Content Update 3 Preview: Public Safety, Major Events & Sandbox Mode

Hello everyone,

we have great news for you: the third big Content Update is coming in October! Today we would like to introduce the new content. This time the focus is on the police and public safety in your city, on planned major events such as funfairs and city festivals, and on a sandbox mode for free play.

From patrols and road closures to speed cameras and a larger area of operation, there is something for everyone.

Public safety

From now on, every district of your city has its own crime level. It is calculated from the real map data: dense buildings, train stations, squares, underpasses, parking garages and bars make an area less safe, while it is calmer around universities, hospitals and police stations. A heatmap in the new security menu shows you at a glance where things are getting critical. Crime missions happen more often in unsafe areas, and every crime makes things worse. The security menu also shows you how things stand on the roads, i.e. how many speeders and drunk drivers are out and about.

Police patrols

Patrols let you fight back where it matters. In the patrol editor you place waypoints on the map with just a few clicks, move them by drag & drop or insert new points directly on the route. The route follows the streets like a bus line, and the way back to the start is added automatically. Then you send out your patrol cars: they drive the route until you call them back or the crew needs a break. Wherever your patrols are on the road, public safety improves.

Major events

Alongside missions and additional tasks, there is now a third kind of assignment: planned major events. Whether it is a city festival, a demonstration, a carnival parade, a funfair, a weekly market or a flea market, you are asked in advance and decide for yourself whether you want to take care of security. Many events run over several days with fixed opening hours. Market stalls with vendors are set up on the grounds, at the funfair rides such as the Ferris wheel, wild mouse coaster, Breakdance, free fall tower or log flume are spinning, and plenty of visitors stroll across the grounds.

Incidents keep happening along the way: visitors get injured, pickpockets strike, brawls break out, people get stuck on a ride or a stall catches fire. A recommendation shows you which units you need on site, and how well you secure the event determines your payment. If an event takes place on the street, you have to close it off beforehand.

With the new event editor in the modding hub you can also create your own major events and share them with the community via the Steam Workshop.

Road closures

Patrol cars can now close roads. You simply mark the closure on the map, the patrol car drives there and an officer sets up post after post including barrier tape. Traffic stops in front of it, turns around or looks for another way, and only emergency vehicles are allowed through. At traffic accidents and missions with a traffic closure, your officers now also visibly cordon off the scene with barrier tape.

Stationary and mobile speed cameras

Through research you unlock stationary speed cameras that you can set up next to any road. They monitor the speed limit around the clock, and every fine goes straight into your account. With the "Mobile speed camera" research, more patrol cars can also run speed checks at the same time. Speed cameras and traffic controls have a lasting effect: the more you check, the fewer speeders, drunk drivers and drivers on their phones are on the road.

Sandbox mode

For everyone who simply wants to build and try things out freely, there is the new sandbox mode. You start with almost unlimited money, all research is already unlocked and you can build as many stations as you like. You set how often missions come in via the difficulty level directly in the task list, and you can trigger a random mission at any time at the push of a button.

Change the paint of purchased vehicles

Want to give your fleet a new look? Vehicles you have already bought can now be repainted. To do so, select "Change paint" in the interaction menu of a vehicle that is parked at its station.

Map update and larger areas of operation

The map data is being brought up to date. Through research you can now expand your area of operation by up to 20 tiles instead of the previous 10.

Performance improvements

As always, we have continued to optimize performance, especially inside large bases.

We are looking forward to your feedback and will let you know as soon as the Content Update is available!