How To Make Cities Skylines Look Realistic

In this super simple tutorial, I'll show you how to make your city look super realistic with some easy-to-use mods!
NOTE: At any point, any one of these mods could break in an update and become unusable. I can't control that.
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Twitter: / pres_yt
Instagram: / pres_yt
Reddit: / submitted
Watch "How to Build a Realistic City" by two dollars twenty:
• Cities Skylines: How t...
LINKS TO THE MODS I MENTIONED:
1. Daylight Classic
steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles...
2. Dynamic Resolution
steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles...
3. Relight
steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles...
4. Environment Changer & Theme Mixer
steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles...
steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles...
5. Ultimate Eyecandy
steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles...
6. Clouds & Fog Toggler
steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles...
7. PostProcessFX
steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles...
Multi-Platform Version (non-Windows): steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles...
NOTE: You cannot use Dynamic Resolution with the Multi-Platform version of PostProcessFX.
8. Sun Shafts (unnecessary if you use Multi-Platform PostProcessFX
steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles...
9. Roads United Core 2.0 (Core+ may work better with some texture packs)
steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles...
...and some nice texture packs for it
NA+:
steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles...
US Reworked:
steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles...
US (Original):
steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles...
Germany:
steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles...
Europe:
steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles...
Also, here are some other mods I find useful:
Sharper Textures (increase the clarity of textures ingame):
steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles...
ShadowStrengthAdjuster (adjust the strength of shadows):
steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles...
Vanilla Trees Remover (eliminate all vanilla trees):
steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles...
No Radioactive Desert And More! (stop trees from turning orange on shorelines):
steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles...
Advanced Vehicle Options (get rid of those bug spray vans):
steamcommunity.com/sharedfile...
...and custom assets in general. The workshop is filled with thousands of wonderful community-made buildings and props that you should use to your advantage!
MY SETTINGS FOR MODS MENTIONED IN THE VIDEO:
- Relight settings
Brightness: 1
Gamma: 0.4
Contrast: 0.1
Temperature: 0.1
Tint: -0.2
Sun Temperature: 0.25
Sun Tint: -0.1
- The rest are default -
THEMES:
Springwood
steamcommunity.com/workshop/br...
Cedar Valley 4K
steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles...
Albedo
steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles...
Cleyra
steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles...
- Theme Mixer settings
Base theme on map load: Springwood
- Changes in Theme Mixer -
RuinedDiffuseTexture: Cedar Valley 4K
PavementDiffuseTexture: Cleyra
OilDiffuseTexture: Cedar Valley 4K
OreDiffuseTexture: Cleyra
SandDiffuseTexture: Cedar Valley 4K
CliffDiffuseTexture: Albedo
UpwardRoadDiffuse (asphalt texture): Albedo
- Ultimate Eyecandy settings
Latitude: 0
Longitude: 3.0
Global light intensity: 8.3
Ambient light intensity: 0.75
- PostProcessFX settings
- SSAO -
Intensity: 4
Radius: 2
Sample Count: High
Occlusion: Depth
Enable Downsampling: ON
Production Music courtesy of Epidemic Sound: www.epidemicsound.com
Sound Effects by audiomicro.com/sound-effects
¯\_(ツ)_/¯ congrats on reading to the end ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
¯\_(ツ)_/¯ but there are no cookies to be found here ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[@strictoaster]

Thanks for putting this together. Now I can link people this video when they ask me this question :)

[@BecauseGames]

couldn't agree more been wanting a tutorial like this for a long time :D thanks x

[@matthewwilliams5253]

Oh look who turned up...hey strict 👍 good vid too!!!

[@strictoaster]

AFAIK console versions of Cities don't support mods, so... no.

[@jonathanlanglois2742]

Even when compared to my 6 year old computer, my Xbox One might as well be a toaster. To be had, I'm not sure why anyone would play this game on a console. There's just no point.

[@YipQMing]

Strictoaster bbcbbjhcnxbxnbnxbbxbbxbb. B be. B b. Be bmx

[@andaman4755]

I can smell the smoke coming from my laptop

[@verdessence]

Can i bring my food to cook em?

[@trakmos4064]

Witch is why you should never play these games on a laptop.

[@PhiZelak]

@@trakmos4064 I've been playing for a while and it works pretty fine.

