Introduction
Hey everyone, welcome to this week's dev diary! It’s Pdx_Peanut here, and today I’m excited to take you behind the scenes on the creation of the UK Pack, brought to life by the amazing creators Macwelshman and Rik4000! You can download the amazing UK Region Pack now, for free, on Paradox Mods; https://mods.paradoxplaza.com/mods/92859/Windows Both creators are well-known for their Cities: Skylines workshop contributions - Macwelshman offering a beautiful mix of UK and American buildings, and Rik4000 capturing everything quintessential about UK cities and suburbs. They’ve both been part of the community since the early days of Cities: Skylines back in 2015, and it’s wonderful to see their legacies continue into Cities: Skylines II. When we set out to create a UK Region Pack, they were the natural first choice to bring on board! Concept and Inspiration Having seen their previous work, I knew I could trust both creators to bring the perfect sense of realism to the pack, and they exceeded all expectations. They started by meticulously researching iconic buildings and everyday structures from across the UK, seeking out the most representative examples to use as inspiration. Their goal was to strike a balance between showcasing the UK’s rich architectural history and offering a wide range of styles that would feel authentic in various settings. From the elegance of Georgian and Victorian architecture to the distinctive designs of the 1930s and the contemporary styles of the 2000s, they worked to ensure the pack captures the essence of the UK’s architectural diversity in every detail.
Making the Assets
Service Buildings
One of my favourite buildings in the pack that we can take a closer look at is the UK Hospital General Infirmary. As the main hospital asset for the pack, it truly commands center stage in any UK city build. Inspired by the Victorian-era General Infirmary in Leeds (pictured above), this building brings a historic yet timeless presence to the pack, blending classical design with the practical needs of a modern healthcare facility. Bringing the building into the game involves several stages of planning. First, you need to block out the 3D design by modeling simple shapes and layouts to determine the overall scale and size. Here, we can see the team working through different initial designs, testing whether the architectural features of the inspiration building are accurately captured. They also experiment with gameplay elements, such as the placement and configuration of upgrades, to ensure the building not only looks great but will also function well within the game.


Zones
With the wide range of styles, the pack is rich with different kinds of zone types, and we decided to create more specific zones within the same density demand where it made sense. This approach allowed us to offer more distinct "flavours" of buildings for players to choose from while still ensuring they fit within the base game’s zoning density design. This way, players can enjoy a greater variety of buildings that feel unique yet remain consistent with the game’s overall zoning structure.UK Low-Density Detached Housing - Low-Density Residential Demand
This zone represents your standard low-density housing option, allowing a single household to move in. In the UK, this type of housing is commonly referred to as a detached house, and the creators of the pack were keen to include this terminology to enhance its authenticity. The houses in this zone span a variety of eras, ranging from the 1930s to the 2000s, with some of the larger lots featuring Victorian-styled dwellings. This variety reflects the different types of detached houses you’d typically find in the UK, giving players a realistic representation of the country’s suburban landscape over time. Below, you can see a planning image of the zone’s lot propping progression through the levels, starting with level 1 on the left and moving to level 5 on the right. The idea is that, as the building evolves, the lot and house gradually gain additional elements that suggest an increase in the occupants' wealth. This might include features like more elaborate landscaping, upgraded materials, or added details that reflect a higher standard of living over time.
Medium Density Residential Demand
The medium residential demand category offers the most diversity in zone types. The first style you’ll see is the standard UK Medium-Density Housing, which provides small apartments for your citizens. The building styles span several decades, primarily from the 1950s to the 1980s, with a few examples dating back to the 1920s. The number of households available per building is similar to the base game variants of the medium density housing.

High Density Residential Demand - UK High-Density Housing
This zone represents the quintessential high density towers found across cities throughout the UK. Styled as a blend of inner-city general UK architecture and Victorian housing estates, these buildings offer a mix of modern high-rise living with elements that reflect the rich architectural history of the country. The design captures the urban character of densely populated areas while also maintaining a link to the past through its historical influences. Below, you can see the propping evolution of these housing estate towers.
Signature Buildings
The UK pack also includes a wide variety of signature building assets, covering residential, commercial, and mixed zones. In the residential tab, you’ll find the Executive Mansion and UK City Apartments. Let’s take a closer look at the Executive Mansion. Inspired by a presumed Georgian-style mansion the team found during their conceptual-stage hunt for architectural inspiration, this building captures the stately elegance of classic British architecture. The creators paid special attention to intricate details, such as the ivy growing on the facade. They used alpha cut-out texturing to achieve a layered effect, making the vegetation appear natural and realistic.

Props
Props were a relatively late addition to the packs due to uncertainty about the readiness of the import pipeline to support them. This is why not all Region Packs include custom props. However, when the opportunity arose, the UK team eagerly embraced it, as they had been keen from the start to use custom props to bring an extra layer of authenticity to their buildings. Fast-forward to the finished product and the pack now boasts an impressive 135 custom props, with 78 of them available in the recently added props menu - 76 categorized under residential props and two under commercial props.
Challenges and Iterations
One of the biggest challenges the UK team faced while creating and finalizing this pack was the immense amount of hard work required. The pack is expansive, and every single building and prop had to be crafted from scratch, including custom meshes and textures. Each asset then had to be individually imported into the game’s editor, a time-consuming process in itself. On top of that, all buildings had to be meticulously hand-propped. As mentioned earlier with the Hospital General Infirmary, this involved manually adjusting prop probabilities and finely tuning their positions and alignments. It’s a detailed, labour-intensive task that requires patience and precision to ensure everything looks and functions as intended in the final product.The Beauty Shots
That’s it for today’s diary! We hope you enjoyed this behind-the-scenes look at the creation of the UK Pack and all the details that went into making it authentic. Thanks for joining us, and we can’t wait to see the amazing UK-inspired cities you’ll build! Please enjoy some images of our favourite assets below:




