Landscaping and Disasters

Landscaping Tools

The Landscaping tab contains several tools that allow for changes in the terrain, which can help to change the physical design of the town. Soil is a resource which is accumulated by reducing the height of land, and is used elsewhere to increase land height. This enables the construction of new coastlines or mountain ranges or perhaps the removal of an inconvenient mountain. It can sometimes be helpful to level terrain so buildings look better, and even be necessary for larger buildings like airports. The cost of shifting, leveling, softening or sloping terrain is ₡12.80 per cubic cell.

• Shift Terrain - Elevate by pressing the primary mouse button, lower with the secondary mouse button.
• Level Terrain - Use the secondary mouse button to select the target height, then use the primary button to flatten terrain to that height.
• Soften Terrain - Use the primary mouse button for a gentle smoothing effect. Use the secondary mouse button for a stronger effect.
• Slope Terrain - Click with the primary mouse button on one end of the area where the slope is to be located. With the secondary mouse button, click and drag from the other desired end back towards the first point to create the slope.

• 

  Shift Terrain

  Use to raise or lower terrain
• 

  Level Terrain

  Use to flatten terrain
• 

  Soften Terrain

  Use to smooth terrain
• 

  Slope Terrain

  Use to create slopes

The brush intensity (the speed at which soil is added or removed) control may be set to one of three levels, shown looking like a bar graph with three bars. The size (area) of the brush may be set to one of three sizes, shown by circles.

When adding or removing soil from the landscape, it will come from or go to the "Soil Availability Meter" (a sort of temporary soil storage). When empty, no soil can be placed without first removing it from somewhere else. When full, no more soil can be removed without first emptying (at least partially) soil from the meter by placing the excess soil somewhere on the map. Soil can be dredged from under water, but beware this can sometimes cause flooding.

The game has a built-in mod Unlimited Soil - Landscaping without limits. The cost of moving soil is still in effect, but the soil available will not fill or deplete, which enables the player to add or remove as much soil as desired with the landscaping tools. Note that activating this built-in mod will disable Achievements, unless they are re-enabled by a mod from the workshop.

Paths

Pedestrian paths are narrow (single-cell) tracks which citizens will use in combination with roadside pavements and crosswalks to reach destinations on foot.

Upkeep for paths are a part of the "Parks, Plazas and Landscaping" budget, however they offer no entertainment value by themselves and are, practically, part of the transportation infrastructure. Paths are placed like roads, and can be straight or curved. Some paths can be elevated (with much steeper gradients than permitted for roads), allowing players to construct footbridges over major roads as well as other, more elaborate pedestrian systems. The pavement path and bike paths can tunnel.

Citizens are prepared to walk surprisingly long distances to their destinations, and an investment in footpath infrastructure can relieve a considerable burden from a city's roads. Citizens will also walk parts of journeys that also involve other transport methods. If a road dead-ends, and there is another road nearby, it can be helpful to link the dead-end to the other road with a pedestrian path to allow citizens on foot an easy way out.

There are several types of paths in the game, but apart from the differences detailed below, they are functionally identical. Paths can be connected to the sidewalks beside roads. Additionally paths can connect to some parks, allowing citizens to walk through these and enter/exit them without using the road.

	Path	Unlocked	Cost (₡)/cell	Upkeep (₡/cell/week)	DLC	Notes
	Amusement Park Path	Tiny Town	20	0.40		Can be elevated. Can not tunnel. Street lights illuminate at night.
	Amusement Park Path with Decorations	Tiny Town	20	0.40		Can be elevated. Can not tunnel. Street lights illuminate at night.
	Bicycle Path	Tiny Town	20	0.40		Only bicycles may use it. Can be elevated. Can be made into a tunnel. Street lights illuminate at night.
	Gravel Path	Tiny Town	10	0.24	-	Can be elevated. Can not tunnel.
	Liberal Arts Path	Big City	20	0.40		Can be elevated. Can not tunnel. Street lights illuminate at night.
	Liberal Arts Path with Decorations	Big City	20	0.40		Can be elevated. Can not tunnel. Street lights illuminate at night.
	Nature Reserve Path	Tiny Town	20	0.40		Can be elevated. Can not tunnel.
	Nature Reserve Path with Decorations	Tiny Town	20	0.40		Can be elevated. Can not tunnel. Street lights illuminate at night.
	Park Path	Tiny Town	20	0.40		Can be elevated. Can not tunnel. Street lights illuminate at night.
	Park Path with Decorations	Tiny Town	20	0.40		Can be elevated. Can not tunnel. Street lights illuminate at night.
	Pavement Path	Tiny Town	20	0.40	-	Can be elevated. Can be made into a tunnel. Street lights illuminate at night.
	Trade School Path	Big Town	20	0.40		Can be elevated. Can not tunnel. Street lights illuminate at night.
	Trade School Path with Decorations	Big Town	20	0.40		Can be elevated. Can not tunnel. Street lights illuminate at night.
	University Path	Capital City	20	0.40		Can be elevated. Can not tunnel. Street lights illuminate at night.
	University Path with Decorations	Capital City	20	0.40		Can be elevated. Can not tunnel. Street lights illuminate at night.
	Zoo Path	Tiny Town	20	0.40		Can be elevated. Can not tunnel. Street lights illuminate at night.
	Zoo Path with Decorations	Tiny Town	20	0.40		Can be elevated. Can not tunnel. Street lights illuminate at night.

Walls and Fences

Walls and Fences are placed using the same tools as roads, but cannot change elevation, only conform to terrain. They can be used alongside a road to remove the zonable areas. This can be useful if two roads run parallel closely enough for the zonable area to overlap, and you only want zoned area on one of the roads.