[@Toyhub2345]

@@PhiZelak laptop is still not good for gaming

[@chobbs3384]

Bacon on me boys, straight from gpu to the plate near u

[@AstBun1]

Great. Now all i need is a NASA computer.

[@NinoValleyTv]

SERIOUSLY

[@Avianca-rr3rf]

No you dont actually. Nasa computers are made for computing, not gaming, meaning they would probably explode if they ran cities skylines.

[@talionescu6275]

smh

[@sharjk]

@@Avianca-rr3rf r/woooosh

[@nutlover3609]

Loex Studios No one gives a flying fuck if your gonna post this on Reddit or not

[@Iamafafr]

*My laptop*: Dear God no...

[@thatonewaguy7841]

Just Drinking tea hey NASA, do you have a spare supercomputer?

[@Toyhub2345]

This guy has a gtx 980 which is not so expensive

[@triparadox.c]

@@Toyhub2345 iirc gtx980 cost $500.. it's kinda expensive tbh

[@kalissa7671]

@@triparadox.c i have a macbook air. that aint expensive

[@even___]

@@kalissa7671 You call that “not expensive”? Haha $1500 go brrrrr

[@FurryWrecker911]

Me: Nice photoshopped thumbnail. Ok, I'll bite. *clicks* Me: Oh... that's not photoshopped.

[@feelcollins4358]

The power of modshop

[@lewiswalker5489]

G

[@triparadox.c]

@@feelcollins4358 Workshop XD

[@notcarrotnose258]

Looks like google Earth lol

[@jackisyarlar1208]

Jesus can walk on water 💧. Watermelons are 92% water. I can walk on watermelons 🍉. Therefore I am 92% Jesus

[@gabrielgingras814]

Dude WTF???

[@notcarrotnose258]

Wut lol

[@_yellow]

Jack KingYT That makes no sense

[@ado3247]

but ice is 100% water and you can walk on ice

[@sci2083]

How to blow up your pc

[@lukearts2954]

... in 6min42

[@vice88]

This kinda looks like the graphics of the first Watchdogs, either way it looks really nice and realistic. Good job!

[@eliaswarhammar5207]

yes, it really reminded me of that too. When I watched it i thought "wait chicago? is this watch dogs?"

[@agentice7718]

I new it seem familiar

[@IdiotStinky02]

it looks so cool like that too bad now with watch dosg graphics i definatly need to replacde my trash pack pc

[@vice88]

Glad I’m not the only one. One of the parts that seemed really similar wad 0:17.

[@nevergiveafuck404]

I want to rebuild Seattle in Cities!

[@BiffaPlaysCitiesSkylines]

Great job, off to get more mods 👍

[@zoebirch8086]

Hi

[@itisicountolaf.yournewguar6111]

😁

[@SamsungS23Ultr]

@@itisicountolaf.yournewguar6111 🥺

[@dimostychalas9716]

Not even a NASA computer can handle this

[@PresCities]

Not true. It’s mostly assets that hurt FPS.

[@nospam1601]

Nasa doesn't have shit

[@matsta177]

My gtx1080 runs it like soft butter. Smooth as a babies asshole

[@bobbyb2506]

matsta177 nice sovietwomble reference

[@ToddKeck98]

matsta177 well it's a fucking 1080 mate

[@DrepaKVHA]

Pres you are the real MVP here, we needed this video so much.

[@twodollarstwenty]

Super helpful!

[@JunioreMi]

Thanks for share your configs Pres, amazing change !! I will try on my game. I will use and link your video on description to share this tips. Regards from Brasil

[@chopstickcheppo1511]

I just cant believe it, if been wondering how youtubers have such nice graphics in C:S. This is legit the perfect video, ive never seen such a helping video omg im so hyped to install these tommorow. Thank you so so much for making this video!👍👍👍👍

[@RubleTrillions]

This is unbelievably helpful!! I had given up on CS because the mods list was just so damn overwhelming. Thank you for doing this!

[@dennisbeswick552]

I think we're about to experience a lot more realistic screenshots from many players. Great job!

[@thelaw2174]

YOU deserve a like for all the work you're doing for us. It is very detailed and well explained. Thank you.

[@RedLegs13B.]

Great video man, extremely helpful for those of us that are OCD about our cities look and feel.

[@RudiRennkamel]

Ahhh thanks! I wanted to go back to C:S now and that does help a lot!

[@PresCities]

Hope you do!!

[@cassandrayorke5183]

Amazing! I've been playing for months now with the default ugly lighting, and your video is helping me out so much. Thank you!

