CITIES: SKYLINES 2 | TIPS FOR A BEAUTIFUL CITY - Quays, Cul de Sacs, Developer Mode & More (Guide)

In this beginner's guide video for Cities: Skylines 2, we're going to go through a handful of tips and tricks focused around making your city more beautiful. We'll be using the developer mode's powerful tools for one tip, but all the rest will use the base game's regular features to show how to make your city beautiful. Tips and tricks include guides for making quays, cul de sacs, artificial lakes, and more, and with the tips in this beginner's guide video, you'll be well on your way to making beautiful cities in Cities: Skylines 2.
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00:00 - Intro
00:32 - Developer Mode - Use the Surface Editor & Object Adder
03:15 - Harbourfronts & Promenades (Quays)
05:40 - Cul de Sacs
06:36 - Artificial Lakes
07:55 - Road Segments
08:41 - Freeform Placement
10:29 - Guided Road Placement
11:19 - Experiment with Zone Sizes & Facing
13:30 - Outro
#citiesskylines

[@PartyElite]

Fun fact - cities don't need to be urban hellscapes! For more tips and tricks, check out the rest of the playlist - kzbin.info/aero/PLwVftHdWAdHMQPpnX5Rm2RzXrQ-yyvJN3 ! If you have questions or topics you'd like to see covered, let me know :)

[@_ikako_]

this game has so much more potential than cs1 to be absolutely breathtaking, it's really a shame they didn't fully allow it to reach that potential on launch, but i'm very very excited to see what people can do in a few years

[@Greybell]

Yeah I'm trying to create beautiful block city but the inconsistent zoning (even though my terrain is flat and roads are perfectly 90° and straight) keeps ruining the look. And I randomly get condemned message even though buildings are correctly built. They should have a free zoning tool so you can determine where the zones are instead of predetermined by the roads.

[@Bambeakz]

Well we have to wait to see I guess because we have no clue what kind of mods we are going to get. Maybe they stop us by only giving assets because it also has to work on consoles If you talk about vanilla then you are absolutely right. I am back to CS1 though for a few months 😅

[@Mosiki042]

They are playing the wrong game

[@rjs69]

Why do you think it had more potential? It's got worse graphics, worse gameplay and less content

[@nerevarchthn6860]

@@rjs69bro did you experience CS 1 at launch?😂 literally everything is wayyyy better

[@FredGreen182]

They should really add some of the debug tools as regular tools

[@KINGDOMSONSTV]

💯

[@SpacePandaYT]

Tbh, they look like they’ve been worked on as if they were. So they might in the future, for all we know.

[@ndwiggins23]

Yeah, I agree, it means these tools that were once mods are already baked in and won't screw up saves as often as C:S1/will update with the game

[@loganloftin7570]

They should remove deez nuts from your dads mouth

[@Swarm509]

I think this is a line where they decided to let modders do it. The devs can focus on making the systems powerful and accessible on the backend and the modders can spend the time adding it the game in whatever way the community determines is best (via using the mods). Also means the game is less complex for more casual players or new players learning how to city build but can get much deeper for hardcore players. Makes me excited for what they will be able to do. Hell maybe we will even get some automatic tools to infill these problem areas.

[@JouleThief29]

12:30 Keep in mind that the look of buildings changes drastically as they level up. As we don't have the "historical building" option from CS 1, we can't prevent buildings from leveling up (yet).

[@SirBallsDeepOfHouseManthrust]

Why they wouldn’t have the “Make Historical” option is literally absurd.

[@prodbyNOVAER]

@@SirBallsDeepOfHouseManthrust quite a few things that are missing are kinda absurd tbh

[@SirBallsDeepOfHouseManthrust]

@@prodbyNOVAER Agreed. I’m a huge fan, but I really can’t comprehend why they chose to leave so many things out. I was so exited when I heard CS2 was announced, I thought the whole fucking point was like, hey let’s consolidate all these huge fucking features and ideas the modding community added and make a big new game. I mean, Cities Skylines wasn’t broken and worked pretty well with all the most popular mods, so the only purpose of a sequel would be to add all those popular features that mods add and refine them into a new game. It’s missing so many road tool, something like MoveIt and so much more. On top of that, the optimization is fucked.

[@prodbyNOVAER]

@@SirBallsDeepOfHouseManthrust I wish we just had more control over details. changing speed limits, adding give way signs, and other traffic manager things. And something to control nodes and road decals. Among some more important missing features of course.

[@SirBallsDeepOfHouseManthrust]

@@prodbyNOVAER Seriously. How they haven’t implemented a traffic manager is literally beyond me. A modder did it.

[@Tango_Mike]

The fact that you needed at least 3 mods and several dlcs to get some of these results in CS shows the amazing potential CS2 has for the future. Also, I just love how nice and helpful CS community is especially compared to those of other games.