	Building	Unlocked	Cost (₡)/cell	DLC	Description
	Amusement Park Fence	Tiny Town	10		A tall metal fence.
	Farm Fence	Tiny Town	10		A wooden split-rail fence.
	Forestry Fence	Tiny Town	10		A wooden stockade fence.
	Nature Reserve Fence	Tiny Town	10		A wooden fence.
	Oil Industry Fence	Tiny Town	10		A tall anti-climb metal fence.
	Ore Industry Fence	Tiny Town	10		A sheet metal fence.
	Park Fence	Tiny Town	10		A tall metal fence.
	Zoo Fence	Tiny Town	10		A heavy fence made out of concrete elements and wood.

Trees

Maps come pre-loaded with areas of natural woodland. If you wish to add to these, a variety of different types of trees can be added at ₡10 per tree. Trees have no upkeep cost. Player-placed trees will support the forestry industry as much as naturally occurring woodland.

Trees will reduce noise pollution, but must be used in large numbers to see a significant effect. Tree-lined roads also reduce noise pollution from these roads and are available as part of the roads menu.

Trees affect parks. (Check this out and expand.)

Different trees are available in different map themes. Small Beech, Alder #2, Small Bush, Oak, Tree with Leaves, Tree with Leaves #2, Green Tree, Giant Redwood, Giant Redwood #2, Flowering Tree, Flowering Tree #2, Flowering Tree #3, Flowering Tree #4, Chinese Windmill Palm, Corsican Pine, Sugar Maple, and Yew are available in all themes. Additionally, these trees are available in the theme(s) they're listed beside:

• Boreal and European: Conifer #2, Pine, Conifer and Wild Conifer
• Temperate and Tropical: Large Bush
• Tropical: Palm Plant and Palm Tree

Player-placed trees will support forestry industry as much as naturally occurring woodland. Placing extra trees to increase forest density before building a forestry extraction building over it can increase the output of the extractor.

Vegetation

Use to place patches of vegetation at a cost of ₡10 per patch.

Rocks

Place rocks to give the landscape some character. Rock types include small rocks, boulders, buttes and mesas. Larger formations may include caves and trees.

Rocks and rock formations range in cost ₡10 - ₡100.

Water structures

Quays provide a nice finish along the edges where water meets land. (The "MoveIt!" mod and anarchy type mods can allow it to be placed in other areas.)

Patch 1.13.0 included the ability to add walkable quays. Quays can now be edited in the Asset Editor to allow pedestrian paths on top of them. This makes quays work like pedestrian paths.

Flood walls can help to keep water out of your city.

Canals can create water based routes in your city. All canals automatically create pathways that ferries can use. Ferry Depots and some ferry stops may be placed alongside canals.

	Building	Unlocked	Cost (₡)/cell	Upkeep (₡/week/cell)	DLC	Description
	Quay	Tiny Town	10	0.11	-	Use quays to give waterfront a nice finish. Quays are concrete walls built on the shore to even out terrain differences and allow for zoning near the water.
	Flood wall	Tiny Town	10	0.11	-	If your canals have spots that are prone to flooding, you can use flood walls to control the water.
	Shallow canal	Tiny Town	10	0.11	-	Shallow canals accept only a small amount of water. They can also be used to regulate water flow into deeper canals, by placing a stretch of shallow canal segments at the start of a longer canal. Canals automatically create Pathways that Ferries can use.
	Medium canal	Tiny Town	10	0.11	-	Medium canals can be used in areas where shallow canals are not deep enough to get water. Use a stretch of medium canal segments at the start of a longer canal to allow less water to get in. Canals automatically create Pathways that Ferries can use.
	Deep canal	Tiny Town	10	0.11	-	Deep canals are the deepest canal option and can handle large amounts of water. If your deep canal is prone to flooding, upgrade part of the canal at the start and end to medium or shallow canal to keep the amount of water lower. Canals automatically create Pathways that Ferries can use.
	Wide Shallow Canal	Tiny Town	12	0.14		A shallow wide type canal. Use shallow canals to adjust how much water flows into a canal. Canals automatically create Pathways that Ferries can use.
	Wide Medium Canal	Tiny Town	12	0.14		A medium depth wide type canal. Use different canal depths to adjust how much water flows into a canal. Canals automatically create Pathways that Ferries can use.
	Wide Deep Canal	Tiny Town	12	0.14		A deep wide type canal. Use shallow canals to adjust how much water flows into a canal. Canals automatically create Pathways that Ferries can use.

Disasters

In the Disasters tab of the Landscaping and Disasters menu there are 9 buttons for manually triggering natural disasters within the city. The player may activate one or more disasters of the same or differing types. There is a brief cool-down period for each disaster before it can be activated again. Some disasters start almost immediately, while others have a short delay before happening.

• 

  Tornado
• 

  Earthquake
• 

  Sinkhole
• 

  Thunderstorm
• 

  Forest fire
• 

  Collapse
• 

  Fire
• 

  Tsunami
• 

  Meteor

The intensity of all disasters (except "Collapse") can be controlled with a slider, with values from 1 - 10, with 10 being the most severe.

See Also

• Natural Disasters - for information on the "Natural Disasters" DLC.
• Disasters - for information on each disaster type.
• Disaster Services - for information on the services available to help with disaster response and early warning services.

Trivia

• Pedestrian paths and trees, formerly found in the decoration menu, are, since Patch 1.4.0-f3​, found in the "Landscaping" menu. After patch 1.6, the "Landscaping and Disasters" menu.
• The Walls and Fences section was added with the Parklife DLC.