CO Word of the Week #9

[erkinalp]

Yeah, releasing this game on GFN feels like double insult, because we will ONLY be able to play Vanilla "game", since even devtools are not allowed on GFN, forget the mod support...

It feels like the one reason to add this to GFN was to sell a few more copies of the game...

Or, open the doors for a paid multiplayer option.

 

[Civ5rako]

And, yes. Monday's Word Salad of the Week will be interesting.

Given the timeline we have been provided with

To summarize on the priorities of the modding support:

1. Public Beta version of code modding and Paradox Mods will be available in the live build by the end of March
2. Public Beta version of Map editing available in the live build together with code modding or soon after
3. Public Beta version of Asset editing to be announced, only after the technical issues are sorted can we roll out the tool
4. Continue to work on the modding support and get out of the Beta stage during the Finnish fall.

I wouldn't expect too many WoW anymore.

What should they tell us? Till end of March there is not much to say anyway except for constantly referring to that timeline and saying "Please be patient".

Anything else is even more diffuse in terms of timelines. Frankly, it all very much reads like there will be "something" every three months, and that's it for this year.

As I stated in my first posting I decided against preordering the game because the nearer we got to release date, the less intriguing the developer diaries became. And the "previews" on YouTube didn't really raise (my) enthusiasm either.

I did however not expect such a massive failure as it now appears to be.

I mean, we are talking about end of the year until they hope to be able to get out of BETA stage for anything related to "modding". More than one year after release.
That means the current state must be awful, to say the least.

 

[Gonzoez]

Or, open the doors for a paid multiplayer option.

It's (supposed to be) a Citi simulator.. what exactly are you going to "multiplay"?)

Given how differently this game runs on different PC (speed-wise) I don't understand what would be the purpose of it...

Paid mods is a more likely outcome, I think.

 

[TheLazyHangman]

Yeah, releasing this game on GFN feels like double insult, because we will ONLY be able to play Vanilla "game", since even devtools are not allowed on GFN, forget the mod support...

It feels like the one reason to add this to GFN was to sell a few more copies of the game...

And in case their intentions weren't clear enough, they also took CS1 down from GFN in the meantime, just to be sure.

 

[timfrombriz]

And in case their intentions weren't clear enough, they also took CS1 down from GFN in the meantime, just to be sure.

Wow. Thats dirty of them.

The profit plot thickens

 

[Civ5rako]

Paid mods is a more likely outcome, I think.

i am pretty sure they promised last year that there will never be any paid mods for Cities: Skylines 2.

 

[erkinalp]

It's (supposed to be) a Citi simulator.. what exactly are you going to "multiplay"?)

Cooperative multiplayer i.e. multiple players making a city together in the same map.

 

[timfrombriz]

God bless the person who thought of Word Salad of the week. Its perfectly fitting.

 

[TheLazyHangman]

Wow. Thats dirty of them.

The profit plot thickens

Well to be honest they claim it's Nvidia's fault, but the game has been down for more than 1 month now and it just seems strange to me that they can do this without informing the publisher (Paradox said they didn't know anything about it since they were on holiday). The game was last patched in June '23 and has been working fine for at least 5 months since then, then suddenly Nvidia discovers a "problem" with the game that needs to be taken down for "maintenance" for one month? Come on.

 

[TripleAgent]

i am pretty sure they promised last year that there will never be any paid mods for Cities: Skylines 2.

To be fair they also promised a week before release that mod support would be out soon after launch and that the simulation was properly functioning. When trust is destroyed between the devs and the community (which Avanya has recognized), prior representations are looked at with more skepticism. Especially in light of the fact that CO is currently refusing to even acknowledge the potential for refunds, it's starting to feel like profit over everything, including community, at this point.

Personally I don't expect paid mods to be a thing, but I'm not going to critique someone for thinking it.

 

[Gonzoez]

i am pretty sure they promised last year that there will never be any paid mods for Cities: Skylines 2.

Well... Not to offend anyone and not to be toxic... But if everything they said was indeed true - we wouldn't be where we are right now

I keep my fingers crossed that you're right, but it's not up to them. It's PDX owned platform, from what I understand and maintaining it costs money...

 

[HarmVanEijken]

Will there be more then one ground texture to choose from?

I did acess the editor following a youtube tutorial and tried to build a map.. i realy woud like to see 4 more features, also we need a better way to make water in a map happen.

--> More tools and textures to paint terrain texture,
+ Sand texture for making beach areas
+ Rock texture for making mountans
+ Dirt ground texture
+ Forest ground texture
+ More brushes

--> Ability to edit outside of world borders so there is no water surrounding the map on al sides
+ Edit backgrounds
+ Edit HDRI pictures

--> Edit weather sytems
+ Edit wind features
+ Edit rain/snow seasons
+ Editing temprature cycles
+ Edit wave hight?

