Cities Skylines 2 is eventually out, and despite all the technical issues the game is dealing with at launch, you can still play it at an acceptable frame rate by adjusting your settings correctly. Hopefully, the gameplay has improved a lot when compared to the original build of its predecessors.
Although the core mechanics are still the same, most of the tools and buildings now feature more depth than before, which opens up new opportunities to enhance your systems and optimize the upkeep and maintenance process. That being said, the Landscaping Tool is still an unforgiving feature which might seem a bit complicated.
Landscaping Tool is your only option in the game to change or modify the terrain. This means if the lands you own are unleveled in different ways or there are many cliffs or hills that you want to get rid of, Landscaping Tool will help you significantly. It also works the other way, as you can create hills or mountains if you have certain plans in mind, like creating a ramp-like terrain to build a bridge over it or just heightening the level of industrial parts of the city to take away the pollution.
Other than modifying the terrain’s level, you can also use the Landscaping Tool to add a wide variety of trees and plants to each part of the land that you want. This is a great way of reducing the pollution effect on certain parts of the city and giving beautiful scenery to the streets.
Last but not least, Landscaping Tool also features a bunch of different options for pedestrian bridges and pavement paths. So, if your citizens are in trouble for passing across rivers or unleveled terrains, Landscaping Tool gives you the option to create pedestrian bridges. Also, you can add pavement paths to the streets that lack a pathway for pedestrians.
The Vegetation and Pathways tabs are quite simple to use in Landscaping Tool as you simply choose your desired item and drop it everywhere you want. However, the Terrain options are quite complicated. Before using the terrain tools, be aware that you will not be able to undo or remove the modifications you apply to the terrain using Bulldozer. So, you really need to be careful about Landscaping Tool’s terrain tab.
Before we get to explain each terrain tool, make sure to click on any of the terrain modification options and change the Brush Strength to 20%. This is really important, as modifying terrain with a strength of 100% deeply messes up with the land.
- Shift Terrain Tool:
- This is the ultimate tool to unlevel things. If you press the Left Mouse Button, it will begin to heighten the land on the territory of the brush, and if you click the Right Mouse Button it will dig up the ground.
- We strongly suggest you use this tool with a minimum Brush Strength of 15% or 20%.
- Level Terrain Tool:
- This tool will help you level the height difference between two unleveled parts of the land. That being said, it shows its benefit if you use it in a wider area. So, if you have accidentally created an unlevel area, just hover your mouse over that part from a level land, and it will remove the level difference to a high degree.
- However, it could be a bit weaker in smaller areas. You can check out the differences between using this tool on a smaller area and an open land in the images below.
- Soften Terrain Tool:
- This is a tool to turn rocky edges into mountable grassy areas. Simply, you can use it after the Level Terrain Tool to soften the edges of the unleveled parts. Unlike the other tools, you are suggested to increase the Brush strength of this tool to 100% if you want to make the terrain look soft and leveled.
- Slope Terrain Tool:
- Finally, if you want to make a mountable path to the top of a hill or cliff, you can use this tool. It’s almost a harsh version of the Soften Terrain Tool that creates a slope for building roads or bridges to connect the high-level and low-level lands.
How To Undo Your Landscaping Modifications
Although there is no definitive tool to completely undo the changes you apply to terrain, you can still use the provided tools to make your lands level again. So, if you have accidentally created a massive hole or a tall cliff in the middle of your land, here is how to make it level again.
- Switch to the Soften Terrain Tool and set both Brush Size and Brush Strength to the maximum number. Now, start hovering your mouse over unleveled areas while holding down the Left Mouse Button.
- You need to do it a lot of times as if you are painting the area. Just hover your mouse over it back and forth, and you will realize that the terrain lines at the high levels are disappearing gradually.
- If you want to fasten the process a bit, switch to Shift Terrain Tool, change the Brush Strength to 20%, and lower or raise the height of the unleveled part based on where you need it to be.
- Now switch back to the Soften Terrain Tool and continue hampering the lands again as long as you level the target part with the surrounding areas.
As you may notice, this is a time-consuming process to recover from your mistakes with the Landscaping Tool. So, we strongly suggest you save your game before using the terrain tools.