Greetings everyone, and a warm welcome to the inaugural developer diary for the upcoming Region Packs, kicking off with France. In this discussion, we’ll delve into the creative and technical journey that led to the creation of our region pack, now accessible on Paradox Mods. The French team, consisting of four talented content creators—Gèze, Gruny, REV0, and Jerenable—familiars from the Cities: Skylines Workshop, brings this vibrant pack to life. The French Pack offers diverse zones such as medium density, mixed use, office space, and low-rent areas, alongside service buildings to cater to your urban needs. Before diving into the particulars of our pack, let’s explore the foundation of Region Pack: France.
Once the French team was formed, our focus was clear: Paris. The “City of Light” was chosen for its embodiment of the quintessential urban fabric, perfect for Cities Skylines II. Paris underwent a significant transformation in the late 19th century, guided by Eugène Haussmann, the chief architect. His vision for Paris included broad avenues, numerous public spaces, and modern infrastructure, featuring gas lighting and an extensive sewer system, which would eventually shape the city’s alias. Haussmann also designed architectural styles and building regulations combining classic elegance with modern functionality, characterized by central heating, tall windows, balconies, and ornate facades.
Haussmann’s architectural blend became the hallmark of Parisian and French design, and the city’s makeover, coupled with the 1889 World Expo, placed Paris at the forefront of urban development.
Two examples of architectural blueprints from Paris.
The historical and cultural backdrop of Paris has also colored our pack’s design. Focusing on Haussmannian architecture, we strived to capture its unique style in our assets. We also selected timeless service buildings suitable for contemporary city builder games, ensuring they fit seamlessly in terms of service scope and aesthetics.
Historical manuals, diagrams, and texts guided our pack’s design standards. With these frameworks and zoning information from Colossal Order, we categorized inspirational resources, locations, and structures by zone and plot. Some team members even visited Paris to gather firsthand references.
A photo montage from the Paris field visit.
Creation of the Pack: Mesh and Texture Design
The regional pack development journey began around 2020. There was considerable uncertainty regarding the asset development approach for “Cities: Skylines II,” but we were fortunate to receive early technical documentation from Colossal Order. With these guidelines, we began prototyping assets, building a modeling pipeline to craft the pack’s content tailored for PBR-compatible software, pending import capabilities into the game. This phase was crucial for adapting to the enhanced asset creation demands of Cities: Skylines II, as the sequel necessitates a greater level of detail and higher texture resolution (increased from 1024×1024 in the original to 4096×4096).
Beyond texture resolution, mesh detail has also evolved since the original game, with elements like window frames and handles now modeled rather than textured. For windows, the distinction of glass from frames is achieved using a parallax interior shader.
Gèze crafted both a Cities: Skylines growable and the Commercial Signature asset for our pack.
Our texturing toolkit was enhanced, switching from Photoshop to Substance Painter/Design to accommodate this PBR game. The fundamentals of our new texturing pipeline allowed dynamic texture swaps per asset, maximizing efficiency. We leveraged the trim sheet method—using tileable textures for optimal texture space.
To enhance efficiency and maintain consistent production quality, we developed standardized mesh elements like roof vents, windows, doors, dormers, rain gutters, and more.
Standardized elements were prepared ahead of building creation.
Considering Haussmannian architecture’s emphasis on decorative features, we fashioned about a hundred bespoke balcony railings and adornments, drawn from historical inspirations. Corbels and trims were created for our texture templates, while later in production, additional elements like chimneys were added, capturing the iconic Parisian skyline.
Classic Parisian rooftop vs. Region Pack France content.
Creation of the Pack: Props
With mesh and texturing complete, we proceeded to incorporate around 400 assets into the game over two weeks.
Attention was given to rooftops, frequently visible to players, furnished with chimneys and antennas, echoing Paris’s dynamic skyline. We used base-game hedges, benches, and trees to enrich the backyards.
Each growable entity in the French Pack showcases color variations, applied to various aspects like ground floors or window frames for added diversity. Our goal was to select neutral tones commonplace on Parisian streets.
Buildings are placed in batches and then decorated individually.
Pack Content
Growables
Each Region Pack offers unique zone configurations, allowing precise zoning of the featured content.
Our selected zone types are chosen based on player needs at launch, aligning with the game’s aesthetic and providing a full-on custom city experience.
A variety of zones offering different environments.
The French Pack encompasses the following zones:
-Mixed Housing
-Medium Density Housing
-Medium Density Row Housing
-Low Rent Housing
-High Density Offices
Building progression is evident in multiple facets, determined by the asset:
-Buildings ascend in height with each level,
-Buildings acquire decorative features at higher levels,
-Building materials transition as levels advance;
-From plaster to brick facades
-From ceramic roofing to zinc roofing
Such combinations depict the evolution of a skyline from an unassuming settlement at level 1 to a celebrated capital city at level 5.
Alongside visual transformations, some buildings display richer backyard decor to signify their wealth. For instance, Level 1 backyards might be sparsely equipped, while Level 5 backyards could boast benches and tables for added intrigue.
Structures at varying development stages.
Services
We emphasized essential service buildings for urban functionality, like healthcare, law enforcement, and educational institutions, aiming for a cohesive urban skyline. The pack includes:
-Fire House and Fire Station
-Police Station and Police Headquarters
-Clinic, Hospital, Crematorium
-Elementary School, High School, College
-Water Tower, Power Station
-Train Station
-City Hall
These services can be upgraded for enhanced city benefits.
From left to right: City Hall, Fire House, Fire Station, and Hospital – default vs. fully upgraded.
Signature Buildings
The French Pack incorporates five signature buildings for residential, commercial, and office zones. We chose these landmarks for their distinctiveness and immediate association with specific RCOI types, which also deliver various city-wide effects.
Folies Bèrgere, inspired by its namesake in Paris’s 9th Arrondissement, serves as a commercial signature building.
Maison des Savoirs Numériques stands out as the pack’s office signature building.
Au coin de la Bouteille, notable for its bottle-shaped rooftop, is the pack’s residential signature building.
Café de Paris, featuring a backyard café, is one of two mixed signature buildings.
Le Carré Gastronomique, featuring a restaurant on the ground floor, is the second mixed signature building.
Team’s Choice
Among the 400+ assets of the French pack, a few are our team’s favorites:
The train station, inspired by the Biarritz station, serves as an elegant gateway in any city setting.
City Hall, resembling the Mairie of Clichy-la-Garenne, brings historical charm and benefits to a city.
The Police Headquarters enhances security with upgrades, inspired by the real building on Quai de Gesvres.
The Neo-Byzantine style water tower makes a striking landmark wherever it is placed.
Final Thoughts
The Region Pack initiative began in 2020 anticipating Cities: Skylines II, aimed at offering bespoke content by veteran creators for the community. We’re elated that our work is now available for the enjoyment of players and enthusiasts.
Throughout our journey, some contributors moved on, yet we celebrate and thank every individual involved in this ambitious project.
We hope the Cities: Skylines community appreciates this monumental effort, and as the French team, we eagerly await crafting more content for Cities: Skylines II!
Thank you for joining us, and please share any feedback or questions here or on PDX forums.
Connect with us on Cities: Skylines Modding Discord and PDXMods:
Modding Discord – https://discord.gg/ExfdGrYvS4
Gèze PDXMods – https://mods.paradoxplaza.com/authors/Gèze
Gruny PDXMods – https://mods.paradoxplaza.com/authors/Gruny
REV0 PDXMods – https://mods.paradoxplaza.com/authors/R3V0_76
Jerenable – https://mods.paradoxplaza.com/authors/Jerenable