--> Better tools for inserting water
+ Instant water planes to make big water body,s quikly
+ Flow indicator arrows
+ tool for removing water quikly

-- Other features they can improve the editor on:
+ Make objects u need in a map easyer to find in the object pool


If i need to add anything let the devs know below!

 

[Infixo]

i am pretty sure they promised last year that there will never be any paid mods for Cities: Skylines 2.

Would you kindly remind us what they promised when the game was released? And how are these promises 3 months later? Just extrapolate what their promises will be worth in a year or two.

 

[erkinalp]

Well... Not to offend anyone and not to be toxic... But if everything they said was indeed true - we wouldn't be where we are right now

I keep my fingers crossed that you're right, but it's not up to them. It's PDX owned platform, from what I understand and maintaining it costs money...

The irony is PDXmods was developed by Colossal Order and is being maintained jointly by Colossal Order and Iceflake (subsidiary of Paradox)...

 

[Angius]

i am pretty sure they promised last year that there will never be any paid mods for Cities: Skylines 2.

They promised mod support within "hours not days" and see how that panned out.

 

[TripleAgent]

They promised mod support within "hours not days" and see how that panned out.

"days not hours", but yes

 

[unoace1006]

I really hope they are actually able to resolve these technology problems. They seem to be pretty challenging and complex.

 

[unmerged(524934)]

Re. paid mods - before this absolute debacle of a launch and the way that community relations have been handled since, I'd have said with 100% confidence (based on CO's previous track record as, you know, good upstanding Finns) that there was no way on God's good Earth they would ever consider charging for mods on the PDXMods platform... but you know what, now that I've seen the way they've gone for the money, releasing a half-baked game that should have been labelled as Early Access at best, and then tried to cover it up and put the blame on us for not appreciating it - I can say now I would genuinely not be surprised if at some point this year they announced gated access to certain mods, either through paying for the mod directly or having it be dependent on purchasing some DLC.

Well done CO - eight years of building a "stellar" reputation amongst your city building fans, and three short months to absolutely p**s it away.

 

[TripleAgent]

Another news article about the state of the game and Mariina calling us toxic, but at least they interviewed City Planner Plays who stuck up for the community, good on him. The article is actually more balanced than the headline indicates and actually addresses a lot of the concerns that we've been raising here as well and doesn't pull many punches.

What’s up with the 'toxicity' around Cities: Skylines II?

Tensions have been high in the Cities: Skylines community since the launch of the sequel in October.

www.engadget.com

Also, from the article:

The issue, as far as Colossal Order sees it, lies in the community’s response to Cities: Skylines II. Players have been venting on social media and in the Steam and Paradox forums, and the feedback has risen to toxic levels, according to Hallikainen. She cites a surge in personal attacks on developers and other players. "Cities: Skylines II attracted a lot of attention and very high expectations were set,” she said. “When the game did not fulfill all the promises, it was natural to cause frustration in the audience. However, the shortcomings should spark a conversation on ideas for improvement, constructive feedback and respectful discussions in the community.”

This hurts considering the genuine representations Avanya seemed to make acknowledging the major problems with the game and with CO's actions/inactions around release. The attention and high expectations came from CO's marketing and promises that have been acknowledged as incomplete/misleading! And now the problem isn't CO, it's the community! Seriously?

The shortcomings should spark the things you mention, but a game not fulfilling its promises should spark the developer giving refunds!

 

[unmerged(524934)]

Another news article about the state of the game and Mariina calling us toxic, but at least they interviewed City Planner Plays who stuck up for the community, good on him. The article is actually more balanced than the headline indicates and actually addresses a lot of the concerns that we've been raising here as well and doesn't pull many punches.

What’s up with the 'toxicity' around Cities: Skylines II?

Tensions have been high in the Cities: Skylines community since the launch of the sequel in October.

www.engadget.com

Also, from the article:

The attention and high expectations came from your marketing and promises! The shortcomings should spark the things you mention, but a game not fulfilling its promises should spark the developer giving refunds!

Mariina honestly seems to be living in a weird parallel world right now where: a) the pre-release marketing was something that just happened and was a complete surprise; b) the game didn't fulfil all the promises of a) because of the aforementioned surprise; c) customers who've shelled out £80 for a fully fleshed out game and don't get it should not be cross but should instead ask nicely when they can expect to receive the game they paid for, and also suggest how the developers should improve the game, as if they were actually responsible for fixing and improving the game rather than the developers.

I mean, I get that as CEO you have to defend your company, your employees, and maybe your job... but how can she be so out of touch with what, to almost everyone else, is simply the reality of the situation? It's just absolutely baffling.