Greetings and welcome back to Cities: Skylines Dev Diaries! Our topic of the day is Production Chains which is right at the very center of this expansion so let's get cracking!
Industries expansion will allow you to manage your Industry's production process in a way that hasn't been possible before in Cities: Skylines. Creating production chains is easy but optimizing your production chain to perfection takes effort. To support this Industries DLC comes with a wide selection of new buildings. Each building type has its of purpose and functionality in the game, but there are also some variation within each type – mostly per production chain and resource type, but also to offer variety for different levels of efficiency. You can create the whole production chain inside a single area - or if you prefer create multiple areas which each serve a specific part in your production chain.
TwoDollarsTwenty has made another nice tutorial to help us showcasing the new supply chain management of Industries DLC:
All the tutorial videos will be available on this playlist at Paradox Interactive Youtube channel!
Note: Tutorials were made with a beta version of the Industries so you might notice some differences compared to the Dev Diary screenshots.
From raw materials to luxury products
For this Dev Diary we have created Forest Industry Area to serve as an example. Forest Industry Area is one of four new Industry Areas but the basic flow of products inside the chain works the same way for all Industry Areas. Managing a production chain is rather straightforward as long as you keep a few things in mind. For starters it's good to remember that as you own the Industry Area buildings, they do not produce any tax income unlike your zoned buildings. Instead your profit will be made through the production chain - the better your production chain works the more money you make.
You start your production chain with Raw Resources that can either be harvested directly from the map with Extractor Buildings or you can have them imported. Extractor Buildings are located under the revamped Garbage and Industry menu, divided into sub-menus per Industry Area type and can only operate inside corresponding Industry Area type. Forest Industry uses Raw Resource called Raw Forest Products which can be harvested by planting an Extractor Building, for example Large Tree Plantation, on top of forest Natural Resource. If you have chosen to Import raw materials instead they are transported straight to the Processing Buildings from the outside connections. But remember that you must pay for any raw materials you import! If your map is rich in natural resources you can also earn some extra by selling your surplus production of raw materials to corresponding specialized zoned industry or export them through outside connections.
Forest Forwarder is moving freshly harvested Raw Forest Products from Large Conifer Plantation further down the production chain.
What if I do not have the required raw materials available in my map? Worry not! Your processing buildings will automatically import raw materials for their needs if none are available in your City. And do not forget that a selection of Storage Buildings allows you to import, handle and store larger quantities of raw materials so your factories can remain operational at all times. You can locate Storage Buildings under the same menu as your Extractor Buildings. Forest Industry can store Raw Forest Products for example into Small Log Yard, which is one of the several available Raw Material Storage Buildings. These buildings serve an important role because they act as a buffer to provide steady flow of resources further down the production chain as needed. You are able to store all resources required in your production chain at any point - something that is extremely handy when you plan how resources are moved in your city.
Sawmill in action. Raw Forest Products go in - Planed Timber comes out. Easy and simple.
Different kind of Special goods, which are produced by Processing Buildings, are required by Unique Factories but can also be sold to regular zoned industry in case your own factories have no need for them. Depending on your Unique Factory, it will require one to four different kind of special goods to operate and produce the desired Luxury Products. For example Furniture Factory is unlocked through levelling up your Forest Industry Area and requires both Planed Timber and Paper Special Goods produced in Forest Industry Areas. All Unique Factories are located in their own tab under Garbage and Industry menu where you can easily check their requirements. Can you unlock them all?
Furniture Factory has manufactured a batch of Luxury Products - Furniture - that is finally on the way to the stores.
To summarize the basic production chain it consists of four different types of buildings;
Once the basic production flow is functioning you can start tweaking your area into perfection. This where Auxiliary Buildings come to play. Each Industry Area type has two auxiliary buildings with different functions, located in the same place as Main Buildings. You cannot mix-and-match these buildings between different area types but you can build several of the same kind inside the same area. Auxiliary Buildings boost your Industry Area, improving the effectiveness of the Industry Areas they are located in and can often give you just that little extra boost to reach the next level with your Area!
Industries expansion will allow you to manage your Industry's production process in a way that hasn't been possible before in Cities: Skylines. Creating production chains is easy but optimizing your production chain to perfection takes effort. To support this Industries DLC comes with a wide selection of new buildings. Each building type has its of purpose and functionality in the game, but there are also some variation within each type – mostly per production chain and resource type, but also to offer variety for different levels of efficiency. You can create the whole production chain inside a single area - or if you prefer create multiple areas which each serve a specific part in your production chain.
TwoDollarsTwenty has made another nice tutorial to help us showcasing the new supply chain management of Industries DLC:
All the tutorial videos will be available on this playlist at Paradox Interactive Youtube channel!
