Private/Canon Divergent Boss of the 3rd Street Saints from Saints Row
Masterminded by ya big boi Andre
A monster born out of ANGER & BETRAYAL. The personification of CARNAGE itself. He is a VILLAIN both loved & hated by the masses. A testament to what SINS man can commit & the NIGHTMARES he can fuel for decades to come.
♡ 21 + private & selective oc / canon multi - muse blog ft. ghost, a scream franchise oc. dark themes and n.s.f.w content present. go through my guidelines before following. loved by salem. reblogs are very appreciated ⸜(｡˃ ᵕ ˂ )⸝♡
This right here is such a perfect visualization for the way that I talk about/envision Steelport. The image is of the former Ballpark at Harbor Yard up in Bridgeport, Connecticut, which iirc was built over the site of a former factory.
When I talk about the way there's no zoning laws in the city, or how most everywhere you go there will be some sign of its industrial past, whether in the form of an abandoned building or it being repurposed into something else, I hope the vision becomes clear when I use references like this.
Maybe I'll use this as inspiration for where the Steelport Vampires or Weasels play, lmfao.
Below the Read More is a copy paste of what I've sent some people regarding a brief overview of what my friend @whoredmode and I have been working on for our version of Steelport. Please keep in mind this is just a snippet. An actual post will be made sometime in the future to give a more rounded general idea of what the city is like. And then beyond that something with a lot more information.
I'm only posting this as like a sneak peak for y'all cause I figured it'd be a nice point of reference to have. That being said, if you have any questions regarding Steelport, please don't hesitate in sending me a message. I love world building, and this has been a fun little project to work on with Ted.
Anyway, please enjoy!
5/10/23 Update: I will be periodically adding onto the post as more and more ideas are developed. For the sake of organization, I will be noting when a new idea pops up with a little update tag like this. Hopefully some day soon I can make a big and proper post as I would want. But until then, this will have to do.
Steelport, Pennsylvania is a heavily industrialized major American city located entirely on Lake Erie. Founded in 1827 by blue-collar industrialists, Steelport would become a major hub for all manner of work during the height of the United States' industrial revolution. The city would also play a major part during both World Wars by manufacturing vehicles, supplies, and all manner of items during both respective conflicts. Unfortunately for the city and its many inhabitants whose main source of income came from these factories, the need for anything done in-house would take a sharp decline as the decades passed and more and more high profile clients would begin to use outsourced labor.
As with other cities and towns residing within the rust belt of America, Steelport fell on especially hard times, making it quite the hotbed for all kinds of criminal organizations to start showing up. Many of which consisted of Eastern European immigrants as they had already been living here for quite some time working as skilled laborers.
It wouldn't be until some time in maybe the early to mid 00's that Phillipe Loren and his group known as the Morningstar would make their presence known. Loren had already been making a name for himself across Europe as his rise to power within the criminal underworld has been making quite significant waves. Loren would view Steelport as the perfect candidate to jumpstart his expansion into the U.S., along with acting as a base of operations for his pet project The Syndicate. Eventually their partnership with Eddie "Killbane" Pryor's Luchadors would help them overpower any and all criminal groups within Steelport, and claim the entirety of the city as their own. So dominant were they that street names and things of that nature would be renamed in the Syndicate's honor.
So that's like the gist of what the history is. Still working on a lot more of it, but I don't wanna info dump too hard just yet.
NOW AS FOR THE CITY ITSELF
Steelport was allegedly inspired by Philadelphia, New York City, and Bridgeport in Connecticut. And when you look at its concept art it's no-brainer why that is. Unfortunately, yet not surprising, the actual in-game map looks nowhere near as interesting as its concept art. The layout of the map as well is also boring to tears. This is why we've modeled our version of Steelport after its concept art, its inspirations, and in general our own ideas.
This is an industrial city that blue collar workers built, and there's like absolute no zoning laws whatsoever. So there's just all kinds of buildings being pushed close to each other without this need to give everything its own designated space. It's a very dense city: the literal definition of concrete jungle. Notice how downtown is populated by all kinds of skyscrapers in different designs. Something that we want to put emphasis on are those design details.
There's a lot of art deco influence, brutalism, some gothic here and there. But among those buildings are also shiny glass towers that really give you the idea that they're trying to modernize things as well.
Downtown is meant to act as the modernized hub. As if it's the heart of the city itself. Surrounding it are the various other districts that are much more heavily industrialized and contain remnants of the city's past. That isn't to say that there are many abandoned buildings. Not at all. Some may be scattered around, but this is a city that's still meant to feel populated. There is just an EXTREMELY noticeable class divide given the state of things. Whenever you're in any of these other districts, you'll always get the sensation of downtown Steelport being a world's away. It's an entirely different sort of beast compared to everything else surrounding you.
