what happened to all the subway station types and transport hubs?

[TrevorHall]

So, I build my first little town of 115k people (not really a city yet) and I need subway lines, but: All of the stations from the last game are missing! No multi platform even. Just one above ground and one below. Why release a new game with half of the last game missing? They said buildings are upgradable, so I thought there would be "add extra lines", but all you can add is some small shops! kinda scammy.
Maybe some nice mods will bring it all back?
It's so easy get get $50million, with no effort at all, so not sure what the loans are for? Just create some zones and a couple of utilities and it levels up fast.
Some of the roads work a bit better though.
The "teaser shots" had puddles on the ground when it rained. I don't see any of that. Not so much different from the last game. Max play area doesn't seem much more than 81 tile mode on CS1?

 

[Chieron]

First, 115k pop is a city by usual definitions, though not a big city.
Second, the other stations are simply not implemented yet for CS2, similarly to the beginning of CS1, where there were no hubs or bigger stations either.
They will come later, though probably in a DLC.

 

[TrevorHall]

First, 115k pop is a city by usual definitions, though not a big city.
Second, the other stations are simply not implemented yet for CS2, similarly to the beginning of CS1, where there were no hubs or bigger stations either.
They will come later, though probably in a DLC.

This city I live in is "average" and has a pop of just under 1 million. It isn't anywhere near a big city. The game has strange names for sizes. Tokyo: 39 million. Deli 32 ,million. From google: "By 2030, a projected 662 cities will have at least 1 million residents", so I don't see 100k or so to be more than a small city? (as of today, the game is thinking my 150k city is a Thriving Metropolis! The last game, with mods, allows 500K pop on a 25 or 81 tile map, especially when you use mods to limit services to districts etc. I was expecting more than an old modded game from the getgo.
On DLC: A new game shoud be better than an old game, and have obvious items included, considering the price, so I will wait for mods. DLC should offer something completely new to be of value to me.

 

[Chieron]

This city I live in is "average" and has a pop of just under 1 million. It isn't anywhere near a big city. The game has strange names for sizes. Tokyo: 39 million. Deli 32 ,million. From google: "By 2030, a projected 662 cities will have at least 1 million residents", so I don't see 100k or so to be more than a small city? (as of today, the game is thinking my 150k city is a Thriving Metropolis! The last game, with mods, allows 500K pop on a 25 or 81 tile map, especially when you use mods to limit services to districts etc. I was expecting more than an old modded game from the getgo.

The names of the development levels in CS2 (and CS1 for that matter) are fluff, to give you a feeling of progression. In CS2, this is even uncoupled from pop size, so it should be ignored.
A "city" is anything above 100k pop by the UN definition. Of course, that somewhat assumes it being the local population center and not a satellite of a larger metropolis.
Tokyo, Delhi, Seoul and so on are Megacities (10M+ pop) and should not be the benchmark here. If "just under 1 million" is not a big city, I wonder, where you draw the line. Many countries do not have cities in that case, even though their largest settlements definitely look and feel the part. Of course, there are also cities with a million+ pop that do not meet expectations, most often due to being overshadowed by other cities nearby or generally being underdeveloped.

On DLC: A new game shoud be better than an old game, and have obvious items included, considering the price, so I will wait for mods. DLC should offer something completely new to be of value to me.

A new game will often be a remake incorporating some parts of the old game, but re-introducing other parts later. Usually some mechanics are completely reworked, as the old approach was not sustainable forever. For CS2, this means e.g. updated road building, zoning options, simulation, removal of engine restrictions like node limits.
It is not uncommon for the next game in a series to fall back to fewer features, which then form the core of the new game. Transport hubs will be reintroduced eventually. But do not assume that you are allowed to use them without the DLC, even modded assets will likely not be allowed unless you own the DLC.