• We have updated our Community Code of Conduct. Please read through the new rules for the forum that are an integral part of Paradox Interactive’s User Agreement.
This update was probably intended from your part as a 'waauw update 1' on the extreme long road of redemption.

But the good stuff is totally overshadowed by the worst value for money DLC you ever released, the PDX mod issues and lag, unfixed bugs and the new visual flickering bugs in every anti-aliasing mode introduced, you totally messed up again royally.

Steam and users reviews for the DLC are even worse than the base game and this update didn't have any impact on player numbers either so far.

So another fail to add to the list. Sigh...
 
  • 13Like
  • 1
  • 1
Reactions:
Maybe it's a silly question, but I don't see anything explained anywhere "visible". But we have to install all the programs under OPTIONS / MODS? to make them work on the game?
 
Good things:

Finally (after 5 long months) we can touch this new Paradox Mods platform and at least have some core features ingame that improve the overall experience. A few fixes here and there and probable performance improvements.
In short, the bare minimum was done...

Bad things:

I'll start with the "DLC",
calling it that is an outrage, at most it's an asset pack that turned out badly. It is based on the mystification of its own title "beach properties", which refers only to residential properties on the beach and therefore this could be used to justify that no one has ever talked about beaches and related assets... the problem lies in 2 factors: 1) the scandalous price, for a paltry pack of a few buildings, a few radio songs and a few palm trees, should have cost a maximum of 3 euros for what it offers; I didn't pay "anything" for it because I'm one of the idiots who bought the Ultimate version but if I hadn't done this bullshit a few months ago, I'd be damned if I would have wasted the money for this piss-taking, the worst asset pack ever. always for quality/price ratio. 2) Precisely because you make him pay a lot, precisely because you come from a path of release that made you lose confidence in yourself and you have to remedy many mistakes, create an asset pack truly based on the beach, with the possibility of having a beach terrain, with also related shops, beaches with umbrellas and deckchairs, control towers for bay watches, recreational activities such as beach volleyball, gyms, sailing, pedestrian paths... but no, after all you allowed yourself the disgust of releasing a incomplete, almost useless pack at the higher price of many other better dlcs created with CS1, only a bigger idiot than me can buy this sort of asset pack...

Let's continue with asset mods:
after 5 months where the hell are they? I don't care about the bugs that you haven't solved, you should have already solved them at launch, it's a scandal that they even talk about "by December", practically there is the risk that the game after 1 year still doesn't have external assets . What do you publish before the release of a video with the content creators who show that they are working and have the various packs ready? Let's not kid ourselves, these things have been ready for a long time, but where are they?

You have only one chance to hope for non-failure, to avoid oblivion, the only thing that can save this game from the disaster it has fallen into: the modders' ASSET. Without those the game is dead, it cannot improve... the game would have infinite potential, it could be beautiful, but you are ruining all this with an unacceptable and incomprehensible delay and also going to look for more money with "phantom assets packs "...how is it possible that a group of developers, who, as you said, are dedicating themselves exclusively to problem solving cannot solve "bugs" to implement this? Do you work or watch butterflies out the window in CO?

Also, where are the animations of people playing on basketball or soccer fields, gravediggers picking up coffins, nurses with stretchers, firefighters with water pumps? Where are they? Is it possible that a game like this released in 2023 hasn't implemented these animations yet? Without them the city seems dead, buildings placed so lifeless, meaningless...

Is it possible that after 5 months the texture of the road is so disgusting? It looks like a texture from 2 generations ago, how is it possible not to fix something like that? There would be modders, but it is not yet possible to insert the assets... we return to the previous discussion, a cat chasing its tail... if you are not capable or do not want to do it, at least give the possibility to do it...like the slogan launched in the trailer of the game "if you want to create it, you can do it" auhauhauhuhauah a colossal lie that contains everything...


There would be many other things to say, but the advice is to hurry up and do what needs to be done for what you were paid, otherwise yes you have gained in the short term in terms of money but it will all backfire on you with betrayed trust and the very poor reputation you are creating for yourself.
 
  • 8
  • 6Like
  • 2
  • 1
Reactions:
Beyond disappointing the bug list fix is so small, your clearly disconnected from your product Colossal Order.

Just read their X (twitter) post and you realize how disconnected from reality they really are:



We're aware that PDXMods is overloaded and lagging, and we're working on a fix!

This has shown all the teams at Paradox how important modding is to the community, and we'll learn from this!

So only now, when they saw how overloaded the the server were, they realized that the players like to mod the game?

How much more disconnected can one be?!?

This CEO must go. I don't understand Paradox here, that they don't take action against her.
Since it is all about money and numbers, they have enough ground to take action. She clearly puts the last nails into the coffin of this brand/franchise.
She is a PR disaster, she is a financial disaster. What else does she need to screw up to be relieved from her position?!

