Once again we are back with yet another development diary for Cities: Skylines. This time we are going to get a glimpse of the public transport options in your future cities.

If you want to refresh your memory about the previous dev diaries, check here: http://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum/showthread.php?802652-Cities-Skylines-dev-diary-archive

Working on public transport in Cities: Skylines we wanted to offer a variety of choices for the players to set up their public transport network while still keeping in mind that Cities: Skylines is first and foremost a city builder game rather than a transport simulator. Our goal was to implement the feature in so that it would be easy to use, following in suit with the rest of the features while still being robust enough to make it interesting and strategically sound. The fans of Cities in Motion games had always wanted to build rail networks and airports to control the intercity traffic but the scope of those games was always within the city limits. However, with Cities: Skylines' goods transport and citizens moving in and out of the city, we felt that it was a good time to bring in the intercity traffic possibilities to public transport.

Public transport types
Cities: Skylines features several modes of public transport. You can set up a bus network, dig metro tunnels, lay down tracks for passenger and cargo trains, build both passenger and cargo terminals for ships and build an airpot. Bus and metro network is for inner city transport while train network can service both inner city and intercity needs (both, passenger and cargo trains!). The harbors and the airport service intercity connections.

Bus transport
The bus transport is the first, low-cost choice for public transport. There are two structures required for it to work: the bus depot and bus stops. The bus depot works as the storage space for the buses in the city and when setting up new bus routes you can see the buses leaving the depot for their designated routes. Adjusting the budget for buses causes more (or less) buses to appear on the routes. One bus depot can service the whole city but a placing more than one in strategic places around the city can shorten the time when new buses reach their routes since they don't have to drive through the whole city to get there.

The bus depot.

A bus stop in the suburbs.

Metro
Metro is an efficient transport mode to move a lot of people fast. However, its downside is the high building cost since the player needs to build both the metro entrances (stations) as well as the underground tracks. Underground track building is done in a special view mode where the tracks and stations are highlighted. This mode also highlights the other public transport buildings, tracks and routes which makes planning of the network easier.

A metro entrance near the center of the city.

Inspecting the metro line in the special public transport info view mode.

Trains
Trains are divided into passenger and cargo trains. Both trains have their own terminals that the player can build in the city. The player can use the train network in two different ways:
1) If they only build the terminals and connect the train tracks to the outside connecting train tracks found on the map, the terminals will service intercity traffic, importing and exporting cargo and passengers (tourists).
2) The player is also able to use the train line tool to create train routes within the city limits i.e. the player is able to build inner city train lines servicing the different parts of the city.
Train tracks are cheaper to build compared to underground metro tracks but train tracks require room to be built hence they must be fitted within the city next to all the buildings and roads. However, the player can build elevated train tracks to navigate over some of the obstacles a city can present.

The passenger train terminal. Tourists are boarding the train.

Cargo train terminal located in an industrial area of the city.

Cargo train has left the terminal and is heading outside of the city.

Cities: Skylines features elevated train tracks as well.

Railway bridge next to the highway.

Harbors
Harbors are divided into a passenger harbor and a cargo harbor. Both service intercity traffic, bringing in tourists and shipping goods to and from the city. Due to the huge capacity of the ships harbors are one of the largest entry points into the city by means of public transport.

Passenger ship arriving to the passenger terminal.

A Cargo ship and a cargo terminal.

Airport
Airport services mostly passengers and is the most expensive public transport investment. It brings in a lot of tourists and can really boost the economy. While the airport increases tourism into the city it also causes quite a lot of noise pollution which means that it is wise to build the airport far from residential zones.

The airport.

- Henkka also known as an artist, designer and level designer at Colossal Order

 

[irotsoma437]

Passenger Train and Subway could be the same

In some cities I've seen that the passenger train system is the same system as the subway system. It would be cool if they used the same "train" and just had a part you could place that brings the train underground at which point it becomes a subway train/metro. It's pretty common in areas where inside the city there's no space for a train system so it's put underground. But once it exits the dense part of the city or into the suburbs it becomes an above ground system. This saves a lot in cost to put the tracks and stations above ground in less densely populated areas. Might be something to consider at least.

 

[Sinbuster]

For those saying the Metro stations should be smaller... You're thinking purely in terms of realism without any consideration given to the fact that this is a game and needs to be playable. It would be very frustrating from a user experience perspective to have to search for tiny metro stations and click precisely on a small (but significant from a gameplay perspective) structure every time you want to see details\make changes to the structure.

I agree to some degree. But it shouldn't be an issue if public transport buildings glow as we saw in the subway screenshot.

As far as the DD goes, very cool. I would like to echo the comments from others regarding the size of airports/sea ports, as well as toning down the colours. I also hope we get the option to place subway stations directly on the street/sidewalk so it doesn't take up much room - others have illustrated this fairly well. Major terminals where subway and trains meet would obviously be much bigger; hopefully they will be considered as well.

