Hello everyone!

It is time to enter the chilling embrace of the Frigid Veil. Even before the Blight, few travellers who dared venture here ever returned.

The main focus of this update is, of course, the addition of the Frigid Veil. A whole new region with new enemies and a new boss as you continue your journey towards the Brink. There's also a new character, the Relic Tinkerer, who allows you to upgrade and reroll your relic bonuses throughout your runs.

There's also a new challenge, some balance updates and more!

• 5 New Enemies
  
• New Boss
  
• New Trap / Environmental Hazard: Geyser
  
• Codex Entries for the new region, enemies, boss.

• Challenge: Relics have a 30% chance to be Cursed.
  
• Cursed Relics will add a negative effect when equipped. If the relic has 3 modifiers, one of them will be replaced by the curse effect.
  
• There are a total of 11 curses currently.
  
• The severity of the curse is usually affected by the level of the Relic. For example, Level 1 Relics are more likely to have less severe penalties compared to level 5 Relics.

• The Relic Tinkerer can now be encountered during your runs!
  
• The room will contain 2 Relics that can be purchased with Dust. The Relics offered here have a slightly higher chance to be closer to the max level obtainable in the current region.
  
• The price of each Relic will depend on its level, and the amount of modifiers on it. If the Relic is cursed, it will be offered at a discounted price.
  
• If the Relics on offer aren’t interesting, you can always tinker with the Relics you already own. This will also cost Dust, based on the Relic’s level. Relics can be either Leveled Up or Rerolled.
  
• Level Up: Increase the Relic’s level by 1.
  
• Reroll: Reroll the modifiers on a Relic, this may also reroll the Curse modifier into a different Curse.
  
• Be careful when tinkering with Relics, as it’s difficult to guarantee a success. With each tinkering done, the chance to fail and destroy the relic increases.

• The total number of rooms in the Outskirts and Veridian Trail regions was decreased from 11 to 10.
  
• Second Wind invincibility duration increased from 1 sec. to 2 sec.
  
• Glaciate effect duration increased from 2.5 sec to 3 sec.
  
• Wavedash deceleration slightly reduced (slide a bit more during wavedashes)

• The Armored Blightborn enemy variant is now slower and less agile during its attacks.
  
• Slashell enemy Dust drop increased from 7 to 12. Roll Attack damage reduced from 30, 35 to 10, 15. Jump attack damage reduced from 25 to 20. Back attack damage reduced from 25 to 15.

• Battle Hammer-Axe: Neutral Air active duration slightly extended, Up Attack hitbox slightly increased.
  
• Sisterhood Gauntlets: base uncharged Launcher stun duration increased by 12%. Down Attack reduced startup time.
  
• Astral Cord Bow: Launcher Projectile base uncharged stun duration increased by 25%.
  
• Default Bolt stun duration increased by 25% and knockback slightly increased.

• Shatter: Does not require Biotic Stress or Polar Fissure anymore to be offered as a synergy.
  
• Extinguishment: Additional Burn Damage per Stack increased from +2 to +3.
  
• Polar Fissure: Luminous Gem upgrade values increased to 5% per Gem.
  
• Biotic Stress: Enemy Damage Reduction after Shield Break increased from 18/24/30% to 20/30/40%.
  
• Bubble Shield: Damage increased from 50/75/100 to 80/100/120.
  
• Lightning Strike: Falling projectile is bigger. Base projectile damage increased by 25 for all rarities.
  
• Closed Circuit: Cooldown Speed increased from 1/2/3% per stack to 2/3/4% per stack.
  
• Static Electricity: Chance increased from 40/60/80% to 50/65/80%.
  
• Impervious Bolt: Stun duration increased by 12%, Shield Damage per hit increased by 25%.
  
• Scorching Bolt: Stun duration increased by 25%.

• Clap Back: Damage increased from 25% to 30%. Cooldown per enemy hit increased from 5% to 10%.
  
• Power Slide: Damage increased from 30% to 50%.
  
• Haymaker: Damage increased from 30% to 50%.
  
• Sucker Punch: Shield Damage increased from 50% to 100%.
  
• Culminating Crush: Damage increased from 75% to 100%.
  
• Instant Charge: Cooldown increased from 2 sec. to 2.5 sec.
  
