The Second Section of the Game
The Wastes serves as the manufacturing district between District 1 - The Pit and District 3 - The Corporation. The area between the two is a desert, cluttered with various facilities such as data centres, factories and foundries. Due to extreme mining, water can no longer collect here, instead it runs off into The Pit, decades of this left the area as a barren desert. The area known as The Shunt, is populated by numerous autonomous manufacturing facilities. The only things that inhabit this area are simulants working at the various factories, as the lack of jobs and water make the area inhospitable to humans. Cutting through the centre of The Shunt is an enormous line of train tracks that carry resources from The Terminal to The Lab. The Lab is an enormous, high-tech facility owned and operated by Kothar Deep Earth. This facility is responsible for the research, development and production of KDE’s line of Simulants. The Lab is a black, steel structure spanning hundreds of meters that contains various top-secrete projects.
District 2 Progression
Part 1 - The Shunt
The Wastes' Thoroughfare
The Shunt is the industrial district of the city. The sky here is a perpetual orange, and blistering heat bleaches everything it touches. Towering, twisted, and rusted metal structures claw their way towards the sky. Giant concrete warehouse crowd the ground, used to house data centres and factories. Amongst the structures, simulants roam the dry ground, performing maintenance and working inside the various factories. As a result of the lack of water and autonomous worksites, no humans are known to inhabit the area. Cutting through the centre of The Shunt is vast train line, only ever used to transport resources from The Terminal to The Lab.
The Shunt is home to a few ASIMS who will happily sell parts they have scavenged at the Scavenger Market.This is outdated as of 11/3/26. The shop is going to be an abandoned train station platform.More information about the lore of The Shunt can be found here.
Part 2 - The Lab
The Centre of Research and Development
The Lab is the nexus of Kothar Deep Earth’s research and development operation. Here, Simulants are designed for a variety of purposes, but the most prevalent is for security and combat. The exterior of the structure is a vast black, steel cube that stretches for hundreds of meters in every direction. At the front lies a loading dock, an enormous reinforced door that only opens for the armoured train from The Terminal to deliver supplies. Inside, the building is covered wall to wall in pristine concrete. The floor laying host to numerous conveyor belts for automated construction of security Simulants. Half-built Simulants are scattered around its various rooms, hanging from walls and overhead cranes. At the far end of the facility is the Nuclear Capabilities Development Wing. This room houses KDE’s prototype Simulants. The room here is illuminated by its glass floor that looks down into a glowing blue reactor that powers the entire facility - covered by lake of coolant. At the back of the building is a loading dock where finished simulants are transported to various parts of New Damascus.
More information about the lore of The Lab can be found here.
Visual Inspiration
Background Design Requirements
The following are EXAMPLES of the desired “vibe” for areas in District 2 - The Wastes. These examples should be used as references/starting points for further development. Think:
- Cracked Earth / Drought
- Desert
- Industrial
Inspiration Images:
