The weather outside is frightful, but the fire is so delightful! At least I hope the fire is delightful—the fire in this case being a burning furniture factory—because that s the only way my poor citizens are going to stay warm since the power has gone out in the entire city. It s not the snow causing the problem, mind you, it s the cold. In Snowfall, the new expansion for Cities: Skylines, snow may slow down traffic on unplowed streets, but cold is the real killer. When the temperature drops, your chilly citizens crank up the heat in their high rises and townhouses, sucking the juice from your overworked power plants.

Back in September, the After Dark expansion added the tourism specialization and changes to day and nighttime traffic, yet I never felt much of an impact on how I played. Snowfall, on the other hand, almost immediately affects how I build, grow, and manage my city. For the first time since I deleted a hydroelectric dam and watched in horror as an entire residential zone was flooded in sixty feet of water, I was in a panic. Half the city was sucking up the juice to heat their homes, the other half were freezing, and my power plants were low on oil due to trucks being unable to reach them, thanks to my unsolved traffic problems. I enjoy Skylines immensely, but it s never felt like much of a challenge. Now, when it comes to power management on winter maps, it does feel considerably trickier.

Boiling point

You have a few different ways to keep your city warm. There s a new policy available that requires buildings to use more insulation, though construction and maintenance will cost a bit more and it won t solve the problem when the temperature really plummets. You can stick with electric heat, though you re going to need reliable routes to truck in coal and oil if that's what they use (and I shudder to think about solar-only cities when night falls and the temperature bottoms out). There are also new new buildings: boiler plants (which require oil) and eco-friendly geothermal plants, both which use upgraded piping to deliver heat directly to your residents. 

If you want to use the new piping throughout your city, it becomes available when you reach Boomtown status (2,400 residents) and you can manually overwrite any standard water pipes you ve already got in place. Be prepared to pay through the nose for it, though: upgraded piping costs five times as much as regular water pipes and twice as much in upkeep. This slows down the early hours of building a city, but in a good way: I now find myself drawing water lines more conservatively in case I need to upgrade them later, I leave more room for future power plants, and I generally put more thought into the layout of my new cities.

This new temperature feature is added to all your cities and maps, though will be far more drastic in the winter-themed maps where the temperatures really dip. Less of a big deal is the actual snow. It s certainly pretty, and it ll cover your roads and slow traffic even more than than the line of donut trucks you ve got inching their way through town. It s not much of a hindrance, though, and adding a few snow dump buildings produces a fleet of snowplows that race around clearing roads for you. It s a bummer that snow only occurs on winter-themed maps, and that winter-themed maps are eternally winter, though. I would have much preferred a true, yearly seasonal cycle that could be applied to all the maps. Modders: I ll give you two weeks to make that happen.

There are lots of new winter-themed parks and buildings available: hockey rinks and stadiums, ski resorts and winter-themed hotels, and a new health building, the sauna, which citizens seem excited about sitting in next to their naked and sweaty neighbors. The best addition are the trams, long desired by fans. Plop down a tram building, upgrade roads in your city with ones that have electrical cables running over them, then plan your routes just as you do for your bus lines. (I didn't know why people wanted trams so badly, but now that I have them, I completely love them.) Even if you don t buy the expansion, you get some free stuff with the update, like rain and fog, UI improvements, the temperature system, and number of tweaks and fixes. Also, Chirpy, that bird we all hate, has been given a Santa hat. The full list of what s in the expansion and what you get for free is here.

With Snowfall, Skylines is beginning to feel a touch closer the complex simulation many have wanted. I wouldn t say it s a complete game-changer, but it does add a few more frosty layers to your management challenges and options when it comes to power, and it makes having smooth traffic even more important for resource deliveries. Plus, there s something about a city at night, blanketed in snow, that warms the heart. Even if your citizens are freezing.

The Cities: Skylines Snowfall expansion will be out in just over a week, adding, as the name obliquely hints, snow-themed maps, heating infrastructure, snowplows, and other such bits of winter misery that seem like fun until you actually have to dig out your car at 6:30 in the freakin' morning in the middle of freakin' February just so you can get to freakin' work. 

