Improvements in simulation ?

[xagash]

Hi CO,

Is there improvements planned in the simulation part of the game ? If so what are they ? Is there a roadmap ? What about bugs affecting simulation (postal...) ? I fear CS2 becomes a painter like CS1 with mini games like hotel DLC and parks etc.

Regards

 

[ourg]

quick answer : no

 

[nnnitram]

No there's no roadmap. No they have not acknowledged the majority of the problems in the simulation. No there's no reason to believe any improvements are coming, and based on the pace of improvement so far even if there was something coming you shouldn't count on it landing this side of 2026.

 

[tweety80]

It is not in the roadmap. To be honest, I do not expect big performance improvements due to the agent-based game style.
Sadly, the game is not designed for PCs with reasonable/affordable specifications. Sure, you can play it on most PCs, but if you reach your limit... you may have to start again.

I hoped the CPU or simulation speed would increase if we got the console version. My current laptop has about the same speed as a console, and I hit the limit with maybe 120K citizens under Windows 11 or about 25K citizens under Linux/Proton.
We will probably not get a console version because a city with 120K citizens is not a city; it is a bigger village.

If PDX/CO does publish the current game with the current performance on consoles... be ready for the next sh*t storm. I hope that PDX/CO is smart enough not to do that.

 

[Krazel]

There's a roadmap somewhere out there (you'll have to dig to find it) but it basically only covers DLC.

CO has NOT released a single update or DLC on their projected release date so it's a useless milestone announcement. There's a reason it's hard to find.

Delays and bugs. That's what you get here. Homelessness been a bug for 6 months. The mail system has been bugged since LAUNCH. I could go on but I'll just retain a bit of sanity.

 

[Fenuu2014]

The latest roadmap is still pinned on their Instagram from September 16. The only thing that could be checked off is Hotels & Tourism fix (maybe). The decoration patch doesn't seem to be part 2 of the detailer patch. We are still missing a few assets and the "road decorations" I believe. Plus, it wasn't even called part 2.

 

[unoace1006]

I honestly hope they put the detailers patch on the back burner and focus on bugs. Yes it would be great to have a vanilla line tool, but they can do that later. We already have the mod(s) to hold us over.

It was an interesting decision to focus on detailing for the few PC vanilla players that exist and future console players (whenever that happens). I’d rather have them focus on all the game systems / bugs / and performance/optimizations. Or the asset editor.

 

[co_avanya]

Hi CO,

Is there improvements planned in the simulation part of the game ? If so what are they ? Is there a roadmap ? What about bugs affecting simulation (postal...) ? I fear CS2 becomes a painter like CS1 with mini games like hotel DLC and parks etc.

Regards

Yes, we have a bunch of improvements to the simulation that we want to make. Some come from our team while others are based on feedback from you all. Because all aspects of the simulation are so interconnected, these kinds of improvements take time to implement and test, often highlighting other bugs or creating new ones that need to be fixed. You saw this firsthand with the Economy 2.0 changes and the issues with homeless people being stuck, which has mostly been fixed (and we currently have a fix for the remaining issues in testing). As a result of those issues, we're improving our testing process to better catch those bugs before the game goes live, but as you can imagine, more testing takes more time.

This is why we don't have a roadmap for simulation improvements or fixes. We may be working on some, but that doesn't mean they will be included in the next patch, and we don't want to create a situation where you're excited about changes that may not be close to release. I think we've already had too many situations where we promised something only to have a new issue pop up preventing the release leading to (very understandable) disappointment. While we want to be as transparent with you as possible, we need to get back to a place where when we tell you something is coming, you can trust it. It's not perfect, but it means that for the time being, we're only really sharing improvements and fixes when they're set in stone.

Now with that out of the way, I want to ask you: What are the improvements you want to see the most? Which bugs are the most frustrating to you?

