Cities: Skylines 2 DLC release has been delayed by the developer, Colossal Order, in an effort to focus primarily on fixing bugs and improving the performance of the PC release. In the recent update of the developer’s weekly series, ‘Word of the Week’, Colossal Order CEO Mariina Hallikainen reached out to the players to inform them about changes in the future updates as well as the DLC release schedule.
The development team has claimed that they will move on to the console version release and DLC release only when “the PC version is where we want it to be.” While this doesn’t necessarily mean they will be shelving these projects for some time, but a delay seems logical, considering the developer is focusing mainly on fixing the PC version of the base game.
DLC Asset Packs Will Be Released After Devs Are Satisfied With Performance Work & Asset Fixes
In the report, they have also mentioned that the first DLC asset pack, the Beach Properties, is ready, completed by their in-house artists, as well as their outsourcing partner. However, it will only be released and implemented after the developers have fixed the performance and asset issues to their satisfaction.
Based on the report, players can expect an adjusted pace of update release, with “a bit longer cadence between them”. The developer has informed that players might not receive an update every week, as the team has “made it through quicker fixes” and now will be moving on to the issues that require more work and research.
Cities Skylines 2 Devs Focusing On Enhancing GPU & CPU Performance
According to Mariina, Colossal Order is currently focusing on improving the performance of the already-released PC version. The key problem area currently faced by players across the globe is the imperfect level of detail (LOD) models. In the announcement, Mariina stated that the development team will be working on adding the missing LODs as well as enhancing the existing LOD models, in order to boost GPU performance. The developer realizes that this is a pressing issue that requires the team’s close attention.
To tackle this, along with dealing with some other major issues (outlined further in the article), the developers at the Colossal Order have decided to put a stop to the weekly patches and updates. Ever since the release of Cities Skylines 2 on PC on Oct 24, 2023, the developer has been releasing an update every week to fix the issues highlighted by players on various digital forums.
Colossal Order Abandoning Weekly Update Structure To Focus On Developing Major Patch That Resolves Multiple Core Issues
With increasing complaints about players regarding infuriating bugs, low GPU and CPU performance resulting in poor graphics and gameplay experience, and major issues regarding the in-game mail service, Colossal Order has decided to pause the weekly release of updates, take some time, and develop an update that tackles multiple issues at the same time.
They acknowledge many of these issues won’t be completely solved based on one patch alone. Mariina states that they will roll out the first fixes for LOD models as soon as possible. Fixing missing LOD issues is one of the key concerns for the development team and they claim to start with CPU performance enhancement patches only after GPU-related bugs are fixed.
After they roll out a few ‘quick fix’ updates for dealing with GPU performance issues, the developers will start focusing on enhancing the simulation performance and minimizing CPU stutters in order to dole out a smooth gameplay experience with improved speed of simulation, thereby enabling players to spread out and expand their cities considerably.
Cities Skylines 2 Map Editor is Currently in Beta Group Testing
At the time of this report, the development team has identified over 200 bug reports. A part of the team is looking into sorting over 100 reproducible issues. However, the remaining 100 reports, according to Mariina, will require a deeper investigation to garner more information. These bug-fix patches will take longer time, thereby reinforcing the developer’s perceived need for a major update after the team has had sufficient time to deal with every major issue.
Mariina has reconfirmed that the mod editor release is imminent, stating that a beta group is currently testing the upcoming map editor. While the report does not mention any timeline or official announcement regarding its release, the developer has addressed certain issues that have made the progress a little slow.
Colossal Order is working on revamping the UI to make it more user-friendly. The developer claims that the current version of UI is a bit complicated, as “it’s really difficult to find the available assets that can be placed on the map.”
Source: Word of the Week (Colossal Order Forum via Paradox Plaza)
