Succession game!

[JerkyJerry]

What hidden files?

STIIKNAFUULIA
Wrote to me....................

It says right there, "To download file click the link below:". So... Click it. When it prompts you to save the file, just click 'ok' and it should end up on your desktop. It's hardly very geeky stuff. Perhaps you were misled by the pop-up that the site (tinyupload) seems to be rather fond of, well, popping up?

Then you need to locate the folder where the maps are stored; for this you need to enable the showing of hidden folders, since the folder 'AppData', where the game is located, is a hidden system folder by default. I must go to sleep soon, but you can find the instructions for doing this in the thread (since other people also had problems with this); it should be somewhere on page 3-5 iirc.

Good night, and gl with your turn tomorrow (or whenever you have time to play it; you have a full week after all),
stiiknafuulia

 

[stiiknafuulia]

Here is some further clarification:

So, I tested this and apparently the map is included in the save file, so there's no need to download
it separately. This simplifies things for the future, as the game creator can modify the map as he wishes,
and then other players can simply pick up his save and the map at the same time.

However, you'll still need to download the save and put in the right folder.
By default, the savegame folder of Cities:Skylines is located as follows:

C:\Users\[username]\AppData\Local\Colossal Order\Cities_Skylines\Saves

Of these folders, the folder 'AppData' is hidden in Windows by default.
So you need to enable the viewing of hidden files in order to see it.

The way you do it is you go to:

Control Panel > Appearance and Modification [not sure what this is called in English; this is an ad-hoc translation from
my Finnish Windows] > Folder Settings > Show [or View] > Show hidden files, folders and drives (click the radio button next
to this, then click 'Apply' in the lower right corner of the Folder Settings panel)

I'm sure there are guides on the net for doing this, if my written description proves inadequate. Just google 'show hidden files in Windows'
or somesuch.

EDIT: It might also work to simply copy the path
( C:\Users\[your username]\AppData\Local\Colossal Order\Cities_Skylines\Saves ) to the 'address bar' in Windows Explorer (the thing with which you navigate through the folders). I've never tried that, but in case it works then there's no need to enable the showing of hidden files at all.

For the record: there's no need to feel idiotic over not taking the time to learn the intricacies of a computer system that's bound
to become obsolete in the next 5-10 years, anyway. Soon we'll have computers where we simply tell them what to do by voice command,
and they'll do it, no mess no fuss no enabling or disabling, etc.

---

So, the week has passed and TheChaoticVoid has yet to post his save and report. I'm not comfortable with going back to the previous
save for JerkyJerry's turn, since that'd mean that we've wasted a week, in essence. I'll let Calad be the judge here, but in any case
much further waiting is an even worse option, imo. So I say we wait until tomorrow morning, and I'll pm TCV about this. In case there's
no answer by tomorrow morning, then JerkyJerry can pick up the previous save and start playing.

Here's the link to the previous save btw:
http://s000.tinyupload.com/index.php?file_id=82005128863186324708

(Now it all makes sense... The save format is the same as the map format, .crp. So the saves and maps are the same thing, basically.

Btw there's no need to unpack the file or modify it in any way; just put it in the Saves folder, and you should be able to load
it from within the game (as long as you've got the right mod(s) enabled).)

EDIT:

Unrelated, but this might be nice:
http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=411164732
It's an Extended UI for laying mass transit lines; judging by the 180,000+ downloads, it might come in pretty handy. I'm not sure if it works with Traffic Manager or Traffic++; maybe you could try it out, ItalianGuy (since you seem to be our transit expert)?

 

[Spockyt]

There is another way (on Windows at least) if I remember correctly, you type into the search; %AppData% and it appears.

 

[JerkyJerry]

Ok I think I got the hidden file thing correct
I tried to play the #2 save
The only place in my game that I could find the map/save was in the map editor

I went to the content manager
Found the map/save
The little blue light is on
I then went to save games to load the game it was not to be found (I could only find it in the map editor)

Any suggestions?

 

[stiiknafuulia]

#3 save, you mean? Just download the one that I attached to my last post, as that is the correct one.

You did put the save in the 'Saves' folder, right? And you enabled the one mod that we use for this game? This one:
http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=425057208
(To download it, just copy/paste that into the Steam Workshop (from within the game), and click 'Subscribe'; then go to Content Manager > Mods, and enable it from there.)