And I bet the actual devs banging their heads on the desk on a daily basis because of her management style. (Unless they're as incompetent as she is, which I doubt)

Edit: On the other hand...having worked at Amazon FinOps for long enough, I can imagine that another poor and most likely very competent soul under her, takes all the blame and lose (or even lost already) his/her job in behalf of her. Because I have never seen a higher level manager taking the piss. They always blamed it on the lower levels, after ignoring all the warnings from those people who actually know what they're doing.
 
Last edited:
  • 10Like
  • 3
  • 3
  • 1Love
Reactions:
So only now, when they saw how overloaded the the server were, they realized that the players like to mod the game?

How much more disconnected can one be?!?
some of the communication by CO seems to be passive-aggressive towards Pdx. I noticed this in earlier communication as well.

I still think that something went very wrong between the leadership/management of Pdx and CO. Something happened in their relation to each other and that still impacts the development of this game.
 
  • 10
  • 4Like
Reactions:
some of the communication by CO seems to be passive-aggressive towards Pdx. I noticed this in earlier communication as well.

I still think that something went very wrong between the leadership/management of Pdx and CO. Something happened in their relation to each other and that still impacts the development of this game.
Well, they delivered this game two years late. I think what people are saying here is what PDX told them before release. Given the ego going on, that feedback must have been received poorly. We won't know anytime soon, but I believe something beyond greed pushed PDX to release such a game. I imagine they had contractual obligations to do so, and they are very unhappy to have to release whatever this is.

TBH, the franchise's only hope at this point is PDX giving the IP to another studio to develop CS3 (PDX owns the IP). Hopefully, this is already underway. Or maybe the brand is too damaged and worthless anyway. We can hope someone develops another city builder to succeed in CS1.
 
  • 6
  • 4
  • 3Like
Reactions:
TBH, the franchise's only hope at this point is PDX giving the IP to another studio to develop CS3 (PDX owns the IP). Hopefully, this is already underway. Or maybe the brand is too damaged and worthless anyway. We can hope someone develops another city builder to succeed in CS1.
I disagree but I do think they need to bring in a SWAT team of developers/testers and take some drastic action --- "We aren't happy with the game either. We've fired the CEO, brought on some new staff. Give us 6 months and we will give you the game that was promised to you. The Fall DLC will be free. Thank you for your patience."
 
  • 5Like
  • 1
Reactions:
Why were we told that this game had no limits other than our hardware, but population caps out at 2,147,483 Cims (which is, suspeciously, a lot like a 32bit integer, not going to lie)
A max positive integer would be 2,147,483,647. It's missing the last 3 digits "647".... That's the strange part to me.
 
  • 2Like
Reactions:
Hello everyone,

the last patch brought a lot of interesting things. The land value seems fixed and the arrival of code mods is a good step.

I love the MOD with the tides and river conditions depending on the weather and seasons. I imagine flooding caused by torrential rains and too rapid snow melting. This is an example of exciting features that I hope to have for other things.

I find the integration of Paradox Mods very well done for a BETA. I believe it.

I no longer have performance issues. This had already improved during the previous patch. However, I have a fairly big city.

There is still a big lack of economic health and challenge. It's impossible to lose money once you have a big city. By that I mean that we can afford everything without the slightest constraints.

I really hope that this wish to have more responsibilities in decisions will come to pass.

I haven't seen a single storm in my city yet, is this normal? The possibility of having days with fog would be great.

There's still work to do. Visual additions are missing to make the city more alive and realistic, diversified textures...

For the DLC, having the Ultimate version, I have it by default but it's not great. Radios don't interest me because I often listen to my own music when I play. The sound of the music is also OFF.

I have a wishlist but I don't think it's interesting. I am a city painter 40% and 60% for challenges, problems to solve and show my population that I am a good mayor who deserves their votes lol

I hope I was constructive. I am very demanding for the game but also against the abuse of trolls who will never be satisfied with anything again.
 
  • 7Like
  • 1
Reactions:
I disagree but I do think they need to bring in a SWAT team of developers/testers and take some drastic action --- "We aren't happy with the game either. We've fired the CEO, brought on some new staff. Give us 6 months and we will give you the game that was promised to you. The Fall DLC will be free. Thank you for your patience."
I am going to write maybe something super controversial no one likes:

I do not think that firing the CO’s CEO is right and/or necessary step. People can learn from their mistakes, true sometimes they need more time and hit the wall hard for more time than you can imagine (talking from my own personal experience). The situation around CS2 is great experience when they can learn a lot and be better at the end. Plus there is no guarantee new CEO would be better after all.

