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Cities XL vs Cities Skylines/your opinions

Discussion in 'General Forums' started by Nightcrawler, Mar 11, 2015.

  1. Nightcrawler

    Nightcrawler Guest

    Hello community,

    Cities Skylines is now released and it gets very high and good ratings by the users. I've already watched several lets plays and showcases about the game and its features and it does look great.

    But,

    There are a few questions and things that bother me about it.
    I know that Cities XL had terrible ratings and critics, not even talking about Cities XXL.
    That doesnt affect me for a simple reason: I play City Simulations exclusively in sandbox mode. When I play a Citysim, im not interested in building an economically working city from scratch what so ever. I only want to build a city with unlimited resources, just like I imagine it.
    Thats why I dont know about the depth that Cities XL is supposed to lack. I just dont care about that. What I do like about Cities XL is that the graphics are quite good, and with proper mods you can have an almost unlimited amount of possibilites to build a city with. Also, which is very important for me (it might sound stupid): You can get the camera to streetlevel and actually walk through your city. Whenever I build a city i spend a certain long amount of time just "driving" through my streets, to see what I can improve and how realistic everything looks like.

    Now, Cities Skylines has excellent reviews. It seems to make everything correct that former Citysims have done wrong. Also the economics and related stuff seem to work good.
    Cities Skylines however seems to lack those categories I was talking about before (Maybe I am wrong, as I said, my experience of the game only comes from Youtube reviews and lets plays)
    What I somehow dont like is the graphics. It seems a little bit "cartoon-ish", like its not supposed to look very realistic, more like a toy model city.
    Furthermore, it seems to me like the building tools are more limited in comparison to a modded version of CXL. Can you place single buildings from a list in Cities Skylines? Can you fill gaps with plazas, concrete or construction sites? Can you build massive farms to form the countryside around your city? These are some things I havent seen in any of the reviews, maybe you can tell me.
    Also it doesnt seem to be possible to get the camera on street level?
    I just cannot imagine, based on what I have seen by now, that it is possible in Cities Skylines to build hyper realistic, detailed cities like this example: Link
    On the other hand it seems to have very good potential according to modding. So I think there is a lot to be expected in the future.


    So, what do you guys think? Am I the only one who cares about these things?
    And is Cities Skylines recommendable for a person that only wants to build very realistic and detailled cities, not working, economic constructs?
     
    Thrangar, phamduysc and razonan like this.
  2. Dreian

    Dreian Moderator
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    I think you know already the answer mate!

    For realistic esthetics & detailed cities keep up building in XL / XXL. Skylines is more cartoonish.

    I liked what i tested so far of Skylines... i will definitely continue to play it as it's fun. It's probably more in the style of EA SimCity reboot but with real features, not this jokish product they tried to sell.... It's a fun city builder, it deserves all the good credits... but it's not the same feeling of looking at our beloved screenshots from XL franchise...

    No plaza for "gaps", but there are pedestrian ways, ploppable trees... like you can customize them & it may look like a real park at some point

    I have doubt about "massive" farms. from what i've seen, it's small farms for the moment...
    Most of buildings are spawning randomly (or in regards to the area wealth & facilities built)...

    Even if we are limited by the 10*10 map in XL... i still believe the replayability of a map is better on XL with mods, as urbanisticaly you can really let your creativity go wilder.

    i guess XL is still the best product for me as i have also the same kind of aspirations of sandbox gameplay & laying out beautiful detailed urban landscapes...


    I just think it's good to have different ways to entertain with city building. Once in a while you get bored from XL, which now you can switch for Skylines & play differently, trying out other things...
     
    Easy likes this.
  3. Nightcrawler

    Nightcrawler Guest

    Thank you for your reply! Now I know more than before :p
    At the moment I am still playing the original CXL with mods, because I refuse to pay 40€ for that new XXL just to get a few more maps and buildings, nothing I wont get from normal mods.
    I would love to see a new version of CXL, with all the performance issues gone, which is the greatest con in my opinion. But I guess this isnt going to happen so I'll stick to the old one...
     