If it still doesn't work after that, when you hit 'Load Game', then I'm not sure what could be the problem...

 

[JerkyJerry]

No auto bulldoze? Yikes!

Ok trying it now

 

[stiiknafuulia]

I observed during my turn that abandoned buildings did seem to clear on their own after a while... Maybe they changed that in a patch or something? In any case the auto-bulldozer can also be bad for you, since you often won't notice when buildings are being abandoned, and so can't correct the underlying problem(s). Though there was a version of the mod that only cleared burned buildings, iirc.

Hmm, you playing your turn I guess means that TheChaoticVoid's turn is rendered null and void. It's been over a week so it is 'right' according to the rules... Seems like a major bummer though, both for the team and him, tbh.

 

[JerkyJerry]

Ok boys my 2 years is up! How and where do ya'll want me to save it?
It was a lot of fun. I did not do much building but rather I concentrated on building up the land value. When I took over the leisure was non existent. Fire was 28%? Education needed a lot of work. I also added subways not buses so there would be less traffic. I upgraded roads as the noise pollution was extreme. I can't think of what else I did other than just to improve the lives of the cims.
Just let me know how and where to put the saved game.
I just named it 4. It was three when I took over so I just changed the 3 to a 4.
Thanks boys!

 

[Spockyt]

Looking forward to seeing your journal, and then having a go myself. I might attempt to fiddle with buses, but me ready to fix it after me, and I hope you are not expecting much talent in my journal.

 

[stiiknafuulia]

Ok boys my 2 years is up! How and where do ya'll want me to save it?
It was a lot of fun. I did not do much building but rather I concentrated on building up the land value. When I took over the leisure was non existent. Fire was 28%? Education needed a lot of work. I also added subways not buses so there would be less traffic. I upgraded roads as the noise pollution was extreme. I can't think of what else I did other than just to improve the lives of the cims.
Just let me know how and where to put the saved game.
I just named it 4. It was three when I took over so I just changed the 3 to a 4.
Thanks boys!

Wow! That was a fast turn! (Pity about TCV's wasted turn, but at least the game is now moving along once again!)

You can use Tinyupload for uploading the save; just click the button under 'file to upload', select the save and then when it's been uploaded, post the resulting link in this thread.

Some comments based on your preliminary report (which can, for the record, also be the full one; there's no need to make every report terribly detailed, if you don't have time or just prefer shorter reports):

- the reasons for leisure buildings being lackluster so far I think are two-fold: 1) at least I, but maybe others too, have wished to conserve funds until now by giving the proles minimal bread and circuses; and 2) often installing parks etc would've required bull-dozing significant amounts of other players' work, which I was hesitant to do since I already did some major renovating with my great roundabout project. :mischief: This said, I'm glad we got some new blood to make the reforms, having no sentimental attachment to the slums of bygone years ('Yes; you all lived in slums, I tell you; now be good little proles and move on! What do you mean, 'where do we sleep tonight'? You can sleep in the new park, it's got shiny new benches, veeery comfortable; now quit pestering me, I have a pool-party to attend to! Sheesh, mayoring sure can be hard work sometimes!' ).

- While I improved the fire coverage (you should've seen the inferno that reigned before me!), there was only so much I could do, with the meandering road layout and the need for the urgent renovation of a certain cliffside, for administrative purposes.

- Subways seem like a good bet, given the meandering road chaos of our city. Iirc, they also upgrade the surrounding buildings, but as the stops take up room and are more expensive than bus stops, I think we might still want to make some bus lines in addition. After all, the buses may add to the traffic, but presumably they also cause some cars to disappear, balancing it out somewhat (in *theory* -- mind you, if I'm wrong, untying the knot that the new bus lines will tie the city in will be a task for the ages, err, *players* to come! We'll probably need ItalianGuy's superior traffic skills to truly sort things out! ).

 

[ItalianGuy]

@TheChaoticVoid it doesn't matter what prevented you to play, you're still in our list, so you will play the next time.

@stiiknafuulia maybe I'm good with traffic, but I'm sure that there is someone better than me in here

To everyone: I want a journal of jerkyjerry's work posted here, because remember, we are in the city journals section.
I like the idea of the metro lines. During my turn, if no one will have done that already, I'll improve the network with the required bus lanes and pedestrian paths so that all cims will be able to reach the metro.