[@B0bbieshaky]

This is a great video, thanks! Well laid out points that really got me thinking more about designs, and more useful than most CS2 videos out right now.

[@rsbispo]

Awesome video! I'm new to the game and I'm super excited about it, despite the performance issues we are currently facing. These tips will certainly help a lot during the gameplay, thank you!

[@bitesizedcities]

Love the piece about road segments. Nice way to add only a bit of on street parking along commercial streets, rather than having a default full road of parking. Excellent hack!

[@liyan00]

The road segments using paths is such a good idea! I've been awkwardly adding then deleting alleyways which usually messes up afterwards anyway, so this is will be a lot easier.

[@cernunnos100]

The video everyone's been waiting for someone to make. Thank you.

[@RainArenas]

This is great! Thanks for sharing!

[@rossbentley3000]

Amazing video. So well scripted, presented, shot and edited. Amazing stuff, saving all of these tios for later!

[@rossiswellcool]

Fantastic tips. Thank you!!!

[@swagatabarua]

Thank you for the video. This is one of the best tips and tricks video I have seen. Eagerly waiting for your next one.

[@mattrockett9443]

Some great tips thank you! 👍

[@prinzchen17]

that was a very nice and compact guide! bravo👏

[@RoomInPiss]

very helpful guide and good tips thank you for sharing

[@gillking49]

Great video! I learned so much. The right click's a game changer lol.

[@PeterESSA]

Thank you! I learned a lot from this video!

[@botanicalb0b]

This is stellar tips! Thank you ❤

[@joshuadmitchell]

Absolutely outstanding video. Love the game so much and it’s only going to get better!

[@HaiDefinitions]

Nice, very useful and straight forward video

[@JoseEncarnacao]

Cheers from Portugal. Thanks for making this video. Subed

[@Dechral]

nice, this is the first cs2 vid I've watched that mentioned the debug mode. Didn't know it existed and seems like it will help fill a lot of the tinkering void we had in cs1 until future updates. Thx for sharing

[@teacherella1338]

Teddy Radko also made a video about it

[@susesunshine]

I already watched quite a number of CS2 videos. Despite that there was still something new in this video. Thanks a lot

[@doggy100]

The game is not even week old and you have had already uncover so many little technical details. Some of them are quite obvious if you know the CS1 (because its the same game engine) but man, you are KING :). I especially love the way to move already placed roads. It's like vanilla move it :D

[@RoamingwithStu]

Very helpful video!

[@itsanthony1980]

Really good stuff here. Thank you

[@BeholdTheLight23]

This is just a perfect tutorial. Thank you!

[@Becka794]

Great video, very helpful.

[@biggc181]

This is an absolute game changing video.

[@maxriley9540]

This is great! Thank you

[@jacobc2850]

My jaw DROPPED with the surface editor! It’s built INTO the game the mod I was dreaming of! THANK YOU so much for this! PLOP!

[@polarisproject1568]

Great tips!

[@Swarm509]

Great video. That Debug tool has me excited for what mods we will see in the future and what modders will be able to pull out of the game.

[@LadyPouss]

Thanks for all this tips, this is great!

[@hunterbrauer3863]

thank you!!! I was going back to cs1 because I missed detailing

[@uncIeben]

U r exactly what I was looking for

[@_Uh_Oh_]

Nice video - I find I always take care on my residential areas making little cul-de-sacs and closes, then pop in a central Commerical area then the Industrial just becomes one big huge blob over at the edge somewhere

[@Greybell]

5:40 For a perfect Cul de Sac circle, I would only turn on snap option to 90°and snap to geometry so the circle looks symmetrical like in CS1. Just make sure the height and width when creating a quarter circle are the same.

[@PartyElite]

Absolutely! Good point! Though maybe it's just a Canadian or Toronto thing where not all of our cul de sac are perfect circles, so I didn't even think to specify it here.

[@MarksMarbleRacing]

@@PartyElite In the UK we tend to have a T shape at the end rather than a circle. Probably Allows for more houses per building site.

[@ffsnickavailable]

Thx you for this video!!

[@Jakeurb8ty82]

props to the dev whoever gave us the ability to nudge the roads with the upgrade tool. Not op like move it! bril.

[@PedroSouza-ny6uq]

what a masterpiece of a video

[@RuszinZsolt_FairContoZrt]

Well done.

[@MrJonas1995]

Cool video!

[@bill8216]

Thanks!

[@vanadyan1674]

Not really interested in using Debug tools, but looking at what is available sure excites me for the mods that will be coming in the future. Very exciting!

