In Cities Skylines 2, players are given a plethora of tools to design and perfect their cities. One such tool is the ability to create retaining walls, which can add a touch of realism and aesthetic appeal to areas with varying elevations. If you’re looking to enhance your city’s landscape with these walls, here’s a step-by-step guide to help you out.
Tools and Assets Required
Before diving into the construction process, it’s essential to familiarize yourself with the tools and assets you’ll be using:
- Shift Terrain tool
- Level Terrain tool
- Roads (of any type)
How To Build Retaining Walls In Cities Skylines 2
Start by using the Level Terrain tool to select the current height of your road. Level the terrain evenly across the desired length of your road. It’s advisable to level a slightly larger area than needed to provide a smooth canvas to work on. This ensures the ground remains even, preventing unwanted elevation changes. If something goes wrong, enable auto save or manually save your game before start building retaining walls.
Switch to the Shift Terrain tool. Set your brush size to between 10 and 20, ensuring it’s not too large. Adjust the brush strength to 25% to avoid creating excessively high elevations. Press the left mouse button (LMB) three to four times to form a hill. Then, use the Level Terrain tool, hover over the hill’s peak, and press the right mouse button (RMB) to copy its height. Your aim is to create a straight and smooth ridge for the retaining wall to follow.
Choose your desired road type. Position the road’s center (indicated by the white node) on the ridge’s edge. Press LMB and begin tracing your road down the ridge. It’s recommended to lay the road in segments to ensure the elevation remains consistent. Ideally, the elevation should stay at zero or close to it.
If done correctly, a blue transparency indicating the retaining wall will appear on the hill/ridge you’ve crafted. When you finalize the road placement, a concrete wall will materialize. If there are any imperfections in the wall, the only solution is to demolish and reposition it.
Things To Keep In Mind
- Retaining Walls without Roads: As of the game’s launch, retaining walls or quays cannot be built without roads. However, with the continuous release of DLCs and the active modding community, this might change in the future.
- Sound Blocking: Retaining walls, as aesthetically pleasing as they are, do not block sound. Tests have shown that noise pollution can pass through these walls as if they weren’t there. It’s an aspect that might be addressed in future updates or mods.
- Aesthetic Value: While retaining walls don’t offer practical benefits like noise reduction, they significantly enhance the city’s look when constructed well.
Building retaining walls in “Cities Skylines 2” might seem daunting at first, but with the right tools and a bit of patience, you can create stunning landscapes that breathe life into your city.