Paradox Interactive has revealed the first major expansion for Cities Skylines. Get the soft candles and elegant silverware out for Cities Skylines: After Dark.
As lead designer Karoliina Korppoo points out, there is actually quite a few things that happens at night that makes this expansion, not only worthwhile, but genuinely interesting.
First off, Paradox added a texture layer so that windows illuminate, and new neon signs, lit signs, roadside lights, and other lighting combine to make a visually striking tableau, perhaps straight out of a color noir.
Paradox also worked everything around to create the mood of nighttime. People are out less and most are home, although there is a night shift. The people who do go out can engage in multiple kinds of recreation. Private vehicles are now less frequent compared to service vehicles.
As city administrator, you get to set a nighttime budget, and subsequently move civic tasks to nighttime. Getting the garbage and deploying hearses to collect the dead are just some kinds of activities you can move at night to ease conditions during the day.
Crime also increases at night, and its elements like these that elevate Paradox’s city simulation being a mere Maxis copycat. Again, you can set aside from the nighttime budget to send more police out on patrol.
Traffic really is a major consideration at night, even though traffic is light. It is an opportunity to have road works done with minimal impact. On the other hand, you can service nighttime citizens too, by setting up bus stations and shifts during the dark.
Paradox has given no release date yet for Cities Skylines: After Dark. Are you excited to give it a try? Share your thoughts with us in the comments, and check out some preview images below.