 

[Viper1989]

1. I agree with a lot of people saying that the colours are too vibrant/saturated.

2. I think busses should change size according to how much you are funding it as a visual representation of the cost.

Standard bus size in my home city:

vs double length for the main north/south line

3. The airport is way too small. Our regional airport covers about 0.6km² of land while the international airport covers about 8km².

 

[Darkath]

In some cities I've seen that the passenger train system is the same system as the subway system. It would be cool if they used the same "train" and just had a part you could place that brings the train underground at which point it becomes a subway train/metro. It's pretty common in areas where inside the city there's no space for a train system so it's put underground. But once it exits the dense part of the city or into the suburbs it becomes an above ground system. This saves a lot in cost to put the tracks and stations above ground in less densely populated areas. Might be something to consider at least.

Alternatively, cities like Paris have elevated subway segments :

(my favorite metro segment in the city )

The Metro Line 6 depicted above has both underground and elevated segments, I believe because it was impractical to dig more tunnels underground...

 

[LittleMac]

I think we should have the option for elevated segments like SimCity 4, here in São Paulo there's some:

 

[CaptRobau]

The main detail I'm missing from the airport are hangars. They'd fit really well to the side of the terminal. Just 2 hangars and some tarmac that leads to it would fill out the airport and make it feel more real.

 

[jumonjii]

There should be small shuttle busses and regular busses.

Off topic, but I did notice that there are a lot of donut trucks...

 

[KeanoManu]

* I like the system for buses. With depots that can either serve the whole city or just parts of it. Will be fun to play around with!

* Like Bapadox said, will we be able to use one bus station for several routes?

* Will it also be some larger bus stations with a higher capacity for denser parts of town? I'm thinking of the Port Authority Bus Terminal in New York for example.

* Both the bus terminal and the train station need some extensive work on the area surrounding the building. It looks way too empty. The train station should have a pick-up zone, taxi stand or functioning parking lot on the big paved area beside the terminal building.

* I also think that the bus bays are too large. But I'm assuming that it has to do with the simulation. That a smaller bus bay could cause unnecessary traffic jams. Thinking of that... We should be able to build bus stations without bus bays. I hate them in real life, but it's very common.

* I agree that the airport and port are too small. However, I don't see that as a big problem at release. I'm certain that we'll see modular airports and ports added later in the development after release. Ports are rather useless without any other seaside management and construction too.

* Boats as an public transport option within the city should be an option. The developers are based in Finland and Paradox are based in Sweden. Both countries have capitals with an extensive network of commuting by ferry. How can they have forgotten that?

* I also agree that the subway station in the screenshot looks weird. But I'm sure there will be several different designs to choose from when we're building a subway station. There should be one where the ground have the same texture and color as the standard sidewalk. And it should of course be stations that are places on top of the sidewalk. And it should be larger stations that includes a building. And combined train stations and subway stations.

* I'd like to know if parking will be something that we'd have to work with in the game. It would certainly be connected to public transport. It's not public transport but it's a competitor. Adding parking lots close to train stations should increase usage. Not adding parking lots in areas where there's a good supply of work places should also increase usage of public transport, but at the cost of some dissatisfied citizens. The airport and seaport should require plenty of parking opportunities too to maximize potential. I really hope that parking lots and garages will have a function in the game. It would add a fun, unique and realistic aspect to the game.

 

[RaptorCommander]

Good to see that Public transport is included. A few questions though

1. Will citizens drive to public transport or only walk? If the can drive their they need somewhere to park the cars....
2. Will the surface passenger train lines be connected to the metro?
3. Will cargo trains travel on the same lines as passenger trains?
4. Are all trains modelled in the network like cars? Will the be able to turn around at stations etc. to avoid crashes?
5. How do tourists get around the city? Do we need rental cars?

In inner city areas where do all the cars go when not in use?

 

[hyyena]

1 - Airports and ports is just SO SMALL. Players of a city build game want a realistic game, not more one "lets make a silly simcity".
2 - Trans please.
3 - Brt please.

4 - I love the cargo trains!

I know its not a transport game like cities in motion but the transport is one important thing in city, we love transports we love make the city so invest more on this!

 

[Barkydog]

Thanks you for sharing your latest development diary as these are always fun to read. Thanks for bringing back airports and adding in the different features as this is going to be a great game.
I do have some thoughts after looking at the picture and I hope they help.

-First of all with the passenger railway station it looks good but could we have different types of passenger railway stations?

-Some stations are like the one in the picture but for a mainline station. It would make a good interchange system if outside the station we had space for car parks, taxi ranks, Bus stops & or interchanges with surface metro lines.
With the metro station how do passengers enter the station? I hope they enter and walk down the stairs like in CIM1? That would be much better than the way they enter stations in CIM2.

