Mapping Red Dead Redemption 2! Landmark Analysis Thread

[TechDevil 76]

5 hours ago, BretMaverick777 said:

Just a little foray into trying to match up regions of the RDR1 and RDR2 map to areas they're probably based on in North America.  

Not all of it's gonna be 100%, and feel free to draw your own conclusions.  

Roanoke Ridge:   Appalachia.  Coal mining country around Annesburg; Van Horn looks like a derelict river port; some of the place names suggest hillbilly country.

 

Scarlett Meadows:  Deep South.   The Bayou and Scarlett Meadows are transposed, but I think Rockstar wanted to create a region with a "Django Unchained" vibe.

 

Bayou Nwa/St. Denis:   Louisiana.   St. Denis is New Orleans.  Pretty straightforward, nuff said.

 

The Heartlands:   The REAL Great Plains.   Encompasses a lot of area in the real US, but seems significantly smaller on the game map.

 

Cumberland Forest:   The Great North Woods.   I'm iffy on this, as I don't really believe Rockstar has shown much of this region in previews yet, but I'm estimating it's what we call "The Great North Woods" in the US --- MN, WI, and MI.   If that's the case, your best fishing and hunting should be up here.   And maybe ice-fishing.  Who knows. 

 

New Austin:   West Texas.   Texas is too big to fit into just one map, I suppose, but New Austin suggests West Texas, Hill Country, and maybe parts of OK and NM.   It's what they call "Chihuahuan Desert," as opposed to Sonoran Desert (more on that later).  (Not saying New Austin is in RDR2; no evidence of that.  Yet.)

 

Nuevo Paraiso:   Northern Mexico.   The desert regions of Mexico.   Again, not saying this RDR1 campaign area will return in RDR2; just placing it on the map here for reference.  

 

Tall Trees/Great Plains:   Colorado.   This one's still iffy/problematic for me, too.  But it wedges in there like a missing piece of a puzzle.  Like Colorado, West Elizabeth is Plains to the east, forested mountains to the west.   The state is bordered by the Upper and Lower Montana Rivers, though, so...I dunno.  I used to think that suggested Montana itself (again, similar geography), but maybe the Spanish word "montana" here is just being used in the sense of "mountainous," which certainly applies to most of Colorado.

 

Big Valley:   Wyoming, east Idaho, lower Montana.  I'm a bit more confident on this one, and pretty confident that Big Valley is considered part of the state of West Elizabeth, along with Tall Trees and Great Plains.  

 

The Grizzlies:   this one's tough to pinpoint.   Yeah, we know it's The Rockies.   But the Rockies run north-south, while the Grizzlies tend more east-west.  And they're situated NORTH of the plains, unlike the Rockies, which are WEST of the plains.  I'm guessing this really represents the Northern Rockies, on up into Idaho, Washington, Montana....and Canada.   British Columbia, Alberta.   I honestly think The Grizzlies are supposed to be north of the border, to give Dutch's Gang a safe haven of sorts to escape American law enforcement.   We'll see. 

 

And yeah, there's a lot of blank spaces on the map.   I hope someday to see a Pacific Northwest.  I'm not sure there is, or ever has been, plans to expand the map east into Florida and the Atlantic seaboard and New England, but who knows.   The Midwest looks orphaned, but I honestly don't think The Heartlands is meant to include that.  The Heartlands, in our game, is primarily grazing land --- cowboy country.   The Midwest is the bread-basket of America -- farm country.   I don't think Rockstar sees that as a viable playground for Dutch's Gang.  

 

And did I mention the Southwest Territory...? 

....More on that, in another thread. 

 

Solid work Maverick. Looks like the gang will cover most of the US, which makes me so excited, even if the RDR 1 map isn't in the game.

[Thor Shreddington 319]

1 hour ago, Mirokunite said:

All of the regions are just sort of a 'greatest hits' of real regions. Granted even these regions take cues from areas outside of their respective areas.

 

My take on the elements present in the regions.