• Precision Blow: Damage increased from 40% to 50%, duration increased from 4 sec. to 5 sec.
  
• Sonic Wave: Projectile size and speed slightly increased.
  
• Zoning Arrow: Knockback increased.
  
• Forced Cross-Up: Damage increased from 25% to 30%.
  
• Furious Followup: Damage increased from 20% to 40%.
  
• Rocket Rush: Damage cap increased from 50% to 100%, range cap for max damage increased by 25%.

• Protected: A max of 1 Protected Elite is allowed at a time. Enemies will activate a visual indicator when they get in range to trigger the Protected effect on the Elite. Enemy corpses that have not yet expired will not trigger the Protected effect. Spawned enemies (such as Boombugs) will not trigger the Protected effect.
  
• Regenerating: Attacking a Regenerating Elite will prevent it from healing. When the enemy exits its stunned phase the regeneration timer will resume.
  
• Conjurer: Can no longer teleport while stunned.

• Enemy Health modifier added to accessibility settings.
  
• Enemy Damage and Health modifiers minimum reduced from 50% to 30%, maximum increased from 150% to 200%.
  
• Fixed some sound issues when pausing the game while the Enemy Proximity Humm was enabled.

• Shopkeeper
  
• Relic Tinkerer
  
• Tusked Vermin
  
• Ice Wraith
  
• Veil Obelisk
  
• Ice Golem
  
• Glacial Titan
  
• (Frigid Veil Boss)

• Challenge Level is now displayed at the Run Complete screen.
  
• Highest Clear: Challenge Level is now recorded per Weapon.
  
• The music for the Regional Shrine has been updated.

• Fixed a bug that could cause some Codex entries to be marked as unavailable even though they are.
  
• There was an engine related bug that caused unrecognized devices to be detected as joysticks, we have removed this detection so it should now ignore them. This should solve issues some people had with constant input in their game that they couldn’t abort (character constantly walking, menu always scrolling, etc.)
  
• Attempted to solve the auto-map selection that happened on rare occasions to certain players, let us know if you are still experiencing this bug.
  
• Added a safety check to ensure bosses will try to remain within the bounds of the boss arena, this should prevent some rare instances where bosses phase out of bounds during the fight and prevents you from finishing it.
  
• Fixed a bug that allowed Oathbreaker’s buff to be applied with Bubble Shield without actually activating the Assist (exploding the bubble).
  
• Fixed an animation bug that prevented flying enemies to display move animations correctly.
  
• Fixed an inconsistent hitbox issue for the Swarmie enemy type (would spawn the actual hitbox slightly below where it should based on the visuals).
  
• Fixed some Elite enemies not giving the correct Dust drop (should be double the amount a non-elite drops).
  
• Swarmie enemy was giving the wrong Dust amount, fixed to the correct value (3 Dust for non-elite).
  
• Crystal Rock Walker enemy was giving the wrong Dust amount, fixed to the correct value (15 Dust for non-elite).
  
• Spore Slugger enemy was giving the wrong Dust amount, fixed to the correct value (10 Dus for non-elite).

Oh what a sweet adventure developing BattleCakes has been. But that adventure is coming to an end and we are so excited to announce that on October 26, 2023 BattleCakes will be launching on Steam!



Indulge in a deliciously delightful world of sweetness as you head out on an adventure to save
the day! Play as Birthday Sprinkle, the cupcake hero that you personalize and create, as you
explore the whimsical world of Pasteleria.

Whisk yourself away with Red Velvet, Midnite Truffle and more as you team-up to uncover the mysterious magical trouble stirring up the nearby towns. Will you decide to tackle the chaotic critters head-on, or try a more friendly approach? Working together, you’ll learn that the true power of community and friendship is making the world a better place.



Want a taste of what’s to come? You can play the BattleCakes demo this week during WholesomeGames Steam Event July 31st-August 7th!

Follow us on Twitter, TikTok , or join our Discord. And Don’t forget to Wishlist BattleCakes on Steam!

Tribes of Midgard’s 2nd Anniversary Update is HERE!


Can you believe it’s been two years since Tribes of Midgard’s official launch!?

