Filling in the "Gaps" in the City! - Let's Play Cities Skylines 2 - Ep.8 

In my case I only follow the cities 2 series. I enjoy how the game looks when building with care this is why I follow you and not other youtubers you mention.

One thing I really liked in an early episode was watching a citizen riding their motorcycle into the city and to their place in the Brambles. It was different and I liked seeing the city live and breathe. Watch the people living their lives. Plus, it is a good way to see if things are working or not. One suggestion---like for the double tracks for example--can't you build roads and rail up off the ground? then have one cross the other under it? Keep positing. What can I say? I am invested in seeing Blackwater grow. Thanks

Darren, you were my intro into the city skylines community, and City Planner Plays is now one of my most watched channels as well. What I will say is this: Give yourself grace and time. Watching his earlier series from two years ago to his current one, he’s drastically improved. Give yourself some time to do that. Also, like you said, you had really long gaps. That means people found other creators and got invested into those storylines. There were other builders that I did not like as much as your series, but they posted and I watched theirs.

Darren, thank you for coming back! In my case, I watch a lot of content of Cities Skylines 2. What I enjoy the most is attention to detail, building a beautiful city is really pleasant but I also like when the needs of the citizens are considered and attended. For the 1st part what usually works is time-lapsing and for the 2nd part I enjoy a lot your style already. Keep the good work!

The best City Skylines video series I have seen so far. Thanks for making it, I love it

I think one thing you need to remember Darren is that some of your viewers (and members like myself) care more for how the build is done then how "good" you are at the game. So, the next time you doubt yourself remember that.

If it helps man, you and City Planner are the only two creators I watch with this game. You two are both very calm and engaging rather than over the top. Just keep at it and the views will follow! In my experience, confidence comes by closing your eyes and moving forward just believing you're great - which you are! 🎉 awesome content, great commentary and also a very pretty city so far.

i've only watched the cities skylines series, and while i'd definitely fall into the category of "people who stay and say great video", i'd say there are three main things that are different between you and city planner plays; first is kinda obvious and its that they have more followers so their base views should be higher; second is branding... there is an appeal to seeing a city planner play the game, the same way it's always successful when a lawyer plays ace attorney etc. and the third thing is that your videos are generally longer! i dont mind it, but i think a 45 min video is more likely to be watched fully than a 70-80 minute video... at least that's how i see it, hopefully it's helpful!

Man, I randomly found your channel a few days ago and Ive been binging this series (hence why my comment is on this video and not a newer one). To me you do amazingly with this series. Usually I drop off series like these pretty quickly but I genuinely enjoy how you approach each video and your sense of humor. Try not to feel so overwhelmed and be more confident. This series is great!

I find that shorter videos, more often is what keeps the masses entertained. Sometimes it's hard to dedicate an entire hour to something, at least in my world. I watch Overcharged Egg a lot, along with a few others. What draws me to there content is that they are creating cities that are not only functional, but they are also esthetically pleasing. They don't create such tight locations and spread their worlds out through the builds. I enjoy your content and will continue watching. Good luck to growth.

Love your videos Darren. I haven’t been here long but I love both your series! I will never be able to fully understand how long these videos take to make but I can certainly appreciate the effort. Keep up the good work, I’ll be here to watch them all!

I feel ur videos are really great....as u said its about being consistent .....i feel instead of a 1 hour video ....make shorter videos with more episodes...i feel it will really work......i have seen so many creators getting high viewership like this....its just my opinion...i started watchin ur videos for cs1....but now i am hooked on to you satisfactory videos too....keep it up man...u r gr8...

Hay Darren, if you look behind the double railway to the right behind the city, there’s a pretty big gap between the city and the railway. I find this to be a little unrealistic, because if you look at let’s say Glasgow (UK) you often see that the neighbourhoods are pushed way up to the railway. Here it just looks a little unfinished. So what I’d recommend is to at least fill the gap in with a park or a small neighbourhood. Furthermore enjoying watching your videos! Keep posting!💪🏻

I watch a lot off CS2 RU-vidrs and you are one of my favourites. You do, most of the time, the things that I would do if I played. The reason that I don't play it is that my pc can't handle it, that could be the reason that CS1 has more players. I also like that you pay attention to details and zoom in once in a while and really try to understand the game and micromanage. Keep up the good work, you're truly no less than others. 💪🏻

One of the things I like about city planner’s series is that he makes it really personal with the people at the beginning of his video. Gives me a slight reason to stay and watch their story. But I do love ur series and have been waiting for this episode

appreciate the historal context of the two games, and the industry talk in general. I'm not a 'content creator' but it looks like to me that creators find an audience more often when they lean into their personal experiences, something they can speak on with some authority. maybe think of ways to lean into your experiences in the industry?

