A lot of people have been asking whether the same planning principles apply, and whether you can carry Cities: Skylines 1 habits straight into Cities: Skylines 2. Or opposite. Some principles still apply — but the underlying simulation has changed in important ways. This post breaks down the key vanilla differences that directly affect grid sizing, zoning behaviour, road hierarchy, and early planning decisions. 1. Scale & Units CS1 - Grid logic is based on cells - Zoning depth like 4 / 8 / 16 - Block planning is abstract and forgiving CS2 - Everything is measured in real distances (meters) - Block size, road length, and service reach are literal ➡️ In CS2, block size matters much more 2. Zoning Behaviour CS1 - Zoning fills aggressively and uniformly - Large blocks rarely punish you early CS2 - Zoning is slower and depth-sensitive - Reacts to access, noise, land value, and services ➡️ Oversized blocks in CS2 reduce flexibility in the early game 3. Road Hierarchy CS1 - Traffic is more arcade-like - You can brute-force problems with wider roads CS2 - Road hierarchy is structural - Lane count, spacing, and junction frequency directly affect simulation stability ➡️ CS2 punishes skipping hierarchy 4. Services & Coverage CS1 - Services cover large areas - Placement is forgiving CS2 - Coverage is tighter and layered(education, health, transit, noise, pollution) ➡️ Human-scale blocks align better with service overlap 5. Terrain Interaction CS1 - Flattening terrain is cheap and mostly consequence-free CS2 - Terrain affects: ➡️ CS2 rewards working with terrain, not against it ✨ Summary: Cities: Skylines II takes the foundation of the original and builds a deeper simulation on top of it. The sequel introduces more realistic traffic behavior, smarter agent pathfinding, expanded economy and production systems, and advanced road and zoning tools that used to require mods in the first game. What's Really Different: Cities: Skylines 1 vs. Cities: Skylines II - Chill Place Gaming

Hello everyone am new here

Hi everyone — I’m Ziggy, and welcome to Engineer Plays. By profession, I’m a structural engineer and builder. These days my main work is designing and building garden spaces, garden rooms, pergolas, and outdoor structures — turning underused gardens into calm, functional places. I’ve just completed a garden studio build for a local photographer here in Northampton, which is very much the kind of work I enjoy: practical, thoughtful, and well designed. Gaming has always run alongside my professional life. I’ve played Counter-Strike at a competitive level for many years, running my own servers and beeing adin on leading Baltic States CS1.4 and CS 1.6 servers, then spent a long time with Battlefield 3 and 4, running teams and organizing gameplay. Strategy games have always drawn me in — I played 1100AD.com as part of a large, well-organized group where I helped train new members, played Command & Conquer™ Generals series, The Settlers series, and I spent years in World of Tanks with a Latvian team, including training roles and competitive matches. Today, I’m mainly playing Battlefield 6, Cities: Skylines 2, and the Anno series. This community exists for people who enjoy games with depth: - thinking in systems - learning from mistakes - improving through logic rather than noise - and enjoying the process, not just the result No ego. No drama. Just good discussion, shared experience, and steady improvement. If you’re new here, feel free to introduce yourself: - What are you playing right now? - What kind of player or builder are you? - What do you enjoy most — tactics, creativity, or optimisation?