We’re very excited to share this Anniversary celebration with those who are most important to us: our amazing community. To express our love and appreciation, this update focuses on many community-requested features, like Construction system enhancements, QoL additions, and some fresh Cosmetics honoring community lore. 👀




For those who were around for our 1st Anniversary, you may recall the “Chickem Pet” and “Ragnarooster” Set, which we’ve seen you represent with the greatest of style…




Keep on reading to discover where our feathery friends led us next – let's dive into it!

💙 = Top Community Suggestion
🎂 = Anniversary Festive Event


Construction Limit Increase (again!) 💙 [PC, Xbox, PlayStation]

• As part of our continued efforts to work with you to provide more flexibility with the Construction system, the Construction Limit has once again been doubled since the previous update, making it, in total, approximately 20 times higher (!) than the original limit since we debuted this feature with Survival 2.0 last year. Build away!
  
  

Construction Gauge Update

• A forewarned Viking is a forearmed one. In addition to greatly increasing the Construction Limit, we’ve also updated the Construction Gauge to better communicate when players are approaching the Construction Limit, including a marker for when you’re within 25% of hitting the limit.
  
• Please note that we do recommend staying below this threshold if you wish to ensure the most optimal performance for your World.
  
  

Construction Efficiency

• Walk speed while in Build Mode has been increased to fluidify Construction.
  
• Players are no longer interrupted when placing each Construction, enabling rapid building.
  
• The ability to place ground Constructions over water and lava rivers has been re-enabled.
  
  (Norsfell): Seeing our community’s ever-growing creativity unfold before our eyes is among our favorite things, and with this update, we wanted to do everything possible to facilitate that creativity by increasing limits, updating the gauge, and fixing any issues that may get in the way. We can’t wait to see what you all come up with next!

Survival: Training Dummy Construction 💙

• Players can now craft Training Dummies from the Constructions tab of the Allforge in Survival Mode.
  
• Deploy the Dummy and start perfecting your build by tracking your Total Damage, last Hit, and Damage-Per-Second (DPS)!
  
  

Survival: Additional World Slots 💙

• Survival Mode now has 5 slots for Multiplayer (previously was 2) and 5 slots for Solo Play (previously was 1).
  
• Saves are now configured by Slot number, so if a World is created on Slot 3, it will remain on Slot 3 until deleted.
  
  

Starter Kits Visibility 💙

• A handy Starter Kit button has been added to the Play tab on the Main Menu.
  
• Players can use this button as a shortcut to see and select their own Starter Kits.
  
• This feature will also grant visibility on what Starter Kits everyone else is using when playing in a Group. Yep, that’s right, that friend of yours will never start naked again (...we can hope).
  
  

Survival: War Chest 💙

• A War Chest has been added next to the Sanctuary in Survival Mode.
  
• This War Chest behaves similar to buildable Storage Chests, but cannot be dismantled or moved.
  
• Players who permanently leave the World will have their Inventories automatically deposited into the War Chest.

Cosmetic Loadouts 💙

• Players can now save and select up to 8 fully-configurable Cosmetic loadouts from the Customize tab in the Main Menu, to change your style on the fly!
  
• Loadouts include your choice of Character options, Mount, Pet, Loot Chest, Protection Cosmetics, and Weapon Cosmetics — so let the fashion shows begin!
  
• In Survival, a Loadout Armoire Construction can be built and deployed to access your Saved Loadouts from in-game.
  
  

Favorited Cosmetics

• Players can now use an input to pin any of their owned Cosmetics as a Favorite.
  
• Favorited Cosmetics will always appear at the top of your collections for easy access.

Two years have come and gone so fast. Time to celebrate with our Anniversary Event from July 31st - August 21st!

The Valhalla Menu, the Sanctuary, the Village, the Unsunken, and even the Goblins will be showing off their festive spirit, with some even donning the feathers of the enigmatic roosters. Enjoy the festive themed Main Menu music, complete weekly challenges, and our new Cosmetic offerings!



During the Anniversary Event, there will be 3 Festive Challenges that can only be completed during this limited time event.