Just binged this whole series today, absolutely loved your playstyle and detail on the game. No pressure on continuing the series, do what suits you best and keep grinding brotha!!!

I'm obviously late to this but don't worry about perfection in what you create in the game! :) Just have fun with it, don't overly compare yourself to other creators, and in all fairness this is probably my favorite cities skylines series I've ever watched.. Thanks Darren !

I only discovered your videos 2 days ago and have binged watched your entire CS2 series. I really enjoy your style of playthrough and its quite soothing to watch. I understand this series takes a lot of effort but i'd love for you to keep going with it!!

FINALY A NEW VIDEO

You were the first person I started watching play CS2. I ended up watching City Planner Plays to tide me over. These two series, (yours and his) are the only things I actively stay up to date on on RU-vid. Sometimes it's nice to see someone "struggle" at a game. (Learning as you go.) It can make things seem less intimidating to people who are new to this game entirely. I like the chill vibe. City Planners Play is very "commerical".

Keep it up man, I really enjoy the way you play, I haven't seen your level of attention to detail anywhere else on RU-vid, and the views usually dwindle down for every series for most RU-vidrs, try not to worry too much about them.

Darren, your vids are great! don't sweat it! Mental health is an important thing and if you're feeling stressed or you don't feel confident enough then you should take it slowly and remember that this is your channel. :) Some viewers have dropped of but the rest of us are staying right here. don't worry about the pause between episodes, as life is important, we're all here to support you! ❤

I found this let’s play and binged all the episodes a couple of days ago. Happy I have one more to watch, will be following along with this series 😊

I only found your CS1 content recently, I felt you were very raw in the ones I watched, but you were as they were old videos. I started watching this CS2 series, and it has been great. All content makers have ‘moments’ or ‘blips’. Don’t feel bad on yourself, you’re getting more popular. Keep watching CPP and Biffa etc for tips…they watch others still despite being two of the best.

Great to see CS2 content back again! Been waiting for it

Hey not sure if you’ll see it but I might have an explanation for your views drop off. I think it’s due to sudden bursts of your videos getting blessed by the algorithm. For me it was city skylines ep 3 (or 2 I don’t remember) and I really enjoyed it and stuck around. Some people will click out of curiosity and stick around to watch the rest of the video since it’s so good, but won’t keep watching the series not only due do time between episodes but also due to the length of the videos. Some people don’t have that time of an hour per episode to spend it on that particular topic. Some avoid long videos all together. Not to say to changer the length of your videos cuz it’s YOUR format and some people might not enjoy it which is fine because some definitely will and with that you’ll build up your own audience even if it’s slower then appealing to the broader demographic!

btw, i’ve been binging this series. i just really love your commentary and i find that your mindset with this game is very similar to mine. you’re by far my favorite content creator for this game, i feel like im playing vicariously through you 😅

this has been my fave CS2 series so far.... there's something about the way you think and build that's pretty close to my way so it's pretty relatable and always inspires to get back into the game and apply what i learn from you the other big CS2 channels on YT are a bit too advanced and i find myself feeling lost

Dude, I love this series, I don't play satisfactory but this one is right up my street. I've been playing along and replicating your city and ideas in my own game. You've made things, systems and tools make so much more sense to me in this game and given me the confidence to build something of my own in the next city. I love the format, your explanations and seeing your experimentations with your own city makes you really relatable. Don't change dude, you're awesome, try not to get in your own head too much, you're doing great! Thanks for all that you do!

I think the reason that you’re not getting as many views as other RU-vidrs, is because you don’t post as often as other RU-vidrs do. I think if you post more often that you would get more views. Also don’t think so negatively about your videos! You have to fight on especially when things are going bad! I find your videos are even better than other RU-vidrs so keep it up man!❤️

Sad to hear you are feeling so insecure! Hope it got a bit better recently. I'm quite behind, but I like this series!! Your way of explaining things is soothing and friendly, and I'm excited to watch this city grow. I also like how honest you are in your narration, and that you seem to be open to people's feedback. I say this as someone who can be quite critical, who has stopped watching multiple series because I was getting frustrated with the player's choices, sooo.. idk, guess it can just be personal taste sometimes.

