Quick Links
InCities: Skylines 2, the grid refers to the streets in your city. This encompasses how streets intersect with each other, allowing buildings to fit on the road in a realistic fashion. In this city-building sequel, you will be able to hand place grids, as well as use the grid placing tool.
So, how should your grid be laid out? Here, we are going to go over some tips for making the perfect grid, as well as some helpful examples. It’s important to note that you’re able to think outside of the box while making your city; you don’t have to be constrained by a uniform grid!
What Is The Grid Placement Tool?
The grid placement tool lets youset down street grids instantly.After selecting a road type, you will see ‘Tool Mode’ to the left. Here, select the checkerboard icon; with this, you just need to click in one spot,dragging in the direction you want.
The second click will create the side of the grid. From here, you canadjust the width, with the future road placement being shown in blue.
How To Make Custom Grids
Overall, making a custom grid is fairly simple. You just need toplace roads in a grid-like manner, making sure to connect any nearby roads.Below, you can take a look at some detailed tips to keep in mind while making a custom grid.
Leave No Cell Unturned
The grid placement tool creates grids that are perfectly filled in. There will be no empty spaces that you will need to deal with, perfect for creating a semi-dense suburban look. When making a custom grid though, you will need tofocus on how far your streets are from each other.
Above, you may see a grid that leaves holes in the center of each block. This may cause someawkward empty areas, which can look unrealistic.Typically, a block of single-family homes doesn’t have an empty patch of grass in the center.
The road placement tool has a blue circle that goes around the edge. Anything within the circle will be part of the grid, creating one cell. Try toline up this blue circle with existing cells,creating a seamless cell layout.
Consider Cell Size
One cell is eight meters,which is handy to know when placing streets. The smallest street that you make can hold two cells, which means that there is16 meters worth of buildable area.
When you place a street, the cells may line up perfectly, but from time to time,you may notice a ‘seam’; this can be seen in the image above. The streets are placed in such a way that there is a noticeable gap along the edges. If the street waseight meters shorter,then this gap would disappear.
Create Main Streets
When creating a grid, we suggest having main streets that are connected via the grid. This may sound a bit confusing, but let’s consider real cities. Your city or town probablydoesn’t consist solely of grids.Instead, there are probably afew main streets that you typically drive on to get around.
This is important to Cities: Skylines 2 as well. Above, you can see asimplified version of this layout.The two six-lane roads have a small grid in the center. Rather than driving through the grid, citizens can take the main road to the closest turn to their destination. Main streets can circle or cut through an entire city; if your city is very large,consider multiple main streets.
Grid Variation For Realism
Withvariation in your grid shape and size,you can create a realistic city. Instead of keeping the same grid and orientation everywhere,alter the size and rotate the grid based on the environment.Does a highway cut diagonally through your city? Angle your grid to line up with the side!
Real cities typically have a central, downtown area. For example,Houston (Texas) has highways that circle the city, with the very center being downtown.The street grid size and orientation vary depending on roads/highways nearby.
This isn’t always the case though. For example.Manhattan (New York City)doesn’t have a ‘center’,as the entire area is a metropolis. Still, when closely looking at the roads, you can see grid variation and main roads that serve as the main’veins' of the city.
Overall,we highly suggest looking at real citiesto get an idea of what your grid can look like.
Alternatives To Square Grid-Based Cities
You don’t have to stick with square grids everywhere,especially if you want some density variation.Above, you can see some residential streets that don’t have a square grid. These roads flow and curve in a natural way while still carrying citizens where they need to go.
If your city has some unruly terrain, we suggestplacing roads to flow with the topography.Rather than a grid cutting through a hill,create roads that twist and turn.
