How to Make Your Cities Great by Educating the Masses in Cities Skylines!

[@vanmalderen27]

That metro stop slotting in to the technology institute was gorgeous

[@anthonymorris479]

*chef kiss*

[@madao7865]

As a rule of thumb, I prefer my grade separated rail crossings to be underpasses whenever the rail is on an embankment and overpasses when it's in a trench.

[@simongeard4824]

Crossing an elevated rail embankment using an even-more-elevated overpass is certainly novel...

[@dmore]

😂 Only Biffa would teraform two huge earth ramps and build what would be a hugely expensive bridge over the top of an existing raised piece of land instead of just having the tiniest of tunnels under the rail and not need to add the eye sore bits of land for the road! That crossing should just be a tiny tunnel, or make the rail lines the bridge parts with the road underneath (then you can still see everything as you like).

[@MrBiggles7665]

Biffa certainly has an aversion to tunnels 😉

[@sherrisville]

doesn't even need a tunnel if you turn part of the rail into a bridge and have the road go under

[@dmore]

@@sherrisville I did mention that tbf 🤓

[@theexpatrepat1765]

From a realistic perspective, getting the railroad to sign off on a right of way dispute and allowing stuff to go in a tunnel underneath is a giant pain in the rear (our old city had a forever fight with the railroad just to get a pedestrian tunnel build). It would probably be easier to just build a bridge over the railroad in that case, depending on who was there first, it might shave some years from your timeline.

[@icantthinkofaname2176]

I don't know if you're aware of this: you can assign multiple district themes to the same district with building themes manager. You can create a USA office theme, USA residential themes, and USA commercial themes; then apply several themes to the same larger district as needed.

[@simongeard4824]

Yeah, I've suggested that before as an alternative to his usual approach of carving out micro-districts to work around a theme that doesn't have offices or doesn't have high-density commercial, etc.

[@BiffaPlaysCitiesSkylines]

I have no idea why I've not realized this before..it's so obvious! Thank you :-)

[@FullOfBradells]

Just a comment on your handicap parking at the University 7:40~. Handicap spots are meant to provide ease of access. The handicap stalls should be as close to the entrance as possible with the smoothest grades possible from their parking spot to the doors.

[@TS_Mind_Swept]

He was just trying to shade the undesirables from the public eye ;p

[@rudigermullins8343]

The railroad is at a height that makes getting off and into the new station unrealistic. A small city would never go to the expense of raising a new highway over a railroad that is already at significant height (looks like at least 4m). It would have been more logical and "better" to keep the new road at ground level and have the railroad be an overpass. This would have eliminated the need for the extreme grades (14m?) of the new extension

[@Clamburglars]

What he said

[@Iosis6]

Or just have a railroad crossing. Seems like that would probably be one of the most realistic option.

[@CurseMonstr]

Good thing it's just a game then right

[@williamhuang8309]

The height of the bridge is probably closer to 20 metres. Keeping the railroad at the same height but as a bridge and then doing a shallow underpass (only -5 metres) would be a better option as trains do not like steep grades.

[@arjun.paliath]

The City of Missipitea should have a lake called TakeASipOfTea which you use when auto saves

[@l3v1ckUK]

34:40 Take that road to the left through the mountains. A small tunnel would get it out the other side and join the next square when you buy it. If you go through the light green patch, there's only a tiny bit of mountain to tunnel through.

[@floris44]

Biffa is like the Bob Ross of City Skylines

[@reinerjung1613]

You could ease the issue with the high road over the two rail lines in two ways: (a) you could convert the road into a tunnel or trenched road. (b) you could actually lower the train track. Currently they run on a elevated embankment.

[@martinbell8329]

29:09 - why not drop the railway line down to ground level so the road isn't so high? Or lift it up, so the road can go underneath?

[@stephenclark9917]

At 30:40 where the new high capacity roads meet, have the right turning lane also allow straight on so that you have maximum capacity. Lane mathematics needed at junctions too. Check that the signals allow for all possible movements.

[@Hikers42]

A few things. So sorry in advance. 😁 1. I think adding a swimming pool to the education area would be cool, either the community one or the varsity one. 2. Not sure if you have started post yet? Or of you want to do it. But that could be fun. 3. wouldn't mind seeing a few more of the smaller buildings around the place. Aren't there a few community items that give a small boost. 4. How about adding some unique buildings, maybe one per 'big' block. Love the work as always, get well soon. 😁

[@RemyJustice97]

28:10 a lot of highways/main roads that run through industrial areas like this in the US (at least my part of it) actually do have traffic lights. They usually just have sensors that allow uninterrupted traffic unless there are cars waiting to turn in. Then they'll change just long enough to let the cars on the side road through. Maybe a little complex/unfun to build in Cities, but good to know, in any case

Biffa, please put a park between the graveyard and the elementary school, kids really don't have to look at a graveyard from their classrooms :)

[@Marsydotpng]

All 3 of my schools IRL were next to cemetery. Its quiet and large open land. You want the cemetery between apartments? The school by the mall?

