Anonymous edits have been disabled on the wiki. If you want to contribute please login or create an account.

Cities: Skylines

From PCGamingWiki, the wiki about fixing PC games
Cities: Skylines
Cities: Skylines cover
Developers
Colossal Order
Microsoft Store Tantalus Media
Publishers
Paradox Interactive
Engines
Unity 5[Note 1]
Release dates
Windows March 10, 2015
macOS (OS X) March 10, 2015
Linux March 10, 2015
Reception
Metacritic 85
OpenCritic 83
IGDB 76
Taxonomy
Monetization One-time game purchase, Expansion pack, DLC, Subscription gaming service
Microtransactions None
Modes Singleplayer
Pacing Real-time
Perspectives Bird's-eye view, Free-roaming camera
Controls Point and select
Genres Building, Simulation, Strategy, Business
Vehicles Automobile
Art styles Stylized
Themes Contemporary
Series Cities in Motion
Cities: Skylines on HowLongToBeat
Cities: Skylines on IGDB
Cities: Skylines on MobyGames
Cities: Skylines on Wikipedia
Cities in Motion
Cities in Motion 2011
Cities in Motion 2 2013
Cities: Skylines 2015
Cities: Skylines II 2023

Cities: Skylines is a singleplayer bird's-eye view and free-roaming camera building, simulation, strategy and business game in the Cities in Motion series.

The game is known to perform poorly or crash on systems with 8 GB RAM or lower.

General information

Official wiki
Steam Community Discussions

Availability

Source DRM Notes Keys OS
Retail
Icon overlay.png
Windows
macOS (OS X)
Linux
Publisher website
Icon overlay.png
Deluxe Edition also available.
Windows
macOS (OS X)
Linux
Epic Games Store
DRM-free after installation through Epic Games Launcher (notes may include more details)
DRM-free when launched directly from executable.[2]
Windows
Gamesplanet logo.svg
Icon overlay.png
Deluxe Edition also available.
Windows
macOS (OS X)
Linux
Green Man Gaming
Icon overlay.png
Deluxe Edition also available, region locked in Latin America.
Windows
macOS (OS X)
Linux
Humble Store
Icon overlay.png
Deluxe Edition also available.
Windows
macOS (OS X)
Linux
Microsoft Store
Microsoft Store
Windows 10 Edition. Includes After Dark DLC. Part of Xbox Game Pass for PC.
Windows
Steam
Icon overlay.png
Deluxe Edition also available.
Windows
macOS (OS X)
Linux
Origin (unavailable)
Origin
Deluxe Edition was also available.
Windows
Linking to a Paradox account is optional, but grants a free in-game item (Paradox Plaza) if done.

Version differences

The Steam version has Steam Workshop support, other versions rely on finding mods on other modding sites, such as Nexus Mods.
Cities: Skylines - Windows 10 Edition is a completely different version based on the console version of the game and does not have mods support.
Cities: Skylines Deluxe Edition includes: the base game, Statue of Liberty, Eiffel Tower, Brandenburg Gate, Arc de Triomphe, Grand Central Terminal and Original Soundtrack.
Cities: Skylines Collection includes: the base game, After Dark, Snowfall, Natural Disasters, Mass Transit, Green Cities, Parklife, Industries, Campus, Concerts, Art Deco, High-Tech Buildings, European Suburbia, Modern City Center, Relaxation Station, Rock City Radio, All That Jazz, Country Road Radio, Synthetic Dawn Radio, Campus Radio, Deep Focus Radio and Downtown Radio.
Cities: Skylines - New Player Bundle includes: the base game, Mass Transit, Industries and Sunset Harbor.

Monetization

Type Notes
DLC Minor DLC includes small item packs, skins and radio stations.
Expansion pack Major expansion packs include new features, items and mechanics.
One-time game purchase The game requires an upfront purchase to access.
Subscription gaming service Available via Xbox Game Pass for PC.

