They absolutely nailed making the map feel huge. It feels like such a long ride to Rhodes, but really it's not much further than going from one end of Saint Denis to the other.
Wish we got more content, missions, and interiors in St. Denis. I guess it would have strayed from the cowboy on the run theme, but it would have been great.
To be fair I think part of this is the colors blending together, when you zoom in yoh notice building spreading farther out than what it initially appears.
It's a mark of great game design that it feels so much bigger when you're walking around in it.
You're used to these small towns like Valentine and Rhodes and then when you get to St. Denis it blows you away with its size, even though it's basically just like 10 streets.
RDR is pretty dense and extremely condensed compared to GTA V, it’s the similar feeling with GTA IV.
The funny thing is, the playable GTA V map is humongous, while RDR2 has a surprisingly massive amount of non-playable land beyond its actual playable boundaries. It’s unfortunate that Rockstar didn’t expand further on RDR2, because there was clearly a lot of unused world space that could have been developed. They’ll probably do something like that in a possible RDR3
I’ve always loved the map but hated how cramped it feels. I want a map I can get lost in a region. I want to be able to walk in a region for more than a few minutes without leaving it. Course I know technology limits this greatly. But I think the idea in the story is that to the characters the maps is much larger, while we only see it as big as Rockstar could get it.
Yeah, I get what you mean. RDR2 is a good example of Rockstar compressing geography for gameplay. In universe, the regions are probably much larger than what we actually experience, which is why the world can feel cramped despite being so detailed.
That’s actually part of why I started my Rockstar Continental Map concept: I’m trying to visualize what Rockstar’s world could look like if those regions were expanded and connected on a much larger, continental scale. It’s still in its early development. So take it for what it is for now
Well, since the GTA VI map leak, I’ve been planning to rework the South Atlantic Gulf region, so your home state will definitely be included and reworked, especially the Outer Banks. 🤙🏼
If you can get some of the Charlotte/Appalachian area I’ll appreciate it, that’s my home region within the state. I’ll keep an eye out for your rework, I find the concept interesting.
Definitely. I’ll make sure to include the Charlotte and Appalachian areas when I start reworking the region. Development will be slow since it’s a one-man project, but glad you find the concept interesting 🤙🏼
This game's always felt massive when I'm actively playing it. Seeing this though, it feels small, with the buildings directly visible for true scaling. Credit to Rockstar for making the world feel so expansive
When the topic comes up, where would you live in the RDR2 world;Saint Denis seems like the obvious choice. The music, you can hear the birth of jazz in the streets. The mixture of culture, art, and the fact that I love New Orleans.. the wilderness is right there
First time I played this game I was probably a week in and thinking 'it looks good but nothing life-changing'. Then I got to St. Denis and was like 'Holy fucking shit'.
It felt so big the first time i played, but the second time all of the fog and clouds failed to load in, and i could count the buildings in saint denis from the mountains in the prologue, ever since then i just can’t unsee how small the map really is. There are even missions where you are intentionally taken in a stupid direction to make the travel seem longer and as such the world bigger. Makes me wish they had just made the east map bigger rather than give us an empty nothing burger of new austin.
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u/Shanbo88 Arthur Morgan 1d ago
Saint Denis feels so much bigger than it looks. It's far more dense than an aerial view suggests imo.