The question is if they are quitters or not, and if they would be capable to admit to their mistakes and start the necessary changes. From my own experience I know that changes are hard, but I believe that there is still possibility for redemption arch for the CO.

And now I will either receive ton of “respectfully disagree” or BAN. :-D
 
  • 4
  • 1
Reactions:
I do not think that firing the CO’s CEO is right and/or necessary step. People can learn from their mistakes, true sometimes they need more time and hit the wall hard for more time than you can imagine (...)

And now I will either receive ton of “respectfully disagree” or BAN. :-D
Ok, I am going with the "respectfully disagree".

Does anything in the CEO's actions or words give you much hope there is even the willingness to learn?
To me it seems the "Beach Front" asset (!!!) pack was the last nail in the coffin.

So, they cannot deliver the announced asset packs where modders have created thousands of assets for them because asset import doesn't work?
But they can deliver "new assets" in an asset pack you have to pay for?
What is this?
 
  • 13Like
  • 1
Reactions:
Ok, I am going with the "respectfully disagree".

Does anything in the CEO's actions or words give you much hope there is even the willingness to learn?
To me it seems the "Beach Front" asset (!!!) pack was the last nail in the coffin.

So, they cannot deliver the announced asset packs where modders have created thousands of assets for them because asset import doesn't work?
But they can deliver "new assets" in an asset pack you have to pay for?
What is this?
I was wondering that myself.
 
  • 1Like
Reactions:
Ok, I am going with the "respectfully disagree".

Does anything in the CEO's actions or words give you much hope there is even the willingness to learn?
To me it seems the "Beach Front" asset (!!!) pack was the last nail in the coffin.
That is really nice way how to disagree. Thanks for being polite.

No, at this moment I cannot see anything which would indicate CEO is willing to change, but I am looking on it from my perspective. I am stubborn guy, and in my life, I had several life lessons, where it took a lot of pain and suffering, before I was able to open my eyes and see what I am doing wrong, and what I need to change. This is why I believe everyone is capable of change, the only question is how severe consequences of their actions “The Universe” needs to give them. So, you can say I believe she and CO can change.

When I look at the situation right now, I can still see the way out. The CS2 still can be good city painter, which would be enjoyed by stable and decently big community, where it makes sense to develop the game for foreseeable future.

The change is simple, they just have to swallow their pride and start listening. Nothing more, nothing less. Will they be able to do it before it is too late for CS2 future? That is something I do not know, but eventually they will learn what they did incorrectly.

The truth is community/players needs to change as well and stop supporting this kind of behaviour. In a way the state of released games is at the end our fault. If we would stop buying crappy products, the developers and publishers would be forced to release something better.
 
  • 4Like
  • 1
Reactions:
Yes you can, maybe not the way you like it but it is certainly possible.
There is no brush, you will have to draw sand just like you do with fields.
here is an example: posted by elGendo87
In dev mode, you can't draw sand like fields and more important there is no sand texture. You need to subscribe to a texture replacer mod then download some sand textures on some web site. Dev mode has nothing to do with this. And like ekGendo87 explained, the texture replacer mod doesn't work anymore so even if you're willing to use mods and DL your own textures, you're out of luck.

So the answer to your misinformed question "why do people don't look in de -developerMode because you can create/design your own custom beaches" is still "no, the dev mode doesn't allow you to create/design your own custom beaches". I bet you haven't tried it.

Anyway, even if it worked, nobody should have to go into dev mode or use mods to draw a sand beach. It's just a 2-D texture, for god's sake, something an intern can do in 15 minutes. CS1 had a beach texture from day 1.
 
  • 7Like
Reactions:
The change is simple, they just have to swallow their pride and start listening. Nothing more, nothing less.
They're a company, not some stubborn guy. They don't have to be listening because they already knew everything there is to know about their game and what's wrong with it before it was released and we started to complain. Asking for feedback like they do since the release is a joke. They don't need feedback to know their game is bug-ridden, unoptimized and lacking most modding support. The problem is a technical problem, a development problem. They're in over their heads and 5 months later their game is still a complete mess.

They aimed very high but it's now obvious they're not skilled enough for their expectations. Sure, the game was released way too soon, but it's not the sole explanation. Maybe it should have been scraped like the first version in 2020. There are a lot of design flaws and I'm more and more convinced they can't overcome the challenge.
 
  • 4Like
  • 1
Reactions:
Anyway, even if it worked, nobody should have to go into dev mode or use mods to draw a sand beach. It's just a 2-D texture, for god's sake, something an intern can do in 15 minutes. CS1 had a beach texture from day 1.

Exactly. In CS1 you just draw a shoreline by the sea, and sand just popup. Also the surface drawing is very frustating. For big or irregular areas, it needs a ton of clicks.
 
  • 4Like
Reactions: