Cities: Skylines

Cities: Skylines

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Must Have Mods - Visual
   
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Description
Note that some mods on this list overlap and may not be compatible - Always read mod descriptions and check compatibility before subscribing!

On a regular basis the question pops on reddit or forums related to Cities: Skylines "What's the must have mods atm", but there's no quick good answer to that, as it all depends on what you're looking for in the game and to some extend what your computer can handle. So I figured I'd create a few collections to make it easier for new players or old returning players to find the type of mods they're after.

This collection features mods which improve or change the visuals of the game globally. Many of them come with options for you to tweek for the look you're after, combined with LUTs and Map Themes. I haven't included any LUTs or Map Themes as this is just for mods.

These collections are a work in progress, so feel free to comment with feedback on what should or shouldn't be in these.




Other collections of Must Have Mods

Disclaimer
For full transparency: I am an employee at Colossal Order, however this is my personal account and as such all opinions, content and contributions to the community reflect my own views and interests, and are not created nor maintained as part of my job. Like all user generated content, this is not officially supported content and should be used at your own risk.

Questions, bugs & feedback
Please direct all questions regarding the game, official content and Colossal Order to the official channels: https://linktr.ee/colossalorder
Items (26)
AD Cloud Replacer
Created by neinnew/네인
AD Cloud Replacer This mod has been upgraded from enabler to replacer! Now you can replace the clouds Available clouds pack in Workshop What is the AD cloud? It is old cloud that came with After Dark DLC, but disappeared due to Snowfall DLC and weather upd...
Adaptive Prop Visibility Distance
Created by BloodyPenguin
Prevents large props (like planes, containers etc.) from disappearing on zooming out. Adjusts LOD distance for trees depending on their size. The larger is prop/tree, the further it is visible! For small props visibility distances should remain the same as...
American RoadSigns v2.2.0
Created by Judazzz
About this mod American RoadSigns is a both stripped-down and enhanced version of hyperdrive_engaged's original American Roads, which is no longer supported, and unfortunately causes some issues for some players. The good news is that recently an American ...
Clouds & Fog Toggler
Created by BloodyPenguin
https://i.imgur.com/vGVs7xb.png Disable clouds and distance fog that blocks your view when zooming out. Also allows to disable industrial smog and edge fog. (configurable) I made this mod because clouds & fog rendering changed in After Dark update complete...
Cubemap Replacer (Read description!)
Created by BloodyPenguin
Replaces daytime skybox & reflections in windows and water surfaces. Photorealistic clouds without Photoshop, yay! NOTE: To see sky texture change like on screenshot you must have Daylight Classic installed with 'Classic fog effect' option enabled! That mo...
Daylight Classic
Created by BloodyPenguin
https://i.imgur.com/CYNzkiJ.png Brings back original daylight color and fog settings from pre-After Dark versions of C:S IT'S A MOD, NOT A LUT! This mod doesn't require After Dark DLC! Are you annoyed with that yellow tint that turns days into permanent ev...
Dynamic Resolution (Fixed for 1.9!)
Created by Gradius Twin
NOW WORKING IN 1.9 GREEN CITIES! KNOWN ISSUE - MAC OS X: This mod is currently broken on the Mac. Installing this mod on a Mac will result in the blank sky bug. Removing (or disabling) it and restarting the game will fix the problem. I would love to suppor...
Emergency Light Changer
Created by boformer
This mod changes the color of the emergency vehicle lights. You can choose one of the preset in the options menu of the mod: The 'American' preset changes the lights of all fire trucks to red-blue (selected by default). The 'European' preset changes the li...
No Buoys Mod
Created by noob_vl
Removes buoys from ferry lines. Mod allows to toggle visibility of your ferry lines buoys that some find irritating. Set your own key combination to toggle buoys, default CTRL + Y. I made it as simple exercise thanks to boformer brilliant tutorials. Mod is...
No Radioactive Desert And More!
Created by BloodyPenguin
Brings sanity to ground color and makes trees lush green no matter how much pollution there (Configurable) IT'S A MOD, NOT A THEME! YOU CAN USE IT WITH ANY THEME YOU LIKE In addition to pollution and shoreside colors this mod can disable natural resources ...
PostProcessFX - Multi-platform
Created by cor3ntin
This mod is a fork of PostProcessFX v1.7.2 It Enables additional post processing effects such as bloom, sun shafts, different anti aliasing options and ambient occlusion. Open the mod settings panel with F9 The mod has been ported to work on linux of mac. ...
Prop Remover
Created by BloodyPenguin
Removes most annoying and unrealistic props from all vanilla buildings (configurable) Are you annoyed with your high-tech industrial zone looking like it came from XIX century? Or with steam on roof tops? Or maybe with scary clown heads? Or silly squirrels...
Random Tree Rotation
Created by boformer
Tested to be working with Industries. All instances of a tree in Cities: Skyline are rotated in the same way, which looks very unnatural. This mod rotates the detailed tree models which you will see when you zoom in. This mod applies a random rotation to a...
Relight
Created by Ronyx69
--- UPDATE JULY 2023: This mod is old, Nyoko and algernon made a new mod which includes Relight's features and more called Lumina: https://steamoss.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2983036781 --- Rebalanced and customizable lighting and tonemapping. A...
Remove Decoration Sprites ("Grass" and "Rocks")
Created by Katalepsis
If you are like me and dislike the games "decorative" grass and rock sprites, this mod is for you. With this mod enabled no decoration sprites will be rendered in the game, possibly even saving on some FPS and making the game nicer to look at from first pe...
Shadow Distance Fix [DEPRECATED]
Created by neinnew/네인
Since ACME v0.6, This mod is no longer required. You can use the same features including shadow sharpness on ACME Shadow Distance Fix This mod fixes shadow distance reduction due to Camera Positions Utlitiy. so without Camera Positions Utlitiy won't need t...
Shadow Strength Adjuster
Created by Ronyx69
Allows to change the strength of shadows that objects cast using a slider, saves and loads the value next time. It doesn't load the slider position visually, but the actual shadow value loads correctly. The slider can be found in the options - mods setting...
Sharp Textures
Created by Ronyx69
This mod makes textures appear sharper by increasing anisotropy and decreasing mipmapping. Settings can be adjusted in real time. Anisotropy makes textures look better at grazing angles. The vanilla anisotropy varies between 0 and 8 for various textures. M...
Softer Shadows
Created by boformer
One problem of the game is that the shadows on 3D objects are too dark. Of your you can use a LUT to make the shadows brighter, but that will also remove the contrast of all textures. This mod simply brightens the shadows of 3D objects, independent from th...
Sun Shafts
Created by BloodyPenguin
https://i.imgur.com/vGVs7xb.png Adds stunning Sun Shaft effects! Note: At the moment it's for Windows only, I'll learn how to support Linux and Mac later You can toggle the effect in the F8 menu. Please note that you will probably lose a couple of fps usin...
Transparency LODs Fix
Created by Katalepsis
If you like this mod, please take a moment to rate+, it really helps me stay motivated to continue creating mods for the community. Also, if you're feeling generous, consider making a small donation. Even 10 cents can add up to a lot if more people donate....
Tree LOD Fix
Created by Katalepsis
Increase the quality of Tree LODs Use the options menu to select between 4 Tree Lod Resolutions: Low = Vanilla (512px²) Medium = noticeably better (1024px²) High = great (2048px²) Ultra = totally amazing (4096px²) NOTE: Tree LODs in Cities Skylines are ren...
Ultimate Eyecandy v1.5.2
Created by Judazzz
Hey all, I've been enjoying Cities: Skylines basically since release day, immensely helped by all the awesome stuff the community created. So after so much taking, I figured it was time for a little giving. In real life I'm a web developer (mainly front-en...
Ultimate Level Of Detail (ULOD)
Created by boformer
Make use of your graphics card! Configure the LOD distance of trees, props, buildings and networks. Updated for Campus DLC This mod enables you to increase the render distance of detailed tree, prop, building and network models. Take a look at the mod sett...
Vehicle Effects 1.9.5
Created by Acc3ss Violation
Allows effects to be added to vehicles with xml files! Recent features - Load (sort of) custom particleeffects via xml! Check this discussion page on how to do it and for sharing examples! - Load custom sound effects via xml! Check this discussion page on ...
Theme Mixer 2
Created by Katalepsis
Lets you load, mix and customize Map Themes It's finally here, at long last. This is a complete re-make of the original Theme Mixer mod. Features Change map themes directly in-game. Select map theme "parts" from different map themes (Atmosphere, Structures...