Cities: Skylines 2 is a game that just keeps going no matter how bad things may have been on launch day. This is thanks to official updates and improvements, but also a thriving community of modders.
Comprehensive modding support was one reason why the original Cities: Skylines was as big of a success as it was. Official modding support for Skylines 2 is not yet available at the time of writing this article, but that’s never stopped the community from doing its thing. We already have a massive array of custom features, maps, and functionality being added to the game via three major modding sites: Nexus, Thunderstore, and ModsCities2.
Until Paradox Interactive and Colossal Order push out official modding tools, we’re limited to relatively simple mods: maps, feature expansions, and the like. Still, there’s a bunch of good stuff to choose from, and we’ve picked out 10 of the very best mods currently available for your consideration.
Top 10 Best Cities Skylines 2 Mods
#10: River Delta Revamped
Sometimes, the best mods simply revamp an existing piece of content. This is the case with RaftermanNZ’s River Delta Revamped mod, which does precisely what it says on the tin, focusing mainly on making the map far more interesting and engaging to build cities on. Expect to see more fertile land and resources, as well as a humongous forest to incorporate into your cityscapes. There are so many trees that the developer warns players of potentially low performance while enjoying the map. For those who’d like to spice things up while playing the River Delta, this is the way to go.
#9: Eurovibes
Radio stations are a big deal in Cities: Skylines 2, as good music could definitely spice up what would otherwise be boring, legislational drudgery and grind. For our European readers (and those who feel that way, of course), there’s the Eurovibes mod: a radio station mod for Skylines 2 that lets you experience those impeccable European hits. For your installation troubles, you get two all-new radio stations featuring music from Thievery Corporation and ElectronicBeats, for maximum early-aughts vibes.
#8: Kexford
Kexford is an entirely new map for Cities: Skylines 2, featuring some truly remarkable vistas and challenging development opportunities. With many unique waterways and coastal situations, Kexford stands out compared to most other maps due to the sheer variety of terrain on show. Whether you’re looking to develop a sprawling new megalopolis at the most striking of arenas or hoping to keep things on the down-low with a smaller development, Kexford is a stellar choice.
#7: Brush Size Unlimiter
This is a delightfully simple mod, but as you’re about to discover, these are often the most treasured of them all. Brush Size Unlimiter does exactly what its name says and virtually nothing else, but the tool could be very useful for certain builds. If you’re trying to plop down trees over a particularly large area, for example, this mod lets you do the entire job with just a single click of the mouse! Fair warning, though: setting the brush size to an overly large number may cause crashes.
#6: Tree Controller
Building onto the tree example from the prior entry, you may be miffed over the fact that Skylines 2 does not allow you to, say, plant adult trees. Or, heck, even pick between several different types of trees, for that matter. That’s where Tree Controller comes into the picture, allowing you to choose a variety of tree features before plopping them down. The mod isn’t perfect, granted, but it does allow you to snazz up your townscape in a way that the base game simply does not.
#5: FirstPersonCamera
For many Cities: Skylines 2 players, building cities that are visually interesting and fun-looking is really what it’s all about. One of the best ways to explore them, then, would be to be able to set yourself down as a virtual pedestrian, correct? Enter the FirstPersonCamera mod, which lets you walk about your cityscape to your heart’s content. You’re getting the usual WASD movement scheme with the SHIFT key tied to “sprinting,” making your city exploration endeavours about as authentic as they get.
#4: Extra Landscaping Tools
Extra Landscaping Tools features a wide variety of brushes and tools to spruce up the maps your cities are built upon. Most importantly, however, Extra Landscaping Tools also allows you to add Ore, Oil, Fertile Land, and Underground Water resources to any given map, which could massively expand your city’s capabilities after you’ve reached endgame. A more comprehensive version of this mod (and many others like it) is bound to be released after the official modding tools are out. In the interim, though, this is as good as it gets.
#3: LegacyFlavour
There’s already a tinge of nostalgia, given many Cities: Skylines 2 players cut their teeth on the original Skylines. That’s where the LegacyFlavour mod comes in, adding that well-known and established spice you may miss from Cities: Skylines. Broadly speaking, certain tidbits of UI and game functionality will behave much more closely to how they worked in the original title. You’re also getting a whole array of handy new shortcuts, as well as a suite of custom colour-blindness modes that will be particularly useful to affected players. LegacyFlavour is one of those must-have soft-touch mods that are bound to grow over time, and we handily recommend it.
#2: DucksInARow
DucksInARow is delightfully simple but after using it for a bit, you likely will find it to be a must-have moving forward. It’s all about allowing you to plop down props and trees in a perfect line with all the visualization features you need to make your city look its best. Heck, DucksInARow comes with the option to toggle between saplings and adult trees, partially replacing Tree Controller featured lower on this list. Everything is handled via handy shortcuts and a simple UI upgrade, and anything you put down will be generated into the game programmatically so as to reduce the potential performance impact. Extremely useful, in our experience!
#1: Extended Road Upgrades
The ultimate end-boss of any big Cities: Skylines 2 build will be the handling of roads and services. As Zoey Handley explained in her article, managing traffic is a hugely important task that you’ll need to invest lots of time and effort into. By using the Extended Road Upgrades mod, this job is made easier and more interesting, and you’re bound to get a better-looking city. This mod introduces quays, retaining walls, elevated roads, tunnels, and a number of other sorely missing options into Skylines 2. Most importantly, all of these upgrades can be applied to virtually any type of road there is, short of highways. And yes, this does include pedestrian paths! In our experience, if you’re only going to install a single Cities: Skylines 2 mod, it probably should be this one.
Published: Jan 7, 2024 05:00 pm