For the best results I'd suggest you use either Photoshop or GIMP as your image editing software, but you can use pretty much anything. I used Photoshop for my containers, but I'll use GIMP in this guide, since it's free. For both programs it's pretty much the same, though the names of options might vary a bit. :)

All the files needed are found here[drive.google.com]

First pick the size you want to do first - Large (40 ft) or Small (20 ft). For Photoshop use the .psd, for GIMP use the .xcf or use the .png ending in "_d" for any other program.

You'll notice the texture has 3 layers - at the bottom is the grey base texture, in the middle the writing on the doors and at the top the ambient occlusion (the shadows). You'll work on new layers in the middle for the most part.

Create a new layer above the bottom layer like shown in the screenshot. I've named it base color, but you can name it anything you'd like. Pick a color for your container, fill the layer with it and set the layer mode to either Soft Light (for most colors) or Grain merge (for dark colors). If you don't like it, you can just fill in the layer with a new color until you like the result. :)

Next is the logo - for most container brands they're very simple and often just a name or letters. In my example I'll just make a text layer above our base color, which will be my logo. When you're happy with font, size and color, dublicate the layer and move it to the other side (only applies to the large container)



Now the main look of the container is done, but we need to add a bit more detail to make it look really good. First let's look at the ISO 6346 compliant container number[en.wikipedia.org] - if you want a realistic number you'll have to learn a bit about how those numbers are generated, but I'll try and explain it as simply put as I can. Here's how the first number is set up:


The owner code for my example could simply be CSS. The category is easy, since it's U for all freight containers. Next just pick six random numbers - for my example I'll pick 397102. Now comes the complicated part, as the check digit has to be calculated.

The calculation is explained here[en.wikipedia.org], where you can also see the values for the letters. I'll go through the process of calculating my check digit. First we'll convert the letters to numbers - which gives us 13 30 30 32 3 9 7 1 0 2. Then each number is multiplied by their position's multiplication factor.



Almost there! Now we add all those numbers like so: 13+60+120+256+48+288+448+128+0+1024=2385
Then we divide by 11, giving us 216.81818182, which we round to the whole number 217.
Multiply that by 11: 217x11=2387
And then to find the check digit we find the difference between the first and second numbers (2387-2385=2). We're done with math and I've got the ISO 6346 number for my example:



The 2nd line is alot easier - the first two characters (4 and 2) describe the size of the container, so for my large 40 ft containers it's always 4 and 2, and for the smaller 20 ft containers it's always 2 and 2. The last two are related to the type of container, which can be found here[en.wikipedia.org], but for most it will be GP, G0 or G1 as those are general purpose.

Last step is to add some detail like rust. You can find free rusty textures here[www.textures.com], which are very useful. Just add them as a new layer at the top and mess around with the layer mode and opacity until it blends well. Multiply is a good place to start, but it really depends alot on the color of the container and how strong you want it to look. You can also add warning lables or the likes to your container for more detail.

For my example I ended up with a mix of Multiply (opacity 50%) and Lighten only (opacity 50%) to get the rust looking fine on the red container, but I suggest you experiment.



Export the finished texture as a .png (save as .png for Photoshop) giving it the _d ending. You might want to lower the saturation and lightness around 25-50% since the game makes textures alot brighter and saturated than they should be. I highly recommend you test it in the game, preferable with your favorite LUT (if you're using one) to make sure it looks like you intended.

This one is super easy as you can just straight up use the texture we just make. All you need to do is make a copy of it, rename it to end in _lod_d.png and then open it in an image editor and resize it to 128x64 (for the 40 ft container) or 64x64 (for the 20 ft container).

Time to see the result of your work! You'll want to place the files in the Import folder, which is usually found here: C:\Users\YourUserName\AppData\Local\Colossal Order\Cities_Skylines\Addons\Import

Make sure all the files are named correctly like so:

• Name.fbx
  
• Name_LOD.fbx
  
• Name_c.png
  
• Name_d.png
  
• Name_n.png
  
• Name_lod_c.png
  
• Name_lod_d.png

Open up Cities: Skylines. Before you go into the asset editor I suggest turning off all/most of your mods and assets as this both makes it load faster and avoid crashes. If you use Daylight Classic by BloodyPenguin I suggest keeping that on, as it creates a much nicer icon, but it isn't needed.

Then select "New" in the asset editor and when it's done loading up select "Prop" In the "Parks, Plazas & Environment Props" category you'll find the default container, which I recommend using as the template.



Now save it and repeat the import process if you have more containers. Otherwise reload the game and you're ready to use the container. :D

You're ofc very welcome to upload the container(s) to the workshop - all I ask is you throw a mention and a link to this guide, so others can find it should they want to make their own container. :)

If you want to upload more containers at once click the little folder icon in the corner of the preview image (this is also where you can change the preview image for the workshop), then open the folder "Content" and copy all the .crp files you want to upload into that folder. Just remember you'll need to add the files again when updating.

I haven't included the files for the truck or train trailers, as their LOD textures were made by baking textures in Blender. If you know what that means and would like to use those models too, then let me know. I'll happily share the files, but atm I don't have the time to make a guide explaining how to bake textures. When I do at some point get around to that, I'll update this section and add the files to the link at the start. :)

Files can be found here: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1ixYyA4QrVNeBkki9bHb3Oly3ZyhqdlxK?usp=sharing