 

Roanoke Ridge:   Map wise its the Ozarks meets Appalachia. But very much Appalachia in resources.

 

Scarlett Meadows:  The South. Plantation country.

 

Bayou Nwa/St. Denis:   Southern Louisiana. St. Denis is New Orleans with maybe elements from Saint Louis.

 

The Heartlands:   Nebraska Panhandle. Elements taken from the mid Great Plains.

 

Cumberland Forest:   Hard to say. I want to say a take on the Ozarks

 

New Austin:  As a whole its basically New Mexico meets Arizona. It takes place in a territory and in 1911 the only territories left in the continental US was Arizona and New Mexico. Geographically its Arizona/New Mexico.

Cholla Springs: Arizona
Gaptooth Ridge: Western Arizona
Hennigan's Stead: Oak savanna of Arizona
Rio Bravo: New Mexico

 

Nuevo Paraiso:   Northern Mexico with elements of New Mexico and Utah.

Diez Coronas: Monument Valley, with elements of Walpi, Arizona.
Perdido:  Chihuahuan Desert and Utah's Canyonlands
Punta Orgullo: Sonoran Desert

 

Tall Trees/Great Plains:   Colorado and the Great Plains. But the area could be a amalgamation of California foothills and the Sierras. Geographically speaking it would probably more correspond with Colorado.

 

Big Valley:   Geographically probably Central Colorado. A really condensed and narrow version. Probably something like Wet Mountain Valley.

 

The Grizzlies:   The Rockies.

 

Geographically the map doesn't make sense in a real world setting, nor would it even work in the real world. You won't find 1:1 analogs to the map to the real world. Rockstar built their own world figured the key regions they wanted in the game and populated it with relevant objects. But its not to say they didn't take creative liberties (redwoods outside California, Monument Valley land features in Northern Mexico). Its very much a idealized imagination of the concept of the West. Regions that are familiar and yet stand way out from one another.

 

9

f*cking nailed it. Dead on. 

Also, made me a little Arizona homesick...

[dandroid 51]

If there's a new desert area analogous to Arizona  in RDR2 I'm surprised we've not spotted any hints of its name in any media as we have Guarma etc.

[Mirokunite 894]

16 minutes ago, dandroid said:

If there's a new desert area analogous to Arizona  in RDR2 I'm surprised we've not spotted any hints of its name in any media as we have Guarma etc.

Guarma is probably the island on the map.

41 minutes ago, Thor Shreddington said:

f*cking nailed it. Dead on. 

Also, made me a little Arizona homesick...

I like the White Mountains myself.

 

[tsycho 2,657]

Page 100. MAPpy Anniversary, fellas!

[Chinese Takeout 3,626]

8 hours ago, BretMaverick777 said:

And maybe ice-fishing.

Did somebody say...ICE FISHING?

[Little Big Man 436]

Ice doesn't really bite, I've tried it.

[Chinese Takeout 3,626]

That's true, but the goal of ice-fishing isnt really to catch anything, other than a buzz while you spend hours of solitude in your fish house with just you, your portable TV, your fishing pole, and your beer.

 

[Mirror Park Resident 6,051]

2 hours ago, dandroid said:

If there's a new desert area analogous to Arizona  in RDR2 I'm surprised we've not spotted any hints of its name in any media as we have Guarma etc.

South-West Railroad, Canyon City, etc are little hints in RDR.

[Chinese Takeout 3,626]

12 hours ago, BretMaverick777 said:

The upper picture appears to be Heartlands....maybe Lucky's Cabin, just SW of Valentine?  Arthur walking his horse west at the end of a successful hunt?  

So, in that picture, would you place the "W" over the cabin? Trying to solidify my directions.

[BretMaverick777 5,001]

8 hours ago, Little Big Man said:

Interesting... But how will we reach it?

 

Will it be Southwest Yankton?

If we DON'T have access to New Austin, it could still be reached through Tall Trees.  Above the Aurora Basin, the river extends on into those off-map Redemption Mtns.  Possible, too, that as they build the railroad into West Elizabeth, they'll cut a spur on through the Tall Trees past Manzanita Post.  Which would likely keep the desert region locked to Arthur until then. 