Anyway, even if you don't feel like forking over the $13 the expansion will cost, you'll still be able to take advantage of a number of new features that will be released on the same day as part of a free update. It will include the following:

• Rain and fog-based cosmetic weather for existing maps outside the new Winter themed maps
• A new Theme Editor for map modding, allowing players to create new Map Themes ranging from different terrain styles to incredible alien worlds; here is one such incredible alien world An expanded UI for public transportation management
• New Chirps from everyone s favorite in-game social media avatar
• New Hats for everyone s favorite in-game social media avatar
• Newfound respect for everyone s favorite in-game social media avatar

Paradox held a livestream showcasing the new features in the expansion earlier today, which unfortunately is now over. However, you can still enjoy it thanks to the magic of video on demand, and the embed codes that allow me to paste it below for your viewing edification. The Cities: Skylines Snowfall expansion, and the free update, will both be out on February 18.

Cities Skylines' frigid update, Snowfall, will arrive just as winter begins to slacken its grip on the northern hemisphere: February 18 is the special day, and the expansion will cost $13—slightly cheaper than the After Dark update.

Splash your cash and you'll need to plan for the weather in new snow-themed maps. Heating infrastructure, snow ploughs and weather-resistant transport will be priorities. There's no word yet on whether Snowfall will simulate rampant vitamin D deficiency among your population, but hopefully new winter parks will keep them out and about.

If you don't want to pay, cosmetic fog and rain will blight your existing maps all the same, adding authentic misery to your metropolis.

Cities: Skylines keeps on sprawling. Following a cryptic teaser posted to Reddit by Paradox staff, the Snowfall expansion has now been announced, arriving "later this year".

Snowfall at last brings weather systems to Skylines. Cosmetic rain and fog will be released as a free update and appear on existing maps to make your citizens' lives that little bit less pleasant.

If you buy the full expansion, you'll be expected to handle the misery yourself. On winter-themed maps, cities will have to be heated as the cold sets in, transport infrastructure will be expected to handle the ice, and you'll want snow ploughs to keep traffic moving. Hopefully winter parks and new landmarks will ease the winter misery.

There's no word on price yet, but the After Dark expansion costs $15/ 11, so I'd expect something similar.

Cities: Skylines developed a vibrant community, and came about as a direct response to a certain other city builder that went down the opposite path, making it our Community Champion of the year. We'll be posting the rest of our awards and personal picks daily as we approach the end of the year, which we're collecting on our main GOTY page.

Chris Livingston: 2013 s SimCity was an ugly exercise in what not to do. With online-only play, strict limits on city size, and no mod support, EA frustrated and angered fans of the city building genre. Thankfully, the tiny development team of Colossal Order stepped in carry the torch while deftly avoiding all of EA s blunders. Offline play means no worrying about servers or connections, yet there s still a communal feel to Skylines thanks to extensive mod and asset support, which means players can easily download the custom creations of others (now 60,000+ in number) including a mod that expands the already large buildable area. In fact, there s even a mod in the works for multiplayer support! See, we like online play, when it s optional.

Colossal Order also listened to player feedback, later adding a much-missed day/night cycle (alongside paid DLC) and the ability to tunnel underground. Most importantly, they understand what still seems to elude some publishers: mod support is healthy for both sides of the equation. It extends the lifespan of the game, keeps people talking about it months after release, can increase sales, and lets players fix problems, tweak gameplay to their liking, and contribute and share their own work and creativity with others.

The game itself is one I ve kept dipping back into months and months later, in part because there are so many new mods and assets every time I pop into the Workshop, and in part because I find it incredibly enjoyable and satisfying to play. I m not a great city manager or a master builder, and the game is definitely tipped in my direction, difficulty-wise. None of my cities have failed, really, and I understand that many players want a bigger challenge, but for me it s about the enjoyment of watching something continue to grow, albeit a bit crookedly, even if I m not watering it in all the right places.

Tyler Wilde: I spoke to Cities: Skylines lead designer Karoliina Korppoo earlier this year, and she told me that the dev team uses popular mods as inspiration for official updates. What a lovely, symbiotic relationship: modders make the game more fun for everyone, and Colossal Order can direct its update efforts toward the most desired changes and additions with that feedback.

The whole thing—the game, the mods, Colossal Order s patches and After Dark add-on—is about as PC gaming as you can get. On an open platform, no one has to settle. If we want to add something to a game, we mod it in. If we think it d look nice with a bluish tint, we inject one. And if it just isn t the game we want (and launches about as well as my first Kerbal Space Program rocket), a small developer steps in and makes the game they wanted to play. If there s passion for something, it ll find it s way to the PC, the way Xenonauts recalled classic X-Com, and Black Mesa brought us back to Half-Life 1, and Cities: Skylines gave us a city simulator without overzealous online aspirations.

And aside from how well Cities has served a community hungry for a better city builder, it s just a good game. It s not especially challenging—you might try Prison Architect for that—but it s full of little details to manage and soothes me into a creative rhythm of balancing and designing and building that can last hours. It s exactly the feeling I want from a city builder.

This week on the Mod Roundup, build deadly robots like Securitrons and Protectrons to defend your Fallout 4 settlements, and make the paramedics in Grand Theft Auto 5 provide medical assistance instead of just staring helplessly at your victims. Also, a custom map for Cities: Skylines challenges you to build near a beautiful coral reef, and a new combat overhaul makes a remarkably well-timed appearance for Star Wars: Jedi Academy.

Here are the most promising mods we've seen this week.

Robot Home Defence, for Fallout 4

Download link

Considering your ability to whip up sentry guns, water purifiers, and power generators, it seems logical that you'd also be able to build robots in Fallout 4, right? This mod, along with the Robotics Expert perk, makes that dream a reality. Now you can craft bots like Protectrons, Assaultrons, and Sentry Bots to protect your homestead. Best of all, they don't count against your settlement population cap, so build as many as you like.

Real Paramedics, for GTA 5

Download link

Ever hurt or kill an NPC in GTA 5 but wish you could take it back? Maybe once in a while? This mod makes the paramedics actually do their job and actually provide live-restoring medical services to your victims instead of just staring at your handiwork before leaving. In the video above, you'll see Trevor whomp two guys with a bat, then politely call for an ambulance. Sure, the medics only help one of the two victims, but Trevor makes sure they won't make the same mistake twice.

Paradise Reef, for Cities: Skylines

Download link

This is a map for Cities: Skylines, but it does require a number custom assets so I figure, hey, close enough. Mainly, it's just really beautiful. There are colorful reefs, improved waterfalls, and sandy beaches, which create an additional challenge: how the heck do you build a thriving city, with all the paved roads, belching smokestacks, and garbage-generating citizens that come along with it without ruining the natural beauty?

Evolution of Combat, for Star Wars: Jedi Academy

Download link

This total conversion mod for Star Wars: Jedi Academy adds a new class system to the game (based on the movies), adds widescreen resolutions, better bots, improved lightsaber duels, and a host of new animations and effects. It looks like it takes a bit of work to install, so be sure to read the instructions carefully.

This week on the Mod Roundup, we're given an easy way to change our FOV (and other settings) in Fallout 4, and a way to use Fallout 4's VATS combat system in Grand Theft Auto 5. Plus, a mod for Cities: Skylines lets you view your city like a real map, and a full-conversion mod for Ark: Survival Evolved that turns the dinosaur park into a pirate-based paradise.

Here are the most promising mods we've seen this week.

Configuration Tool, for Fallout 4

Fallout 4 is here, and with it the start of what we're sure will be years of community tweaks, fixes, and original creations. For the moment, the mod you need most is the Configuration Tool, by modder Bilago, that lets you punch in your desired FOV and have it immediately saved to your .ini file. The only thing easier would be if Bethesda had just included a flippin' FOV slider themselves. The mod also allows other tweaks like a toggle for mouse acceleration, custom resolution, and more. Find it here.