Complete these Challenges to earn a unique (feathery) Anniversary Portrait and Cosmetic Currency:

• Challenge #1: July 31 - August 6: Defeat Rooster Goblins x80
  • Reward: 250 Platinum Coins
• Challenge #2: August 7 - 13: Defeat Roosters x30
  • Reward: Chickem Supreme Portrait (Exclusive)
• Challenge #3: August 14 - 20: Defeat Rooster Unsunken x40
  • Reward: 250 Platinum Coins

Saga Quest View 💙

• Players can now view which Saga Quest they and others in the World have selected via the Map screen (visible in both Saga and Survival Mode).

Game Mode Information

• We’ve added an input when highlighting each Game Mode on the Main Menu to provide a more in-depth description and visualization of the unique experience of each Mode.

Abandon World Name Change 💙

• Abandon World has been renamed to Delete Save to further clarify its purpose. Delete Save indicates that you would like to permanently remove a World from your World Slots.
  
  
  
  (Norsfell): We understand the pain that this option was causing, and that a color change (in our previous update) was not enough – therefore to make things even more clear, we’ve changed this button wording to “Delete Save”. Please again note that this will permanently remove a World from your Worlds List, and you will not be able to join back. If you would like to leave a game in progress, and return at a later time, “Save & Quit” should be used instead.

Survival: Jötunn Arena Portals

• A portal to the Sanctuary will appear upon defeating a Jötunn in their Arena. Returning to Eira has never been easier!

Raven’s Eye Blessing Camera 💙

• Players who have the Raven’s Eye Blessing active should now retain the maximum camera distance and not automatically zoom in when Mounting, fighting Trölls, etc.

Claim All Golden Horns

• There is now an input to Claim All remaining Golden Horn offerings from the Rewards tab on the Main Menu (for those who’ve been hoarding too many).
  
• Hold for Invasion
  
• To avoid accidental Invasions when interacting with a Sapling, the Summon Invasion input now requires a Hold.

And even more fun stuff!

• Improved flow of attempted password entry when joining a Private World, to not be returned to the Main Menu.
  
• Harmonized the look of all progression bars in the Progress Menu.
  
• When an Ancient is defeated, the Variant name is no longer listed to make it more immediately legible and improve readability across all languages
  
• Claimed Allforges and Beds will now list the name of the Player who claimed them.

• Trú
  
  • Trú is a trusty Crow companion gifted to the Einherjar by the gods as a sign of faith in their mission to defy Ragnarök and save the Realms
    
  • All Players will have Trú added to their Pets collection for free!
    
    (Norsfell): New players will have Trú equipped by default (while current players can equip via the Character Customization options) to achieve our goal of ensuring everyone has immediate access to the Autoloot mechanic via their Pet. Reminder that you can toggle Pet Display and Pet Autoloot options On/Off through Settings.
    
    
  
  
• Huginn
  
  • One half of Óðinn’s famous raven duo, Huginn is a little too smart for his own good and loves to bury any who would listen in an avalanche of facts and theorems.
    
    • Unlocked with Golden Horns
    
  
  
• Muninn
  
  • The other half of Óðinn’s famous raven duo, Muninn is a little too insightful for his own good, and harnesses his perfect memory to chronicle the many histories of the Nine Realms through overly theatrical and dramatic retellings.
    
    • Unlocked with Golden Horns
    

• Chickem Supreme 💙🎂
  
  • The Chickem you know from last year has evolved, and the (un)official mascot of the Anniversary Event has arrived – just don’t look it in the eyes!
    
  • Unlocked with Golden Horns
• Dvalinn the Stag
  
  • The Stag of Summer is here to embrace the sun.
    
  • Unlocked with Platinum Coins
• Houndling
  
  • Though emerging from the dark depths of Niflheim, this very good boy does not choose sides, preferring to follow his nose instead.
    
  • Unlocked with Platinum Coins
  
  

New Portraits

• Chickem Supreme Portrait 🎂
  
  • [In the beginning, there was Chickem. Then, came Chickem Supreme. Represent the (un)official mascot of the Anniversary Event with this portrait for your Viking.
    
    • Unlocked with Event Challenge (Exclusive)
• Trú Portrait
  
  • Unlocked with a Golden Horn (yes, just a single one)
• Surprised Commander
  
  • Based on the legendary Discord emote to honor our Communications Commander. For the tribe!
    