2 hours ago, Chinese Takeout said:

So, in that picture, would you place the "W" over the cabin? Trying to solidify my directions.

I'd say late afternoon, approaching sunset with those long shadows.  That would put Arthur SE of the cabin, facing the Grizzlies to the NW.  Probably just came from a hunting trip out in The Heartlands. 

[Chinese Takeout 3,626]

28 minutes ago, BretMaverick777 said:

I'd say late afternoon, approaching sunset with those long shadows.  That would put Arthur SE of the cabin, facing the Grizzlies to the NW.  Probably just came from a hunting trip out in The Heartlands. 

I think I'd agree with you based on the position of the mountains. I'm not sure we can use the shadows for any kind of accurate positioning, haha. We all know how R* plays with the position of the sun to get the best looking shots with their trailers.

 

[Little Big Man 436]

It's just a picture of the sun setting in the north, so what?

[DuPz0r 4,891]

1 hour ago, Little Big Man said:

It's just a picture of the sun setting in the north, so what?

Which doesnt happen in real life. So what he's saying is we cant use sun position or shadows to help us judge where things are orientated.

Edited August 25, 2018 by DuPz0r

[in the bag 39]

Damn you guys should seriously look into becoming real life Archeologists.  Great work over here, especially on those who managed to line up the mountains in the background with the shot of the desert.

[joshua969 11,933]

57 minutes ago, in the bag said:

Damn you guys should seriously look into becoming real life Archeologists.  Great work over here, especially on those who managed to line up the mountains in the background with the shot of the desert.

Seconded.  The work all of you are doing in this thread is nothing short of amazing.  I can’t wait to see how the map pans out however it goes.

[Mirror Park Resident 6,051]

The day we get our hands on the real final map will be amazing. Not only because of the mere fact, but because most of the pictured possibilities will be true. Some guys are gonna be rightfully proud.😉

[Little Big Man 436]

After getting our hands on this legendary lost map, simply playing the game itself will be an anti-climax.

 

It'll be like if an Indiana Jones movie ended with Harrison Ford fiddling with an enigma machine for several hours.

 

Edited August 26, 2018 by Little Big Man

[BretMaverick777 5,001]

7 minutes ago, Little Big Man said:

After getting our hands on this legendary lost map, simply playing the game itself will be an anti-climax.

You could give me a completely unlocked map of RDR2 and the complete script with every mission and every line from every character, and RDR2 still wouldn't be even remotely anti-climactic for me.   There's so much that's going to unfold that even the developers can't predict.   I can't predict the AI, and the AI can't predict me, so there's a whole world that's going to evolve right in front of our eyes. 

[Little Big Man 436]

I'm just saying bullsh*t, a habit I find difficult to kick.

 

im not even sure how I'm going to play the game. I don't have one of those new game things you plug into a TV.

 

 

Edited August 26, 2018 by Little Big Man

[ivarblaauw 2,728]

Do we already know where the sequoia trees are in the game? Have we had any other shot than the one below?

 

Edited August 26, 2018 by ivarblaauw

[Cutter De Blanc 13,431]

That's gonna be a fun place to try to track down when the game finally gets here

must find big f*cking tree

[Thor Shreddington 319]

16 minutes ago, ivarblaauw said:

Do we already know where the sequoia trees are in the game? Have we had any other shot than the one below?

 

I don't know, but I'm going Squatchin'!

[in the bag 39]

38 minutes ago, ivarblaauw said:

Do we already know where the sequoia trees are in the game? Have we had any other shot than the one below?

 

 

I've always thought that was Tall Trees. Lots of tall dense foliage. There's not much to go by with this one though, absolutely no geographic indicators other than a slight hill slope. 

[DuPz0r 4,891]

4 hours ago, ivarblaauw said:

Do we already know where the sequoia trees are in the game? Have we had any other shot than the one below?

