Overview
This guide lists the various command line options (launch options / parameters) that you can use with Cities: Skylines.Note: This is an extension to the main Troubleshooting FAQ.
Broken since “Launcher” update?
Updated: January 2020
When Paradox introduced the “Launcher” app that starts before the game, it seems to have broken launch options. However, there is a way to get them working again, see this topic (thanks Riddick for letting me know!):
[link]Some users have suggesed using a fake launcher app which is available here:
[link]Using Launch Options
Updated: January 2020
Launch parameters (options) let you override certain configuration settings in the game.
Launch options are added via the game properties in Steam client, :
You can use multiple options, just put a space between each option (see the two Screen Resolution options, later in this guide, which are often used together).
Workshop (Assets / Mods)
Updated: January 2020
Note: These options have a double hyphen at the start instead of a single hypen, and also have an uppercase letter at the start of the second word.
You will often be advised to add both of these parameters when a new game patch is released or when you are requesting support from Paradox[forum.paradoxplaza.com]. They will disable some or all workshop subscriptions while present, leaving sections of the Content Manger empty.
If you want to change your existing subscriptions while those options are active: Select the “Workshop” tab at top of this page, then hover mouse over “Your Files” in the right sidebar. A pop-up menu will appear; choose “Subscribed Items” and you’ll get a list of everything you are currently subscribed to. They will be ordered by date subscribed, most recent at top. You can change the order to date updated to quickly find what was changed recently.
See also:
- What to do if mods/assets aren’t showing in Content Manager[github.com]
- Online spreadsheet listing all known broken or incompatible mods[docs.google.com]
Continue last save
Updated: January 2020
To make the game skip the main menu and automatically load your last save game (since v1.12.3 “Launcher” update):
Monitor Selection
Last edited: July 2019
If you have multiple disaplays, you can force the game to run on a specific display:
When `n` is the adaptor number (0 = first, 1 = second, etc). For example, to use the 2nd monitor:
There are also some multi-monitor mods in the Steam workshop which apparently can stretch the game across multiple monitors; I’ve not tried them so no idea if they work as advertised.
Screen Resolution
Updated: February 2020
Normally you should set the screen resolution in-game. If your aspect ratio isn’t listed, try the More Aspect Ratios mod first.
If all else fails, you can try setting screen resolution via launch options:
You can specify a specific screen resolution with this parameter:
For example, if you wanted 1024×768 use:
While you can use the mod options to set pretty much any screen resolution, the game will still try and use of it’s “known” resolutions. You might have much more luck with this mod (don’t be put off by the resolutions listed in mod description, more have been added over the years but the description wasn’t updated):
[link]
Window Mode
Last edited: July 2019
You can toggle between normal windowed and full screen in the game via Options > Graphics menu.
Alternatively you could experiment with these launch options (probably only work on Windows / Linux, haven’t tested on Mac)…
To run in borderless window:
To run in normal window:
To run full screen:
Apparently this is a better way to set full screen mode:
Where `m` is either 0 (not full screen) or 1 (full screen).
Graphics Mode
Last edited: July 2019
Avoid using these options unless you are suffering graphics issues or crashes.
Use only one of these at a time (I’ve no idea what the default will be, I assume most recent so 11-0):
Before using it, try and upgrade your graphics card drivers to the latest stable release form the manufacturer website as that will often fix the problem at source.
This option often resolves serious graphics issues on Windows platform, at the expense of some graphics quality and frame rate:
Tip: If you see the “d3d11: failed to create staging 2D texture” error in your log files, the -force-d3d9 option often will fix it.
Only use this if you see the “HandleD3DDeviceLost” error in your log files:
Use either this:
Or this (not both):
Alternatively, if you’re using DirectX 11, you can use this:
You can force use of OpenGL instead of DirectX. Note that this can cause problems with the UI of some mods and possibly also cause issues with some of the more elaborate workshop assets.
To use the latest version of OpenGL, limited to version 4.5:
Or this (not both):
You can specify which context version of OpenGL to use:
Where `XY` is the version. Accepted values for XY: 32, 33, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44 or 45.
(thanks to Darth_Jimbo for this info!)
Note, this might not work with C:SL (haven’t checked, sorry).
Force the game to use Metal graphics mode.
This only works in conjunction with `-force-gfx-metal` (see above). If your Mac has multiple GPUs, you can select which one the game uses:
Where `n` is the device index to use.
This parameter must be used on it’s own (don’t use any of the other graphics card or screen settings options).
User feedback indicates it doesn’t do anything, but leaving it here just in case.
Limit frame rate (fps)
Last updated: January 2020
This option might no longer work since the “Launcher” update in January 2020
This option is useful if your graphics card is overheating (more than ~70ºC depending on your graphics card), especially if you are using a laptop in summer months. It might also be useful if your monitor can’t handle higher frame rates.
For example, to limit to 30 fps use:
Disable log file
Section added: July 2019
This is probably a bad idea, but if you want to reduce load times at the expense of not knowing about any errors, you can disable the log file completely:
Developer UI
Verified: May 2020
Add the following launch option:
After loading a save, press the Tab key and you’ll get the dev UI. Note, however, several mods (particularly first person camera / autowalking mods) also use Tab key so it might conflict with those.
Another way to enable the developer UI is to create a file called `dev` in the same folder as Cities.exe, prior to loading the game. It does the same as the launch option.
If you just want to explore the assets in the city and learn more about the internal workings of the game, a better altenative might be Mod Tools – it has an ‘>’ inspector button (top right of screen) that does the exact same thing, however it also allows you to click on something to open it in the Mod Tools scene explorer!
Related, for modders only: If you build TM:PE (master branch, any version) in DEBUG mode, there’s several additional debug overlays on the Maintenance tab in mod options and an extra in-game menu with loads of extra tools.
There might be more…
Found some pages that list a bunch of other stuff but no idea if they work or not. Some are likely game or game engine specific:
- Generic launch options
- Unity engine launch options[docs.unity3d.com]
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Feedback
If you can think of other useful things to add to this guide, or have any comments, let me know in the comments below.
If you found the guide useful, please consider supporting me on ko-fi[ko-fi.com].
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