DLC and expansion packs

Name Notes
Airports Expansion
Windows
macOS (OS X)
Linux
After Dark Expansion
Windows
macOS (OS X)
Linux
Snowfall Expansion
Windows
macOS (OS X)
Linux
Natural Disasters Expansion
Windows
macOS (OS X)
Linux
Mass Transit Expansion
Windows
macOS (OS X)
Linux
Green Cities Expansion
Windows
macOS (OS X)
Linux
Parklife Expansion
Windows
macOS (OS X)
Linux
Industries Expansion
Windows
macOS (OS X)
Linux
Campus Expansion
Windows
macOS (OS X)
Linux
Sunset Harbor Expansion
Windows
macOS (OS X)
Linux
Map Pack Expansion
Windows
macOS (OS X)
Linux
Plazas & Promenades Expansion
Windows
macOS (OS X)
Linux
Financial Districts Expansion
Windows
macOS (OS X)
Linux
Map Pack 2 Expansion
Windows
macOS (OS X)
Linux
Hotels & Retreats Expansion
Windows
macOS (OS X)
Linux
Match Day Flavor pack, free
Windows
macOS (OS X)
Linux
Concerts Flavor pack
Windows
macOS (OS X)
Linux
Relaxation Station Music pack
Windows
macOS (OS X)
Linux
Rock City Radio Music pack
Windows
macOS (OS X)
Linux
All That Jazz Music pack
Windows
macOS (OS X)
Linux
Carols, Candles and Candy Music pack, free
Windows
macOS (OS X)
Linux
Country Road Radio Music pack
Windows
macOS (OS X)
Linux
Synthetic Dawn Radio Music pack
Windows
macOS (OS X)
Linux
Campus Radio Music pack
Windows
macOS (OS X)
Linux
Deep Focus Radio Music pack
Windows
macOS (OS X)
Linux
Downtown Radio Music pack
Windows
macOS (OS X)
Linux
Coast to Coast Radio Music pack
Windows
macOS (OS X)
Linux
On Air Radio Music pack
Windows
macOS (OS X)
Linux
Calm the Mind Radio Music pack
Windows
macOS (OS X)
Linux
Shoreline Radio Music pack
Windows
macOS (OS X)
Linux
Paradise Radio Music pack
Windows
macOS (OS X)
Linux
K-pop Radio Music pack
Windows
macOS (OS X)
Linux
80's Downtown Beat Music pack
Windows
macOS (OS X)
Linux
African Vibes Music pack
Windows
macOS (OS X)
Linux
Pop-Punk Radio Music pack
Windows
macOS (OS X)
Linux
80's Movies Tunes Music pack
Windows
macOS (OS X)
Linux
JADIA Radio Music pack
Windows
macOS (OS X)
Linux
90's Pop Radio Music pack
Windows
macOS (OS X)
Linux
Pre-Order Pack Cosmetic pack
Windows
macOS (OS X)
Linux
Art Deco Cosmetic pack
Windows
macOS (OS X)
Linux
Stadiums: European Club Pack Cosmetic pack, delisted
Windows
macOS (OS X)
Linux
High-Tech Buildings Cosmetic pack
Windows
macOS (OS X)
Linux
Pearls from the East Cosmetic pack, free
Windows
macOS (OS X)
Linux
European Suburbia Cosmetic pack
Windows
macOS (OS X)
Linux
University City Cosmetic pack
Windows
macOS (OS X)
Linux
Modern City Center Cosmetic pack
Windows
macOS (OS X)
Linux
Modern Japan Cosmetic pack
Windows
macOS (OS X)
Linux
Map Pack Cosmetic pack
Windows
macOS (OS X)
Linux
Vehicles of the World Cosmetic pack
Windows
macOS (OS X)
Linux
Mid-Century Modern Cosmetic pack
Windows
macOS (OS X)
Linux
Seaside Resorts Cosmetic pack
Windows
macOS (OS X)
Linux
Heart of Korea Cosmetic pack
Windows
macOS (OS X)
Linux
Skyscrapers Cosmetic pack
Windows
macOS (OS X)
Linux
Shopping Malls Cosmetic pack
Windows
macOS (OS X)
Linux
Sports Venues Cosmetic pack
Windows
macOS (OS X)
Linux
Africa in Miniature Cosmetic pack
Windows
macOS (OS X)
Linux
Brooklyn & Queens Cosmetic pack
Windows
macOS (OS X)
Linux
Railroads of Japan Cosmetic pack
Windows
macOS (OS X)
Linux
Industrial Evolution Cosmetic pack
Windows
macOS (OS X)
Linux

Essential improvements

Skip Paradox Launcher

Run Cities.exe with the %command% command-line argument
Note that the Steam client requires the path to the main executable to be set, i.e. it should look like so:

Game data

Configuration file(s) location

System Location
Windows %LOCALAPPDATA%\Colossal Order\Cities_Skylines\gameSettings.cgs
Microsoft Store
macOS (OS X) $HOME/Library/Application Support/Colossal Order/Cities_Skylines/gameSettings.cgs
Linux $XDG_DATA_HOME/Colossal Order/Cities_Skylines/gameSettings.cgs

Save game data location

System Location
Windows %LOCALAPPDATA%\Colossal Order\Cities_Skylines\Saves\
Microsoft Store
macOS (OS X) $HOME/Library/Application Support/Colossal Order/Cities_Skylines/Saves/
Linux $XDG_DATA_HOME/Colossal Order/Cities_Skylines/Saves/
This game follows the XDG Base Directory Specification on Linux.

Save game cloud syncing

System Native Notes
Epic Games Launcher
Origin
Steam Cloud
The player can choose whether or not a specific save file will be stored in the Steam cloud while saving.
Xbox Cloud

Video

Graphics settings.
Graphics settings.