While I can't share a roadmap, a big part of what I do as community manager is make sure we prioritize the things that matter to our players. That's how the detailing improvements ended up in the game, but we know that's a playstyle only some of our players enjoy. It's always valuable feedback when you share how you play or what you want to see, even if others have mentioned it before it never hurts to share exactly what you hope we dive into next.

 

[IHOR MISKO]

Yes, we have a bunch of improvements to the simulation that we want to make. Some come from our team while others are based on feedback from you all. Because all aspects of the simulation are so interconnected, these kinds of improvements take time to implement and test, often highlighting other bugs or creating new ones that need to be fixed. You saw this firsthand with the Economy 2.0 changes and the issues with homeless people being stuck, which has mostly been fixed (and we currently have a fix for the remaining issues in testing). As a result of those issues, we're improving our testing process to better catch those bugs before the game goes live, but as you can imagine, more testing takes more time.

This is why we don't have a roadmap for simulation improvements or fixes. We may be working on some, but that doesn't mean they will be included in the next patch, and we don't want to create a situation where you're excited about changes that may not be close to release. I think we've already had too many situations where we promised something only to have a new issue pop up preventing the release leading to (very understandable) disappointment. While we want to be as transparent with you as possible, we need to get back to a place where when we tell you something is coming, you can trust it. It's not perfect, but it means that for the time being, we're only really sharing improvements and fixes when they're set in stone.

Now with that out of the way, I want to ask you: What are the improvements you want to see the most? Which bugs are the most frustrating to you?

While I can't share a roadmap, a big part of what I do as community manager is make sure we prioritize the things that matter to our players. That's how the detailing improvements ended up in the game, but we know that's a playstyle only some of our players enjoy. It's always valuable feedback when you share how you play or what you want to see, even if others have mentioned it before it never hurts to share exactly what you hope we dive into next.

I take it the waves of death will not be fixed?
If I massively build up a city at one point, then they will happen anyway. This problem still stretches back to the first part. I can't say that it's something critical. But sometimes it's an eyesore.

Are there any plans to improve the public transportation system?
I'm talking about monthly/weekly/hourly passes and cross-species tickets. There is a bus + tram. Like it was in Cities in Motion. It also involves simulating the movement of city residents. In their priority, whether they will get there by car or by public transport.

 

[ClemiMD]

What are the improvements you want to see the most?

What bothers me at the moment is the endless influx of new residents and the high residential demand in the early game. If you zone new residential areas, they will move to your city in hordes within hours. Is the outside world that unattractive? Where do all the people come from? Were they homeless? What makes them move into your city? Why are they all coming at once and no matter what time of day? Did they wait at the borders?

Migration should balance out if your city has nothing great to offer. There have been several suggestions concerning the outside world concept (for example this one or this one ... hey, one of those is actually mine ).

 

[Licenturion]

We may be working on some, but that doesn't mean they will be included in the next patch...

When exactly is the next patch?

Because looking at the past, I assume you will enter again some sort of code lockdown very soon because of the holidays? A month were a lot of people take their remaining days off and I assume offices are closed during the holidays.

Can we still expect detail patch 2 and asset editor in 2024, or is this off the table by now?

 

[Fenuu2014]

When exactly is the next patch?

Because looking at the past, I assume you will enter again some sort of code lockdown very soon because of the holidays? A month were a lot of people take their remaining days off and I assume offices are closed during the holidays.

Can we still expect detail patch 2 and asset editor in 2024, or is this off the table by now?

You won't be getting an exact date or timeline.

I would guess we get one more decent sized patch this year. I believe the holidays was end of December to January.

I highly doubt the asset editor is coming this year. They already have the region packs laid over a few months, which could be to give them more time.

 

[ThomasK_7]

... a big part of what I do as community manager is make sure we prioritize the things that matter to our players.

You was not successfull the hole last 12 months.
Thats the way it is.