    • Unlocked with Golden Horns
  
  

New Multi-Texture Skin Tones

To further customize your Vikings, we’ve added new types of Skin Tones, inspired by some of the iconic characters of Norse mythology. These special Tones have multiple textures and pull off the unique looks of the Realms from which they hail.

• Brennálfar Skin Tone
  
  • Unlocked with Golden Horns
• Dökkálfar Skin Tone
  • Unlocked with Golden Horns
• Fossegrim Skin Tone
  • Unlocked with Golden Horns
  
  

New Hair Dyes

We’ve loved hearing your comments surrounding the dual-tone Hair Dyes that we added in the Valhalla Saga, so we wanted to keep the good times rolling with some new Ancient Variant-inspired Dyes!

• Fenrir (Wolfmancer) Hair Dye
  
  • Unlocked with Platinum Coins
• Jörmungandr (Vilespitter) Hair Dye
  
  • Unlocked with Platinum Coins
• Surtr (Blademaster) Hair Dye
  
  • Unlocked with Platinum Coins
• Hel (Hexwielder) Hair Dye
  
  • Unlocked with Platinum Coins
  

• Power Within (Epic): Increase effectiveness of Blessings that deal active damage by (50%).
  
  • Unlocked with Golden Horns
  (Norsfell) Inspired by the Blessing of the same name, we wanted a Rune that evoked mastery with abilities, but this time with Class abilities like Shield Throw and Ullr’s Step II. The goal is to open up builds that can focus on buffing these particular types of Blessings.
  
  

• Nothing to Wield (Rare): Increase the damage of Punches and Kicks by (150%), enabling resource harvesting with fists.
  
  (Norsfell): We originally intended for the Nothing to Wield Rune to give players some flexibility and potency when unarmed, especially in the early game. However, its impact on Blessings — most notably the Sentinel’s Shield Throw — was higher than anticipated. To refocus the intent of the Nothing to Wield Rune, we removed its impact on Blessings but greatly buffed its impact to Punches and Kicks. Further, as we liked seeing builds emerge centering on Blessing damage, we made a new Rune specifically for that purpose. We hope that this combined approach leads to even more build options moving forward.

• Fully Verified on Steam Deck
  
  • Bring the Jötnar-slaying to the comfort of your couch! Moving up from the Playable state, we’re glad to share that Tribes of Midgard is now fully Verified on the Steam Deck, ensuring you have the smoothest gameplay experience possible.

---

Cheers to 2 fantastic years! It’s been our adventure to share together, and we can’t thank you enough for being our biggest supporters.

As always, don’t hesitate to let us know of any feedback you have, join our Discord to share your excitement with the rest of our community — and enjoy the Anniversary Update, Vikings!

Seil seil,
The Norsfell team

Find us: https://linktr.ee/TribesOfMidgard

Kristala Demo Update Notes July 27, 2023:

- Big improvements and polishing done on the combat systems
- Complete overhaul of our AI system
- Also big improvements and detailing on the level design
- Adjustments to the lighting in Dalamase
- Improved the performance of our spawning system.
- Overall optimization and reduction of RAM/VRAM consumption
- DLSS options added to the settings menu
- Added two new armor sets
- Improvements to menus
- Photo mode added

Remaining known issues:

- Twigativa enemies don't break into pieces as before, the system we used for destructibles turned out to be unstable in UE5.2 which forced us to make them disappear instead of breaking temporarily.
- Enemies occasionally get stuck in place and stop responding, very rare but exists nonetheless. Will be addressed in the next update.

Kristala Demo Update Notes July 27, 2023:

- Big improvements and polishing done on the combat systems
- Complete overhaul of our AI system
- Also big improvements and detailing on the level design
- Adjustments to the lighting in Dalamase
- Improved the performance of our spawning system.
- Overall optimization and reduction of RAM/VRAM consumption
- DLSS options added to the settings menu
- Added two new armor sets
- Improvements to menus
- Photo mode added

Remaining known issues:

- Twigativa enemies don't break into pieces as before, the system we used for destructibles turned out to be unstable in UE5.2 which forced us to make them disappear instead of breaking temporarily.
- Enemies occasionally get stuck in place and stop responding, very rare but exists nonetheless. Will be addressed in the next update.

