This guide shows the best graphics settings for Cities: Skylines 2 to find a great balance of performance and graphics. The following post will help players understand what can be done the best to get the most out of it.
Cities: Skylines 2 – Best Graphics Settings Guide
The main issues for players hoping to get the maximum from the game will face an uphill task regarding the CPU and GPU. The minimum and recommended specs are suitable for 1080p, and it will be tough to improve on those.
Here are the minimum requirements:
- CPU: Intel Core i7-6700K/AMD Ryzen 5 2600X
- GPU: Nvidia GeForce GTX 970/AMD Radeon RX 480
- Storage: 60 GB
- OS: Windows 10
- RAM: 8 GB
Here are the recommended requirements:
- CPU: Intel Core i5-12600K/AMD Ryzen 7 5800X
- GPU: Nvidia GeForce RTX 3080/AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT
- Storage: 60 GB
- OS: Windows 10/11
- RAM: 8 GB
The minimum requirements will only be able to have the game on after you have turned the Global Graphics to ‘Very Low.’
On the other hand, players with more recent GPUs will suffer a bit as the Intel Arc A750 got to 30FPS on Low while the Nvidia GeForce RTX 4060 got to 27FPS on Medium and the RTX 3070 reached 33FPS on Medium and 13FPS on High.
Reaching 1440p will be extremely tough, with the RTX 4070 Ti getting to 22FPS on High and 38FPS on Medium. If you have the RTX 4090, then 4K may be possible.
The main issue is that while Low presets will help you in most aspects, the problems begin with the Medium and High settings.
The RTX 4070 Ti got to 126 FPS at 1440p when kept to Low. If you want to keep the native resolution, increasing FPS becomes much more difficult.
There is no DLSS support, so the sole AMD help is through FSR 1.0, which is more problematic than FSR 2.0 and FSR 3.
There is also a lot of stuttering that seems ever-present, and it is too overbearing on the Steam Deck. It starts well, but the FPS starts to fall after you have some buildings ready.
Cities: Skylines 2 – Best Graphics Settings
There are 16 options under the ‘Basic’ list of Settings, while the ‘Advanced’ bunch has 67. Let’s dive into the Basic ones, as the Advanced group is only a subpart of the Basic ones running with an RTX 4060 at 1080p.
Global Graphics quality
It gives 87 FPS on Ultra Low and 51FPS on Low. That decreases to 27 FPS on Medium and 17 FPS on High.
Dynamic Resolution Scale quality
If you keep it to Constant, there is a steady stream of 27 FPS, giving you a blurry picture that is not too great.
Anti-Aliasing
You can keep it to Low or change it to FXAA, but there is little difference in the FPS. You can add TAA, but it gives a blur too.
Cloud quality
Changing to either of the options did not have much of an impact.
Fog quality
If you keep it off, then 22FPS can be reached, but that results in switching off Volumetrics quality, too.
Volumetrics quality
You can keep it disabled and get to 22FPS.
Ambient Occlusion
Keeping it off decreased FPS, so you may keep it as it is.
Global Illumination
Changing from High to Low did not do much, but this will be needed when discussing the Advanced settings.
Reflection quality
Keep it as it is.
Depth of field
You can do away with it to get to 20FPS.
Motion blur
Do as you want with this.
Shadow quality
There is no visible difference between Low and High, but keeping it entirely off gets to 21FPS. However, that will leave you with a poor visual setup, so look at other options before coming to this.
Terrain quality
Keep at High.
Water quality
Same as terrain.
Level of detail
Very Low is a little quicker than Low, but that will leave you seeing a clear difference between the two that is not great visually.
Animation quality
There is no difference between Medium and High.
Texture quality
High and Low are giving the same FPS.
When it comes to the Advanced list of Settings, there are two things to focus on especially. The first one is Ray Steps, located within the Global Illumination quality. You can keep it to a minimum and increase your FPS with no significant drop in visuals.
The second is the maximum light count in the Level of detail area. You can increase it to 8192 since there is no loss in FPS, and you will have a lot of clarity in terms of lighting within the game.
Thus, that is all the information players will need regarding the settings of Cities: Skylines 2. You have to tweak some things to get the most out of the game in its early days, but it can be worthwhile if the developers fix the other issues quickly.
Last Updated on January 21, 2024
A FIFA junkie who can also mix it up with Call Of Duty and racing games. GTA was his first love. Now can be found spending time between writing on what he plays and playing what he will write on.