Good day, and a warm welcome to the Developer Diary focusing on the German Region Pack. Today, we delve into the creative journey behind this newest addition to Paradox Mods, marking the second in our series of Region packs. Developed by Armesto, Feindbold, and Titan—recognizable names from the Cities: Skylines community—the German Pack promises another exciting suite of content for our beloved city-building game.
If you haven’t yet, you can download the pack here!
We are eager to share our stylistic decisions, the rationale behind our selection of buildings, and the various challenges, learning experiences, and obstacles we encountered throughout the model-creation process.
Prior to embarking on this project, we needed to settle on a visual style. Those familiar with Germany, either as residents or visitors, understand that there is no singular “German” style. Instead, the nation is a mosaic of diverse landscapes, regions, dialects, and distinct local architectural styles. The northern regions prominently use brick, while the southern regions are known for their traditional half-timbered houses, although exceptions abound.
Diverse architectural styles in German cities.
Globally, half-timbered houses are often synonymous with Germany, although they are now a rarity in major cities, which is the essence of Cities: Skylines II—creating vibrant urban neighborhoods. In thriving cities, more resilient architecture is essential.
Enter “Gründerzeit,” a term encapsulating architecture from the late 19th century, a period when cities expanded well beyond their historic boundaries due to industrialization. Cities began laying extensive road grids on vacant land, offering opportunities for developers to bring these areas to life.
The German Gründerzeit architectural period
While a singular German architectural style is elusive, the “Gründerzeit” prevalent during this era suits all regions in Germany. Unlike other styles that may be limited to religious structures, palaces, or coastal cities, Gründerzeit architecture was versatile enough to serve various urban needs during the population boom—a concept familiar to Cities: Skylines players.
This clear visual direction guided us to the next phase—gathering diverse examples of the building types we aimed to depict, from service buildings to iconic structures and zones.
An example of an early planning sheet.
Our team has evolved over time, impacting the scope and direction of our pack. We ultimately selected the most crucial services and zones to capture the essence of a German city. The chosen structures, originating from Braunschweig, Berlin, Dresden, and Leipzig, represent the spirit of Germany. It’s up to you to decide our success, but we believe they harmonize beautifully, crafting a cityscape quintessentially German, or even Polish, Czech, or Austrian to some extent.
Creation of the Pack: Planning stage and asset production
Without much insight into preparing content for Cities: Skylines II back then, planning for region packs commenced in early 2020. Colossal Order provided comprehensive early documentation and guidelines, allowing us to develop production workflows.
Following the provided documentation, we modified our workflow from the established Cities: Skylines methods significantly. Differences in the sequel included higher model complexity limits and a shift to square 4096×4096 textures, requiring adjustments in our UV mapping techniques.
Without access to the actual game at the start, different tools and engines helped us understand asset and material appearance in a PBR environment. Twinmotion, a visualization software based on Unreal Engine, was among these tools.
Various German Pack buildings within a PBR environment.
Our team, known for working with complex meshes, even for Cities: Skylines standards, had to adapt to a new parallax window system.
Examples of Cities: Skylines Workshop content from the German Pack team.
With windows needing to be separate meshes, detailed modeling was necessary for each frame to ensure seamless transitions. The increased number of window frames in taller structures required prototyping various techniques, aiming to reduce overall complexity and save triangles across multiple frames.
Three types of reusable window frames.
Access to the editor marked the commencement of asset import and integration. With most assets already prepared, we initiated initial quality control, importing assets, and documenting potential issues for later resolution.
To enhance efficiency, the editor workflow was optimized. With a reliance on color maps for façade variety, establishing these variations in-game was crucial. Finalized color variations were saved as hex codes for easy application to other assets.
The next task involved propping assets, simultaneously placing and propping between 10 and 20 assets. Finally, duplicating L1 and L3 to L2 and L4, akin to the base game, completed the fully functional set creation process.
A cluster of German Pack buildings in the editor, with L5, L3, and L1 simultaneously propped.
The German pack features two zones: a medium-density zone and a mixed-density zone. The medium-density zone is inspired by dense “Gründerzeit” districts found near the city centers of most German cities.
These buildings’ height often reflects the city size or their proximity to the city center. While smaller towns feature three-story buildings and medium-sized cities have four-story buildings, inner cities often reach five stories. In Berlin, five-story buildings can be found up to 10 kilometers from the center. Reflecting this, our buildings start with three floors at Level 1 and gain additional floors as they progress to Levels 3 and 5.
Dense blocks within the medium residential zone.
Dense blocks within the medium residential zone.
The mixed zone, due to technical constraints, features slightly less detailed buildings from the early 1910s.
Dense blocks within the mixed zone.
The German Pack showcases three signature commercial buildings.
A large 1920s German department store, inspired by Karstadt am Hermannplatz.
A corner department store styled after early 1900s architecture.
A department store influenced by early 1900s design.
Our service buildings align with the “Gründerzeit” theme, offering fundamental services and at least two intriguing upgrades. The pack includes these service buildings:
- Firehouse and Fire Station
- Police Station and Police Headquarters
- Elementary School, High School
- Train Station
Firestation, Elementary School, and Police Headquarters, both upgraded and non-upgraded forms.
A modest German firehouse accommodating a few fire engines.
A grand German station housing numerous fire engines, modeled after a Leipzig station.
Fully upgraded Elementary School and –
– fully upgraded High School.
A major urban German police headquarters, upgradable with office and garage expansions. Inspired by a Braunschweig police building.
A modest German local police station.
Planning for the Region Packs began post-2020, following the confirmation of Cities: Skylines II’s development. Our aim was to deliver curated, community-driven content for all to enjoy in Cities: Skylines II. We’re delighted that this creation is now available for players and enthusiasts alike.
We hope the Cities: Skylines community finds immense joy and satisfaction with this project’s culmination. As the German team, we eagerly anticipate creating more content for Cities: Skylines II!
We appreciate your attention and invite any feedback or questions here or on the PDX forums. Join us on the Cities: Skylines Modding Discord and PDXMods for more updates.
Modding Discord – https://discord.gg/ExfdGrYvS4
Armesto PDXMods – https://mods.paradoxplaza.com/authors/AArmesto
Feindbold PDXMods – https://mods.paradoxplaza.com/authors/Feindbold
Titan PDXMods – https://mods.paradoxplaza.com/authors/_Titann_
In a fortnight, we’re off to the UK, where tea and kettles await!