The Madlands – a bird’s eye view

So way back when like last year. Max and I got on this mission to map the place out neighborhood by neighborhood. We came up with eight of em. I think they make sense, if anyone else has been there and wants to tell me we’re idiots, that’s cool. I don’t know if I’ve got it all right cause there’s no way in hell you’re getting me in the city let alone up in some building. I mean sure, some people seem to be mellowed out a bit, but I kinda like not being some freak’s midnight snack and that would just be asking for it. But take this more as a rough guide. The neighborhoods blend like they do in any city. I mean you don’t just have big blank spaces like you do here.

So…

No laughing at the graphics. I stole the trees from a little 2d platformer I was working on in flash. I have no excuse for the mountains. You can laugh at them. I tried to make hills but gave up. Pretend there are hills up by BFE. Kinda past it really. Shit. This is why I don’t do maps. It’s never gonna be right.

BFE: There’s really nothing out that way. An old train station. Some hills. There’s a small lake – it almost divides the hills and the woods, really. I was hanging out here for a while. It’s pretty quiet and safe and, if you’re in the mood for some killing, there are little critters around. I don’t really get off on that, but some do.

City Core: If you were going to use real world measurements, I’d say it probably a couple square miles at the most. It’s pretty tall and dense in parts, but we’re not looking at anything like NYC. It’s probably more like Seattle or some other mid-sized city, so there are pockets where it’s dense and then it opens up a bit and you’re looking at a stretch of shorter maybe 5 story buildings. It definitely has the feel of an old city with some narrow streets and a lot of random alleys that might turn and dead end.

Harbor: The most notable place here is the area around the casino. I’d guess that it’s just left of center looking at the map this way. I’m pretty curious as to the shape of the place – it was always filled with people.

Hipsters & Wannabes: There are some taller buildings here, but it’s mostly brownstones or townhouse types. If the city was in any sort of decent shape, this would be a pretty cool area. It used to be that it was still pretty safe to walk in most places and steal a few sips of beer. If you’d cute up enough and do a few tricks, you could even score some decent food. But it’s been a while, I doubt you still could.

Industrial Wasteland: Lots of warehouses and industrial type places here. Max and I have been fascinated by this place – especially the area next to the harbor. There’s an attitude to the place you just don’t get in other places. Maybe over by the casino a bit, but it’s kind of watered down over there.

Lake: This is a lake. It has water. I wouldn’t drink it though. Might be more fun to splash around in if you didn’t have to lick yourself clean.

No Man’s Land: My map is way the fuck off. This goes on for miles before you get to the mountains. There’s nothing out there that I know of. A couple roads that head up to the mountains but it’s mostly just dead fields. It was probably farmland at some point.

Shore: This is kind of like Suburban Hell only cooler. I don’t know what makes it cooler other than it’s closer to water.

Slummier Slums: This is a pretty devastated area. The wall is right around here and is probably the best part of the place. I don’t know if it was ever nice, but it sure isn’t now.

Suburban Hell: Again, this is a lot bigger than it looks on the map. It also looks about like the suburbs in any other city. You got the working class suburbs all the way up to the McMansions.

University: You’ve got the school and related stuff. Has a real old feel to it. It’s a decent size but isn’t like a huge expansive state school. Last I saw it, parts of it were beginning to look a bit rough, but it was holding up a lot better than some of the surrounding areas. Must be all the smart people.

Woods: I’ve been paying closer attention to these lately. They go pretty much all the way around the one side of the city and, surprisingly, they’re actually pretty interesting and it has nothing to do with the fact that the hottest chick around seems to be hanging out there. Nope. Nothing. I’m going to try and put together a map of what I’ve seen so far. If this headache mellows, I might manage to get it up today.

Is this how you guys see things? Let me know here or on Nightmare Confessions.