The Issue
Having picked up a second copy of Cities Skylines, now on PS4 due to the PS+ game this month, I finally got around to start playing it the other day. Pretty slow to start, just enjoying it and getting a feel for the new UI. However, not more than a few hours in, I began to notice that my tax sliders seemed to move around and adjust themselves even when the finances page was closed out. It confused me a bit, I thought there must be a settings somewhere which was changing the tax rate to keep my income in the positive. I *knew* I had never set my taxes about 12%, yet I would frequently see waves of "taxes too high" icons and find the slider bumped up as far as 19%.
Did some searching around, and while not many results, I did find one recent thread on Reddit, and a forum post here from last year which noted the same issue. I spent some time tonight to do some testing, and I believe I have found a bug. An easily reproducible bug at that. The steps I have used to reproduce the bug are as follows:
To Reproduce
My testing showed that when there was a net difference between the number of D-pad left/right inputs, that value would be reflected in the new value of the slider. For example, set "Residential taxes" to 10%, press Right D-pad 3 times during Step 5, the new "Residential taxes" value is 13%.
This issue seems to effect any of the sliders which may be adjusted on the Finances page. This includes all classes of taxes on the Taxes panel, and each item on the Budget panel. I have tested several of them individually and each of the ones I tested are effected and able to reproduce using the steps outlined above.
My take on this is that when the Finances page is closed out, the slider hangs onto the focus or catches the D-pad input even though it is not visible.
To Mitigate
I have been able to mitigate this issue by either: L1/R1 tabbing over to the "Loans" or "Income/Expenses" panel on the Finances page before closing out of the page. OR by selecting a disabled slider (such as "High Density Residential Taxes" before it is unlocked) before closing out of the Finances page.
Conclusion
This one definitely seems like a bug to me. I have not encountered any issue in the PC version, though I am not sure if either the Xbox or Windows 10 versions are effected by this or not. I am unsure if other sliders or widgets may be effected by a variant of this issue as I have not fully unlocked or played enough to test every place this may appear in-game.
It would be great to see this issue resolved as it detracts some from my enjoyment of the game. Having to remember to deselect sliders, or continually re-check the tax rates if I am unsure of where I left focus before closing the panel. This is not game-breaking, but it did confuse me for a while, and I imagine some players may not pick up on what's happening as quickly.
I can link to the forum post from Reddit, and the one I found here if need be. I was unsure if those should be included in this bug report or not. I can also record a video of these steps to reproduce to show off what is happening if it will help.
Having picked up a second copy of Cities Skylines, now on PS4 due to the PS+ game this month, I finally got around to start playing it the other day. Pretty slow to start, just enjoying it and getting a feel for the new UI. However, not more than a few hours in, I began to notice that my tax sliders seemed to move around and adjust themselves even when the finances page was closed out. It confused me a bit, I thought there must be a settings somewhere which was changing the tax rate to keep my income in the positive. I *knew* I had never set my taxes about 12%, yet I would frequently see waves of "taxes too high" icons and find the slider bumped up as far as 19%.
Did some searching around, and while not many results, I did find one recent thread on Reddit, and a forum post here from last year which noted the same issue. I spent some time tonight to do some testing, and I believe I have found a bug. An easily reproducible bug at that. The steps I have used to reproduce the bug are as follows:
To Reproduce
- From the main gameplay screen, use Triangle to open the Finances page from the radial menu
- Select any slider which is enabled and able to be adjusted by the player. The slider may be any of the ones on the Taxes or Budget panels
- Set that slider to any value, make a note of it
- Back out of the Finances page using Circle
- From the main gameplay screen, use D-pad Left or Right to move around several times. Preferably in one direction, as the "net difference" between left and right inputs plays a factor here.
- Use Triangle to open the Finances page
- Check the value of the previously selected slider from Step 3 and compare
My testing showed that when there was a net difference between the number of D-pad left/right inputs, that value would be reflected in the new value of the slider. For example, set "Residential taxes" to 10%, press Right D-pad 3 times during Step 5, the new "Residential taxes" value is 13%.
This issue seems to effect any of the sliders which may be adjusted on the Finances page. This includes all classes of taxes on the Taxes panel, and each item on the Budget panel. I have tested several of them individually and each of the ones I tested are effected and able to reproduce using the steps outlined above.
My take on this is that when the Finances page is closed out, the slider hangs onto the focus or catches the D-pad input even though it is not visible.
To Mitigate
I have been able to mitigate this issue by either: L1/R1 tabbing over to the "Loans" or "Income/Expenses" panel on the Finances page before closing out of the page. OR by selecting a disabled slider (such as "High Density Residential Taxes" before it is unlocked) before closing out of the Finances page.
Conclusion
This one definitely seems like a bug to me. I have not encountered any issue in the PC version, though I am not sure if either the Xbox or Windows 10 versions are effected by this or not. I am unsure if other sliders or widgets may be effected by a variant of this issue as I have not fully unlocked or played enough to test every place this may appear in-game.
It would be great to see this issue resolved as it detracts some from my enjoyment of the game. Having to remember to deselect sliders, or continually re-check the tax rates if I am unsure of where I left focus before closing the panel. This is not game-breaking, but it did confuse me for a while, and I imagine some players may not pick up on what's happening as quickly.
I can link to the forum post from Reddit, and the one I found here if need be. I was unsure if those should be included in this bug report or not. I can also record a video of these steps to reproduce to show off what is happening if it will help.
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