- additional descriptions,
- easy level is slightly easier,
- extended reactivity of the game, which when the player goes too easy and has a large number of mechs for a long time the opponent gets a certain bonus every now and then,
- improved readability and additional information in the mission selection scene ( plus text displayed in the style of old military and sci-fi movies - let us know what you think),
- fixed a bug related to the display of options when the mech fired or moved and the user pressed the right mouse button,
- improvement of the mech's state machine, the movements are a bit smoother ( the mech does not go into idle state after each sequence just continues with subsequent animations until they are completed )
- weapon sounds have been converted to PCM format which further improves game performance.
- weapons and source code have been adapted to the format we will use in the sequel. This gives us the opportunity to add new resources to the game.
- zoom in / zoom out of controlled mech,
- game polishings,
- tooltips addition and upgrades - some tooltips will display immediatelly,

New Technologies:
Superconducting Energy Weapons ( Required Tungsten Armor - a leaf technology for Materials and Energy way of development )
RC57 Modifications ( New weapon as RC57 Upgrade )

New Weapons:
Advanced RC57
Advanced Carnelian Laser

New Mechs:
Iron Hand SG2A ( Contains advanced 2x RC57A weapon )
Crusher EN7ADV ( Advanced Carnelian Lasers )
Tarantula SC2 ( Mix of the Energy ( 2x Carnelian Laser ) and Ballistic Weapons RC57 )

New Mechs for the Enemy:
OverseerCL3S ( Advanced Carnelian Lasers )
ObserverMM3 ( 4x Advanced Carnelian Lasers + Other Short Range Weapons )

Plans for the future updates:
- More missions to select, more open world..
- New planet to visit.
- Tutorial / UI polishing.
- Multilanguages support.

The game is over 8 GB, the changes in architecture in preparation for the sequel also allow us to develop this project, which will be the starting point for the sequel.

This is good for both projects.

Thank you for your interest in the game and purchases. Your support allows us to continue our work.

A powerful Swampcalla Shaman, Murkfang focuses Dankfeer’s unrelenting ego and cruelty.



Murkfang hates being number two in the Warclan

He faces all the danger of being close to Dankfeer’s fury and the benefits are limited.

Despite this, he knows he has something Dankfeer wants, yet even then, he knows all too well that Dankfeer’s patience is limited…

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1844380/Warhammer_Age_of_Sigmar_Realms_of_Ruin/

Join the conversation and keep up to date with all the latest news, events and giveaways on...

Twitter - http://www.twitter.com/RealmsOfRuin
Facebook - http://www.facebook.com/PlayRealmsOfRuin
Instagram - http://www.instagram.com/RealmsOfRuin
Discord - https://discord.gg/RealmsofRuin

If you want to truly immerse yourself in the Japanese-inspired Conqueror’s Blade: Sengoku Season, you need music! 

Check out two new Season-themed Conqueror’s Blade Spotify playlists, showing off the best J-Rock and J-Pop artists out there. 

Rock out to the Dragon Fire playlist featuring bands like DIR EN GREY, coldrain, HYDE, and cinema staff, then sit back and enjoy pop delights from Ayumi Hamasaki, millennium parade, Aneka, and many more in the Sakura Blossoms playlist!

Dragon Fire Playlist

Sakura Blossoms Playlist 

If you’re in the mood for more terrific tunes, check out previous Season-themed and holiday playlists over on the official Conqueror’s Blade Spotify page.

ADVISORY: Some songs may feature explicit content.

Hi everyone! Welcome back to our weekly development diaries! Today we will go over the Maps and Themes featured in Cities: Skylines II.

To get started let's have a brief comparison between the map sizes. In Cities: Skylines the playable area consists of 5x5 tiles, 9 of which can be purchased once everything is unlocked. One map tile is 1.92 x 1.92 km which results in the total playable area being 92.16km² with a maximum of 33.18km² to build a city on.

In Cities: Skylines II things are a bit different. For starters, one map tile is much smaller - roughly ⅓ what it is in the predecessor - but you are able to unlock almost all tiles giving you a whopping total of 441 map tiles. That results in a playable area of 159km² which is roughly 5 times bigger than in Cities: Skylines.

