Red Dead Redemption 2 is a grim tale of crime, redemption, and late 19th-century life in five unforgiving American states, but the state of its fan community is anything but bleak. In fact, Red Dead Redemption 2 fans have been hard at work creating a variety of stunning tributes to the game since it came out almost three years ago. This is one of the latest.
Redditor Rowendi has created a near-perfect recreation of the Red Dead Redemption 2 landscape in Cities: Skylines and shared a 1-minute video showcasing their hard work. The result could easily be mistaken for an environment ripped directly from Red Dead Redemption 2. Stunning attention to detail has been paid to the trains, the roads, and even the lighting. The only area it doesn't compare is NPCs, although the world of the real Red Dead Redemption 2 is filled with fake and real beggars, outlaws, townsfolk, and a wide variety of animals to kill, this recreation is beautiful but empty.
This lack of activity is Rowendi's one oversight. The map may contain mods, but unlike the actual Red Dead Redemption 2 these mods don't allow players to own dogs, as there are no dogs to be found. What is out there are vast prairies, slow-moving rivers, and painstakingly recreated farmhouses, all of which are still quite the achievement.
The lack of activity in this build means that potential players would not be able to encounter funny glitches like the one that sent Sadie Adler flying in Red Dead Redemption 2. However, for many fans posting in the comments section, this isn't a dealbreaker. The video has been warmly received on the Red Dead Redemption subreddit, where many commenters have congratulated Rowendi on their attention to detail and skill in Cities: Skylines.
Several commenters have also asked which mods the build was created with or whether Rowendi is willing to release this map as a downloadable world so other players can build in it. As of writing, Rowendi appears to have only responded to one thread accusing them of lying about making this in Cities: Skylines, to which they posted screenshots of their work before and after graphics mods in a separate thread. It appears that a large part of the video's accuracy to Red Dead Redemption 2's visual style came from mods, but the build is still incredibly detailed.
This video isn't the only stunning showcase of how much effort fans of Red Dead Redemption are willing to put into tributes to the game. Another fan put together a playful Red Dead Redemption 2 musical medley that puts fast-paced and often violent gameplay clips to the iconic, upbeat melody of the song Can Can from Orpheus in the Underworld. However, this build stands out as something truly special for its sheer attention to detail, to say nothing of the skill it takes to make something so accurate to one game in a completely different one.
Red Dead Redemption 2 is available now on PC, PlayStation 4, Stadia, and Xbox One.