There are some people on Epic games who would like to use mods. I'm one of them, too. Since Valve decided to shut down steamworkshopdownloader.io, there aren't many ways left on how to obtain them. Currently you can download the mods through third-party websites like Skymods (it is .ru, so try at your own risk) or Nexus Mods (requires registration) or ask for the Epic code on the creator's Discord.
But if you can't or don't want to do any of these (like me), there is one more way, and that is downloading some of the larger mods from GitHub. Currently works for Fine Road Anarchy, Fine Road Tool, Harmony, Network Dump Tools, ACME, 81 Tiles 2, TM: PE
What you'll need:
- Installed Visual Studio with .NET Framework (except Fine Road Anarchy and Fine Road Tool)
- knowing your game's install location
1. Downloading the code from GitHub
- Find the mod on GitHub (there is often a link in the Workshop description)
- If there are any releases (at the right), click Releases
- Download the .zip file (if possible, the one with a cube icon, else the only .zip file)
- If there aren't any releases, click the green "Code" button and then Download ZIP
- After you downloaded the .zip, extract it and move the extracted folder to C:\Users\(your username)\AppData\Local\Collosal Order\Cities_Skylines\Addons\Mods (Note: the AppData folder is hidden, get there by going to the C: drive and then typing %localappdata% into the address bar)
If you're downloading Fine Road Tool or Fine Road Anarchy, then these steps are all what's needed (though they will often throw harmless, only annoying errors without Harmony). If you want to download any other mod (Harmony included), then you need these additional steps:
2. Building the mod
- In File Explorer, open the mod folder (the one in the C:S folders)
- Find a .sln file there and open it (if there is more of them, open the one with the same name as the mod)
- Now in Visual Studio, in the Project Explorer (on the right), double-click on the project name and then double-click on Refetences. A bunch of files should show up. (If you see three things instead, then double-click on the one with the same icon as References)
- There will be four files with a yellow triangle - Assembly-CSharp.dll, ColossalManaged.dll, ICites.dll and UnityEngine.dll. Right-click on each of them and click Remove.
- Now right-click on the References tab (or the one right above the .dll files) and click Add Build Reference (the first option, I have VS in my language and not in English)
- Click Browse on the left and then Browse at the bottom
- Go to (your install location)\CitiesSkylines\Cities_Data\Managed, Shift-click on the four .dll files that you removed (Assembly-CSharp.dll, CollosalManaged.dll, ICities.dll and UnityEngine.dll) and click Add, OK, or whatever confirm button is at the bottom
- Now the code should be without any errors.
- Press Ctrl+Shift+B and the project will start building
- If the build is succesful, you can close VS and open the game.
- Congratulations, your mod is working!
Mods by Algernon (81 Tiles 2, ACME) require some extra steps.
- After downloading the mod from GitHub, search GitHub for AlgernonCommons and download it too. (Note: when searching, click search All GitHub)
- Move the extracted mod to the same folder as others and rename it to just AlgernonCommons
- Only after that start building the chosen mod itself
- After building the mod, do the same for AlgernonCommons.sln
If you have any questions or problems, ask me in the replies. If you need help, screenshot can be really useful.
But if you can't or don't want to do any of these (like me), there is one more way, and that is downloading some of the larger mods from GitHub. Currently works for Fine Road Anarchy, Fine Road Tool, Harmony, Network Dump Tools, ACME, 81 Tiles 2, TM: PE
What you'll need:
- Installed Visual Studio with .NET Framework (except Fine Road Anarchy and Fine Road Tool)
- knowing your game's install location
1. Downloading the code from GitHub
- Find the mod on GitHub (there is often a link in the Workshop description)
- If there are any releases (at the right), click Releases
- Download the .zip file (if possible, the one with a cube icon, else the only .zip file)
- If there aren't any releases, click the green "Code" button and then Download ZIP
- After you downloaded the .zip, extract it and move the extracted folder to C:\Users\(your username)\AppData\Local\Collosal Order\Cities_Skylines\Addons\Mods (Note: the AppData folder is hidden, get there by going to the C: drive and then typing %localappdata% into the address bar)
If you're downloading Fine Road Tool or Fine Road Anarchy, then these steps are all what's needed (though they will often throw harmless, only annoying errors without Harmony). If you want to download any other mod (Harmony included), then you need these additional steps:
2. Building the mod
- In File Explorer, open the mod folder (the one in the C:S folders)
- Find a .sln file there and open it (if there is more of them, open the one with the same name as the mod)
- Now in Visual Studio, in the Project Explorer (on the right), double-click on the project name and then double-click on Refetences. A bunch of files should show up. (If you see three things instead, then double-click on the one with the same icon as References)
- There will be four files with a yellow triangle - Assembly-CSharp.dll, ColossalManaged.dll, ICites.dll and UnityEngine.dll. Right-click on each of them and click Remove.
- Now right-click on the References tab (or the one right above the .dll files) and click Add Build Reference (the first option, I have VS in my language and not in English)
- Click Browse on the left and then Browse at the bottom
- Go to (your install location)\CitiesSkylines\Cities_Data\Managed, Shift-click on the four .dll files that you removed (Assembly-CSharp.dll, CollosalManaged.dll, ICities.dll and UnityEngine.dll) and click Add, OK, or whatever confirm button is at the bottom
- Now the code should be without any errors.
- Press Ctrl+Shift+B and the project will start building
- If the build is succesful, you can close VS and open the game.
- Congratulations, your mod is working!
Mods by Algernon (81 Tiles 2, ACME) require some extra steps.
- After downloading the mod from GitHub, search GitHub for AlgernonCommons and download it too. (Note: when searching, click search All GitHub)
- Move the extracted mod to the same folder as others and rename it to just AlgernonCommons
- Only after that start building the chosen mod itself
- After building the mod, do the same for AlgernonCommons.sln
If you have any questions or problems, ask me in the replies. If you need help, screenshot can be really useful.
