Linux Review:

Cities: Skylines II

Raise a city from the ground up and transform it into a thriving metropolis with the most realistic city builder ever. Push your creativity and problem-solving to build on a scale you've never experienced. With deep simulation and a living economy, this is world-building without limits.

PROTON TIER: GOLD

Cities: Skylines II empowers players to build and manage a thriving metropolis, offering deep simulation and unmatched world-building capabilities.

Status Check Proton (Gold)

TWEAKS & TRICKS

• Problem: The Paradox Launcher introduces performance overhead.
  • Solution: eval $( echo "gamescope --mangoapp -W 1920 -H 1080 -r 200 --adaptive-sync -f -g --force-grab-cursor -- %command% --in-process-gpu" | sed -E "s#Launcher/dowser.exe#Cities2.exe#g" )
• Problem: Avoiding the Paradox Launcher’s overhead.
  • Solution: eval $( echo "gamemoderun gamescope -W 1920 -H 1080 -r 165 -f -g --force-grab-cursor -- %command% --in-process-gpu" | sed -E "s#Launcher/dowser.exe#Cities2.exe#g" )
• Problem: Potential startup crashes.
  • Solution: PROTON_ENABLE_WAYLAND=1
• Problem: Improved performance with high-end GPUs. Maxing settings with DLSS yields acceptable frame rates.
  • Solution: DXVK_FILTER_DEVICE_NAME="NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 Ti" DXVK_HDR=0 VKD3D_CONFIG=force_bgra LD_PRELOAD="" PROTON_ENABLE_WAYLAND=1 PROTON_NO_ESYNC=1 PROTON_NO_FSYNC=1 bash -c 'exec "${@/%"Launcher/dowser.exe"/Cities2.exe}"' gamemoderun -- %command% -developerMode -popupwindow -malloc=system -useallavailablecores
• Problem: Runs slower than native Windows.
  • Solution: The provided launch options offer some performance improvement.

Verdict While playable with the provided launch options and a high-end GPU, performance is noticeably worse than on Windows. Linux gamers with powerful hardware can still enjoy the game, but be prepared to fine-tune settings and launch options. Consider native Windows for the optimal experience.