Note: Tutorials were made with a beta version of the Industries so you might notice some differences compared to the Dev Diary screenshots.
From raw materials to luxury products
For this Dev Diary we have created Forest Industry Area to serve as an example. Forest Industry Area is one of four new Industry Areas but the basic flow of products inside the chain works the same way for all Industry Areas. Managing a production chain is rather straightforward as long as you keep a few things in mind. For starters it's good to remember that as you own the Industry Area buildings, they do not produce any tax income unlike your zoned buildings. Instead your profit will be made through the production chain - the better your production chain works the more money you make.
You start your production chain with Raw Resources that can either be harvested directly from the map with Extractor Buildings or you can have them imported. Extractor Buildings are located under the revamped Garbage and Industry menu, divided into sub-menus per Industry Area type and can only operate inside corresponding Industry Area type. Forest Industry uses Raw Resource called Raw Forest Products which can be harvested by planting an Extractor Building, for example Large Tree Plantation, on top of forest Natural Resource. If you have chosen to Import raw materials instead they are transported straight to the Processing Buildings from the outside connections. But remember that you must pay for any raw materials you import! If your map is rich in natural resources you can also earn some extra by selling your surplus production of raw materials to corresponding specialized zoned industry or export them through outside connections.
Forest Forwarder is moving freshly harvested Raw Forest Products from Large Conifer Plantation further down the production chain.
What if I do not have the required raw materials available in my map? Worry not! Your processing buildings will automatically import raw materials for their needs if none are available in your City. And do not forget that a selection of Storage Buildings allows you to import, handle and store larger quantities of raw materials so your factories can remain operational at all times. You can locate Storage Buildings under the same menu as your Extractor Buildings. Forest Industry can store Raw Forest Products for example into Small Log Yard, which is one of the several available Raw Material Storage Buildings. These buildings serve an important role because they act as a buffer to provide steady flow of resources further down the production chain as needed. You are able to store all resources required in your production chain at any point - something that is extremely handy when you plan how resources are moved in your city.
Sawmill in action. Raw Forest Products go in - Planed Timber comes out. Easy and simple.
Different kind of Special goods, which are produced by Processing Buildings, are required by Unique Factories but can also be sold to regular zoned industry in case your own factories have no need for them. Depending on your Unique Factory, it will require one to four different kind of special goods to operate and produce the desired Luxury Products. For example Furniture Factory is unlocked through levelling up your Forest Industry Area and requires both Planed Timber and Paper Special Goods produced in Forest Industry Areas. All Unique Factories are located in their own tab under Garbage and Industry menu where you can easily check their requirements. Can you unlock them all?
Furniture Factory has manufactured a batch of Luxury Products - Furniture - that is finally on the way to the stores.
To summarize the basic production chain it consists of four different types of buildings;
- Extractor Buildings, for example Tree Plantations, harvest resources from the soil or the raw material can be imported if enough isn't harvested. Surplus production can be sold to corresponding specialized zoned industry or exported through outside connections for profit. Extractor Buildings can only be placed inside Industry Areas.
- Raw Material Storage Buildings, Log Yards for example, are located under the construction menu of each Industry Type. Storing helps you to manage the flow of resources. Special Goods and Luxury Products can be stored in Warehouses. Storage Buildings can operate outside Industry Areas. If you want to know more about storing resources then stay tuned for upcoming Dev Diaries.
- Processing Buildings, for example Sawmill, will transform your gathered resources into Special Goods that are required by Unique Factories. Extra goods can be sold and used by regular zoned industry. Processing Buildings can only be placed inside Industry Areas.
- Unique Factories, like Furniture Factory for an example, produce Luxury Goods from processed materials which are the final products of the production chain. Luxury Goods, which in the case of Furniture Factory are furniture, can be sold for significant profit to your own commercial zones or exported through outside connections. In order to operate Unique Factories do not need be placed inside Industry Areas.
Once the basic production flow is functioning you can start tweaking your area into perfection. This where Auxiliary Buildings come to play. Each Industry Area type has two auxiliary buildings with different functions, located in the same place as Main Buildings. You cannot mix-and-match these buildings between different area types but you can build several of the same kind inside the same area. Auxiliary Buildings boost your Industry Area, improving the effectiveness of the Industry Areas they are located in and can often give you just that little extra boost to reach the next level with your Area!
- Workers' Barracks increases the efficiency of the workers inside the Industry Area by 5% per Worker's Barracks.
- Industry Maintenance Building increases the storage capacity of industrial buildings inside the Industry Area by 5% per Maintenance Building.