Nothing is more fun than trying to replicate your city on my local save. I love your series and how you walk through every detail such that I can follow along and learn the mechanics in the process. Please, keep up the good work.

You are doing great! Hang in there! Embrace your mistakes! Let that be your gimmick. Tons of ppl are doing lets plays, how can you make yours stand out? You got this!

You may lose viewers early on but you've certainly not lost me. Your city is so beautiful and fluid and 10x better than anything I could ever do. No matter how long of pauses inbetween episodes, as life is important, Im always happy to wait until the next one. Keep it up!

Really love your videos and even if there are "better" players out there, I will still watch yours. Your channel helped me soooo much with understanding Anno 1800. I felt so overwhelmed with that game when I started and then I watched your videos and it explained so much and made Anno 1800 one of my favourite games all time. Super hyped when I saw you were making CS2 content as well as I learned so much from you for this game too. I know I'm just 1 viewer but please know you're appreciated!!

Glad to see you finally back on CS2, missed your videos. They have said that the update coming with the Beach properties content creator pack coming end of march will be released together with a big update (with also new free content and paradox mods), so if that update actually have some very big improvements then good on them. On the Word of the Week they did say that releasing patches so frequent takes much more time then bigger updates, since there is a system to go through takes a lot of time, and doing it with bigger/less updates makes them at the end of the day improving the game faster.

Favorite series on YT rn, keep up the great work I understand the challenges but no matter what, I’ll be watching!

I just recently found cities skylines videos and I'm loving them. I used to watch Fluxtrance years ago and your videos remind me of the same chill vibe and attention to detail except that your videos are a whole hour long each, which I love even more!

I have been waiting so long for this series. keep it up man!

love the series, and you’re much better than i could ever be at this game.

The reason they prefer making dlc over fixing the game is because they earn more on people buying dlc than on keeping players that have already paid for the game either way.

I know what you mean man. I think it’s ultimately important to be comfortable with your self.

Keep it up mate, wish you all the best and hopefully your channel grows! I'm watching your channel purely for Cities Skylines so been missing Blackwater a lot! As for the river and making quays - IMO, the river's too small and narrow to do the quays, would be better to leave it 'natural' in most places. Unless, of course, the city centre will be very urban, big and integrated with the waterfront - then it'd make sense to make quay on the eastern side (well, the right-hand side I mean). But that might be just my subjective opinion. Anyway, hope to see another episode of Blackwater soon! :) Cheers!

I love your voice and leave your content in the background. Its just fun and chill, like a vod but.. more streamlined and focued more on progress in the game instead of viewer interaction during streams.

This series prompted me to finally buy the game. Really enjoying it and keep it up!

Happy to see your CS2 city back! I'm not a huge fan of other games you play, but I'm always here for your CS2 series!!

Oh as a long time player of Total War: Warhammer I fully know about CA's update policy. However the majority of the playerbase rioted. It was in no way "mini", it caused numerous interventions by big management that has resulted in content being retroactively added to bad DLC, higher standards for future DLC, way more frequent updates/patches and a price cut from another game of theirs.

Been here for Anno, will be here for Cities... just hard to keep up sometimes so I watch in bulk eventually! Keep it up... you don't want to see my cities if you're not confident about your own builds, just know we all struggle haha

Really happy to see the series back.

I enjoy your Cities Skylines 2 series! I was so excited when I saw you posted a new video today. Keep up the great work!!!

I really feel that your content is a million views content. I honestly think your channel is about to boom just stay as you are and be patient. I'm a big fan ❤

Yo you’re great, i love the video’s and I understand very well about struggling with consistancy as i’m building my own film production company. As for your content i notice myself not finishing the hour long video’s on one go. Personaly for me the goldy lock zone is between 40 and 50 minutes for a video. Second, dont be so hard on yourself about if your content is good enough or not. Also what i’ve learned is dont compare yourself to others, it only puts unnessesairy presure on yourself. You are worthy and you’re great. The city is freaking beautifull. You do you and you’ll get there. You got this!!

I love watching your videos, both cities skyline and others. Spent countless hours enjoying your anno 1800 series. Always look forward to new videos 🤩 keep up the good work 👏👏👏

Nice to have this series again. Btw hace you tried surviving Mars or Ostriv? I would love to see you plays any of those

I enjoy these videos. I like what you're doing, you take your time to think about what you're going to build. I've seen some videos where people just build roads for the sake of building roads. Dont worry too much about what others are doing, as long as you enjoy the game people will watch.

