Tumbleweed Connection: Searching for the Deserts in RDR2

[BretMaverick777]

(with apologies to Sir Elton John)

So one of our favorite mysteries in the landmarks ID thread is trying to figure out where that desert is located that we saw in gameplay trailer #1.   Mexico is a favorite, and logical, reply, but then you get into the whole question of whether that means Nuevo Paraiso is returning from RDR1, or is that large section of empty space across the Lannahechee River/Flat Iron Lake to the south of the leaked RDR2 map a brand new section of Mexico waiting to be discovered. 

 

But there remains the possibility that the desert ISN'T in Mexico, even though the gila monster and the organ pipe cactus and saguaro cactus in the scene suggest that biome.  Thing is, you can also find that biome in southern Arizona, too.   It's part of the Sonora Desert, which is mainly in Mexico; but large parts of it can be found extending into the American Southwest.

So....what if our mystery desert is set in the American Southwest, instead of Mexico...?  

 

Here's something I just found out today, thanks to some interesting reposts by @zachsterosu   ...Apparently, there was some very interesting material left on the cutting room floor, so to speak, in the RDR1 map.   Check out this reward poster for a $10,000 bank robbery:

 

Sheriff Stewart Spilkin.  Hmm.

Sheriff of Canyon City....where's that? 

...and Southwestern Railroad Company...?

What about the fine print on this sign:    "Canyon City, Southwest Territory."  

 

Circumstantial evidence.  Stuff that never made it into RDR1....so what, right?  

Well....take a look at something that *did* make it into RDR1.  In the ghost town of Tumbleweed, to be specific.

The guy in Tumbleweed who used to run the assay office for the gold miners from nearby Gaptooth Breach was named Spilkin.   Where do you think he might be living in 1911...?

 

So, Gaptooth Breach represents the map edge in RDR1.   Beyond lies the Sea of Coronado to the south and west, and more desert to the north and west.   Could that desert be the one from the gameplay trailer?   Could that desert be the Southwest Territory...? 

And does that mean the only way to reach that new region would be through Gaptooth Ridge...through a full-scale New Austin remap? 

Well....not necessarily.

RDR1 maps show a range called the "Redemption Mountains" north of New Austin and west of West Elizabeth.  They appear on the RDR2 leaked map as natural map boundaries.  But maybe the hypothetical Southwest Territory could be entered through those Redemption Mountains, on up the Lower Montana River past everyone's favorite RDR1 hunting ground, the Aurora Basin? 

And maybe....just maybe....there's gila monsters there, and cacti, and maybe a town called Canyon City, with a sheriff named Spilkin.

 

 

 

[Jabalous]

Interesting perspective. I'd Iove to have access to these desert flatlands via the rugged and arid Redemption mountains range, providing extreme contrast to the snowy and forests-covered Grizzlies mountains range and its surroundings. 

Edited August 25, 2018 by Efreet

[gonnaenodaethat]

Did you ever wonder why

 

   the railroad

       never made it to

                  Tumbleweed?

 

                       Maybe you

                need to be

       watching

 

                  some

 

            Tumbleweed films.

 

Haiku my IQ?

Edited August 25, 2018 by gonnaenodaethat
to be more vague

[BretMaverick777]

1 hour ago, gonnaenodaethat said:

Did you ever wonder why

 

   the railroad

       never made it to

                  Tumbleweed?

 

                       Maybe you

                need to be

       watching

 

                  some

 

            Tumbleweed films.

 

Haiku my IQ?

Because the railroad bypassed Tumbleweed to go on to Armadillo instead.  Right, we got all that from Sheriff Johnson in RDR1.  It's all part of the plot, and the backstory on a ghost town playground for John. 

...but to/from where? 

 

The railroad (dotted orange lines) goes past Armadillo and Benedict Point to....a great big loop of Gaptooth Ridge.  Even in gameplay terms, what would be the point of just a big loop around the middle of nowhere?   The Southwestern Railroad, and Rockstar proper, must have had plans to originally extend the railroad from Armadillo THROUGH Gaptooth Ridge to....whatever lies north by northwest of Gaptooth Ridge.    Southwest Territory, and Canyon City, were clearly an idea for RDR1, maybe even discarded DLC, that simply got scrapped during development.    But what if that got resurrected for RDR2, if/when Houser decided the game was going to need some desert on the map after all? 

[Haha365]

I won't lie,  I was just looking for a connection in RDR2 to Tumbleweed. I feel like there is a story to flesh out there. 

 

Nice perspective.

[BretMaverick777]

1 hour ago, Gigs84 said:

I won't lie,  I was just looking for a connection in RDR2 to Tumbleweed. I feel like there is a story to flesh out there. 

 

Nice perspective.

To me, it makes the New Austin/Nuevo Paraiso add-on that much more likely.  Including a look at Tumbleweed pre-ghost town.

[ivarblaauw]

It would make that theory (or was it a leak?) more likely.

 

What theory am I talking about? The one which states that the leaked map is just one of the three parts of the game. 

 

What if:

- The desert is west of Gaptooth Ridge?

- The large trees (normally found in California) are north of that?

 

I don't want to think this way, as I feel like I am setting myself up for disappointment, but it makes a little bit of sense and could explain those two shots. 

 

By having this, the game could actually show why Tumbleweed was passed by the railroad as a town, especially with the increased scale. 

 

So what if we don't just get a remastered version of New Austin and Nuevo Paraiso, but also an extra territory or two. Let me know your thoughts!

[Haha365]

18 minutes ago, ivarblaauw said:

 

 

By having this, the game could actually show why Tumbleweed was passed by the railroad as a town, especially with the increased scale. 

If RDR1 taught us anything... it probably had something to do with government and/or money. 

 

I'd like see it happen though. 

[BretMaverick777]

1 hour ago, ivarblaauw said:

It would make that theory (or was it a leak?) more likely.

 

What theory am I talking about? The one which states that the leaked map is just one of the three parts of the game. 

 

What if:

- The desert is west of Gaptooth Ridge?

- The large trees (normally found in California) are north of that?

 

I don't want to think this way, as I feel like I am setting myself up for disappointment, but it makes a little bit of sense and could explain those two shots. 

 

By having this, the game could actually show why Tumbleweed was passed by the railroad as a town, especially with the increased scale. 

 

So what if we don't just get a remastered version of New Austin and Nuevo Paraiso, but also an extra territory or two. Let me know your thoughts!

I'm an optimist.  I'm betting your way.

[Little Big Man]

Not only will you not get these imaginary regions, but the Heartlands will be DLC and St. Denis will be cancelled.

 

But don't give up hope. There's always RDR3!

Edited August 25, 2018 by Little Big Man

[ivarblaauw]

35 minutes ago, BretMaverick777 said:

I'm an optimist.  I'm betting your way.

Optimist here as well xD I just love how all these clues Rockstar is throwing around make the community go absolutely mad xD

[silly_nate]

This is honestly so good!

 

infact it’s too good

If Redemption 2 is heading east, who’s to say Redemption 3 (coming 2028) won’t head west?

ugh but then that desert shot comes around and messes everything up 2 months left