Cities:Skylines

[Jacob]

Sitting on the other side of the equation for the past few years, having to manage user expectations, struggling against deadlines, wrangling external teams to deliver something that fits our requirements, and seeing all the things that could be improved in the product if only you had the time in money, I have become a lot more sympathetic to the developers/producers point of view.

... I didn't realize you've become involved in game dev. What's the story?

[Syt]

Not game dev but product manager for our company's backend software for managing the franchise network data, reporting etc.   Kinda stumbled into that because they needed someone with strong knowledge of our business processes for the project.

[Jacob]

Not game dev but product manager for our company's backend software for managing the franchise network data, reporting etc.   Kinda stumbled into that because they needed someone with strong knowledge of our business processes for the project.

Good times, I'm sure

[Syt]

So, C:S2 seems to be in stormy waters.

Recently the devs said that they'll stop their "Word of the Week" posts and that future bug fixes will be deployed with "milestone releases" (= DLC). This, of course, went over not very well, with several major issues still to be addressed (e.g. a land values that spiral out of proportion making making housing difficult to attain for Cims - though maybe intended commentary on the housing market ). Then this week the "Word of the Week" returned with this intro:

Last Monday I said we would be taking a break from these weekly posts due to the lack of concrete news and that we would come back when there's something to share regarding updates to the game. On Tuesday I received a call from Sweden. It seems there was an overwhelming amount of feedback from you wanting to hear from us developers weekly. Thank you for all the lovely messages, we really appreciate it!

The last sentence seems more than a tad sarcastic (previously the company had said that they were reconsidering their communications with the community, because while they feel that criticism is warranted and welcome there's too much toxicity/personal attacks directed at the devs).

Several big C:S YouTubers meanwhile have said they will scale back their C:S2 content because there's too many critical issues/bugs to have enjoyable (and long lasting) games.

[Solmyr]

It's kinda amazing how they managed to fuck this up.

[Syt]

I've not tried since launch, but with the new patch out I thought I'd give it a quick whirl. Well, performance isn't near as bad as it was at release. But I only built like a little basic settlement and didn't expand much. Also not much drawn to city builders at the moment, but eventually this might be good, actually?

[Syt]

Received a newsletter:

Dear Cities fans,

We see and understand the disappointment many of you have expressed after the release of Cities: Skylines II and the recent release of Beach Properties. We asked for your patience and support, and you've shown those. In return, we let you down. We thought we could make up for the shortcomings of the game in a timeframe that was unrealistic, and rushed out a DLC that should not have been published in its current form. For all this, we are truly sorry. When we've made statements like this one before, it's included a pledge to keep making improvements, and while we are working on these updates, they haven't happened at a speed or magnitude that is acceptable, and it pains us that we've now lost the trust of many of you. We want to do better.

The very first thing we're doing is to compensate those who purchased Beach Properties. We will change the pack to be a free addition to the game, refund it to the extent possible, and provide additional content within the Ultimate Edition. Unfortunately, it will not be possible to offer refunds for Ultimate Edition buyers. This is due to the distribution of the Ultimate Edition across digital and physical storefronts, which create significant complexities for executing a partial refund. We realize that this is far from ideal, especially given the dedication those who have stayed with us since launch have shown. We are committed to repaying that loyalty, and therefore, we will compensate Ultimate Edition holders by adding 3 Creator Packs and 3 Radio Stations which, together, sum up to a value of USD 39.99. This solution hopefully ensures that you, regardless of purchase method, feel you receive fair compensation.

Looking ahead, we also want to make immediate and meaningful changes in the way we approach the game's development and our communication with you. Firstly, this means a complete focus on improving the base game and modding tools, and secondly, we want to better involve you, the community, as we choose our priorities going forward. We will focus on additional free patches and game updates in the coming months before Colossal Order spends time on new paid content, resulting in a move of the Bridges and Ports Expansion to 2025. In addition, the aforementioned Creator Packs are being produced independently, and will not take any focus away from the work on improving the game. To make sure we focus on the right things, we're putting together an advisory meeting, where a small group of player representatives, together with Colossal Order and Paradox Interactive, will discuss the development plan for this year. The people in this group are chosen for the size of their following within the community to represent as many people as possible. The teams from Colossal Order and Paradox Interactive will provide them with full transparency and answer any questions and critiques voiced. Our hope is that together with you, our community, we can make sure that we do not repeat the same mistakes we have made in the past and bring this game into a bright future.

We also want to address the pending Console release. As you know, our plan was to release in Spring of this year. We have been hesitant to communicate an actual release window because of the uncertainty we are facing, and to not make further promises we might not be able to keep. We have been struggling to get Cities: Skylines II to the necessary level of optimization for a console release, but are now hopeful that an upcoming build delivery in April will demonstrate sufficient progress for us to progress with a release candidate, and then a release build targeted for October. Before we have seen and evaluated the progress made in these builds however, we will not be able to confirm the release date, and even then, some uncertainty always remains. Our ambition is to deliver the experience that you all deserved at launch, but it will take time. It's important to note that the team working on the console release operates separately from our PC development team, so it will be progressing without splitting our focus or time. In closing, we want to reaffirm our dedication to making Cities: Skylines II the best city builder it can be. We appreciate your support and feedback, and hope we can regain your trust going forward. It's our responsibility to earn it, and we hope these actions are a first step in the right direction. We are deeply grateful for your continued passion for our game. Please stay tuned for further updates on the game and the refund process, and thank you for being a part of our community.

Sincerely,
Mariina Hallikainen, CEO, Colossal Order
Mattias Lilja, Deputy CEO, Paradox Interactive

And a link to the "The Way Forward" FAQ: https://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum/threads/faq-the-way-forward.1663862

[garbon]

Paradox must have finally decided they were not amused.

[Syt]

Decided to try this out again to see where it stands. It runs better now, and they made some requested changes, like offering smaller versions of some buildings like schools and clinics which otherwise looked comically large in smalle towns.

I built a small town which developed nicely, but after a while I thought - am I having fun? The gfx look nice (if you ignore that I had a whole street of identical suburban homes ... wich may be realistic?), and they added some tools for manual detailing with props. But it just feels dull? C:S1 was sometimes a bit silly (giant hot dogs on vans, the billboards ... ), but it felt alive and vibrant from day 1. C:S2 feels more like editing environments on Google Maps to me. Which may be something people are looking for, and it looks more realistic, but it feels flavorless.