[@PresCities]

Glad I could be of service!

[@marvinmycat5839]

I know it's been two years, but this is an invaluable how-to video! Do you have, or could you put together, a video on other helpful realistic mods like vehicle manager, realistic walking speed, things like that? Thanks for this and keep up the great work - it's inspiring.

[@pelleschwarzberg8848]

Thanks! I was waiting for this for a loooooonnnngggg time! Great job!

[@prestonhall5171]

I love this, seriously. I love games that have realistic graphics and good gameplay. While C:S has outstanding gameplay, its core graphics aren't as nice as I'd like, so this video and these mods really help with that! So thank you dude!

[@VerumPositor]

Finally! Very nice.

[@skulcandykid]

The only thing i miss is your PC specs and the general fps. Many people still want it to be playable. Above 30 fps. I've got a 4790K @4.8 ghz and a Gigabyte GTX 980Ti with 16GB ram and an SSD to boot the game. I can surely test it for myself, but that's not the point of this comment as i care about general information. Aside that, top notch video, and thanks for the conclusion of things that make such game even better than good!

[@PresCities]

My PC specs are pretty good (see about page). But these mods don’t really hurt your FPS for the most part, except Dynamic Resolution and sort of Sun Shafts.

[@skulcandykid]

Pres ah! Thanks for the hint. Not everyone would do that. And i must say. I love your attention to detail when it comes to being informative. Very in-depth that is. Your pc can almost mimic mine on Cities skylines performance. The extra cores may help, but that lower frequency per core kills it again as games generally play on 4 cores, high frequency. Anyway, thanks for the reply! Subbed!

[@skulcandykid]

dakel-BTK cities skylines is very demanding on CPU's and favors it over a GPU. Although, it's not optimized to use even 60% of your cpu. I generally get about 40-60 fps. Depends on area.

[@vralphbryan]

We gotta be better upgrade now to i9 XD XD XD

[@nospam1601]

Sounds like a potato, pretty low specs there.

[@samuel.stelzer]

Finally :D I needed this more than I want to admit!

[@Doubleahawk]

THIS IS WHAT WE'VE ALL BEEN WAITING FOR. Much thanks and great work.

[@nospam1601]

We all? Nah

[@brandonkirk5357]

Thanks so much... I knew of all of these, but came for the cinimatics! but I did not know about the SSAO settings of Post ProcessingFX!! that changes everything... thanks so much! I have fooled around with this mod before, but saw little alteration with the other tools. Thanks Pres! now my city will never look stale again :P Also you forgot to mention the 'ability to read' mod... game changer :D as mentioned in the description to get advanced vehicle options to get rid of those freak!! green cities chair scooters!! thanks, have been meaning to get that one :) anyway I appreciate the time it took to make this... especially the video description, but your literally the first to make something like this, so I think most will find it eye opening P.S. one thing you did not mention was the skybox and pastel sky mods.... you do not use those?

[@PresCities]

I don’t use the skybox mod in New Windsor because it doesn’t include nighttime skyboxes yet and it messes up my lighting.

[@brandonkirk5357]

ok good to know... your sky looks great anyway with the fog mod

[@Essadcsk]

Didnt know about the postprocess settings, now my vids are going to look so much better so thank you for that! and yeah what strict said! :)

[@buonisue]

I’ve been searching this for so long and now I finally know. Thank you so much

[@Roachrancher]

Thank you good Sir, I have been playing Cities for a while, but certain mods of these went unnoticed! Well done, very helpful! :D

[@derkommissar4986]

This video could be 1 second long if you only said " *_MODS_* "

[@RC-rd5px]

Not without Vital Information.

[@grifm.5224]

@@RC-rd5px your user name tho

[@jefexon]

(Russian) Огромное спасибо за это видео! Красивая (Хорошо поставленная) речь, приятный голос и приятный видео ряд. Это видео приятно смотреть, даже если я не знаю английский язык! Ведь каждое действие сопровождается понятными инструкциями в виде изображений. Таких авторов, а так же этих видео не хватает, особенно на русском ютубе.

[@zt.cedric]

Thanks for putting this togheter, exactly what I needed to kick off some projects!

[@BAKEDKILL3R]

Perfect tutorial to start my adventure on the pc coming from console this is what I was looking for fantastic thanks.

