The awaited Economy 2.0 update forCities: Skylines 2has arrived. With it comes a massive slew of changes to the underlying systems for the game which will havea massive impacton how it’s played.
I haven’t really touchedCities: Skylines 2since the debacle of its launch. Most of my major complaints about it were in regard to its visuals and itsunavoidable litany of bugs. I would, however, probably have some difficult in differentiating whether any given issue was working as intended or just bugged. Mechanically, however, I thought things were fine.
But while I didn’t see any deep issues with the economic simulation, the Economy 2.0 patch notes make me question ifI should have. Many of the facets of a city’s workings have been completely revamped in a way that feel like they should have been designed in the first place, such as “rich households prefer larger homes in attractive neighborhoods.” They didn’t before? Others have just had their values change for a more balanced game.
The patch notes and materials leading up to the release also mentions that existing city saves will go through a catastrophic adjustment period as all the underlying revamped mechanics are applied. In particular, many will die because of changes to the age at which your citizens kick the bucket. Taxes and costs are also changed, so your budget might not be so balanced after the changes.
I created a singular massive and successful city before quitting due to the frustration around unavoidable bugs. I plan to return to it just to see the effects. I mean,theoretically, I think my urban design is sound, but my zoning was built in relation to demand driven by the now outdated economic model.
Known issues
