Last week it was cake and sparkling wine but this week it's all business here at Colossal Order. For Chirpy turning 1 year last Thursday Paradox announced an upcoming free update and I'm so happy I get to finally talk about it. I asked Cities: Skylines lead artist Janne to help me out with this one for some pro tips so read below what Landscaping is all about!Modifying terrain ingame has never been part of the grand vision of Colossal Order. We clearly wanted to have editor features and the gameplay separated, so that the maps are made in the editor and the city built ingame. However there are cases when modifying the terrain makes sense while building the city. Therefore we have been working on tools that allow slight modification, or landscaping, to be added to the game: Shift, Level, Soften and Slope tool. All of these have three brush sizes and strengths available that allow small changes to the terrain. Just remember that the dirt is not simply added or removed like in the map editor, but will actually have to be moved from one place to another.Janne wanted to share his experience with the landscaping tools:On top of the landscaping tools to adjust the terrain in game the update will bring canals, quays and flood walls. The water structures will give more flexibility and options for forming different looking cities. The canals will make it possible to guide the water around the map and having the water intakes and outlets placed closer the city. There are some limitations to the canals, like the fixed width which has been chosen so that the water intake and outlet fit there, but is not too wide for the canals to flood easily. The depth can be build in three different levels and is upgradeable later on. The quays will make the shores look more neat and also make it easier to place the beach assets introduced in After Dark expansion. Water structures therefore have two purposes in the game: to allow more control over the water in the maps and making visually interesting choices for the city. I personally think this is one of the best features for Cities: Skylines, because what is more fun than to guide poop water around the city (and after a massive error in design having the flood walls is a benefit)!Janne on the other hand is using the canals to avoid poop water:All the new tools are found under landscaping button in the main panel alongside paths, trees and rocks. The old decoration service will be called Parks and Plazas and will include only those. There's also a new infoview for the different terrain heights.Wait, did I say ROCKS?! Let Janne explain:So there you go, plenty of new things available soon! We're working hard to getting the update ready for you during March. So get ready to get your hands dirty landscaping!Cheers,Mariina & Janne