[@user-wq9mw2xz3j]

Lol that ending Thought it was my phone and that it froze

[@arturodelafuentetella7699]

Ok but I also want to know what is that autumn style bc I see leaves on roads and dead trees. I am just wondering

[@danielvybez592]

Worth a million clicks. informative, fast and well explained

[@kingshire3213]

Thanks a lot, I used to not be happy with the base textures and map theme, but didn't know how to change it. Now I finally know how to do this stuff :).

[@zilfondel]

Wow, are we even playing the same game?!

[@maskedbandit102]

Nice job--been wanting to get back into Cities, but the workshop is always overwhelming after a long hiatus. This is a nice way to get started. Thanks!

[@ginmwase]

maskedbandit102 I know why it does that it’s because you need more GB.

[@phillipcurrey6961]

Thanks man! New sub here. I know this is an old video, but this game and video are timeless. Picked it back up after several years off and addicted all over.

[@jasongracesonofzeus]

Amazing tutorial! I'mma do whichever ones my pc can handle without it becoming a ppt slideshow.

[@ayelmao1231]

I literally thought the picture in the thumbnail on the right was like an enhanced version of GTA 4 lmao

[@edim108]

Nice, but what mods are you using? ;) But for real. It is super helpful! Thanks a lot!

[@winks8202]

Yay, thanks so much. It's nice having these mods to make the game look cleaner

[@ElidanVideos]

I don't even paly Skyline but I loved the video. Cool that you can mod this game looks so much better

[@floofytown]

Just somebody please point me to some nice American-style house assets I can fill my towns with. The neighborhoods in this vid look so nice!

[@exitspree]

Agreed. If you have found some nice ones, please let us know.

[@WhyDidIJustEatThat]

American Eclectic is pretty good!

[@Kehwanna]

I'm late to this thread. If you go to the Steam Workshop and click on the themes tab to the right of the screen you can find a lot of the American themed homes. Or if you type in townhouse or reduce your search to low-rise residential you can find a lot of them. One I can remember off the top of my head was called New England and another one Mid Atlantic. As someone with a lot of assets, don't go to far down the asset rabbit hole and get another thousand assets added to your pile of a thousand assets.

[@c0018659]

does the mod that darkens asphalt make all the roads dark or can you pick which ones darken ex: old historic neighbourhoods roads are grey and look cracked while upscale commercial areas are dark with bright gold and white stripes and lines?

[@PresCities]

The best way to get color diversity is to use different roads from the workshop.

[@petrosm3248]

Just put road maintenance in new areas only. Roads will darken over time if they're overused and not maintained.

[@Mark-qj5kp]

5 years later, thanks for this! Stoked to finally have a freakin’ clue of how to piece together the different visuals mods

Finally a great and quick mod vídeo, thanks dude!

[@HolgerLovesMusic]

I wish I had a better PC... Late game and mods are killing my cpu :(

[@KylerG_]

Same problem here..

[@ItzSadu]

Been waiting for 15 minutes for my game to load, still not there...

[@smugshrug]

really beautiful city and excellent tutorial that's straightforward and easy to follow.

[@fiqhriprimanazon9037]

I have been looking for this, and i found your video. Great!!!

[@S_1.q]

Dude what PC do you have

[@mrkvatheepic2913]

At the beginning I thought it is footage from Watch Dogs xD

[@multimapping8303]

That's certainly the most beautiful city and graphics I have ever seen in Cities Skylines!

[@creationsbyhelen]

This is great! Thank you. The bit at the end was hilarious...

[@SwitchbackSylveon]

I would use these mods but I'd load up my city and then my Lenovo Potato would catch on fire

[@PresCities]

Most of them don’t hurt your frame rate much. It’s mostly just Dynamic Resolution and sort of Sun Shafts.

[@brandonkirk5357]

Oh and one last thing Pres... do you have flickering ruined textures on the edges of your roads like strict has... I have the same problem and it could be since I changed textures in theme mixer... any thought? :)

[@Forepawz]

You're freaking amazing. This will help me so much to make an awesome-looking city from here on out! Thank you! :D

[@PresCities]

Glad I could be of service!

[@weaponstroopusaf]

Love this video. Got me back into Skylines, Subbed

[@fclgaming9466]

0:31 where did you get that moving crane at!? Also will this affect frame rate for a crappy pc (like mine)?

[@PresCities]

Look for it on the workshop, it’s pretty popular. And to answer your second question, you should mostly be fine if you don’t use Dynamic Resolution or Sun Shafts.