I imagine the costs are 1000x more. And then the prices make sense for the most part. But if you’re dealing with large numbers it’s easy to just knock off the last three 0’s.

Me, watching this video while Satisfactory is running in the background. New subscriber reporting for duty!

Hi Darren, yeah there is a lot of youtube creator playing CS2 but, for me, it's the way you see and think the game what's interesting. So i was waiting for this video and i'm really glad you didn't stop the series. Oh and the air pollution which come from your wood factory, act on your forest camp production. The trees that are in the pollution area produce less wood. Significantly. Not so much a problem cause the game gives us money now, but maybe it can affect your production rate.

Been waiting for this episode, please upload these more, these vids r great.

Love your videos, for me personally I think they are extremely entertaining and enjoyable. If I was to give any criticism, it’s that I’d rather there were shorter. Maybe a 2 part series for an objective, for example building a Harbour. It’s hard putting aside an hour after a 9/5 I already tend to just watch one of your videos over the course of a day or two anyway. Just pick up from where I left off

I mean this in the best way possible. I love falling asleep to your videos. 😂

Really nice series, was feeling something missing when you haven’t uploaded for some time.

Hey Darren, no idea if this'll help but a friend of mine (has around the same amount of subs) was also struggling with retaining viewers for his series. He ended up not including the episode number in the title anymore and it actually helped him a ton! So maybe you could give that a go for one series and see if it performs any different. Try having more confidence in yourself you are are an amazing content creator

Sooo Happy you posted a new one! Your videos keep me sooo! interested!

Always appreciate and enjoy your videos. There are great for when I run on my treadmill. So thanks.

I prefer ur videos over many others, just the chill vibes u give these videos is really nice. I dont have the game as im not sure that i like to play it, i think its a "watch" game for me, So im definitely not going to judge you. Keep it up! :D

These videos are great. We were missing them for a while there. Hope they continue and they are viable for you! Enjoy watching

Really enjoying the series

so happy, this is back!

Watched the whole series in two days. Could you build way more tram lines? It'll help clear up the crowds

Yay thanks for uploading you are my favourite city skylines RU-vidr

Keep the videos' coming. You're doing great and they are entertaining/informative

So happy to see you play CS2! ❤

finally a new episode

I've enjoyed your videos . Please continue.

Hey Darren I love your series a lot and it’s sad to hear u talk about the decline in audience but as others have said it may be the video length, I do enjoy it myself but others may not and I think just reducing videos to 40 or 50 mins could improve the issue a lot. I also wanted to make a suggestion for when your making the downtown area of the city I would love to see you re create an image of the Glasgow Main Street shops which would fit the uk style so much and allow you to use mixed housing and pedestrian roads in the dead centre of the main city. That’s just a few of my suggestions, I love your series so far 👍👍👍

You can build quay on the river btw

Hi mate, I enjoy watching your videos but the thing that makes me not watch is when it’s a 4 hour plus stream. I just don’t have that much free time. The 1 hour videos I’m good with and honestly I don’t think I’ve missed one of them and of course I leave a thumbs up. Keep up the great work 👍

Hey man! I think your contents are really great! Don't try to be something you're not and just keep on going. Quality content like yours will eventually reach a steady pace of success 😊

my only recommendation would be that the videos need to be consistent. Having random posting days or missing weeks will completely kill your viewership and retention. As you said though, you will never retain everyone. I know getting in your own head is tough. But just stick to what you enjoy doing and playing and I promise that will come through to the viewer. Being genuine and authentic is the most important thing… and if you are stressed and trying to hard and it isn’t fun… that will affect the content. Plus it messes with your head. Just my 2 cents. I really enjoy this series and I don’t even play CS2 yet. Your videos were one of the reasons that I finally bought a gaming computer and started playing CS1! It has been amazing and I love playing it. By the time I’m done CS2 will be awesome too, so it’s perfect! lol

I think you're on par in terms of skills in the game with City Planner Plays or Biffa. The difference is that they have videos which are more catered to “more casual" viewers. Videos like “My subscriber sent this city for me to fix the traffic" “One tile challenge". And the viewers of those videos, also get encouraged to check out their more detailed series. Your videos are more of a series which is not bad but like even in FIFA youtubers that was the case, views always decrease as the series moves forward. If you want to get such high views (although not in this series), it might help to make videos that are more friendly to casual viewers.

