Hello once more!
We are excited to present another development diary. This installment delves into the economy overhaul we refer to as “Economy 2.0,” slated for release within the next fortnight. You’ve provided us with invaluable feedback, from identifying bugs to sharing your in-game experiences. As we reviewed your input, it became evident that specific systems, particularly the economic simulation, lacked transparency and user control over city management. Recognizing the need for improvement, we have been diligently revamping several systems over the past few months based on your feedback.
Before diving into the specifics, we want to extend our heartfelt gratitude for the comprehensive and constructive feedback you provided. It was instrumental in pinpointing issues, identifying missing information, and guiding our improvements. We eagerly anticipate your feedback on these changes, as we strive to enhance Cities: Skylines II and make it the best it can be.
Economy 2.0 Overview
Let’s dive right in! Our primary objective with Economy 2.0 was to streamline and make the systems more responsive, enabling you to make more impactful decisions and better control various gameplay aspects. This involves fewer hidden automatic systems, thus increasing the difficulty level. Our goal is for the game to be accessible to newcomers without requiring meticulous financial management, while still providing seasoned players opportunities to optimize their cities. Here’s a quick rundown of the key changes in Economy 2.0:
- Elimination of Government Subsidies to heighten the economic challenge and clarity
- Implementation of a toggle and a fee for Importing City Services from Outside Connections
- Increased Upkeep Costs for City Services
- Improved Demand Calculations
- New calculations for Rent and Household Spending, enabling citizens to afford Low-Density Residential
- Rebalanced Production Chains to standardize tax income
THE ECONOMY
A significant point of feedback was the lack of financial challenge within the game. Achieving a balanced difficulty level is challenging, as we aim to make the game accessible to new players while still providing a challenge to veterans of Cities: Skylines or the city-building genre. Initially, Government Subsidies were introduced to support emerging cities by scaling with expenses. However, this removed the strategic depth and consequences, reducing the need for a well-balanced economy.
After considering various approaches, we decided to completely eliminate Government Subsidies from the city budget. This change grants you full control over your city’s finances, requiring careful consideration of spending decisions. In-game tutorials are available to help you navigate these changes, and additional tips can be accessed through the Advisor (indicated by the question mark in the top-right corner). Of course, you can always seek advice from us or fellow players.
MONEY
In Cities: Skylines II, money is the engine that keeps your city running. It circulates both within the city and through external sources and sinks. We focus on four entities:
- You, the player/the city
- Households
- Companies
- Abstracted investors
Each has distinct ways of earning and spending money, some of which are automatic, while others are under your control. Here’s a brief overview of the money flow in your city and how you can influence it:
CITY SERVICES
As you can observe, most of your expenditures are directed towards constructing and maintaining City Services and roads. In Economy 2.0, we have rebalanced these costs, significantly increasing the upkeep costs. Our aim is to make your decisions more significant as your city expands. For instance, is your city’s economy robust enough to afford a University, or will you need to hike taxes? Can you enhance the city’s mail service to boost citizen satisfaction, or will that need to wait until your economy stabilizes? These are the questions we hope you ponder with the new update.
Services aren’t just confined to your city. Neighbors can provide services like garbage collection or ambulances from Outside Connections if your city is unable to. Previously, importing services incurred only the time cost of service vehicle travel. Economy 2.0 introduces a fee for importing services, which scales with the city’s population.
We’ve also added a new City Policy named Import City Services, working as a toggle: when enabled, your city can import services, and when disabled (the default), it relies solely on local services. It’s currently an all-or-nothing toggle, but we are considering more granular control options. What are your thoughts on this? We’d love to hear from you.
City Policies can be accessed via the City Information button next to the demand bars
LIFE IN THE CITY
While we call this rework “Economy 2.0,” it impacts more than just the economic simulation. To complement the financial changes and improvements to the Land Value system in patch 1.1.0f1, we’ve made enhancements to Demand, Rent, Education, and Citizen Happiness. These modifications influence your citizens’ lives and their residential preferences.
DEMAND
The most noticeable change is in how Demand is calculated, allowing it to respond better and more accurately reflect your city’s state. Residential demand is now tied to household size and wealth. Generally, low-density residential housing is the costliest as a single household bears the building’s expenses (rent and upkeep), whereas expenses in medium and high-density homes are shared. Wealthier households increase low-density demand, while lower-income citizens, like students, boost high-density demand. Families prefer spacious homes, while singles are content with smaller high-density apartments.
Commercial demand is more closely linked to household needs. Increased household consumption drives commercial zone demand. We’ve adjusted household shopping needs, requiring them to consider rent and garbage fees before splurging. Furthermore, we’ve tied commercial company types to consumer products to ensure a diverse selection for your citizens.
Similarly, office and industry demand have been recalibrated to mesh better with other zone types, and their interplay with commercial zones has been strengthened, fostering local production of needed goods. Moreover, industry now offers more jobs, making it easier to satisfy demand.
EDUCATION AND WORK
While we’ve previously tweaked education, particularly to encourage more teens to attend high school, our goals weren’t fully realized. Therefore, Economy 2.0 includes additional education system improvements. All children now attend elementary school if spots are available, and teens have a high likelihood of attending high school. However, some may still choose to work, especially if schooling is unavailable. We’ve also enhanced graduation rates for both elementary and high schools. Additionally, adults lacking a high school diploma now have a slight chance of enrolling and graduating if spots are available.
Teens and adults can join the workforce if suitable jobs are available. However, health issues (sickness or injury) render them unemployable until recovery. They can find work locally if positions matching their skill level exist or in neighboring cities, though outside work is less desirable with this rework.
Unemployed citizens receive temporary unemployment benefits, but if you fail to provide suitable jobs, they will eventually leave the city due to financial constraints.
BUILDING A BUSINESS
Beyond citizens, many businesses also call your city home, and demand isn’t the only aspect we’ve tweaked. Let’s explore the changes, starting with production. Production basics remain: input resources are processed into refined products requiring workers and time. Higher-educated workers produce more efficiently. Previously, work requirements were calculated at game start, but now we use preconfigured amounts for predictability and fine-tuning. Additionally, we’ve adjusted the work required to produce products, lowering production and thus reducing company profits and tax revenue.
We’ve also adjusted resource prices. Now, there’s a discounted price for industrial companies buying materials and a normal price for commercial companies. Combined, these prices form the consumer price, aiming to ensure profitability for everyone. To balance, we’ve increased wages so citizens can afford both their homes and needed resources.
That wraps up today’s extensive dev diary! Don’t miss part 2 next week, where we’ll discuss Rent, Building Upgrades, and the impact on existing cities. We’d love to hear your thoughts in the meantime. Are there changes you’re eager about? Any questions? Let us know in the comments below.