Dark DLC in order use the day/night mechanics, or have I gotten that for free with my purchase of the Mass Transit DLC?

The day/night cycle allows services to have two separate budgets; one for the day and one for the night. Other than that, the day/night cycle is almost purely cosmetic.

 

[28rommel]

It does affect some of the mechanics in the game.
For example, I own the pure vanilla version of the game (no DLC's). I don't like playing with the day/night cycle, because I cant see a damn thing when it is night. So I have it set to just day time, all the time.
About 95% of the electricity in my city is produced by my Solar Power Plants (with the balance from Incineration Plants). Having the game set to day time only, produces a consistent amount of electricity, all the time.
If I turn the day/night cycle on, then my electricity drops moderately at night, due to the fact that my Solar Power Plants do not produce electricity at their highest level as they can during the day.

 

[Promethian]

Night has quite a few different mechanics. First is that cims don't go to work at night (industrial) and only Leisure commercial gets used. Most services get used less at night as well. Water and Electric most notably. You can set your water budget a bit lower at night because of this. Electric is more complicated as some power sources are less effective at night but even my solar power planet games my night budget is lower than my day budget.

 

[KocLobster]

Thanks for everyone's replies. Since I already have complete access to all the day/night stuff, I don't think I'm going to get the After Dark DLC...it doesn't have a lot to offer once you already have day/night. The only thing I can think of that it has to offer is bike lanes and the leisure stuff that I don't already have access too?

 

[metacritical]

there's quite a lot that After Dark provides; it's worth the current sale price. http://www.skylineswiki.com/After_Dark

 

[Vimes]

Night has quite a few different mechanics. First is that cims don't go to work at night (industrial) and only Leisure commercial gets used. Most services get used less at night as well. Water and Electric most notably. You can set your water budget a bit lower at night because of this. Electric is more complicated as some power sources are less effective at night but even my solar power planet games my night budget is lower than my day budget.

I understand that there different game mechanics which are applied at night than they are during the busier days. For me I always seem to be in two minds about the day and night cycle, I often find that the sun begins to set just when I am planning and building something which then becomes impossible to see until the following dawn, the small light for the cursor helps little. But then I get to see the lights of the city and love how it contrasts to the day view. A pity that there isn't a switch that I could throw which would reduce the darkness to be merely dusk for those constructional moments, which seem to happen too often.

I rarely bother with the budgets for the day and night cycle once the city gets to a certain size, I'm usually making that much money that it rarely matters. In the early game I might make some adjustments, usually to electricity until I can afford another power station.

 

[Fox_NS_CAN]

After Dark DLC...it doesn't have a lot to offer once you already have day/night. The only thing I can think of that it has to offer is bike lanes and the leisure stuff that I don't already have access too?

The International Airport is kind of nice. Has a built in metro station.
Prisons are kind of neat. Vans transfer prisoners from the police station cells to the prison.
Taxis... well, I'm not entirely happy with them, but still like having them.
Cargo Hub... very useful. Connects train/ship/trucks for cargo. I like it.
Bus station is okay. Can be useful. Some nicer ones on the workshop though.

Five new unique buildings. I like the zoo the best, though I also like the Luxury Hotel.

I feel there is a fair bit of good stuff in the After Dark DLC. Just my 2 cents.

 

[Promethian]

The International Airport is kind of nice. Has a built in metro station.
Prisons are kind of neat. Vans transfer prisoners from the police station cells to the prison.
Taxis... well, I'm not entirely happy with them, but still like having them.
Cargo Hub... very useful. Connects train/ship/trucks for cargo. I like it.
Bus station is okay. Can be useful. Some nicer ones on the workshop though.

Five new unique buildings. I like the zoo the best, though I also like the Luxury Hotel.

I feel there is a fair bit of good stuff in the After Dark DLC. Just my 2 cents.

Aren't the commercial specializations unique to AD as well? I especially like leisure spec because its high value commercial that isn't a bunch of high rises.

 

[ristosal]

Aren't the commercial specializations unique to AD as well?

Yep. After Dark also adds bicycles which is one of the most essential things in that DLC

 

[Fox_NS_CAN]

Aren't the commercial specializations unique to AD as well?

Yes, but the post I was replying to had already mentioned those, saying:

The only thing I can think of that it has to offer is bike lanes and the leisure stuff that I don't already have access too?

I was taking "leisure stuff" to be the leisure and tourism specializations.

I wasn't trying to make a complete list, merely adding notes about some of the good stuff other than "bike lanes and the leisure stuff" mentioned by the poster.