This is a guide on how to update a workshop item, stress free.

Before we begin make sure you have the following:

• New version of your item
  
  For most cases, the file name can be different but the actual asset name must be the same as the old version. Otherwise you will basically be uploading a new item, not an update of your old one.
  
  
• Custom preview image for your item
  
  This is optional as you can use the one you used when the item was last saved.
  
  However, I really encourage you to get creative and try putting just a little bit more info in your preview images if possible, without going over the top.
  
  NOTE: There are two ways to attach preview images to assets
  
  
  1. The best way is to attach the final preview image you wish to show in the workshop directly to the asset when you save it.
     
     (I made another guide on how to do this, which you can read if you don't know how)
     
     
  2. The other way is to put a custom preview image in place as you update to the workshop.
     
     The difference being that with the first method, the preview image will show everywhere, including content manager and load asset dialogues.
     
     With the second method only the workshop preview image is affected.
     
     I recommend the first method.

Once you have these two things, you can continue to the next section.

Before you update the item there is something you should do to make the process easier and avoid confusion and mistakes.

• Open your local Assets, Mod, or Map folder located at %localappdata%\Colossal Order\Cities_Skylines\Addons\
  
  You can literally copy paste that text into your explorer address bar and it will open the right folder.
  
  
• Move your local copy of the item you are updating out of this folder and into a "storage" folder where you keep your development files.
  
  This is to avoid having duplicates of your item in your content manager, which can cause several issues when updating. If you remove it from here before updating, you'll avoid all these issues, and the whole process becomes much simpler.

Subscribe to the Item you wish to update.


Find your Item in the Content Manager and click UPDATE.




Click the little Folder icon on the image in the Update window that just opened.




This window will pop up.



If you want to change the preview image that will be showing on Steam (but not on content manager) delete the PreviewImage.png file and put your custom preview image in its place. It must be named PreviewImage.png. and be 644x644 or smaller, and up to 2mb in size.


Double-click on the Content folder, delete the .crp or .dll file that it contains, and replace it with the updated version. This is the file which you should have moved out of the local assets/mods folder earlier to avoid duplicates.



Close the window and you should be back at the Update window, with your new custom thumbnail showing.

Now click Update. And DON'T TOUCH ANYTHING until you see "Committing changes" and the workshop page for your item opens.

Just be patient while it updates, or you can make it bug out.

Now just have to test.


To test that your item updates successfully:

Close the game completely. To make sure your new item refreshes you can also restart Steam at this stage.

Make sure your local copy of your asset is still OUTSIDE the asset folder.

Re-launch the game, open a city, and look for your item, and plop it to check if its the new version. Or load your map if its a map. Etc.

If you followed this guide step by step, it should be the updated version.

Now you can safely unsubscribe from your item, and move your local copy back into the appropriate folder, or use the workshop version and leave the local copy where you put it.

Many people already know how to do this, if you are one of them, kudos to you.

However I know for a fact that many people are struggling with the update process, as it is far from clear and smooth procedure, until you know exactly what to do.

This guide was written to help my friends and everyone else who is struggling.

If you are one of them, I hope this guide was clear enough and helps you have a better modding and gaming experience.

If you are one who already has a lot of knowledge and think this is a useless guide, I encourage you to consider everyone else exists too. Nothing is stopping you from writing your own, better guides. In fact, I'd love to see more people sharing their knowledge.

In any case, thank you for reading.

If you liked the guide and thought it was useful, please remember to leave a comment, a rating, and/or add this guide to your favourites.

And check out my Workshop.

Cya.