EDIT: before placing parks, I always max out decoration funds and enable the parks and recreation policy, so that the parks have the maximum area of effect possible. If I don't do that, I end placing too many parks. I hope you did that too, @JerkyJerry

 

[Myquandro]

I'm looking forward to seeing all the progress since I've played. I'm on a camping trip till sunday or monday so I won't be able to play if it's my turn (so, you'll just have to wait for me ). I will be bale to comment here as I still have my phone with me and (probably) a 4G internet connection.

As for traffic problems. My solution usually is to have train stations for the long distances and maybe about 8 station in this map (have to get back to the map to make a better estimate). Then I use metro in the busiest parts of the city as they can't give problems on the roads and then the cheaper busses to move people around in the suburbs and such. I'm not too bad in building a functional public transportation system, but I've definitely not mastered the skill. When it's my turn I will certainly take a look at it and improve some things if necessary, but I wouldn't leave it all to me .

If it comes to the road network I will go about it and improve what I can as I like that part of the game and I like to believe that it's something I'm good at .

Things like parks are really something others should do as I always forget them or don't feel the need to use them.

 

[JerkyJerry]

Ok boys the file has been uploaded! It is number 4
Report to follow
TY
JJ

 

[stiiknafuulia]

Ok boys the file has been uploaded! It is number 4
Report to follow
TY
JJ

...Mind posting the link to it?

 

[JerkyJerry]

JJ Journal #1

(5/12)


What a fun couple of hours I had! Thanks to everyone for allowing me to join/play & thanks to all those for helping me get the map, download the map, what to do & where to go. Thanks for all your time and efforts!

The first thing I did was pause the game and scout out the map. After I checked out all the pertinent information; fire, police, happiness, leisure, education, health etc. I knew that in order for the city to grow I needed to take a step back and concentrate on the services/essentials so that further growth could be more easily accomplished. Once I was able to grasp all the numbers and combining that with the map, regions, and road design etc. As a matter of fact I don’t think I added a single road. I think the only road change I made was turning a one way road to a two way road.

With a map that we have trying to have adequate services coverage costs a lot more than it would on a more flat/more buildable map.

The first thing I addressed was the noise pollution. The entire map was almost all bright red/orange. There were very few roads with any noise reduction trees on them whatsoever. So the first thing I did was to address this glaring issue. Noise pollution will stifle any growth & make it far more difficult to earn as much money per week as possible. So I upgraded a lot of roads.

The next thing I looked at was the land value. This number was very low. I think 18? Or 20? To me that is extremely low. So I worked towards increasing land value so that cims would be willing to pay more in taxes. Which they did. I leveled off all taxes to 12% across the board in all 6 categories and when I left the game we were making $38k per week. I believe there was a little more than $200k in the kitty. I also increased the budget (%) of services across the board to 100%. Cims are happy so cims will pay more in taxes. In doing so raising the budget for all services goes hand in hand with cim happiness. I don’t remember what the happiness levels were when I first started however they increased by the time I ended my turn.

Fire was at 29% when I first took over. That was far too high so I added multiple fire stations. I had to add more than I normally would due to the topography of the map and the road designs. Along with increasing the budget to 100% I was able to get fire down to 7%? I think. I really can’t remember.

I did the same for police coverage. Police coverage was not as bad as fire when I first took over however I made sure that dropped as well.

Education was another issue as there were multiple cims that need education. After increasing the amount of schools as the population rose happiness again started to increase.

Speaking of population I believe I reached two upgrades while not adding any roads. It was just a matter of re-zoning what was already there. Low density residential became high density as was the case for commercial and industrial.

Leisure was nearly non-existent when I took over. I added multiple parks and that aided in raising land value and happiness. There were more arrows and smiley faces than I can tell you. All I heard was ‘ding, ding, ding, ding’ constantly.

The next thing I needed to do to increase population was to add public transport. With the road system that we have and the fact that 99.9% of the roads are only 2 way I did not want to attempt the bus option as I felt it would just add to traffic issues. If not immediately then as population grows. So I just had time to build a single subway line. It skirts around the outside (for the most part) of the current city. I would have added more inner city lines if I had more time to do so.

I was able to remove two or three dumps as they were emptying/empty. I think there is only one remaining?