Additionally, the Map Tiles do not have to be connected to each other, so technically you can create small isolated pocket towns, and you can purchase the Map Tiles all the way to the edge of the map where you can create new Outside Connections. But wait, there’s more! The map height limit is much higher than before adding much more flexibility and freedom in how your dream city will look.

Now let’s talk about Themes. In Cities: Skylines these controlled the natural environment of a map, with predefined settings for each theme. When we talk about Themes in Cities: Skylines II, we are talking about the style of roads and buildings, with the options of European and North American themes being selectable when you start a new map. But we will get back to them later in this diary after we have a proper look at the maps themselves.



Each map introduces different challenges through various landscapes. To begin your new city you will need to choose a map from the New Game panel. When a map is selected you will see the most important details of the selected map, such as the default Theme of the map, Climate information, which we will get into next week, Latitude telling you which hemisphere the map is located in as well as how the seasons work, Buildable area available, the familiar Natural Resources, and of course, which Outside Connections already exist on the map.

Once you have found a map suitable for your new city, you can adjust several options before starting the game. For example, you can choose a name for the city, change the default Theme, enable or disable various gameplay options, and decide if you want the tutorial to guide you through your city-building. Most of these options can be adjusted later when loading your city with the exception of the Map Theme and whether the city obeys left-hand or right-hand traffic rules.


Check the settings you want enabled before starting your new city

UNLOCKING MAP TILES
Sticking with the familiar gameplay, new expansion permits are unlocked as you reach each Milestone. A brand new city starts with 9 map tiles unlocked which is roughly the same starting area as in Cities: Skylines. With these expansion permits you can unlock new map tiles and continue to grow your city. This happens through the Map Tile UI giving you a top-down map view. The camera can be moved around and rotated allowing you to find the best suitable areas to expand into. Selecting a map tile shows important information, such as the buildable area, resources, and of course how much it costs, and right-clicking the tile will deselect it. You can select multiple tiles at a time and see the combined cost before finally purchasing them. The cost depends on the size of the buildable area and on the availability of resources.


Select one or more tiles to purchase anywhere on the map you wish to expand your city


When creating the maps for Cities: Skylines II we had a goal of providing you with a diverse set with various amounts of interesting scenery. To some degree, all the maps take inspiration from real-world locations, perhaps you can recognize some of them. Being able to unlock such a huge area also lets us create more varied terrains as you can fully utilize all of the available resources and Outside Connections on the map. So, let’s have a look at the maps themselves.

ARCHIPELAGO HAVEN
This map is based on a cluster of islands with a chain of smaller and bigger islands surrounded by bodies of water on all sides. The map includes atolls, lagoons, peninsulas, and cays, small low-elevation land formations. Your city will have easy access to outside connections via highway, train tracks, ship routes, and airways with the highway going across the map connecting the two main islands.


Build an island city on Archipelago Haven

BARRIER ISLAND
Inspired by barrier island formation, this map features long island chains parallel to the mainland separated by a bay. The islands are mostly flat which allows you to easily build a city, and while the highway and train tracks run across the mainland you have easy access to the seaways as the starting tile is placed on a barrier island. The flat islands also make building an airport easy letting the city benefit from the airway connections to the outside world.


Barrier Island is ideal for a coastal city

GREAT HIGHLANDS
This map draws inspiration from The Highlands region located in Scotland. Mountain ranges dominate the region, but the area also includes long, narrow, and deep lakes typically known as lochs. The highways and train tracks run between the mountains, and along the coast, you can find a few scattered rocky islands and formidable cliffs along with access to the seaways.


Will your first city be nestled among the mountains of Great Highlands?

LAKELAND
Inspired by the Finnish lakeland region we of course had to include this map. It provides lots of calm water with numerous lakes of similar shapes and many smaller islands. The landscape holds plenty of green areas and forests, and the flat areas with a few rolling hills provide a great foundation for any city with a Northern European look and atmosphere.


Surround your city with the peaceful lakes of Lakeland

MOUNTAIN VILLAGE
Taking inspiration from small cities located along the Alps mountain range, this map brings converging rivers flowing across the map and gentle slopes stretching from the mountain base. This creates a broad valley divided by large rivers where you can build a glorious city between the snow-capped mountain peaks.