 

[nnnitram]

Yes, we have a bunch of improvements to the simulation that we want to make. Some come from our team while others are based on feedback from you all. Because all aspects of the simulation are so interconnected, these kinds of improvements take time to implement and test, often highlighting other bugs or creating new ones that need to be fixed. You saw this firsthand with the Economy 2.0 changes and the issues with homeless people being stuck, which has mostly been fixed (and we currently have a fix for the remaining issues in testing). As a result of those issues, we're improving our testing process to better catch those bugs before the game goes live, but as you can imagine, more testing takes more time.

This is why we don't have a roadmap for simulation improvements or fixes. We may be working on some, but that doesn't mean they will be included in the next patch, and we don't want to create a situation where you're excited about changes that may not be close to release. I think we've already had too many situations where we promised something only to have a new issue pop up preventing the release leading to (very understandable) disappointment. While we want to be as transparent with you as possible, we need to get back to a place where when we tell you something is coming, you can trust it. It's not perfect, but it means that for the time being, we're only really sharing improvements and fixes when they're set in stone.

Now with that out of the way, I want to ask you: What are the improvements you want to see the most? Which bugs are the most frustrating to you?

While I can't share a roadmap, a big part of what I do as community manager is make sure we prioritize the things that matter to our players. That's how the detailing improvements ended up in the game, but we know that's a playstyle only some of our players enjoy. It's always valuable feedback when you share how you play or what you want to see, even if others have mentioned it before it never hurts to share exactly what you hope we dive into next.

Ok so simulation improvements are in the same category as the asset editor. "Yeah of course it's coming, no we won't tell you when but we promise." Well the asset editor is now more than A YEAR late and many of us don't believe it's ever coming at all any longer. I would bet my pay cheque the same is happening with simulation improvements.

 

[RuralConurbation]

Sincerely, I would have expected CO/PDX to have decided by now what are the key bugs that players are frustrated by.

They have this forum and a myriad of other sources from which to mine data as well as an extensive bug list.

Most of us on here have a pretty good idea of what is frustrating the community the most.

While reaching out may be a genuine request, it could be interpreted as a mechanism to buy more time while appearing engaged with the gaming community. I hope I am wrong in thinking this but real world experience over the past year doesn't fill me with hope.

 

[gustavotoniato]

I just really wish the zoning filled the blocks better

 

[xagash]

Yes, we have a bunch of improvements to the simulation that we want to make. Some come from our team while others are based on feedback from you all. Because all aspects of the simulation are so interconnected, these kinds of improvements take time to implement and test, often highlighting other bugs or creating new ones that need to be fixed. You saw this firsthand with the Economy 2.0 changes and the issues with homeless people being stuck, which has mostly been fixed (and we currently have a fix for the remaining issues in testing). As a result of those issues, we're improving our testing process to better catch those bugs before the game goes live, but as you can imagine, more testing takes more time.

This is why we don't have a roadmap for simulation improvements or fixes. We may be working on some, but that doesn't mean they will be included in the next patch, and we don't want to create a situation where you're excited about changes that may not be close to release. I think we've already had too many situations where we promised something only to have a new issue pop up preventing the release leading to (very understandable) disappointment. While we want to be as transparent with you as possible, we need to get back to a place where when we tell you something is coming, you can trust it. It's not perfect, but it means that for the time being, we're only really sharing improvements and fixes when they're set in stone.

Now with that out of the way, I want to ask you: What are the improvements you want to see the most? Which bugs are the most frustrating to you?

While I can't share a roadmap, a big part of what I do as community manager is make sure we prioritize the things that matter to our players. That's how the detailing improvements ended up in the game, but we know that's a playstyle only some of our players enjoy. It's always valuable feedback when you share how you play or what you want to see, even if others have mentioned it before it never hurts to share exactly what you hope we dive into next.