[@fclgaming9466]

Pres ok thank you for the help, I have left the dynamic resolution the same but I can’t disable sun shafts they are too pretty.. 😂

[@fclgaming9466]

Pres also, do you recommend any pc parts that are really good at their price (and not too expensive) thanks again!

[@danielczura9963]

@@fclgaming9466 FCL is still waiting for an answer

[@bk_Syndicate_FL850KH]

Or you could potato your computer doing this

[@alikhadour5857]

Best video. Short and straight to the point. Thanks

Quick and straight to the point. Thank you.

[@salutic.7544]

I thought the thumbnail was some skyline

[@nuphhrffe875]

Thumbnail looks like gta iv

[@robertasklemanskis7254]

Laptop explodes :D

[@centralc8992]

This episode helped me, keep up the good work

[@kirill8893]

gave u a like dude, all because of the supreme way of explaining simply and yet with all the details.

[@PresCities]

Glad I could be of service ;p

[@KingLeno]

so what mods are you using ?

[@kabhes9040]

its in the discription

[@floofytown]

Dude your retail assets are my favorite assets in the whole universe. I love you man!

[@snazz1363]

kab hes *whoosh*

[@kabhes9040]

so many people ask things like this and are absolutely serious so i cant really tell if hes serious or not.

[@karzai9449]

i feel you xD

[@thedefergynetwork3954]

Computer.exe has stopped working

[@complexcitiesskylines]

Just upgraded my PC so im all over this video today. Super helpful.

[@josho1994]

This video is so well made!

[@grgv_tom5122]

ME: starts Cities:Skylines : Xbox one edition ALSO ME : 😭

[@bohdankachur]

2:09

[@RLJSlick]

Excellent video, added a few mods I didn't have already! Thank you

[@mrmiyagigames1563]

Awesome, thanks so much for putting this together!

[@abrahamsalamah5773]

too bad you need a really good pc lol

[@Unethical.Dodgson]

Especially for the SSAO. Even with a 970 or a 1060 GPU I wouldn't recommend that setting :P

[@AceSimGaming]

works fine on my 970

[@IdiotStinky02]

too bad my gaming pc crashed and i cant afford to replace it so now i use this trashy asus whatever the fuck office computer this is cant even run city skylines even at low graphics

[@roigipot8120]

1NickTube1 Get a job and find new one. I always have a backup plan and I have some money if a disaster happens.

[@SirKolass]

@@Unethical.Dodgson Are you serious? lol the SSAO barely affected my fps bruh, 1060 6gb, it just caused a longer loading screen

[@TazerHere]

First

[@win-ner]

TazerHere you are here?😜

[@jackisyarlar1208]

TazerHere Ałããŷū îóœúj

[@priceless4452]

Love the progress and the fall looks awsome but besides that good vid (edit 1: thx for the hart

[@azrainman]

This stands out as one of a kind and quality advice.

[@danielbakergill]

First video. New city manager. Thanks for these huge improvements to the flavor of my cities. Cheers, subbed, *dings bell*.

[@razorbabycheverton]

Biffa sent me here

[@exsosus5002]

Tyv very very much @The creator of this video. Best!! This is what i've been looking for since day one of Skylines for me which was April 1, 2021. Now I know how to make it look nearly perfect.

[@pedromoura494]

I'm looking for a video like this for so long! Thanks so much Pres! Amazing video. Now i can burn my pc trying to make a awesome city like you.

[@Icetoka2]

Thanks for this, just got this game today and the vanilla texture was terrible. Now looks sweet.

[@seba19762]

Finally someone did this. Thanks a lot man!

[@kpd8726]

Great and simple tutorial, keep up the good work! Now i can finally make city which doesn't look like New York from animated Turtles series! x)

[@poszukiwaczprawdy1959]

Great video bro. So helpful tutorial 👍💪

[@Lexxo777]

Great stuff Pres!

[@mattiagagnolato]

This has been very helpful for my city today, now it looks very realistic🔝

[@marijakocovska7173]

This is fantastic! Thank you very very much

[@omasavior1377]

High production video thanks! Short and down to the point!

[@aisucks2637]

Thanks for this video. It really increased the quality of the visual experience.

[@Jim.Hummel]

Superb! I can see why you're the Pres! You got a new subscriber!

[@HesteBremse]

A blast of a short to the point vid, thanks a lot ✌️👽👍

[@jonathanbos]

Thank you so so much! this was really helpfull!

[@markdewinter1962]

Thanks mate, nice and quick vid!