How Big is the Biggest Map in Cities: Skylines?
The largest possible map size in Cities: Skylines is 81 tiles, equal to an area of 324 km2 or 125 mi2. This maximum map area can be unlocked through mods like the 81 Tiles Mod.
To put that into perspective, that‘s over 6 times larger than Central Park‘s area (3.41 mi2). Let‘s dive deeper into map sizes, playable tiles, population limits, and other technical constraints in CS.
Base Game Map Limits
The vanilla Cities: Skylines map is divided into 25 total tiles in a 5×5 grid.
Of those 25 tiles, only 9 tiles (3×3) are playable in the base game.
Each tile is 2 km x 2 km, so the total playable area is 36 km2 or 13 mi2.
The playable region is surrounded by locked, non-selectable tiles.
Expanded Map Sizes with Mods
There are popular mods that extend the number of playable tiles:
- 25 Tiles Mod – Unlocks all 25 tiles of the base 5×5 grid.
- 81 Tiles Mod – Unlocks the full 9×9 grid of 81 tiles total. This is the maximum map size.
Here‘s a comparison of tile counts and total map area with mods:
| Map Size | Tiles | Total Area |
|---|---|---|
| Base Game | 9 | 36 km2 |
| 25 Tiles Mod | 25 | 100 km2 |
| 81 Tiles Mod | 81 | 324 km2 |
As you can see, the 81 Tiles Mod provides nearly 4 times more buildable land than the base game map.
Technical Limits and Population Capacity
However, even with all 81 tiles unlocked, there are still technical limitations:
- The maximum population is capped at 9.7 million inhabitants due to computing constraints.
- You may hit the limit for placeable buildings and roads before reaching 9.7 million population.
For perspective, at "real world" population density:
- Los Angeles houses ~4,000 people per km2
- An 81 tile CS map could fit 1.3 billion people at that density
So in practice, 1 million population is challenging even with 81 tiles. Traffic and services struggle with such dense cities.
Good Maps for Large Cities
Some great options for flat terrain that allows sprawling cities include:
- Eden Valley – Open and flat with rivers. Part of the Green Cities DLC.
- Riverrun – Lots of space and terrain variety.
- Green Plains – Rolling flat plains with some hills.
These maps give you room to scale your city bigger than the cramped base game maps.
Speculation on Cities Skylines 2
Cities Skylines 2 would hopefully lift some of these technical restrictions. Potential upgrades include:
- Bigger map sizes and playable areas
- Improved population and traffic simulation
- Enhanced graphics, physics, and in-game mechanics
However, CS2 has not been confirmed yet. The developers continue supporting the original game with DLC and updates 7 years after launch.
Summary
While a maximum of 81 tiles and 9.7 million population may sound huge, Cities: Skylines still has technical constraints. But with the right mods and maps, you can build much larger cities than the base game allows.
Let me know if you have any other questions! I‘m happy to provide more detail on modding, managing large cities, or potential changes in a CS2.