Graphics feature State WSGF Notes
Widescreen resolution
Multi-monitor
Ultra-widescreen
4K Ultra HD
Field of view (FOV)
Steam Workshop mods allow for FOV changes. Link
Windowed
Set your Display Mode to Windowed.
Borderless fullscreen windowed
Set your Display Mode to Fullscreen.
Anisotropic filtering (AF)
Anti-aliasing (AA)
FXAA only. Alternatively use the Dynamic Resolution mod for on the fly downsampling.
Vertical sync (Vsync)
60 FPS and 120+ FPS
High dynamic range display (HDR)
See the glossary page for potential alternatives.
The game engine may allow for manual configuration of the game via its variables. See the Unity page for more details.
If the graphics look blurry when zoomed-in, turn down the tilt shift amount in settings.[citation needed]

Enable true fullscreen

Launch the game with the -force-d3d9 command line argument.
By default, the game won't support true fullscreen, and only borderless fullscreen is available. To use true fullscreen, the game can be run in DirectX 9 mode.

The -window-mode exclusive command line argument also works (will display an error dialog, just ignore it). It has to be applied to the executable, not the Paradox Launcher.

Input

Input settings.
Input settings.

Audio

Audio settings.
Audio settings.

Audio feature State Notes
Separate volume controls
Music, ambient, effects and user interface
Surround sound
Tested with two different devices, 7.1 headphones and 5.1 speakers. Only main two stereo channels are audible.
Subtitles
Closed captions
Mute on focus lost
Royalty free audio
Most "radio stations" play original music, with the exception of Gold FM.

Localizations

Language UI Audio Sub Notes
English
Simplified Chinese
French
German
Hungarian
Fan translation
Italian
Fan translation
Korean
Polish
Brazilian Portuguese
Russian
Spanish
Turkish
Cities Skylines Türkçe Yama

Issues fixed

Poor performance on laptops with Nvidia Optimus

Occurs when Cities: Skylines defaults to Intel integrated graphics instead of Nvidia discrete graphics.
Manually select discrete graphics in Nvidia Control Panel[citation needed]
  1. Open Nvidia Control Panel.
  2. Select Manage 3D Settings.
  3. Select the Program Settings tab.
  4. Select or Add cities.exe.
  5. Select High Performance Nvidia as the preferred graphics processor.
  6. Click Apply and launch the game.

Blurry UI text at resolutions above 1080p

Install the UI Resolution mod[3]

For Steam Users:

  1. Install Harmony (a dependency for the UI scaling mod)
  2. Subscribe to the mod on the Steam Workshop
  3. Enable the mods in the in-game mod manager
  4. Adjust UI scaling as needed in the graphics menu

For Non-Steam Users:

  1. Download UI Resolution and Harmony
  2. Extract the contents to the game's mod folder in %LOCALAPPDATA%\Colossal Order\Cities_Skylines\Addons\Mods (create it if it is not found)
  3. Enable the mods in the in-game mod manager
  4. Adjust UI scaling as needed in the graphics settings

Steam overlay does not work

Disable the other overlays (Raptr, Dxtory, Fraps, MSI Afterburner, etc.)[citation needed]

Random crashes

Upgrade to more than 8 GB RAM[4]

On 8GB RAM you must play vanilla game without mods or assets and always under 20k pop to avoid crashes.

Set cities.exe process priority to high[5]

Other information

API

Technical specs Supported Notes
Direct3D 9.0c, 11 Option to fallback to version 9.0c using the -force-d3d9 command-line parameter.
OpenGL
Metal support
Shader Model support 5.0
Executable 32-bit 64-bit Notes
Windows
macOS (OS X)
Linux

System requirements

Windows
Minimum Recommended
Operating system (OS) 7, 8.1, 10
Processor (CPU) Intel Core i7 930
AMD FX-6350
System memory (RAM) 8 GB
Hard disk drive (HDD) 4 GB
Video card (GPU) Nvidia GeForce GTS 450 (1 GB)
AMD R7 250 (2 GB)
Intel Iris Xe G7 (Tiger Lake)
DirectX 9.0c compatible
Intel Integrated Graphics Cards aren't supported.
macOS (OS X)
Minimum Recommended
Operating system (OS) 10.11
Processor (CPU) Intel Core 2 Duo 3.0 GHz
AMD Athlon 64 X2 6400+ 3.2 GHz
System memory (RAM) 4 GB
Hard disk drive (HDD) 4 GB
Video card (GPU) Nvidia GeForce GTX 260
ATI Radeon HD 5670
512 MB of VRAM
A 64-bit operating system is required.
Linux
Minimum Recommended
Operating system (OS) Ubuntu 12.04
Processor (CPU) Intel Core 2 Duo 3.0 GHz
AMD Athlon 64 X2 6400+ 3.2 GHz
System memory (RAM) 4 GB
Hard disk drive (HDD) 4 GB
Video card (GPU) Nvidia GeForce GTX 260
ATI Radeon HD 5670
512 MB of VRAM
A 64-bit operating system is required.


Notes

  1. Unity engine build: 5.6.7[1]

References

  1. Verified by User:Mrtnptrs on 2022-11-16
  2. Verified by User:JoltingGG on 2020-12-18
  3. https://steamcommunity.com/app/255710/discussions/0/2561864094341276493/?ctp=2#c3091137796291332918
  4. Reddit - last accessed on 26 May 2023
  5. forum.dobreprogramy.pl - last accessed on 26 May 2023