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Streets of Rogue 2 is a sequel to the original Streets of Rogue, sharing its developer, its freedom-of-choice philosophy, and parts of its underlying codebase. However, the developer has stressed that the sequel is a much bigger game in nearly every way, and that many existing systems had to be rewritten or overhauled for it. This page summarizes the confirmed differences. Mechanics, items, traits, or content from the original game are not part of Streets of Rogue 2 unless the developer has explicitly confirmed their return.

Open World vs Levels

The single biggest design change is the move from compact, self-contained levels to a single persistent open world. The map is more than 10,000 times the size of a single level from the first game, with no loading screens between sections. Most existing systems had to be rewritten or overhauled to support this shift, including movement, world streaming, and how NPCs and quests are spawned and tracked.

Chunks and World Generation

Where the first game generated its compact levels from a smaller pool of pieces, the sequel uses a more elaborate chunk system. Twelve chunk sizes are now supported, ranging from 8x8 tiles up to 64x64. The largest chunk in the sequel is the size of the smallest region. Dedicated work has gone into a much greater variety of chunk types, including small filler chunks used to make cities denser without overloading them with insignificant buildings.

Class Specialization

In the first game, classes were more interchangeable: even non-combat characters such as the Hacker could put up a decent fight. In the sequel, the developer has stated that picking a fight with a weaker class will not be as viable, and that classes are intended to be more specialized. To compensate, the sequel offers more varied ways to improve a character's skills, including augmentation booths and an expanded skill tree.

World Tier System

The sequel introduces a World Tier System that scales region difficulty against player progression, locking each region's tier the first time the player enters it. This kind of cross-region scaling is a new system not present in the first game in the same form.

Vehicles

Vehicles are a much larger system in the sequel than in the first game. Cars, boats, and rideable horses are all supported, with planned phone-booth teleportation rounding out fast travel. Driving has its own physics, AI rules, and art pipeline. Many vehicles have been added during the alpha demo period.

Animals

The sequel features dozens of distinct animal species with individual AI behaviors, riding rules, combat integration, food and crafting uses, and a dedicated Ranger class and NPC type. The first game had only a small fraction of this animal coverage.

Co-op Modes

Cooperative play in the sequel covers online co-op, LAN co-op, shared and split-screen co-op, and Remote Play Together, alongside solo play. This is broader and more deeply integrated than the first game's co-op support, and adding it well has been a major focus of pre-Early-Access development.

Level Editor and Workshop

The sequel's level editor is a greatly expanded version of the editor from the first game. Workshop support is also planned, letting players create and share chunks and entire levels. Both are intended to roll out at some point after the Early Access launch.

Mayors and Politics

The first game offered a glimpse of Mayor-style politics, but the sequel takes that idea much further: every city has its own Mayor with their own archetype, dialogue, and quests, sitting inside a multi-floor dungeon. Toppling those mayors to gain influence and ultimately face the President is the spine of the new campaign.

Sequel Codebase

The developer has confirmed that the first game's codebase is used as the base for the sequel, and that the game could not have been built from the ground up in its current scope without that foundation. Most notable systems have been substantially rewritten or overhauled, even though the original code is what made starting practical.