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Need to know how to avoid Cities Skylines bankruptcy? Then read on! We know that the game's been out and about for a while now, but Cities Skylines tips and tricks are always needed! Though this awesome city-builder is hardly impenetrable, it took us a fair few tries until we really figured it out. It's the nature of the genre, for sure. We do believe we could offer a helping hand, however.
By reading through this collection of various tips and tricks for Cities Skylines, you'll have a far better idea of the dos and don'ts of this wonderful Paradox title as you invest in key services, industrial zones, and key infrastructure in an attempt to ensure good coverage, and generate more revenue.
Tips and Tricks to Avoid Cities Skylines Bankruptcy
We'll provide short and succinct solutions to a wide variety of issues you'll be facing in the early-game of Cities Skylines. We're not talking about erecting your first skyscraper, either. Instead, what we'll provide you with is advice about a fledgling town's core needs and necessities! We're talking about power, water and sewage, garbage disposal, health care, your neighborhood police station and fire department, and similar.
Our main goal here is to set you up with all the basic information you need to start properly developing a Cities Skylines city. One that, preferably, won't fall apart like a dominoes tower of abandoned buildings as soon as you scale it up. This is a challenge in and of itself, but it's something that can be done with mathematical certainty! After all, Cities Skylines does want you to play it. It's really not as intimidating as it might seem at first.
As far as Cities Skylines veterans are concerned, the tips we've got in store are probably second nature to you by now. Really, this guide is designed primarily for newbies to the game and/or the genre and should be taken as such. Now that we've gotten that out of the way, let's get to business!
The ultimate early game guide for Cities Skylines?
To keep things simple and digestible, we've separated the basic tips into dedicated categories! We believe this should get you playing in no time at all, and that this is the right format to do so. Now, you may be wondering if there's any point in producing an early game guide for Cities Skylines now that the game is five years old. We do believe there is! The topic of Cities Skylines 2 is something we'll tackle down the line, but the game is quite self-sufficient right now. With awesome DLCs coming every so often, we're in for the long run.
Power Solutions
Logic dictates that, generally, fancy power solutions like wind turbines and solar collectors are endgame goals in a city builder. You may be surprised to hear that this isn't the case at all in Cities: Skylines. Your first order of business far as power goes should be to set up a few wind turbines to supply your town with electricity!
The obvious caveat is that you'll need to consider the wind map. Switch on over to this view and make sure that your wind turbines are set up in a dark grey/dark blue area. However, consider the fact that wind turbines create significant noise pollution. You're going to want them to be close to the city, but not too close.
Ideally, your wind turbines are going to make for a focal point of the whole power network you'll slowly be building up. An important tip for this type of progression is to create multiple links connecting key elements of your power network. That way, when one link is inevitably severed, your development won't fall into disarray.
Water and Sewage Solutions
Connecting a water supply to your townling is hardly an issue, but the matter is slightly more complicated than it might seem at first. Your first order of business ought to be to locate the nearest river and define which direction its stream is going. Here, we're concerned with two things: water supply and sewage disposal. That's right, sewage needs to be properly disposed of, too!
While it may be less than ideal, the first sewage disposal solution is to dump it all into the nearest river. Knowing how the river flows is crucial here. The sewage pipe must be downstream from the water supply pipe. Otherwise, you're going to contaminate every poor soul living in your city!
Create a water pumping station on the nearest river, augment it with water towers where needed. Once your city is more established, invest in a water treatment plant to bring the water pollution levels back down.
Garbage Disposal Solutions
If we're taking care of our towns' sewage, we sure will also take on the garbage disposal, right? Well, this key infrastructure is a non-optional feature of the game, so...
As soon as you hit 500 inhabitants, you'll unlock garbage collection functionality. Presumably, at that point, the trash starts piling up, and your in-game avatar realizes that ignoring it isn't going to work. In Cities Skylines, garbage trucks are your bread and butter, no matter how wrong that might sound. At first, your only real option will be to invest in landfills (7,500 inhabitants unlock the way better incinerator). The problem is, though, that you'll need to think ahead and set up several landfills in advance. Each nets you 15 garbage trucks, and you'll want your landfills to be strategically placed along traffic routes that won't bring your town to a standstill.
This brings us to our next early-game problem...
Traffic Solutions
If your traffic gets congested, every single service you've set up in your awesome city sandbox is in danger. The garbage disposal stoppage can cause unprecedented problems alone, and then comes health care, death, care, and general living issues for your inhabitants. Since Cities Skylines isn't that great at producing optimal traffic paths, you're going to need to plan your city carefully.
For a truly massive and comprehensive traffic guide, we suggest dedoimedo's Good Traffic Guide for Cities Skylines. It's badass, but it's not all that simple or easy to get through. In general terms, we suggest making good use of one-way streets and customized roundabouts. The specifics will vary a great deal from one town to another. However, if you separate truck traffic (highways) and regular traffic (one and two-lane roads) you should be safe. Micromanagement is the name of the game, after all. Do be ready for a bit of trial-and-error, mind.
Health Care Solutions
The final basic pillar of every baseline city will be health care. Much like garbage disposal, traffic congestion isn't something you want to deal with during emergencies. Setting up a fancy hospital building might sound enticing, but realistically, medical clinics will be your best bet for quite a long while. A clinic's maximum range is about 2km in any given direction, so be sure to cover your territory accordingly.
Something that many might gloss over is death care, however. You do need a cemetery at the very least, even though it won't come up early in the game. Ideally, you're going to have a few cemeteries and a crematorium as your city grows. At least one cemetery is an absolute must-have, however, as soon as your city progresses its development further on and you require more such buildings.
What to do after figuring out the basics?
When you figure out what's what in all the areas we discussed above, your next order of business will be to upscale your town into a veritable city. This is a game of cat and mouse, in our experience. You're going to want to carefully balance each and every aspect of progression all the while putting out fires as your territory expands. Sometimes literal fires, too: don't forget to implement a few fire department agencies! In any case, there are two main "resources" to be concerned about: money and inhabitants.
One key tip is to try and expand around key services. The more residential, commercial, and industrial zones you have, the more revenue will flow, and building these zones around key infrastructure like the fire department or police station ensures good coverage and minimizes the requirement for more such buildings.
Regarding cash flow, you're going to want to always be in the black as far as money goes. Ideally, the number of citizens should also always be growing. How you go about this is completely up to you, of course. If you keep our tips in mind and expand in a smart fashion, though, you'll be golden!
At any point, you can decide to take a step back and let your townling develop organically, of course. If you want real progression, though, micromanagement is a must.
What does Sunset Harbor DLC for Cities Skylines add for a newbie?
Cities Skylines' latest DLC, Sunset Harbor, is an interesting addition in the context of a newbie guide. We've covered the extreme variety of content that devs have added post-launch before, but Sunset Harbor may be their best offering yet. Here's what you get!
- fishing industry
- inter-city bus service
- trolleybus and helicopter passenger service
- 5 major new transport hubs
- waste transfer service
- in-land water treatment facilities
- large water tower
- 5 new sandbox maps
- unique Aviation Club building
- 6 new policies to implement
Some of these are downright game-changing! Transport hubs alone will revolutionize traffic: both early and late in the sandbox, and the fishing industry allows you to rely far more heavily on coastal development than ever before. What intrigues us the most, however, are new water treatment facilities and water supply options, which undoubtedly open up way more development options as the sandbox develops.
We also feel like this is a sign of things to come: the latest UI developments suggest that fishing is only the first industry with more to come. If you'd like to specialize your city sandbox, Sunset Harbor may well be as good as it gets right now. We'll keep you posted, of course!
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