Cities Skylines 2 Update 1.1.5f1 Addresses Community Concerns with Major Economy Overhaul

The recent 1.1.5f1 patch for Cities Skylines 2, also referred to as “Economy 2.0,” introduces notable changes aimed at enhancing gameplay depth and realism. One of the prominent updates involves the reworking of citizen mortality, resulting initially in a “death wave” in existing cities but ultimately leading to more varied and realistic citizen lifespans. Moreover, the implementation of Tile Upkeep cost particularly impacts players who have unlocked all map tiles early on, necessitating prudent financial management. The removal of government subsidies, tax adjustments, and changes to services further contribute to a more challenging and transparent economic system.

This patch also introduces comprehensive updates to city services, employment, and building management. Key changes include a rework of building upgrades, more nuanced demand and happiness mechanics, and adjustments to the fees and operations of various city services such as garbage collection, education, and emergency services. Employment dynamics have been refined to consider health status and other factors, while new policies and economic adjustments have been introduced to balance city finances and resource management. Additionally, modding capabilities have been enhanced, and numerous performance optimizations and bug fixes have been implemented to enhance the overall gameplay experience.

Cities Skylines 2 Update 1.1.5f1 Patch Notes

General Information

Note for Existing Saves:

• Cities will experience a death wave due to changes in how citizens die, intended to prevent future large-scale death waves.
• A Tile Upkeep cost has been added, requiring players to manage their budgets more carefully, especially those using the “Unlock All” feature or mods.
• The update aims to balance various gameplay aspects, and feedback is encouraged to help refine these changes.

Building Upgrade Rework

• Players now have more control over upgrades from the Selected Info Panel of City Service buildings.
• All upgrade types can be removed from the Selected Info Panel, and sub-buildings can be bulldozed, relocated, turned on/off, and selected.
• Sub-building upgrades can now be placed freely within a radius limit from the main building.
• The City Service tutorial has been updated accordingly.

Economy Updates

• Government subsidies for cities have been removed to increase economic challenge and transparency.
• Taxes and Services tabs in the Economy panel unlock at milestone 1, and the Production tab unlocks at milestone 2.
• Added the “Import City Services” city policy to manage the import of city services from Outside Connections.
• Budget panel now separates imported service items, with associated expenses for ambulance, hearse, fire engine, garbage, and police services, which scale with the city’s population.

City Service Changes

• Increased chances of entering and graduating from both Elementary School and High School.
• Adults can now apply to High School with a 1% chance, up to three times.
• Garbage accumulation now accounts for various population groups, with adjusted values and city service upgrades.
• Building garbage collection fees are now fixed, and city service employee wages are paid from player money.
• Electricity import prices have increased, and notifications for Ambulance and Hearse appearances are delayed.
• Various city service costs, including water service fees, have been adjusted, along with the number of workers for specific facilities like Medical Clinics and Police Stations.

Demand Changes

• Residential density now depends on household wealth and family size, with household spawns influenced by citizen happiness, homelessness, tax, available student positions, and jobs.
• Commercial and industrial demand has been adjusted to reduce “Not enough customers” complaints.
• Taxes now have a more significant effect on demand.

Employment Changes

• Workers from Outside Connections no longer pay taxes or appear in population or workplace infoviews.
• These workers will seek new jobs more frequently and prefer city workplaces over those from Outside Connections.
• Only healthy citizens count as employable, and unemployment benefits are limited, leading to complaints about “High Rent” and eventual relocation.

Households and Happiness Changes

• Households without adults will move away, and rich households prefer larger homes in attractive neighborhoods, while poor households prefer cheaper ones.
• Household needs are calculated based on spendable money, leading to more reasonable spending.
• The number of senior citizens moving into the city has been reduced, and low happiness increases the chance of households moving out.
• A curve parameter has been added to smooth senior citizen death rates.

Production and Company Changes

• Various values related to resource production, price, household wages, and tax income have been adjusted.
• Resource prices now have separate parts for industrial processing and commercial service prices, with customers paying the full combined price.
• Companies now go bankrupt instead of relocating if their current property is unprofitable.
• Industrial manufacturing space has been increased to allow more workers per grid, reducing the number of buildings needed.
• Various adjustments have been made to office employee amounts, work required per product, and service prices.

Rent and Building Level Changes

• The virtual landlord has been removed, and building upkeep is now equally shared by all renters.
• Rent calculation has been updated, and building level is now based on renters’ ability to pay the upkeep fee, affecting building condition.

Crime Rate Adjustments

• Fixed police service coverage for zoneable assets, with regular patrols reducing crime rates.
• Various adjustments have been made to crime scene pathfinding and crime recurrence probability.

Additional Changes

• Increased cost and upkeep for purchasing new map tiles, with an option to “Unlock all map tiles,” disabling achievements and upkeep costs.
• Increased construction and upkeep costs for roads, with reduced refunds for bulldozing.
• Several fixes and improvements related to various game mechanics, UI performance, and controller navigation.

Modding Enhancements

• Updates to mod publisher and Paradox Mods, including auto-login, improved notifications, and support for custom units and keybindings.
• Numerous fixes for mod loading issues, notification texts, and mod-related crashes.

Performance Optimizations

• Optimizations for the economy panel, audio memory usage, and particle effects, along with improvements in FPS when placing complex buildings or roads.

Fixes and Improvements

• Unity update to version 2022.3.29f1 and numerous crash fixes.
• Pathfinding improvements for citizens and delivery vehicles, improved tree collision radii, and various other fixes related to building functionality and performance.
• Adjustments to various UI elements, controller navigation, and audio sources.

Known Issues

• Some issues remain with medical clinics not refilling pharmaceuticals and water budget resets in old saves.
• Existing saves may experience a death wave due to the changes in citizen death rates.
• Modifiers are currently not applied to the default values of mod keybinds.

Detailed patch notes for Cities Skylines 2 update 1.1.5f1 can be seen on the official Steam forums.