For the most part what I did was just concentrate on the foundation of the city so that further growth/expansion can take place more easily. I think growth and adding roads and districts etc. is the most fun part of playing the game. However without taking the time/effort to improve all aspects of cim life (fire, police, leisure, education, noise pollution, public transit, land value, budget, taxes etc.) it makes it very difficult to grow and more importantly to grow on a continuous basis. Sometimes there is nothing worse than struggling to grow due to lacking services.

So now you guys should have smooth sailing in accomplishing your immediate goals with regards to expansion and growth. I enjoyed working on the map and the time I spent on it. It was however very strange/odd seeing chirper. Not once did I read anything the chirper had to say nor did I once open it up to read anything. I think that after about 10 hours of play you have to figure out you are reading the same things over and over and over again.

I hope that if I am invited for future games we add some additional mods. There are so many good ones that add so much to the game that I hope they will at least be considered.


Questions?

Comments?

 

[JerkyJerry]

...Mind posting the link to it?

It was the same as the save. I just changed the 3 to a 4. Same site, same map title (except the 4 instead of the 3)
Did I do that correctly?

 

[stiiknafuulia]

It was the same as the save. I just changed the 3 to a 4. Same site, same map title (except the 4 instead of the 3)
Did I do that correctly?

Well, we still need the direct link to the file (from the address bar). Otherwise we can't access it. So, if you have it saved, then post it; if not, just upload the file again and be sure to copy it this time.

EDIT: Some more comments after reading your report:

- Regarding noise pollution, I never knew that it was such a problem! Granted that I haven't played the game all that much (I've mostly tinkered with the map editor). But I'm glad you sorted this issue out; I'll be sure to use only tree-lined roads from now on.

- Regarding police coverage -- so it affects happiness as well? I didn't build any more stations, as it seemed that crime remained low regardless. In this game, mostly unemployment seems to lead to crime-waves; if everyone can have a job, then they won't become criminals even if there are no police stations anywhere within a 100 miles. I assume it was for happiness reasons that you built the stations.

- About increasing buggets: I hope you left the water and electricity budgets at 50 % ? Since we have a massive oversupply of electricity, there's no point in running the plants at full power. I don't think it affects happiness to be able to take two baths a day, when you'll only ever take one. In other services I guess there's a cost/benefit analysis to be made... But since it's very complicated and we're swimming in money anyways, I approve of your decision. The thing I'm curious about, however, is if increasing budgets from 100 to 150 % has a different effect than going from 50 to 100 % -- in terms of cost or happiness effect? You seem to know a lot about the money side of the game, so I was wondering if you know the answer to this question? If the effect(s) remain linear, then it makes sense to raise every happiness-inducing budget to 150 % permanently... --One might then wonder why not just take that value and call it 100 %, to avoid confusion. This is why I suspect the effect is different, but I'd be glad to know for sure.

 

[Myquandro]

For as far as my understanding about budget goes.

The best performance per dollar (if that's the currency) is best at 100%. Increasing the budget to 150% won't increase the performance to 150% but to something less (I don't know the figures but can do this after the weekend really easy). The same is true for decreasing the budget. A 50% budget would give something like 40% performance (don't know the real figures for this either).

So, in short. Increasing or decreasing the budget from 100% should be avoided. This is a trick to prevent/delay building new stuff (by increasing budget) or to cut spending after building major things like dams, hospitals, etc. or in bad times (by decreasing budget). Especially building a "perfect" dam can be combined with cuts in spending as 600MW is a lot of power for a medium city.

 

[Myquandro]

To make it even more understandable I can think of the following situations in which I use budgeting.

Situation A
You have a more then decent amount of money for what you expect to spend in the coming year(s) with respect to your monthly profits. You also want to grow faster then you have demand for.
In this situation you can use the money to invest in more schools, universities, power plants, sewage treatment, water pumps, parks, etc. Because you don't need all that capacity you lower the budget to have less effect on your monthly profits. As the city grows you only have to increase your budget. This gives a lot of benefits to planning.

Situation B
You have a lot of demand but not the cash to build new things. In this case you can increase your budget to overcome the situation that growth is limited by your services. At a later moment when you have more cash you can build more and lower the budget back down to 100%.

This also gives room to two different strategies. Building too much and growing to your capacity or increasing budget and catching up with your demand. But in either case, spend all the money you have as money in cash is the worst money you can have (it not doing anything, not even generating interest)

 

[JerkyJerry]

http://s000.tinyupload.com/index.php?file_id=65018210734173444633

I hope this is it
Let me know if it is not it