That's not what I said, but keep trying to read my mind, it's fun.

[@the.abhiram.r]

my high school's parking lot faced a cemetery lol

[@Wolberg143]

In Glade Hills, I would add a walkable bridge over the railway so people can walk from the high density housing, and possibly a plaza and some shopping nearby. Either that or a parking lot by the office buildings.

[@melt7651]

Biffa do you need to make sure your services can go to all the districts? In previous episodes you made services have specific distrcts and have added more since

[@noahkohn9350]

Lower the curve in the railroad line to the same level as the surrounding terrain. That way, the curving road bridge over the rail lines can be lowered a bit as well. Also, where those two rail lines merge just before the cargo terminal, you could re-establish the merge a little further back, allowing for more space coming out of the cargo terminal AND a shorter segment of road bridge over the rail line.

[@magicalmac7505]

If you were to lower the rail line down, that new bridge could also be lowered and not look so wonky

[@charlie2116]

The move it mod allows you to grab nodes outside your purchased squares, which makes me wonder if you could pull a fast one and pull the dam into your square, turn it off, then undo it with the mod. 🤔 The water would freak out, but still - experiment. I've only used it on roads and railways to make them work with my terrain changes, etc. Great episode as always 👍 :)

[@paulknight5018]

The words Water, Dam, Freak Out and Biffa do not have a good history lol 🤣

[@donavanaking]

Maybe if it’s paused the whole time it won’t?

[@charlie2116]

@@donavanaking With this game, I wouldn't bet on it 😬😄

[@BiffaPlaysCitiesSkylines]

So true!

[@donavanaking]

On the 4 lane grass median roads, some cars are crossing over the grass when turning left off of the smaller roads at 3 way intersections. To solve it you could either turn off the left turns for the smaller roads joining the 4 lane grass median roads, or change the 4 lane grass median road to an asymmetrical version on BOTH sides of the 3 way intersections. Currently you have the asymmetrical version after (for the 4 lane road to turn left onto the small road) but not after (for the small road to turn left onto the 4 lane road).

[@TXPhoenix79]

25:43 I have seen a guy work out the best distance between nodes on train tracks for intersections. He uses 21U for the track length since that is how long a train is. This way a train does not span across a node and create a traffic jam.

[@Bluetangg]

I’ve just started playing again after quite a few years. I can really appreciate your skill with the software now! I love all the mods and just added the parking lot thing. Can’t wait to try it out. I have some super strange parking lots right now.

[@turtleofthemoon]

The way that metro station slotted into the front of the university was so incredibly satisfying.

[@GoldenVixyTail]

Great episode! Idea: maybe mirror the shape of the education complex onto the other side of the road? for maybe the baseball stadium and more parking? Maybe something like a convention center?

[@BiffaPlaysCitiesSkylines]

Good idea :-)

[@amirat8162]

I love these videos, they're so calming and fun! Thank you so much Biffa :)

[@BiffaPlaysCitiesSkylines]

Glad you like them!

[@jeeseong06]

I think adding pedestrian path in the crest square to the junction next to the school complex will help improve the walkability

[@Kgarz02]

I think turning that one section of railroad into an elevated bridge would have been better than an overpass road going over it, that or tunneling through or under the raised railroad.

[@MrCheechopelli]

Ding Dong ... How about some special districts like Chai-na Town, like the ones you have in many american cities?

[@42meep13]

Maybe add a bus route from the new school area through the high-density area using the school bus model to both reduce the traffic flow to that area, and since American schools really rely on busing students in due to suburban sprawl, helps add to the American theming (not sure if this is as common a thing in Europe).

[@pyromanci2736]

I would have use a parking garage over those parking lots at the university complex. For me those lots in that situation just don't look that good. I think it's mostly the how it handles the ends and junctions. It also looked like cars were just using it bypass the road.

[@thesteelrodent1796]

to the game, those parking lot roads are just roads, so traffic will use them as shortcuts. There's no way around that. It's the main reason I stopped using that mod, just makes traffic management difficult

[@tylerjames1963]

@@thesteelrodent1796 what do you use to add extra parking? Newb cs player here

[@metallurgymike1568]

Fun fact: Depending on where you live, that grass that separates the sidewalk from the big road is called a devil's strip or a tree lawn (there might be more names for it I don't know)

[@astrolookup]

I just call it 'the grass between the road and the sidewalk'.