Well I'm a new viewer and I really appreciate how much effort you put into your videos. Keep them coming however long it takes :)

Thunderstorm is a safe place to download mods for CS2. You can get an upgrade option to upgrade roads to get a quey and get those grass textures in the ui instead on in the developer mode, and a tree line tool. There are many other great mods there already, paradox mods is 1,5 months away if you don't wanna wait for that instead tho.

Hi, I have been subscribed for a long time and I know you read every comment :). First thing, I watch you, CityPlannerPlays, and Overcharged Egg which puts you in my top 3 for City Skylines content, so keep it up! The biggest issues I have with your videos are the tangent discussions and tunnel vision within episodes. I hate any video from any content creator when I do not get what I am expecting from the start because I feel like I get tricked. For example, this video I am expecting to see you fill in the Gaps in the city, but for the first 10 minutes, you are talking about the state of the series, your lack of confindence, and how you are feeling. Don't get me wrong, its something you should talk about and I want to hear it, but not in the beginning of the city skylines video. This is something you need to do in a separate video. Another example is when you hyper focused on the round-abouts in an episode and that became annoying to watch. Its not fair to compare yourself to City Planner Plays because he does something different and unique due to his proir experience as a City Planner. I enjoy his content a lot because he crafts these stories with fictional people as he develops out the city. However, he isn't perfect either; recently he has been doing cut aways to him on camera talking about the game or talking about whatever which is not why I watch his content. Even though he is a handsome guy, I do not want to see him on camera in a video (live streaming is ok). I want to see you all focus on playing the game and talk about what and why you make specific decisions. All in all, your content is great and as long as you just show us Darren playing the game, we will be happy and your videos will get more retention and views. Peace and love my friend!

i love the videos and i think their awesome!

There is a mod to fix the high rent thing. I know most people don't like playing with mods, but this is a clear bug fix being done by the modding community. I'm not playing the game because of all the bugs. I looked at it through Game Pass, but then stopped paying for that as well.

I have to be honest, I follow you on my premium account and I haven't watched your last few videos because: I didn't know when to expect the next video and the subscription list is alphabetical so you are alllllllllll the way at the bottom. So I don't know when to look for new videos from you and you get buried in my subscriptions 😭 I love your videos and your city is awesome! Consistency, even if it's just every two weeks at least we know when to check the channel. Loved the video!

Yaaay!!!! Missed ya! ❤❤❤

Anjay update juga nih series, setelah nunggu lama

I waiting for ur this series so long it's ok just do yourself, most of Ur video are awesome.I follow Ur video seen Anno 1800 first episode never regret it .I would like to share my idea make a small bridge between the town and new downtown area

Sweet with a new video!

I feel like some ppl get more views because they have their own spin like city planner plays has the backstory what if you try to add your own creative spin to the videos that really stands out

The bugs in cities 2, are not really that bad. If we never had cities 1, there would be nothing to compare it to. Cities 1 was out for a decade, with dozens of DLCs, many of the DLCs had the features that many are criticizing CS2 for not having and mislabeling it a bug. That said, release DLCs so we get better content. I would love to have the parks DLC from CS1 for better custom parks, same with the industries DLC to have better economy and supply chain structure.

Im likely to be a fall off viewer, but I dont have any insight to share on why cityplanner videos have better retention. Im interested in city builders after starting with simcity3k onward but I find cities skylines 1+2 a bit dull so I just randomly watch one vid once in awhile.

HA, First! I'm here for the long haul. Love your content!

I don't often comment but I do love your content recently and I do wonder if your drop-off rate is affected by branding. I'd suggest a simpler name "Darren Plays" and a more distinct or recognisable logo/channel icon especially when seen at smaller sizes. Then an use an initial splash screen before/end of each video, and the icon in the thumbnail. It'll help people find/recognise your videos or continuations in a series regardless of RU-vid temperamental algorithm or suggestions to the viewers. I know I have to manually use the playlist to find the following on content. Happy to talk though I'm more detail if you'd find it helpful.

I am not sure if i am wrong, but if you only have one train line wouldn't the cargo lines slow down the passenger lines anyway?

I love all the vids, i watch my sub feed for them, you should be more confident

I left a suggestion on Discord👀