-Also with the trains mainline and metro when they reach the end of a line. I hope they reverse back out like in CIm1? That would be much more realistic since terminal loops are ok for trams but not so good for trains and metro.

-Since we have bus stops with bays is there any way we can combine these with bus lanes to create dedicated bus interchanges?

-I hope we have the option to name individual routes? but to add in letters as well as numbers to the route prefix so you have routes like (1 City centre) but also (1A City centre via side road.)

-Municipal transport authorities would also name the individual bus stops like stop A, B, C etc. To help passengers find their buses more easily. Could we do this?
We could also do with different types of buses for our fleets. Low floor, Double decker, Minibuses etc. Maybe some of our fleets could be buses from CIM1?

-Since it is a city builder game we could do with having control over taxi policies, taxi ranks , Number of cabs per cab stand and number of cabs overall.

-Providing taxi ranks could you do this by coding for taxi’s to park up and wait for fares in their own dedicated bays? Kind of like the bus bays but a separate type for taxi drivers to use?

-Lastly I know it’s not strictly public transport related but could we please have the option to name our roads and districts? That would make it easier for both transport planning and operating the city overall too.

You guys have all done some great work so a big thank you for sharing your new game as it develops.

 

[Stevo Wallis]

This Dev Diary has me really excited for this game now. I see lots of really great work. I can't wait to see it all moving. I agree with a lot of the suggestions from the community here. The Metro stations need to be on the side of the roads like the Bus tops or under the Bus stops for transfer stations. Most of the other things people want can be fixed by Modders, like the colours of the cars and building rooftops. The Airport needs a complete overhaul including a size increase, a decent looking terminal, some hangers and a carpark instead of wasted space of just grass. The Railway station needs a carpark too. Also would be nice to have Parking stations near Metro stations and Railway stations, so Cims can change from car to public transport.

 

[MKM]

The current implementation of buses sounds really good.

 

[mgsports]

Those Pictures do look nice. Stop Lights are needed.

 

[makinistfanlari]

This will be CIM3 :laugh:

 

[Xannepan]

Suggestion : dragable runways and taxiways would be great... It seems you have all the buildingpieces in place to realize something like that. For the runways, just limits the dragging tool to straight pieces. Anyway I think it would add so much more realism to the airport...

 

[NickSlip]

What's with the incredibly bright colors? I get that it's inevitable that there'll be some stylization in the graphics, but the focus in a city builder should really be realism, and that should extend to the art too. Bright shades of green, red, orange, and blue look good when used sparingly, but not when they're used as the main colors for every single building and every single vehicle. Brown, grey, and metallic themes are much more common in architecture, and any color used is a lot more muted and tasteful. White, black and silver are by far the most common car colors in the real world as well. Maybe it's just a saturation problem, but even a fairly cartoonish game in SimCity 2013 did this better than what I've been seeing so far.

 

[Frode789]

Nice entry!

Lots of good things to see here, loving the elevated rail! That said, the airport still needs LOTS of work... Please pay attention to details, they don't take much time to do, but it elevates the realism in tenfold. As per my previous posts:

- Runway/taxiway is still very small. Length and width.
- Distance between gates looks too small for a A380. Airport with 2 gates serving a A380?.. This termial is obviously a regional terminal, not even close to the size of a proper international terminal. So unless you plan on adding more terminals you'd need to make the terminal MUCH larger and with several hubs. Oh, and parking? Where is parking? Public transportation?
- Markings on runway are inaccurate. (no distance markers)
- Airport security? Fences? Runway-safety zone is completely missing.
- Runway/taxiway lighting is not complete. Look at the markings here:
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-I64NPqFgqLA/T0cl9yNQ1zI/AAAAAAAAABs/9S11F9a2FWQ/s1600/runway-end-lights.png

 

[Greygor69]

Another good update, I do like the range of Transport options.

I agree with others that the colours are a little jarring, however if this is a modable aspect of the game it's not a big issue. If we can add new buses, cars, trains into the game I can imagine the choice would be pretty large once the modders get on it.

Trams are a notable missing item, but if they come later, fine.

The Airport shown and the Harbour shown are far too small, your allowing for big maps so it'd be nice to take advantage of this.

Modular Airport and Dock building would be a feature I believe many would like.

If we could build an infrastructure delivering containers to docks for transport and collection that would be fantastic

 

[davfos]

Guys really. There's too much complaining about how the game looks in terms of colours, how the lots are designed and in terms of detail. It's been repeatedly stated by CO that the vast majority of assets are merely placeholders which probably wont get finalised until the core game is complete.

With promised modding tools things like bigger airports, mag-lev networks, elevated metros, and alternate styles will probably be added as future refinements or user-generated content. Let the devs work on nailing the core gameplay and then we can customise the hell out of the assets when we get our hands on what currently looks to be a sweet city sim.

Hats off to CO. We can tell it's a work in progress with room for improvement in a number of areas, but what you're showing us so far looks very promising indeed.