  4. themp3dj

    themp3dj Unskilled Worker

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    Hey Guys....I came home last night and logged in several hours playing Cities: Skylines, first with no real mods or game changes, just pretty much straight from the download just to see how the game would play. After four or five hours, I played in "unlimited money" and rebuilt the same test city for another 3 hours....

    Unlike CXL, the game engine runs incredibly smooth even though my box could use a graphic tweak....and yes, CSL will look very different in graphic detail than CXL as has been discussed. I am not a modder although the modding tools appear to be easier to use from a basic level than CXL. It will be interesting to see how quickly the modding community steps up and enhances CSL much like what has happened with CXL...

    IMO: Here is a major difference from the outset: Paradox and Colossal Order seems to be committed to making this game the best city builder game in the genre and if early indications follow, they will step in and fix the bugs and glitches that are present...(the ones I encountered were small, silly ones and I personally did not have the same problems as others in the forum(s)...)

    I played for three hours at a time and I was the only thing that lagged, needing a break from the screen, etc....

    No, CSL WILL NOT REPLACE CXL...at least for now and my box is big enough for both games...just hoping my free time to play works out the same...

    P.S. -- I had to laugh at all of the "five year olds" bitching about the actual release time in the forums...you would have thought Santa Claus purposely waited to deliver to them on his way home instead of first stop.... :)

    So, was it alotta hype or pure anticipation....? I have to admit, I kept looking at my Steam account about every hour after Midnight, March 10, Asia / Australia time in anticipation that my download key would be available soon....and then I saw the post about the actual release time which was not up to Paradox and Colossal Order but rather Steam's server release time for whatever reason...didn't look so maybe they had other games releasing on Tuesday as well perhaps....?

    At one point around 2am Eastern in the U.S. last night, there we over 80,000 players "in-game"...right now as of this writing at 5pm Eastern, a tick under 49,000....

    Moral to the story (as I have said in previous threads): we have two killer games in the genre and they will only get better....not sure about how you feel about but I know I'm happier....

    P.S. -- Give CSL the six months after initial public release as CXL had and compare what happens....guessing we will see what is good and bad about both in September....

    Cheers!
     
    Sabertooth and Thrangar like this.
  5. Sabertooth

    Sabertooth Skilled Worker

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    Wow, that's a switch - gameplayer lag! I think I'll consider buying stock in coffee, Bean.:)

    I agree with you. Give CSL six months and we'll have the proof of the pudding. Mind you the initial results
    are overwhelming. I crunch numbers and this company's marketing approach and outlook is very promising.:)
     
    themp3dj likes this.
  6. themp3dj

    themp3dj Unskilled Worker

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    Yeah, I'm a promotion and marketing guy and they (Paradox and Colossal Order) did there homework...great pre-promotion and rollout...!
     
  7. Rene

    Rene Executive

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    The question of Cities (X)XL is how it evolves, because for city builders there's lot's of enjoyment from Skylines for a long time, I couldn't be bothered with XL now although I like sometimes playing Platinum - because of so much mods available and my comp can easily take the game engine and graphics. Skylines, plenty of fun and new, it will be patched too really what is Focus gonna do, of course, XXL future is much about mods too, and so will eventually Skylines be. great that there is a new title on the genre.
     
  8. dim13

    dim13 Vagabond

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  9. skullz613

    skullz613 Administrator
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    XXL is a new version of CXL. The performance issues have pretty much been resolved with the new engine.
     
  10. Rene

    Rene Executive

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    Along that all the simulation in CXL is wiped out, gone forever. All roads are green for all items. It's merely a city builder nor designer anymore. It's broken software.
     
  11. pingyao

    pingyao Skilled Worker

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    Interesting comparison, and one I can only speculate on as I have not played Skylines. However, I tend to agree with members here in as much as Skylines being a very good simulator and actual game.

    The way I see CXL/XXL developing is almost exclusively asa platform for modders and those wanting to build more and more realistic cities. Its almost becoming more software than a game - a city building programme in effect. And I don't mind this. Players and modders are shaping it into something probably never envisaged at outset.
     
