LogInColossal Order has clarified that it's the target frame rate for the game.
Yesterday, one day before the official release of a city builder Cities Skylines II, Colossal Order, the renowned developer behind the game, arranged a Q&A session, "Ask me anything". The session gave players a chance to reach out to the creators and ask for all the details about the upcoming release of the game on PC, which is scheduled for today.
The team addressed various questions surrounding the highly anticipated city builder simulator. Notably, the developers specifically discussed the game's performance concerns, which had drawn criticism from numerous reviewers. In response, the creators of Cities: Skylines II clarified that the target frame rate for the game is 30 FPS, rather than the previously expected 60 FPS.
"The target is 30 FPS because of the nature of the game, (arguably) there are no real benefits in a city builder to aim for higher FPS (unlike a multiplayer shooter) as a growing city with inevitably become CPU bound. What matters more with this type of game is to avoid stutters, and have responsive UI. For that reason, our simulation is also built around an expected update rate given 30 FPS. However, it does not hurt to get 60 FPS as it can contribute to better visuals in relation to temporal effects so while our target is 30 FPS, we don't intend on limiting or stopping the optimization work just because we reach it on recommended hardware, we just don't believe there would be a long term benefit in setting the target to 60 FPS, especially because we face rendering challenges both from close up and far distances," stated the creators on Reddit.
Image credit: Colossal Order, Cities: Skylines II
Colossal Order has added that they have implemented modifications to the release version of Cities: Skylines II, resulting in improved average frame rates without compromising the simulation experience. These changes include a slight reduction in picture quality, although the exact extent of this adjustment remains undisclosed. The developers have assured players that forthcoming patches will significantly enhance performance, particularly when using default graphics settings.
Speaking of the game, earlier we discussed how the map of Cities: Skylines II is set to astound players with its vastness. It is a staggering five times larger than its predecessor, Cities: Skylines. With an expansive area of 159km², the playable space in the sequel can be compared to the actual size of the country of Liechtenstein, providing a perspective on the immense scale of the game's world.
If you didn't have the chance to join the Q&A session, you can have a look here, maybe someone already asked your question. Get the game on Steam and join our 80 Level Talent platform and our Telegram channel, follow us on Instagram, Twitter, and LinkedIn, where we share breakdowns, the latest news, awesome artworks, and more.