For more, check out our list of the best Fallout 4 mods so far, and the Fallout 4 console commands.

Fallout: San Andreas, for GTA 5

Speaking of Fallout, even if you're not playing it you can get a taste of the action in Grand Theft Auto 5. The Fallout: San Andreas mod is still in the works, but already has a rough branching dialogue system, NPC companions, stealth mode, and even Fallout's VATS combat, where you can slow down time, target various body parts, and see your chances of hitting them. Again, it's still in alpha but it certainly looks promising. You can find it here.

Cimtographer, for Cities: Skylines

Want your city to feel like a real city? The Cimtographer Mod for Cities: Skylines allows you to export your city into OSM format. OSM (OpenStreetMap) means you can view your city in the same eye-pleasing way you would any real-world location. Your map will display all your bus stops, train stations, highways, airports, and even cycling paths. Neat! Subscribe and find out more here.

Pirate World, for Ark: Survival Evolved

I guess not everyone is into dinosaurs. Pirate World is a full-conversion mod for Ark: Survival Evolved that transforms the dangerous dino sandbox into a pirate playground. With solo and multiplayer, you can sail pirate ships and do battle on the open sea. It's still being developed—and so is Ark, which is currently in Early Access—but it's worth a try if you want to replace the stegosaurus with swashbuckling. Here's the official site, and you can also find it on the Steam Workshop.

The After Dark expansion for Cities: Skylines made changes that increased the land value of waterfront property, which is great for the coastal areas of your cities. Now you can do the same for the areas of your cities that don't happen to be near water, thanks to a collection of ploppable European-style canals. The Canal Blocks mod collection, created by modder CGVos, lets you access canals of various sizes and plunk them into your metropolitan areas.

In addition to being quite lovely looking, especially at night, these canals will increase the value of the buildings place alongside it, meaning those structures will have an easier time leveling up. You can find the new canal blocks in the Parks menu. Keep in mind that these canals do require upkeep (paid out of your Parks budget), have power requirements (there's a lot of lights at night), and contribute a small amount of sewage to your city's water grid.

On the plus side, you don't need to terraform or mess with water. They just plop right in like other parks. There are a number of sizes to choose from, so you'll have some flexibility when building them into crowded existing cities. There's a 16x4, 12x4, 8x4, and several 4x4 units to act as corners or turns. The 16x4 canal even has a little rowboat. It's adorable. There are plans for more in the future, including s-turns and a transition if you want to connect your canal to a real body of water.

Another nice thing: the land doesn't have to be entirely flat to plop in your new canals, and there's no increase in noise pollution, which seems especially useful for commercial areas that are close to residential zones. Mainly, though, they're just really nice to look at, add a bit of personality to your city, and are a nice and easy way to get nearby buildings to level up without doing any major construction.

You can subscribe to the Canal Blocks collection right here. If you do, anything else added to it in the future will automatically become accessible in your game. The collection currently includes a little outdoor restaurant and cobblestone plaza, and some nice pedestrian pathway bricks you can use to accent your new canal areas.

So you've built yourself a swanky modern Cities: Skylines metropolis, full of glass and steel and the hippest sorts of digital urbanites, and now you want to show it off to your friends. You could share your map through the normal channels—or you could fire up the new First Person Multiplayer mod, and then invite them over for an in-your-face tour.

The video above is from April, but the creator, Fr0sZ, said on Reddit that it accurately illustrates what the mod looks like in action. It's far enough along to share but still "in really early stages," he added, and so users may run into some bugs or notice a lack of polish in places. It supports other mods, but since there's no way to force clients to download any mods being used by the server, he recommended that anyone who wants to play with them keep their multiplayer server private.

The character animations aren't the most lifelike I've ever seen, but the city itself looks great, and the level of detail is especially remarkable given that the game was never meant to be seen from this perspective. You can even use the built-in grappling hook to latch onto a seagull and take it for a ride. That's just weird enough to make it must-play stuff in my books.