How Far Can You Go in Cities: Skylines Without Mods? (Part 1: Rejecting Grid Cities)
Playing Cities: Skylines Without Mods
As a player with 3.5 years of experience, here are my insights for pure vanilla gameplay (not applicable to unlimited money modes).
How to Avoid Grid Cities
New mayors often immediately build grid cities, making their cities look like computer motherboards. The key to avoiding this is the terrain adjustment feature unlocked after reaching the Small Town milestone.
Milestone Unlocks
When population reaches 1,500 (exact number depends on map's buildable area ratio), the Small Town milestone unlocks these features:
- New Features: Park districts, industrial zones, terrain adjustments, activity policies, park policies
- New Services: Parks & plazas, industrial zones, fishing industry, tier 2 unique buildings, soccer
- New Policies: Pet ban, smoking ban, beautification, school out, park preference, etc.
Terrain Planning Techniques
After unlocking terrain adjustments, enable the contour view and plan roads along contour lines. Steps:
- Enable road planning (select correct road drawing mode)
- Enable contour view
- Start drawing roads along contours
This avoids straight roads and creates more realistic city layouts. While grid cities may be most efficient, overly large grids aren't common in reality.
Practical Advice
Use grid planning sparingly. Real historical cities develop roads naturally over time according to terrain. By following contours and gradual development, your city will achieve natural beauty.