The Open World

Streets of Rogue 2 unfolds in a single, persistent, procedurally generated island nation rather than the separate levels of the original game. The developer has stated the map is more than 10,000 times the size of a single level from the first game, and that everything is contained in one continuous open world without loading screens between activities. Each new save generates a whole island country complete with cities and towns, rivers, and forests.

How the World Is Built

The world follows a design similar to the first game: the map is generated procedurally, while the individual pieces that fill it are handcrafted. Those pieces are called chunks. The developer uses a greatly expanded version of the level editor from the original game to create them, and a community modder was brought on to help build thousands of chunks for the sequel. As in the first game, the level editing tools are intended to be available to players.

The world is measured in three nested units.

Compared with the original game, the sequel offers a much wider variety of chunk sizes. The developer has noted that the total number of chunk sizes was expanded to twelve, up from three in the first game, with smaller chunks used to fill out cities so they feel dense rather than full of empty space.

Biomes and Locations

The world features a wide variety of environments, each with its own look and inhabitants. Confirmed location types include the following.

• Neon-lit cities

• Serene countryside

• Mysterious caves

• Sunlit islands

• Creepy graveyards

Cities are run by Mayors, and bringing them down is central to the game's progression, as described in Mayors and the President. Underground and enclosed areas function as dungeons, covered below.

Dungeons

Streets of Rogue 2 includes dungeon spaces built from larger chunks. The developer has described wild caves and office dungeons, with additional dungeon types such as cannibal hideouts and house basements in development, and more dungeon biomes planned to be revealed later. A Mayor's dwelling, for instance, can be a large multi-floor chunk that functions as a dungeon. Underwater dungeons have also been mentioned as a possibility tied to boat travel in Vehicles.

Destructible Environments

The world is heavily destructible, and the material a building is made from determines how players can get inside or move through it. Wood and brick structures can be blasted through, and a sufficiently upgraded vehicle can even ride through them, while steel buildings are tougher to break. Sturdier construction tends to appear in higher-level areas, tying environmental destruction into the game's difficulty scaling. The developer has noted that nearly every object in the world has its own wreckage state when destroyed.

A Dynamic World

The world is intended to be dynamic and shaped by the player's actions. The developer has described random events that occur over time and can affect factions and the standing of Mayors, which in turn can influence conditions across regions. Level design within chunks is built to support multiple approaches to objectives, with options like vents to use, computers to hack, and windows to break and climb through, so that players are rarely funneled down a single path.