 

I'd say it looks like how i remember Tall Trees. It could be a number of places, but it just has that feel which i remember experiencing in RDR1.

[BretMaverick777 5,001]

5 hours ago, in the bag said:

 

I've always thought that was Tall Trees. Lots of tall dense foliage. There's not much to go by with this one though, absolutely no geographic indicators other than a slight hill slope. 

Tall Trees and Cumberland Forest are safe bets...

Tall Trees, obviously, tends to focus on the taller trees, so most likely this famous "Endor" shot is there.  Sequoias, redwoods, very little underbrush whatsoever. 

 

I think Cumberland Forest is going to tend to look more evergreen and alpine, like so: 

 

 

For that reason, I've always suspected this settlement is in Cumberland, due to the thick evergreen forest surrounding it.  And the family that looks Scandinavian.   If I was placing this in IRL America, Minnesota would be my first choice. 

 

[BretMaverick777 5,001]

Just pouring some fuel to the fire that R* definitely has plans for the area west (and north?!) of West Elizabeth and Big Valley: 

 

Check out the Road to Nowhere that leads out of Big Valley to the north:

And the anomalies between RDR1 West Elizabeth's map and the RDR2 leak:

RDR2's West Elizabeth is so incomplete.  Likely shows the state (or maybe still a territory...?) in 1899.   Over the course of RDR2, it's going to grow until it looks more like the 1911 map.   Beecher's Hope will be built from scratch after 1906.  Cochinay doesn't even have a road leading to it in 1899, but by 1911, Dutch will overrun the "gang hideout" with Apaches.  There are no railroads in West Elizabeth in 1899...even the Pacific Union Railroad Camp hasn't been built yet, let alone the Tanner's Span bridge into New Austin.   The wrecked Serendipity hasn't been docked at Quaker's Cove yet, and there's no visible road into Thieves Landing either. 

 

But the RDR1 map shows a couple of unfinished exits....there's a road west on Aurora Basin's north shore, just past the invisible wall waterfall; and another, the road that runs PAST Cochinay, to the north, into the "Redemption Mountains."   And I suspect RDR2 West Elizabeth's railroad could add a spur to continue west past Manzanita Post, across Tanner's Reach into the uncharted West. 

 

Rockstar has been planning to expand into that area since 2010.  The 2016 map shows that hasn't changed.   My guess is there's a whole 'nuther state waiting for us there, and it could be the "Southwest Territory" with "Canyon City" and the elusive desert region from gameplay trailer 1. 

Edited August 26, 2018 by BretMaverick777

[Mirokunite 894]

12 minutes ago, BretMaverick777 said:

Tall Trees and Cumberland Forest are safe bets...

Tall Trees, obviously, tends to focus on the taller trees, so most likely this famous "Endor" shot is there.  Sequoias, redwoods, very little underbrush whatsoever.  

 

 

Yeah, all the ferns remind me of the coastal redwood forest. Granted I don't think there is a game engine that can accurately render the amount of ground cover found in this place.

 

The ferns in the screenshot remind me of the coastal area redwood forest. But this is just creative liberties on Rockstar's part. Inland redwood/Sequoia groves look more like this in a more natural state.

 

 

11 minutes ago, BretMaverick777 said:

Just pouring some fuel to the fire that R* definitely has plans for the area west (and north?!) of West Elizabeth and Big Valley: 

 

Check out the Road to Nowhere that leads out of Big Valley to the north:

 

The road to nowhere might just dead end at a cave or campsite or something. As in real life not all roads terminate at a point of interest. Granted that map is several years old, and there might be something at the end of it I doubt it for now.

[DuPz0r 4,891]

Made an update to the terrain map. Went in and fixed a few more issues. Added a more realistic colour pallet. 

 

 

3D view: https://skfb.ly/6AXNp

[Little Big Man 436]

Your images are some of the best things to come out of this thread.

 

And in a thread full of Little Big Man's posts, that's saying something.

 

How about adding West Elizabeth and St. Denis?

Edited August 26, 2018 by Little Big Man