[@Zarosian_Ice]

the only mod i truely require right now is a TMPE Lol.. While trying to solve some traffic i noticed on green lights, both lanes try to cross each other... i want timed light T_T

[@lunaparker8282]

uuuuh you've made my day with that dev mode

[@pixel-ink]

Wow... I didn't know about debug mode. Such a great tips video. Thanks

[@ColeHolio2294]

Greaat tips! Love the quays thing in particular. I'm 99% sure that terraforming *does* have a small cost attached to it though.

[@Dafty2k]

Amazing!

[@patrickbennett439]

This ability to place huge buildings like that one by one is what we needed!

[@elwourmo993]

thank you for the Waterfront Tipp looks just as good as the old premade ones! I was building on the barrier Island map and wanted a highend part of downtown to be on the waterfront but it just looks wierd if you have sheer cliffs or sloped coast. XD

[@GeoTactics]

Great video. I'm still on the fence due to optimization issues.

[@Nicoladen1]

7:51 I was really waiting for the shadow of a plane being cast onto the water there lol

[@HilcoKlinkert]

Wha-whaaaat? Developer propping ❤

[@tilarium2]

Some awesome tips, Party! But the king of them for me is the first, because I HATE those unsightly gaps.

[@adeptgaming101]

Great tips, nothing like having a love heart pool to add a 'Miami' vibe to the city :D

[@nspring06]

One pointer to consider is that pedestrian roads can also be used as quays, if you dont want your quay to be a dedicated vehicular thoroughfare

[@FOHRusty]

Love it ❤

[@rone1954]

The right-click. Are you kidding me! Thank you so much.🙏🏾🙏🏾

[@Airwane]

Thank you. Specially the tips about the road. Because some of my roads looks like spaghetti towards the intersection 😅

[@jacobc2850]

Aaaaahh Freeform Placement is AMAZING!

[@Akitorbenov]

All these suggestions are great, thanks. I still miss something tho...how to build on hills and slopes. Cause building on perfectly flat land is a thing, building realistically respecting the topography, another. Can someone enlighten us on how to build on not flat surfaces WITHOUT flatting them?

[@mkk3a]

This game is actually a huge step back. With every video I watch, I have to shake head.

[@scheballs7]

Holy Crap! I had no idea they allowed a developer mode like that!! Thank You

[@Chronomatrix]

omg had no idea dev mode was a thing! So cool!

[@Sampdelu]

Being able to change the surface texture is going to be soooo nice

[@parkerotto846]

THIS IS GAME CHANGING OMG ITS FINDIT

[@chaosfun87]

I hope they will implement quays very soon, but thanks for the trick 😊

[@seankrake4776]

Something I highly recommend when building is to look at maps of real places to try to better understand density. If I want to understand how cramped a real shipyard is, I look at the Norfolk commercial and naval ports. If I want to understand an urban mod density housing area, I look at Chicago, New York City, and many other cities. If I want to understand how much space a freeway is going to take up, I look at los angles or Dallas. References are good to reframe how and why those types of areas are made

[@mrmc101]

for the roundabouts, you can also make one really easily by making a small cross, and then connecting the ends with the curve road tool and then delete the guides. your curves will be really smooth and even if you do it right

[@CodenameRockerika]

Being able to choose which RICO building is put in a zoned area is huge. I have miles and miles of identical houses in my city currently.

[@exsosus5002]

Love the new car and transport truck and train / bus graphics, AND the buildings! Soooo realistic, some models are near photo-realism, however the one thing stopping me from picking up this sim now on Steam is that it has much to modern / or old looking buildings in the city as models. Even a modern city being built from scratch today, in real life, has more glass structures, metal frame designed skyscrapers which are earthquake proof - take a look at Japan's newest tower, among many other examples I could write a whole page about. Keeping this concise, when will the first DLC for more futuristic buildings be released, any idea folks? Thank you so much. Holding on purchase for... city beautification.

[@Trifler500]

I hope they add some corner lots in the future.

[@Narangarath]

My best prettying trick so far; when adding ramps to highways, first join the ramp onto the unupgraded highway where you want it to be, then upgrade the highway, delete the last (or as many as needed) part of the ramp (make sure you have more than one segment drawn or add a "guide road" first!) and draw the ramp back in with the curve mode (align it using the guidelines), now starting from the correct lane on the highway. Turn it around by tracing the ramp in the correct direction with the upgrade tool if needed. Bam, perfect swooping curves. Seems easier to create smooth curves this way on all roads in general. Now, if anyone has any tricks for smooth inclines/declines (especially on curving roads) I'm all ears.

[@brandtc.7991]

Thank you for this! It's going to help a ton!