Something else I want to emphasize is that there's a feeling of things being swept under the rug or repurposed. Like a lot of the buildings that were used for steelwork and etc have now been converted to god knows what. Two big examples of that are the Syndicate Tower and the 3 Count Casino.
The Syndicate Tower is this massive skyscraper that lords over the whole damn place. Now, while watching a GDC discussing the art direction of the game (which is actually a very embarrassing presentation), one thing that stood out to me were the comments about repurposing buildings. The bottom of the Syndicate Tower was sort of alluded to maybe having been a bank decades prior. Might have looked like those big fancy ones you see in period pieces. So instead of demolishing the whole thing to build a new foundation, why not build on top?
The 3 Count is another example of that. Having been a former oil refinery, it's now the main HQ and moneymaker for the Luchadors. It's such a strange but interesting kind of art direction that I wish they leaned into more in the game.
The other thing I wanted to bring up is that I won't be using the game's actual map because I don't think it's all that interesting in its layout.
Instead, I'll be using the beta cause I think it looks way cooler and has more I could work with! I'm gonna have to add an airport somewhere though cause I sure as shit don't see one there unlike the actual map/
5/10/23 Update:
A'ight, so I wanna give a general overview of the various districts that make up the city. What you can find in them, what they're influenced by, and so on.
Downtown: The quickest and easiest way to describe downtown Steelport is to look at it as if the Manhattan of the 80s and 90s got only marginally better. A nonstop clash of different cultures, architecture, and classes; downtown Steelport acts as the city's central hub for finance, entertainment, and commerce. If you're looking to spend big and come out looking like a grade-A baller, then this is the place for you. However, not everything within downtown Steelport is meant solely for the rich and powerful. There's a great number of family-owned businesses that one can visit. A vast majority of which are owned by immigrant families hailing from all parts of the world (mostly Eastern Europe) that have decided to make their home within this city.
Something to keep in mind is that among all the skyscrapers, designer shops, and expensive restaurants are remnants of Steelport's industrialized past. Sitting there like ancient temples of a bygone era are the many factories, steel mills and such that were essential in shaping the country into what it is today. However, with the increase in outsourcing, and deindustrialization affecting a majority of the Great Lakes and Mid-Atlantic region of the United States, these buildings now lay dormant. Either completely abandoned and stripped of any useful material, or repurposed by the many opportunists residing in this city.
As mentioned further above, notable architectural styles to be on the lookout for are Brutalism, Art Deco, Gothic, and more modern designs. As said before, much of downtown Steelport's inspiration comes from Manhattan; specifically the Manhattan of old as I feel like a lot of the historic buildings from back then would fit well within the city. It's a hodge-podge of all kinds of crap that almost has no sense of consistency to it. But that to me feels like it aligns with the initial idea of what Steelport is meant to be. The whole place is a fucking mess when you actually think about it. The fact it's even surviving in spite of the economic nightmare it's going through during SR3 should be seen as nothing short of a miracle.
A few of downtown Steelport's highlights include, but are not limited to...
Casino Row - An entire street lined with venues for high-stake gambling. Its most luxurious of which being Mt. Olympus.
Powder - A designer weapons store that specializes in high-tech military grade weaponry, along with cosmetics and accessories.
Little Amsterdam - Tucked away under an overpass is a stretch of road containing a number of bars, sex shops, sex theaters, peep shows and more. Many of those who can't be bothered to drive all the way to New Colvin's much larger red light district will make due with this area.
The Helios Building - With a former bank acting as its foundation; this mixed-use skyscraper is the largest in all of the city. Standing at around 250 stories tall, it has plenty of office space for all kinds of high-profile companies wishing to stake a claim within the city.
Saints HQ - Formerly owned by the Morningstar, this apartment building acts as the headquarters for the Steelport chapter of the 3rd Street Saints. A large penthouse resides at the very top, which is primarily used by the Boss of the Saints as a safehouse.
I should talk about Django's mom in more detail one of these days. But ya boy is tired and lazy and wants to go do other shit. So just know that she's a semi-retired thief from France who used to be a party girl and enjoyed infiltrating high society groups in order to rob them blind. She's also an avid outdoorswoman and a crack shot, which is why Django knows as much as he does about firearms. Very lovely and charming woman. She is very sophisticated, but also horribly crass when she wants to be.
“Now some misguided people would say that by turning Saints Row into a glass and steel utopia, all you’ve accomplished was the displacement of low income families.”
