You asked, we answered, and will continue to answer!
Our official Q&A Thread is now open in the Paradox Forums! Whether you're looking for answers or want to ask a new question, this thread is the place to be! Whatever it might be, feel free to hop in and post your questions in the thread, and we will answer as soon as we can.
Q: How can the game provide more flexibility in road design, such as varied road widths and default restrictions for pedestrians on highways? What about road naming?
A: We haven’t looked into how feasible it is, but something like the road builder mod included in vanilla Asset Editor could be a possibility. Live editing in-game is probably out of scope, though, we would need to look more into it to give a definitive answer.
Pedestrians on highways are a fallback, and if it happens, then something else already went wrong. If the recent fixes haven’t helped, there needs to be a bug ticket with a save where it happens, so we can investigate further.
We haven’t looked into improving the road naming yet, but we know that this is one of the most-suggested features in the game. So, time will tell!
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Q: Are there plans to allow for more integrated public transport infrastructure, such as bus stops and bike lanes on the same road segment?
A: No big plans like this as of now, but let’s see what the future holds.
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Q: Are improvements to tunnels and underground infrastructure being considered?
A: Not currently, beyond smaller fixes like visual issues with tunnel entrances.
Q: What plans are there to address the instability of zoning grids and allow for smaller, more precise grid sizes (e.g., 2m)?
A: Smaller grids not planned. QoL for controlling the grids are possible but not in the short term plans.
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Q: Is there a future system planned for complex regional hierarchies, allowing players to manage multiple settlements (towns, villages, capitals) within a single map?
A: No.
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Q: What are the next steps for improving the resource economy? Are there any larger changes planned beyond the company-priority adjustments introduced in Autumn Breeze?
A: The resource economy is being worked on from multiple angles and need a lot more investigation, so giving a concrete answer is quite difficult. We’re taking things step by step, starting with fixing various services, then focusing on the economy basics, like citizen and company behaviour, demands, rents and land value, which are all interdependent. Then, we would probably move onto cargo transportation.
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Q: What can players expect performance-wise as their cities get larger? When is the next meaningful optimization pass coming?
A: Optimization is an ongoing work, so there are no single big wins in this area, that would fix everything in one go.
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Q: What are the biggest remaining performance bottlenecks in large cities, and are there any particular areas of the simulation currently being targeted for optimization?
A: Bottlenecks depend on the city and hardware, so there are dozens of areas targeted for optimization and not one specific one that we are focusing on.
Q: Will developers introduce customizable difficulty settings to provide more challenge, such as pandemic management or organized crime control?
A: Customizable difficulty settings are doable if we really want it, but that would mean they will never be balanced. So, right now we are focusing on balancing the difficulties that we already have.
As for pandemic management and organized control, not planned.
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Q: When can players expect a rework of the pathfinding algorithm to prevent traffic congestion and the reliance on single, inefficient routes?
A: It is impossible to say “when” this would happen, but it is a high priority. In any case, there will be no “rework”, but instead a simple balancing or a bugfix, because they already avoid congested routes.
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Q: What is the status of improvements to natural disasters and the emergency evacuation system?
A: Not planned currently.
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Q: Are there plans to revisit traffic and pathfinding more broadly, particularly highway traffic, lane usage, and pedestrian routing?
A: We are looking into issues with pathfinding all the time, but no major rework is planned. However, very small balance changes in the cim decision making can have a huge impact on how this feels.
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Q: When you talk about giving players more control over the simulation at the district or city level, what kinds of controls are you currently considering?
A: For example, control over where resources are produced (possibly district level), and more management for import/export.
Q: What improvements are scheduled for building construction animations, citizen behavior inside buildings, and more natural road textures?
A: Nothing is scheduled, but right now the road textures are highest in priority out of these three.
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Q: Will the game include more ambient sounds and unique audio cues for buildings to increase immersion?
A: Yes, definitely! Alongside that, we’re planning a full audio update across the entire game in the near future. Our goal is to add new audio content and redesign existing sounds to build more deeper immersion through unique, memorable and stylized soundscapes.
We’re also working on rebalancing volume levels across the board to ensure that the entire audio experience is clearer, enjoyable, informative and fun.
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Q: Can players expect more diverse, non-US-centric assets and agricultural variety?
A: Yes, but it is impossible to say the timeline for them.
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Q: Will existing base-game assets eventually be updated to make use of the new window materials and lighting options?
A: Eventually, perhaps, but not in the near future.
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Q: Is there a long-term plan to make Cities: Skylines II feel more dynamic and interactive?
A: That would be our ultimate goal, but it will take a lot of work (and time) to achieve. But hopefully, we can reach that goal, one step at a time.
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Q: Are there plans to revisit the game's visuals and lighting?
A: Yes, we have plans to update the visuals. More exact details to come later during the autumn.
Q: Can the community expect a clear roadmap for content and features planned after the upcoming patch?
A: Yes! We are planning on releasing a roadmap very soon, which should bring some clarity about our plans for the future.
We have also been discussing the possibility of releasing roadmaps regularly, so you, as players, would know the general plan for the year. Of course, not everything is always set in stone 100%, but it should work as a general overview of what’s coming!
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Q: How are community-reported issues, such as those related to supply chain logic for Signature Buildings, prioritized for future updates?
A: Community-reported bugs and issues are logged in Jira where they are triaged and given priority. High priority issues will be fixed as soon as possible. Lower priority issues will take longer to enter active development.
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Q: When will the game be available on PS5 / Xbox, and are there plans for more robust developer tools for community testing? What remains to be done before it can be released?
We do not want to commit to any dates for the console release before we are absolutely certain that they will hold. However, we have been making good progress and will share more information as soon as we are ready! There are still (more than) a few things that need to be done or improved; for example, the UI.
No plans for more developer tools as of right now.