    Rene likes this.
  12. Rene

    Rene Executive

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    Still I think MC had the best vision for a city simulator, however as known they're plans were jammed.

    Skylines is the best to surface after MC plans went bezerk.
     
  13. sergio49

    sergio49 Vagabond

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    My first simulation city: SimCity on Commodore, in 1989. And then the whole series follows. Same with CitiesXL and Tropico.
    CitiesXL: the best builder of the city in style "Google Map satellite view"
    CitiesSkylines: the best simulation of construction and management of cities.
    These are two game to have for all fans of "city building"
     
    Tomas13TO and themp3dj like this.
  14. banditdr

    banditdr Vagabond

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    Ive played cities xxl and cities skyline i enjoy both games they are totally differeny games but the two developers are also different as day and night cs they seem to stand behind there product focus on the other hand is to busy rippin people off they must laff there ass off with every version they put out nice company xxl could be great but not in the hands of a company like focus
     
  15. JMCD

    JMCD Vagabond

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    Well from what I've seen so far, Cities XL is still a better 'builder'/sandbox game because of the mods. I'm hoping that patches and mods really develop CSL into the better city builder game. At the moment it's still lacking a few things that I really like, but so far it looks great! In any case they are behaving like a developer that actually earns their money.
     
  16. bobdaktari

    bobdaktari Vagabond

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    totally agree

    I was a gutted Skylines came out so soon after XXL as I thought I was just starting to get the hang of XXL after a long break from XL and on starting up Skylines in the weekend I felt a pang of regret... which I'm pleased to say didn't last long as Skylines is just so much fun

    If XXL had functioning trains and ships I might say its my fave but until it does Skylines is going to be my default time waster and XXL my "serious" builder
     
  17. nicknick

    nicknick Governor

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    I am playing all of XL, XXL and Skylines.
    XL / XXL is better to build a city at that point but Skylines is still so new so we can't really what direction the game will go towards.

    I can spend hours playing XL and, given the time for mods to be available for XXL too this will be for a long time my fav to make a city.

    Skylines is a lot more about management, it needs some time, lacks mod and i almost hate the graphics. Too cartoonish and unnecessary fog effect in a near level. BUT it has nice mechanics, interesting geometries and, given the time it may expand to a very good game.

    We 'll see. Cities XL seems to be at the up limit of what it can give and it's already good for me ( XXL is so much more stable ). On the other hand Cities Skylines is just starting. . .
     
  18. themp3dj

    themp3dj Unskilled Worker

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    Hey Guys...a quick tip I picked up in the forums to resolve the "blurriness up close" issue is to simply adjust the "tilt shift amount" all the way to the left in the "Options" menu....cleared up the graphic issue for me so at least you can see the details in close-up mode...and more graphics remedies are starting show up based on your box configuration...

    I don't think CSL will ever look as good as CXL until the devs make some changes...unlike CXL, Paradox and Colossal Order spent more time on the game engine first....no real complaints about lag and memory leaks like we have had to endure....I continue to play the "wait and see what happens" game for now....
     
  19. Adolf95

    Adolf95 Vagabond

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    Hey guys,I played both CXL and CSL together. From my POV, in terms of realism CXL is better, but if building a city is what you want, then give CSL a go. Performance wise, CSL can run well even on low end PC. I played this game both on my work laptop and my gaming PC and they ran on 30 fps even with 50k population. On CXL, I can only play on low setting. The best thing about CSL however, was the implementation of Steam Cloud, which means you can access your cities from any pc provided you logged into your Steam account. In fact, I started my city on my PC and continued it from my laptop. It's totally the same, no difference(unless you didn't check the cloud function while saving)
     
  20. A SenG

    A SenG Executive

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    The overall textures in cities skyline looks a bit toy like to me, especially the trees, whereas xxl has more realistic looks, thanks to wonderful modders here, but ofcourse cities skyline has a much more advanced approach towards city building but I find xxl much more open....... any idea on future version of xxl, are they planning to launch xxxl ........
     

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