How to Terraform Your City in Cities: Skylines 2

If you don’t like your Cities: Skylines 2 starting map or wish to change the land, you have two options: create a new world with a different map or terraform so it looks exactly how you want it. Here’s how to begin terraforming your city in Cities: Skylines 2.

Cities: Skylines 2 – How to Terraform Your City

To terraform your city in Cities: Skylines 2, select the landscaping shovel icon next to the bulldozer at the bottom of your screen. You’ll find multiple terrain smoothing, elevating, slope-creating tools and brushes for adding trees and bushes.

There are three terraforming and landscaping categories you’ll find in Cities: Skylines 2:

• Terraforming
• Vegetation
• Pathways

All Terraforming Options in Cities: Skylines 2

There are multiple terraforming features available in Cities: Skylines 2:

• Shift terrain tool
• Level terrain tool
• Soften terrain tool
• Slope terrain tool

You can also change your brush size, strength, and snapping to get hyper-detailed in your terraforming or want a quick sweep across the land before resuming with your city building.

Below is a quick example of the effects of terraforming. You can turn completely flat land into a mountainous region or vice versa.

Each tool serves specific purposes, from flattening the land to creating mountains or craters. If you want to add more mountains or crevices to your map, the shift terrain tool will elevate and lower the terrain with the left and right mouse buttons. Similarly, if you want to smooth your terrain after doing this or wish to reverse your changes by leveling out the land, the soften and level tools will help here. Lastly, if you want to connect a low ground point to a higher elevation, you can use the slope tool to level the land gradually.

Good luck with your terraforming adventures in Cities: Skylines 2!

Cities: Skylines 2 is available on PC and is coming to PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S in 2024. If you’re ready to build your city and lay down some foundations, check out how to change road direction in Cities: Skylines 2, or click the game tag below to dive into our growing article collection.