[@RebelPhoenix13]

I’ve always heard it called the “beside walk” (Georgia). I call it an easement. As a joke I’ve heard some realtors call it the “furniture store” bc people will put old furniture there and others will collect it if wanted.

[@CoolChristina59]

Interesting! Here it's just a grass verge or less common a berm, I never knew there were other names for it.

[@quoniam426]

The way you set the metro station at the University is important. Prefer placing arriving trains on the same track from the side they are coming, so to obtain both trains arriving at the same time won't cross eachother. Once they call at the platform, this is no problem, one can cross while the other is taking its passengers, at least it stops at a "useful" place instead of wating in the tunnel. On the other hand, no trains from the inner side of the circle serves the university...

[@Allan13k]

Crazy how big this city is already compared to Blightea lol. Don't forget the car assets Biffa :)

[@edwardmiessner6502]

20:34 The elementary school could stand to have some noise protection from the expressway on and off ramps. 😭 A small forest of trees would be appropriate 🙂 EDIT: 22:28 So could the high school! EDIT: 34:14 I don't know how they build bridges over streams in the UK outside of London and apart from major bridges, but here in the States we build them at right angles to the flow of the water for easy passage past the bridge piers and lower construction costs. Piers at an angle impedes the flow of water and eventually undermines the pier footings and causes the bridge to fall down.

[@Yoarashi]

Biffa, you fool, you've made the gravest possible error: this video is at least 5 hours shorter than I wanted

[@BiffaPlaysCitiesSkylines]

dang!

[@lordraven2264]

9:35 lol, you upgraded the road for a UK build, wrong direction. Needed to upgrade the road on the other side of the light to get the left turn lane into the school complex.

[@LoneWolf0648]

in the US we dont usually use double decker busses, the long bendy bus is more common or the high capacity, non bendy, square body one is the MOST common.

[@LK.Cynric]

Living in this city is such an experience. One day you work an office the next all offices are gone but theres a huge education center near it. Today you work in the farming zone, tomorrow your building is in a completely different zone. You do not want to anger the city god. That said, you can walk everywhere and thats great.

[@Marconius6]

8:40 Trees clipping into your school building like crazy here!

[@duphasdan]

8:46 I wonder if Biffa knows about that one mod that can change the color of the concrete so that the different roads can better blend into each other. 27:58 I would just move the train station up in elevation along with the road since the industry in the area needs to regrow anyways. Can not have too far a dip for transport trains for goods.

[@PerfectAlibi1]

The Bob signal? I thought the superhero in this city was Biffa-man. 😅 Making sure no man, woman or child runs out of tea.

[@BlackOcelot0095]

Everytime during an auto save when you say "quick sip of tea" it sounds like you're saying "Mississippatea"! lol

[@linnoff]

Depending on how much you're still caring about authenticity, the fact that you changed bus lines to double deckers is very unusual for the US. I think I've only ever really seen them used as tour busses. Standard US city busses (like the default ones in game) have a seated capacity of 30 or so, but also standing room for twice that. I would consider it perfectly reasonable to double or even triple the capacity of the normal busses to help with your passenger issues which I believe is an option in that transit mod.

[@simongeard4824]

Yeah, double-deckers are very stereotypically British. They're certainly not unique to the UK, but they're so iconic as to look out of place in a US city...

[@salty457]

great stuff Biffa! I would have went under the rail on curvy bridge. the bridge assets for train would look nice there!

[@StudioBebopUSA]

Omg that education complex is so cozy!

[@leeroberts1192]

Could the metro station (12:40) have been repositioned and turned 90 degrees then it could have been a proper though station? For me when I get a can't find path it's normally when I've not connected two bits of tunnel where one has gone just above or below the other and I've not noticed it

[@simongeard4824]

This is why some of the workshop assets for different metro layouts are handy... ones with lines that run perpendicular to the road instead of parallel, or ones that run at 45 or 135 degree angles.

[@jamestown_se]

I'm interested to know if there will/could be a neighborhood that has a bunch of culs de sac rather than 4-way intersections or dead end streets. Maybe a fancier/upper-class part of town!

[@mrmaccNZ]

Love your slow detailed builds!!

[@christopherbooth5762]

An elementary school right next to a cemetary. Nice. Kids get to say hi to grandma on their way to school

[@patonb]

Always impressed how 1 seasons of 5 builders transformed your cities!

[@rklammer]

I love watching Biffa, proper chills me out.