The serene valley of Mountain Village is ready for a bustling city to spring to life

RIVER DELTA
This map features a large curving river flowing down a gentle slope breaking into a delta before eventually flowing into the sea. The river is guided by the hills on the edge of the map which leave a plentitude of flat terrain to build the city. Expanding into the delta allows for great access to the seaways and the creation of interesting island neighborhoods.


Build a city as the river meets the sea at River Delta

SWEEPING PLAINS
Inspired by the New Zealand Canterbury plains this map features a broad expanse of flat land covered by grassland ready for development. The map has access to a wide coastline and on the opposite side of the map, the mountain range creates a marvelous landscape. The plains in the central part of the map provide a great place to build any city.


Between the mountains and the sea, you find the flatlands of Sweeping Plains

TWIN MOUNTAIN
Drawing inspiration from Iceland's coastline and the iconic cliffs you will find two separate flat-topped, steep-sided Tuya mountain formations. A small river runs across the map down the slope toward the ocean. Along the coastline are numerous cliffs and hidden beaches with good access to seaways and shipping routes. The map doesn’t feature an existing train track so expanding to the edge of the map is essential if you wish to create one, but you can, of course, still provide your city with train infrastructure without an Outside Connection if that fits your city.


Make Twin Mountains the home of your city and take advantage of all the map has to offer

WATERWAY PASS
Two colossal mountain ranges create natural map borders on two sides while the playable area is split by a meandering river flowing across the whole map with train tracks and highways on either side providing easy and quick access to the Outside Connections and the wide river banks leave lots of room for a growing city.


Let your city grow at the banks of the river at Waterway Pass

WINDY FJORDS
As a map inspired by breathtaking fjord coast formation, this map has several long and narrow inlets surrounded by steep cliffs. Each inlet ends in a small bay area and starts from one sea edge of the map following a similar pattern. Nestled between the mountains is quite a large buildable area with the possibility of accessing the top of the fjords via narrow slopes.


What kind of city will you build among the mountains of Windy Fjords?


Each map comes with at least one road connection and most of the maps have pre-built train connections and seaways. All of the maps also have an airway connection and power lines running through them to import or export electricity. Some maps have multiple highway connections right at the starting tile too offering even more options!

In addition to the Outside Connections already on the map, you are able to create Outside Road, Train, and Ship Connections once you unlock the edge of the map. As discussed in the previous development diaries you can also create Electricity along with Water and Sewage connections to the outside world enabling trade of that service. The only Outside Connects you cannot add to the map are airways but you can freely connect to the already existing airway connection points once you construct an airport.


Add a new Train Outside Connection by dragging the tracks to the edge of the map


Before we end this development diary today, we need to discuss Themes. When you start a new city, you can choose between European or North American which defines the street markings, traffic lights, vehicle models for certain city services, and other roadside props. While each map has a theme connected to it, you can choose your favorite, but once you start your city, it can no longer be changed.

The visual style of residential and commercial zoned buildings also depends on the selected theme when the zone is created. It will default to the map’s theme but you can freely choose between the available themes when zoning and you can even create a mixed city using both themes. Lastly, some public transportation stops have different visuals depending on the selected theme, and as with the zoned buildings they can be customized in-game.


Medium and high density residential buildings of European (left) and North American (right) styles

That’s all we had for you this time. Are you excited to build larger cities? Is there any map, in particular, you look forward to creating a city on? And which theme will you build your first city with? Let us know below. We will be back next week with the next development diary exploring the Climate & Seasons of Cities: Skylines II.

You’ve heard us describe Pizza Possum as snackable. Bite-sized. Short and sweet. And we do mean this, Pizza Possum is not a very long game.

In a world of long games and open worlds to get lost in, we wanted to offer a palette cleanser. A midnight snack that might at first glance look like a simple grilled cheese sandwich but still manages to satisfy that inner mischievous possum inside of you that you didn’t even know existed.

And that is the way we like it. We wanted to create a condensed mischievous experience that could easily be picked up, enjoyed, and put down in short intervals. In fact, a veteran player could most likely get to Bella Chonki, eat the pizza, and steal their crown as quickly as you could enjoy a pizza in real life. Though it’ll take you a little longer than that to repeat the feat not once but twice more for the tasty ending.