It’s time for part two of my previous article, this time we’re going to be exploring the many different DLCs that have been released for Cities: Skylines and how they have improved the game or otherwise. The other thing that Ill look at is how expensive the update was and whether the update was worth the price.
So far, Cities: Skylines has 17 different DLCs to buy ranging in what is included and how much it costs, with the highest price being £11.39. The first to be released was the After Dark DLC on the 24th of Sept, 2015. This costs £10.99 and gave the game a transition into night mode. It also allowed the ability to zone new commercial areas that specialise in nighttime trading, including, clubs, bars and casinos. It also changed the way the traffic AI moved around the city; a slower more leisurely pace was adopted. Various city services were also updated and added meaning there were better public transport connections, the police were also updated so to take prisoners to prison from the police station. This DLC was not needed to get all the features included, a standard game update brought the day/night cycle to the game for the feeling of time passing. But to access the new content, the DLC had to be bought. This DLC was definitely worth the price though. It changed the game enough to make the game seem different enough that it didn’t become boring, but didn’t change so much that you couldn’t just step into the game again.
The next major DLC release was entitled “Snowfall. It costs £9.99 and was released on the 20th of February 2016. This DLC added a new winter theme and some maps to go with it. The biggest thing with the new white maps was that you had to worry about how cold the world got; this meant that new services and water pipes were added to allow you to deliver heated water to buildings to make sure occupants didn’t freeze. While also making more changes to public transport the DLC didn’t do all that much more. Since the DLC was released, I’ve only played on a winter map once. It was a cool idea but not something that I’m interested in playing over and over. If the price was a little lower I would say that it was worth the price. But I can’t.
On the 29th of November 2016, the third DLC was released. Entitled “Natural Disasters”, the DLC added either player triggered or randomly generated disasters that would ravage through the city. It is worth mentioning that the SimCity reboot did contain disasters, but just like everything else Cities: Skylines improved on, it improved this. In order for your population to not get completely decimated, the game added an early warning system. This was done through new services that would be able to notify you, and your people in the city of a potential disaster through a new broadcast network, and tell them to get to the nearest shelter to keep them safe. Personally, I now prefer to play with the disasters turned off, but having the option there to take out half the city with a comet is something that I will always appreciate. Having cost £10.99, it definitely wasn’t the worse DLC to get for the price.
Following that came on of the most important DLC’s released to date. Mass Transit. While also changing up the ways that you can move people around your city with new vehicles like ferries and blimps, the DLC seriously updated the way that roads, paths and train tracks could be built. Now including markers to show how many blocks you’re building, the angle of the corner, guidelines to make sure roads meet up dead straight and in the same place. This DLC completely changed the way that building was done and made it ten times easier. Admittedly, most of the improvements were copies of mods. But by building the mods into the game, it made it possible for mod creators to massively improve on the tools giving us some of the most widely used mods today, including “Traffic Manager, President Edition”. If I had to recommend a DLC to someone who was buying the game and only one DLC, I would tell them to get this one.
Green Cities, the fifth DLC, was released on the 19th of October 2017. This DLC added 350 new assets to the game that enabled the city to run completely differently; if a district had the policy telling houses to build green, then solar panels can be seen to be on the roofs of the buildings. This also has the effect of reducing your energy consumption due to the houses providing their own power. The DLC also featured new specialisations including the ability for forestry industry; this is a renewable sauce of industry that worked off of the land and was sustainable. This costs £9.99 again but is one of the DLCs that I use very regularly, with assets like the Recycling Centre and Bio Water Outlet. They may cost more, but they reduce pollution which is always a good thing. Also Electric Cars…
The most recent DLC was the “Parklife” DLC. The most expensive released to date but also arguably the coolest. This pack enables you to zone an area of the map as a park; this can overlap districts or just be contained within one. After zoning a park area, you can then place a park gate, allowing your people into the park and also charging a price for entrance, to help with the maintenance costs. Every park can be upgraded with buildings and plazas, props and plants, all of which increase the attractiveness of the park and the land value around it. Oh yeah, did I also mention that this DLC also allows you to build Theme Parks, Zoos, and nature reserves along with the standard city parks? Each type of park has its own assets and style which means that each will look different. This DLC is one that introduces some quality content, but will only appeal in the long run to players who enjoy making their city look perfect. Despite the DLC being out only four months, I’m already using it less than the other DLCs that I own. But for the amount that it includes, at a price of £11.39, it’s definitely worth picking up if you have the extra cash.
So there are the last 6 major DLC releases for Cities: Skylines. There are another 11 DLC that I haven’t touched ranging from various radio stations to small free DLC that allows you to host football (Soccer) games and Content Creator Packs where a modder has created a set of high-quality assets to change the way the city looks. Whatever flavour you’re looking to inject into your city, there’s a DLC to be able to influence your city’s expansion.