[@Zarosian_Ice]

6:27 i noticed you can use the continuous curve tool to create beautiful semi spheres (makes perfect spheres to my experience). Starting at the end of the road like you did, pick the diameter you want your final round about to be, divide it in 2, now drag out the number you divided and with guidelines on, make half of the hemisphere, then continue the second half. My successrate with it has been really high.

[@elwourmo993]

that works? I still use the old CS1 method make a cross to help (the new tool even tells you angles and total length for the street) use simple curve and go out 50% of you length and curve it over. delete the cross=perfect circle I use this for whole cities too to make like oval shaped or half round disctricts. I'll try your method too since it seems less time consuming!

[@Zarosian_Ice]

@@elwourmo993 yes it does circles real well, I used it earlier on stream to make a couple semi spheres for different purposes. That being said I still use a lot of CS1 techniques because I am very much used to them and they're quick.

[@SherrifOfNottingham]

They really need to add that one "stretch the foundation" tool to the standard toolset

[@duphasdan]

6:24 You can make it using an alley at first for ease, and then change it to another road type.

[@alangerling8194]

Ooo! I don't see it yet in the comments, so I get to spout one of my favorite random facts! The plural of cul-de-sac can be culs-de-sac, which is totally more fun to say.

[@kountree38]

Subbed. Out of all the content creators, yours is really simple to understand. Thank you for that. Could you please make an economy video? I'm struggling to make money and understand how to stay in the green. Edit: I think you are more of a detailing content creator BUT you have a bunch of money too how did you get so much?

[@BluMacaw]

Oh I think I will be fine, but I'm glad to have learned a few things about fixing this damn zoning. In my experience it's often due to roads slight misalignment if you want to keep perfect grid over long distances. In such cases delete existing neraby roads and then pull a new one from the remaining tip, it usually fixes these errors that otherwise no other trick does. But for fixing small stuff, especially for corners path trick and clicking road saves lots of time.

[@scheballs7]

I just learned that hitting Tab while in debug mode opens up a menu that allows you to control the scene simulation such and weather and time

[@chines00]

If they fix the zoning, it will be a great step. The broken zones kinda ruin many areas

[@Strav24]

Tip, for cul de sacks, use the continuous road, you can make perfect circles in 2 road segments

[@shadowspy9961]

Are u going to do another bannerlord playthrough or ck3 streams as that’s what got me into your channel, anyways great video😊

[@alycia7870]

Thank you so much for this!! Do you have any tips for how to change up the way your city is built once you have all the tools and building types unlocked? I've never played a Cities: Skylines game before and I've got a weird suburban death zone happening and I'm not sure how to make it less... suburban. Do you think you will do a let's play series with this like you have for Planet Zoo?

[@kripticlunar8198]

well that’s just a problem for cities skylines 2 the demand is absolutely broken you have so so so many low residential demand but no high or medium at ALL

[@lyrrakell]

@@kripticlunar8198 I think the key is to kind of ignore their demand for low-res for a while, and then they'll start wanting higher density. At least, I haven't had any problem getting demand for higher density at all doing that.

[@BBeyond14]

Public transportation tips!

[@MemoriesLP]

12:40 - Really cool tip about having different colors and sizes. But I rather keep with my messed up cities, just like real life haha. Not related to the video, but in City Skylines 1 I could see where the traffic was going in each road, showing arrows of where people were driving to. Was that a mod I was using? I can't find this option in City Skylines 2.

[@Narangarath]

Nope, that was a base game feature, which got more refined as time went by. Would love something comparable for CS2.

[@DimaRakesah]

I take out street parking in certain places with high pedestrian volume or just where I want it to look nicer then leave the rest and charge for parking 😄

[@Baleur]

Trick 1. Turn on TAA in advanced graphics settings. (and its more preformant than SMAA too) For gods sake my man, you focus on quality in such a high standard in your videos, its strange you didnt see that setting ingame. Jaggies and flickering everywhere in this video.

[@komeleduc]

Yeah the invisible gap preventing row houses from facing a certain direction

[@danielbotezelli]

Do a Walk-through city!

[@K7SniperX]

I for one love my urban hellscapes.

[@bigcountry3331]

Can you do a tutorial about building dams?

[@kikosawa]

Thank you!

[@erstaples1]

One thing I’ve been struggling with is road symmetry when creating curved roads. Similar to the heart you created in this video, how does one create two opposing curved roads that mirror each other, aside from the frustratingly tedious eyeball approach?

[@jps080576]

This is phenomenal, I can't believe I haven't caught you before. Enough so that I'm going to subscribe.

[@PartyElite]

Appreciate it, thank you! Fair warning - lots of let's playing on this channel alongside the guides and game previews. But it's all city building, tactical, and strategic gaming!

[@jonanderson5809]

You can double click on the road and shift the zoning cells too.

[@rachymn7883]

Omg you are lovely. This has been doing my head in