Hi Avanya,
Thanks for your answer.
Actually, bugs affecting simulation should be the priority : Postal services and homeless.
Then Garbage have to be check. In big cities there's always buildings left with garbages troubles. Except if this a problem due to traffic of districts management. Then CO should be clear about the importance of making district to help admnistration (and simulation) work well or not. There's maybe things working well but we don't use well districts. If so it shold be explained. Districts should be important in big cities management if it's not already (I'm not sure about it yet even with my personnal testing in a big city).
In the future, it would be great to add more depth to the simulation : importation/exportation, taxes in big cities, the way tourism works should be a bit like Sim City 2 (depending on size, attractiveness and hidden milestones), airpot shouldn't be so easy to get. Difficulties should be encoutered when changing from industry cities to commercial or high technology cities. Birth rate depending on citizen economic class, same for health. Well... simulation depth
In the traffic simulation, add more choice to stop/lights. We should be able to choose which street has the stop or no (it affects a lot traffic flow), lights dedicated to pedestrians and pedestrians bridge (7,5 meters height) or tunnel (low depth).
Also : More tools to understand from where to where mass transit are needed. More realistic workers/inhabitants in tower (there's some serious difference between size and people inside buildings ratio and even more with new buildings from region packs).
Of course for those who just want to paint a city, a function to disable or adjust simulation complexity.
Hope this help,
Regards.

 

[SilverRain8]

a city with 120K citizens is not a city; it is a bigger village.

That's not really true. Plenty of cities have 100k or less citizens in real life. Their just not GIANT cities. But a city of 120k citizens is plenty enough for city status practically and municipally.

 

[cvatanen]

What are the improvements you want to see the most? Which bugs are the most frustrating to you?

This has changed during the past year. It boils down, for me, to the answer to the question: is this game fun to play? So, along with the obvious bug fixes I would like to see a tweak to the economy that was introduced in the Economy 2.0 patch. The game was too easy. I would reach milestone 8 or 9 without having to open the economy tab. Now I really struggle in the early part of the game, thus reducing my enjoyment and motivation to play. What can be done?

1. Adjust the cost of service buildings and their upkeep. Adjust by how much? 5% - 10%? 50%? I think 50% would be too much, but a small decrease would give us players a little more room to breathe. A little does go a long way. This can be improved, and was, by the inclusion of cheaper options for service buildings. I think a little more adjustment is perhaps needed. What do others think? Granted, I know there are workarounds to this. I could abuse game mechanics so that I don't have to worry about money. I know I could use high cab fares, high parking fees, super high taxes but for me this is less fun. This locks me into playing a certain style. Do others have this issue or is this a me problem?

2. Adjust the service unlocks. Do we need garbage service and deathcare at the first milestone reached? What about mail and internet at milestone 5? I get you want us to have all the options early in the city's development but I think some of these services unlock too early. Personally I think deathcare should be delayed to a higher milestone. The same goes for garbage collection (in a perfect world where garbage collection is working all of the time.) What do others think of this?

The only other thing I can think of is gameplay improvements that will most likely be tied to expansions (not DLC). Right now I want more options to build parks, industries and the tourism options. CS1 at the end gave us lots to do and the jump to CS2 the lack of the game mechanics is really apparent.

Having said that I do enjoy the new region packs. The quality is amazing imo and I am super happy to have been given them for free. I do want the quality of life features that are handled by the popular mods (line tool, anarchy, tree controller etc. I know how others feel about this from reading the various posts on the forum so we don't need to revisit the discussion here. This is my opinion.

Hopefully this is helpful.

 

[prismaticmarcus]

Now I really struggle in the early part of the game, thus reducing my enjoyment and motivation to play.

- I dare say that the economy being a challenge is what most people (including me) wanted.

- Besides obvious things that others have mentioned, I think of the level of detail about the mechanics that were revealed in the pre-release DD's. That was awesome and that level of information should be baked into game more, whether it be via tooltips or radio announcements or chirps or whatever.

I don't want my hand held, but I do want to be given more information about the possible impacts of my decisions. And I do want to have enough information available to enable me to figure things out for myself e.g. Why is there currently no demand for high density housing?

CS2 shouldn't be a puzzle game (I hate those) but there should be an element of Sudoku or Tetris (How do things fit together?).