Cities: Skylines is free on the Epic Store this week, giving new players a chance to dive into the complex world of metropolis management. Colossal Order's city-building sim has grown quite a following in the seven years since its original launch, and remains one of the most popular games in the genre. Cities: Skylines takes players from an empty field to a sprawling metropolis, allowing them to micromanage every step along the way.
Roads are the veins and arteries of a city, and the largest projects in Cities: Skylines can be reduced to a standstill by congestion. To counter this, players will need to be smart in their road placement, and construct complicated intersections to link busy areas. However, the only way to get roads to cross without meeting is to have them go over or under each other, which makes knowing how to raise roads in Cities: Skylines essential.
How to Raise Roads in Cities: Skylines
In order to raise a road in Cities: Skylines, players will first need to be in one of the road placement modes, either Straight, Curved, or Freeform. Whichever mode players are in, they will be able to see a blue outline of the road they are planning to build when using the tool.
While this blue outline is visible, pressing the Page Up key will raise the road by one level. Pressing the key more than once will raise the road multiple levels, which is useful for major intersections. To lower the road again, or to create a tunnel in Cities: Skylines, players should use the Page Down key. For Mac players, the keys are Function + Up/Down Arrow, and will operate in the same way.
Road Placement Tips in Cities: Skylines
Players can fine-tune their city management skills by clicking on the vertical bar beside the road types. This will change how much the road is raised each time, with the default height being 12 meters, and the alternatives being 3 or 6. A road must be raised to a sufficient height before it is allowed to cross over another, which will be indicated by the outline turning blue again.
In some situations, it will be more sensible to lower a road beneath the ground rather than raise it up. This is particularly useful when facing uneven terrain, when saving space for buildings, or when there are already several other roads in the area. However, digging tunnels costs more than raising roads, and may interfere with future projects like Cities: Skylines' subway tracks.
Cities: Skylines is available now on PC, PS4, Switch, and Xbox One.