Districts and travel

Vesper City is split into nine districts, each with its own streets, dangers and opportunities.

The district map

Open City → District map to see the whole city. It shows where you are, where you live and each district's danger, landmark and resident perk. Prefer text? Switch to Districts as a list. The map works in both the Classic and the Graphical view (see Classic and Graphical views).

In the Graphical view the map is a painting of the whole of Vesper City that you drag and zoom (mouse wheel, pinch, the + and − buttons, or the arrow keys and + and −). What you see depends on how close you are:

• The whole city: the district names, where you are, each district's gang turf in its gang's colour, the gang wars under way, the city's events and the landmarks. Everyone sees the same.
• Closer: your friends who are out and about (only those who let themselves be seen on the streets, never your own other accounts), your rival and any price on your head. Only you see these.
• The district: its painted neighbourhood. Walk into your own, or look around another before you travel there (see Classic and Graphical views).

The map only ever shows which district someone is in, never where exactly. Click or tap any district, on the painting or by its name, for its card: Walk the streets takes you into your own district's street, or lets you look around another one, with the way to travel there. You never need to zoom to get in. Your own district is marked You are here, with its own Walk the streets button on the map.

Travelling

To go somewhere, pick a district and choose how to get there:

• Take the tram: always there, and free, but slow: a ride takes 200% of the normal trip time. The normal trip is at least 60 seconds, plus 60 seconds for every block between the two districts.
• Drive: with a working car in your vehicle slot. The car cuts the time, and you pay $10 per block, plus $5 per block for each of your levels.
• A car under 20% health can't be driven: it's the tram until you get it repaired.
• While you are on your way you can't act in other districts, but the ride goes on while you look around: you can watch the countdown and do the things that work on the road.
• You can't travel from jail or hospital.

On the road

The tram and your car are the two ways between districts. Inside a district you walk its street instead (see Classic and Graphical views): no fare, no waiting. While you are on the road you are in neither district, so you won't appear to anyone passing by.

A trip is also one of the moments when something unexpected can happen:

• A find: now and then you spot a rare item on the tram or by the road that can only be found, never bought.
• A gift: very rarely a stranger leaves you a little cash or an item. Never more than 1 a day.
• An ambush: from level 10, a rival may jump you. Beat him and you earn a little experience and pocket change; lose and you spend a short time in hospital, but never lose money or items. Protected new players are never ambushed.

Danger levels

Every district has a danger level from 1 (Quiet) to 5 (Lawless), shown as skulls. For example, Southside Slums is danger 1 and Capitol Hill is danger 5.

• Crimes pay more in dangerous places: 15% more for each danger level above 1, in the district where you commit them.
• Moving home to a dangerous district costs more, and so does founding a gang there.

Landmarks

Most districts have a landmark, a special place anyone can use while they are in that district. Each opens at its own level, shown on the map. The details of each are in Landmarks and special buildings:

• The Stock Exchange (Financial District, from level 15): trade shares on the floor, where the broker's fee is 50% lower.
• The glamour clubs (The Strip, from level 5): nights out that lift your mood.
• The Herbalist (Chinatown, from level 3): cheaper but slower remedies when you are hurt, a hangover cure and a daily tonic.
• The Social Club (Little Sicily, from level 5): weekly Family contracts that pay cash and Respect, and a board where gangs recruit and players look for one (see Gangs).
• The Fence (Old Harbor, from level 8): buys your loot for more than the dealers, and posts a weekly hot list of loot he pays double for.
• The union hall (Ironworks, from level 10): an extra paid shift a day for Ironworks residents, and now and then a city-wide strike that lifts job pay for a day.
• The Shipment (Docklands, from level 12): every Saturday evening a ship brings rare versions of ordinary gear, one of each per player a week; Docklands residents get the first look.
• The Courthouse (Capitol Hill, from level 20): a lawyer and Judge Pike for prisoners, and clearing your police record in person (see Jail and hospital).
• The Mission (Southside Slums): Ma Doyle's soup kitchen. Lend a hand once a day from level 5 for a little happiness and Respect (no pay), and a free meal for players below level 5.

The other buildings on the district streets are not landmarks, but each has a story to read when you click it. One of them does something: light a candle at the Saint's church once a day for a little happiness (anyone can).

Your home district

You choose a home district when you create your character. It decides which resident perk you get, and its street is marked "You live here" in the Classic and Graphical views.

Resident perks work from level 3. Each district bends one rule in your favour: shorter jail time on Capitol Hill, more bank interest in the Financial District, more Respect in Little Sicily, shorter hospital stays in Chinatown, better job pay in Ironworks, an early look at the weekly Shipment in Docklands, and more. A perk starts small and grows with every active day you live there.

Moving home

From level 3 you can move. Travel to the district first, then choose Move here on the map.

• The fee is $5,000 times the new district's danger level.
• After a move you must wait 30 days before moving again. Gold can't skip this.
• For 7 days after a move you can't join or found a gang.
• Your resident perk starts again from the beginning.

Buying or renting a home can also move you (see Properties and renting).

Tips

• Commit crimes in a dangerous district for bigger payouts; the tram gets you there for free.
• Pick your home for its perk: it grows the longer you stay.
• Short hops between neighbouring districts are quicker, and cheaper by car.