[@BryanFritchie]

Your train line coming into the area, by the cargo station, is raised on a hill. But then your train line lowers into the ground by your bus stations. You should be able to go ahead and lower it by the cargo station, which will make it a much more natural flow throughout the entire line, And you won't need to raise as many roads to get over it.

[@soliW23]

Idea for a new City: a completely green and sort of utopian City

[@thomasparrott8969]

I would also put in a bus line to the education hubs to aid in the reach since your metros don’t cover the entire city

[@Bookwright]

With the yelow schoolbuses

[@20noble]

29:36 you could lower the train tracks a little bit as well

[@grantmckenzie3714]

Is there a mixed use building downloadable in workshop? Commercial on ground floor, with office and/or residential above? Real world style main streets with mixed use? CS could do with mixing it up.

[@Destroyer_UA]

You had a mistake at Blightea-on-the-Wold. The T intersection that leaves the bus hub is forcing normal traffic to turn right, which can make longer journeys and can possibly make more traffic. ======================= Mississippitea sounds kinda bad. It doesn't roll off the tongue well for me. I really wished it was Teattle because it rhymes well with Seattle. ======================= The car assets are still missing in "Mississippitea" by the way. Gotta find American Semis, Pickup trucks, Duallys, SUV's, Jeeps, Sedans, and buses! ======================= Either way, the content is really good! I love it! Keep up the good work! 👍

[@OculusUniversale]

Missed a sip of tea!

[@NikPinski]

You should check out some custom metro station on the steam workshop! There are a lot of small underground ones with nice designs that you can introduce variety.

[@battlehawk77]

Loving this build so far. 😊 You might want to look into getting some American style trains for your passengers and freight. bsquiklehausen has some great short trains using American equipment. 😊

[@jeffldavis1969]

@Biffa - I noticed that there is a farm element that it turned OFF during this episode. Just thought I would make mention of it. Great videos BTW.

[@danielatkins7809]

You’ll want to turn parking off on the roads around the school, it will fill your car parks up more

[@l3v1ckUK]

The city is starting to come together nicely.

[@CMDR-V-UncleJ]

@biffa Lower the train lines to the cargo yard height and dip then a little under the road. That Bridge is 2 high looks funky 🙂

[@firehazardentertainment8381]

I might suggest making that road in front of the cargo train station a asymmetric 2+3L, just to give an extra lane for things going in and out of the station to preempt any traffic problems that may arise later. Or don't, I'm a viewer not a cop.

[@AMV12S]

Good morning Biffa! :) What about independent tunnels for each line on the subway?

[@Jacob-W-5570]

Where you made the cargo station and the road overpass, why is the traintrack still up a enbankment? better level it with the rest of the field, as it later dips down into the passenger station anyway. or if you want to keep the rail on the enbankment better put the road underneath I think.

[@adafreeze]

Don't forget to adjust the taxes on highrise an maybe change all of them to 12% as always :)

[@jcrowder33]

If you have access to parking decks use those instead of lots in high density areas. We have TONS of parking decks.

[@V8HiluxZX6R]

14:05 why is your park zone running down the middle to the other side when your only park assets are at the top, every other part you've just zoned building in it?

[@BiffaPlaysCitiesSkylines]

spreads the park benefit, and initially I was going to have more park assets down that way. I still might :-)

[@bobani17]

wait WHAT! how do you undo moving th path at like 1:50?

[@rbursell1]

I really like how you play the game Biffa

[@BeinDraug]

Today Mayor Biffa announced he has many changes and iprovements planned for the city, starting with the creation of a new educational complex, the newly built highrise district. This complex includes The Insitute for Mordern Technology, offering citizens access to higher education for the first time. Maybe the students of this new facilitity will be able to solve the "Stop Vs Yeild" conundrum. Several other elementary and high schools have also been built across the city in an effort to ensure basic education for every citizen. Attempts to expande the Metro were delayed due to the Mayor Biffa contracting a cold. He insisted on working however confusing the builders with impossible plans. Similarly the creation of Glade hills a new bizarly shaped district arrounf Crest Square has raiseed suspicion of possible attempts of gerrymandering. This claims were dismissed by the Mayors assistants however as they say the Mayor was only concerned with the aesthetics of the new offices. This statement was soon proven true as orders to standerdize office building design were rolled out resulting in the need to completly rebuild many new strutures. In transport news, a cargo station has been added to the rail line. This should reduce the need for trucks within the city while opening up new avenues for inter city trade. This combined with a new highway connection should greatly reduce inner city traffic. A t fire in Anchor District Park prompted the creation of a disaster response unit. They were soon seen putting their skills to good use clearing the remains of the park info booth. Thankfully no citzens were harmed in the blaze, the a number of commeorative chirper plushies were destroyed. Finaly citzizens are reminded to check their trash collection days as changes are made to the schedual due to the devlopment of the the wastes processing complex and the addition of waste trasfer facilities. See you in the next edtion of Cities News.

[@maxroovers6103]

These are great!

[@MrJudgementday99]

So, I do feel you need to have a look at your entrances to your city and think of the long term. Also on a minor label with you car park around the university couldn’t you have just made it an L with one entrance, you could have made the rear a bunch larger and not worry about nodes. Then the rail track was elevated for some reason and the bridge over it was even more elevated. Perhaps sink the rail track and really reduce the height of the road bridge

[@billyyeet805]

Biffa you should make a mega transit hub where all the busses,trains,trams,ext wold stop or keep going, so I thought that that would be a good idea.

[@hannahmaharrey1490]

Love the name! I'm actually from Mississippi.

[@adrianb3869]

I connected that small road that comes in from outside and leads nowhere but no traffic ever arrived from there or left the city that way never. Is there a mod to set that or did I miss something?

[@yuyaplays9311]

You should name that little area with the university and those other school alternative stuff some kind of Academy. Like Mississipatea Academy (however it was spelled) or something along those lines. Like it is an elite private school you can attend from grade school to uni.

[@mrroblox_27]

Love your vids & plz use the articulated buses too.

[@ironmanballer4868]

If anyone knows if the office from the tv show has been created as an asset for city skylines please link it be awsome to have that included in the office district of the city!

[@luizaferreiradacosta95]

The disaster's unit building doesn't look like the type of building that would be in a farming area... Maybe placing it near some offices would be nice?

[@MorebitsUK]

The way the schools are placed makes it look like Boston or Massachusetts.

[@Leemchisholm]

So I've been watching quite a bit of your videos and I love how fluid the camera movement is when you pan around your map. Did you do anything in particular to achieve this? Mines is very jittery and not as soft / smooth as yours.

[@BiffaPlaysCitiesSkylines]

I just use wasd and middle mouse button to move around :-)

[@daddownload]

@@BiffaPlaysCitiesSkylines thanks mate. After digging, turns out when you view using Free Camera is what I was looking for, or to be precise, the Inertia feature. You also get a mod that allows you to view that way in game - Camera Movement Mod by Jay V. Anyways thoroughly enjoy your videos. Excellently narrated and beautifully executed.

[@Alligatchomp]

Double Decker buses aren't really a thing in the US

[@charlesgrove6905]

Tour Buses perhaps but those are mostly open on the second level for obvious reasons, but even cross country or large charter buses are all single level in most of the West US.

[@Marconius6]

7:31 Maybe I'm missing something here, but why did you put the handicapped parking spots in the middle of the lot? That seems like the worst place possible to put them, the furthest away from the entrances...

[@alexstorm1999]

How do i download mods and assets? I own the game through the epic games launcher, not Steam. Now the Steam Workshop Downloader does not work anymore, I have no possibilities of downloading mods.

[@kreega2947]

Biffa you need to put in a football afield and a baseball diamond if it is a U.S. school complex.

[@HesteBremse]

Without watching to the end, But and underpass could be nice for that industrial area instead of a bridge - the rail is already sitting high up so it’s almost a give away 🤟😁👍

[@nzmcmt]

Hey Biffa, do you have a music playlist somewhere? 😃

[@londontoffee]

Pretty sure you are trolling us all with that massive four lane bridge over a railway embankment... 😆

[@ybennehoff]

Building schools by a highway... Biffa has gone fully American

[@PunksterNL]

The interconnectedness of all things.

[@jerrychandra9901]

This road pack creates a median when I change a junction to give way. Is it just me or am I doing something wrong?

[@flepgg]

Biffa, select the same parking road but the ones with the cracks in it, it matches the road colors better instead of this super dark one that looks odd

[@TheSkyGuy77]

The Bob signal! 😂

[@klashnacovak47]

Are you checking it twice, Biffa Claus.

[@benjamimg.s216]

lol a Library near a river is great idea. OHh flooding! there goes the books

[@Bobberino22]

Biffa you NEED to make the major road for crest square that leads to the heavy traffic road be a 4 way intersection. You NEED the 3rd entrance into the residential area directly from that area. As of this video they have to turn left or right & that road is already packed with public transit. Adding a 3rd entrance to the area would be very helpful & could allow for more public transit to alleviate cars It’s totally normal in America to have that as well.

[@nimajneb2005]

Saying US office district made me think of the US version of the show, the office; so obviously the district should be called Scrantean.

[@stue2298]

Should have the road going under the train tracks since the bridge would only be a road width.