Candor City

Candor City: The Big Time. (A lore inspired city)

by Shadowstar

Size: 6x9

Population: 1372

Requirements: None

Description:

Bright Lights, Big City. This is where dreams are made, or ruined. Beneath the polished streets and shining facade lies a seedy underbelly of greed and corruption. Can you make it big without becoming a tool of the corps? Or will you leech off the rich in pursuit of a misguided morality?

Originally inspired by the title screen artwork for Shadows of Doubt. Stand outside of City Hall facing south toward the commercial towers to see a reasonable facsimile of the title screen.

Lore:

Home of the Candor News Network (at least conceptually), This city is steeped in lore. Several major corporations in the UAS have a presence here, with Starch Kola having the largest annex next to Candor itself, and El-Gen prominent throughout the strip with its many sync clinics. Most of the action happens around the central Candor Strip, a high-wealth boardwalk of capitalistic decadence featuring businesses of all kinds and the appetites to match. Here the wealthy display the trophies of their success for all to see, tempting both fortune seekers and thieves of ill intent. Rival corporations have turned this glitzy corridor into a silent warzone, executing their endless plots against one another, still careful to avoid the gaze of the Starch Kola Enforcers, which grows ever more complacent and lazy with every passing year. Soon, there may be nothing to stop them from driving the city to full scale anarchy, and already the cracks have begun to show. Now Candor City is at a turning point. Will it survive the coming strife, or succumb to the chaos that will ensue in the wake of the cutthroat tactics used by these new corporations that gaze upon the ivory towers with jealous eyes?

Performance Expectation:

With a population over 1000, you may experience some performance issues, though I have attempted to minimize these as much as possible by clustering businesses along a few major routes and simplifying pathing, which can lead to road congestion. This can be both good (easier to find people), or bad (more people to navigate around when traveling). So far I think it works.

Travel Times:

Most of the action will be clustered around the central Candor Strip, but as a very large city there will still be some travel time on occasion. It is a medium-difficulty city with good opportunities mixed in with some hopefully unique challenges.

Layout and Background:

This city has a fairly straightforward layout. The central Candor Strip forms the main pathway through the city, though is often congested. Alternate routes exist but for easy access to shops and other venues, it's recommended to stick to the Strip, which is also relatively safe from muggers. A major district is Candor East, originally a high wealth district for residents who wanted to avoid the hustle and bustle of the strip. It's mostly walled off from the rest of the city, but has access on the south and east oceanside routes. The "Strip to Candor East Main Route" is, by extension, also one of the most congested routes in the city because of this. While Candor East is somewhat quieter than the strip, it is still a popular area with several offices and upscale businesses in operation. Just west of the strip is Krueger Center, a multiple-block section of the city annexed by Starch Kola. There you will find the upscale Starch Tower, Krueger Memorial Tower, and Park Place. Starch Tower is one of the few designated Echelon buildings in the UAS, with nearly all of its apartments classified as Echelon level habitations, except for the service habitations on the lower levels. It is quite distinctive, with its bright red decor and polished floors, though recent management problems have begun to erode the opulent veneer. The south end of the Strip is dominated by the colossal Candor Building, headquarters of the Candor News Network, and the University Tower, once a beating heart of techno