Law and wanted level
The law doesn't know about a crime until someone reports it. Everyone has a phone, but there is no signal in the canyons, the mountains and the deep desert, and that is a fugitive's best friend. No wanted circles on the radar: the police search by description, cameras and plates.
Witnesses
A witness runs somewhere safe and calls 911; many film on their phone first. The call to the dispatcher takes 10–20 seconds and can be stopped: take the phone, scare or bribe the witness. But that is a crime too, with its own witnesses. Downtown a thief has less than a minute before the call. In the backcountry the witness first has to drive to where there is signal.
Without a witness, alarm buttons and monitored alarms, gunshot sensors downtown, plate readers spotting a stolen car and shots heard by a nearby patrol still bring the police.
Cameras, plates and phones
Cameras watch gas stations, shops, the bank, bars, casinos and downtown crossings, and many homes have a doorbell camera. Footage goes to the cloud, so smashing the camera is not enough: the owner already has a copy on their phone. Plate readers stand on I-40, US-93 and the roads into town. Police wear body cameras and have dash cams. The backcountry has no cameras.
Your phone gives you away. At wanted level 4 the police can see a switched-on phone with a warrant. New cars with GPS units report where they are after a theft until the unit is ripped out. Burner phones are sold at gas stations.
Evidence
Shell casings, tyre tracks, blood, fingerprints and DNA (the state lab answers in 2–3 game days), the plate number, a description of your clothes, camera footage and witness videos. Changing the car or plates, repainting it in the garage or changing clothes throws off the description. A beard and haircut change your look for witnesses too.
Wanted levels
| Level | What happens |
|---|---|
| 1 | A patrol car comes to check |
| 2 | Several cars and flyers with your description |
| 3 | Roadblocks on the highways, dogs and a police drone |
| 4 | State highway patrol and a helicopter with a thermal camera; police track your phone with a warrant |
| 5 | A hunt by the syndicate or the feds with hired guns; for stealing military vehicles, the National Guard with armour |
Response time is counted from the moment the dispatcher takes the call, as real minutes of driving. A game day lasts about an hour, so a game minute is about 2.5 seconds.
Who comes for you
- Kingston City police in town. They use encrypted radio that scanners can't hear.
- The Cerbat County sheriff in the rest of the county: the main office in the courthouse, a substation on Route 66, a deputy in Oatesville, a river patrol on the lake. The sheriff's backcountry channels are open, and he knows people listen.
- The state highway patrol on I-40 and US-93.
- In the backcountry nobody but bounty hunters.
Each has its own cars and tactics: a ram to the rear quarter, spike strips, roadblocks of trucks. Some sheriff's deputies are on Cobalt's payroll: for money they look away, or hand you to the syndicate.
How to get away
Break line of sight and wait it out, go into the backcountry with no cameras and no signal, hide the car in a barn, change cars or plates, switch off the phone, pay a bribe. Outside towns the night is truly dark, and a flashlight or headlights give you away.
Stealth
Gravel is louder than sand, metal louder than wood, and a shot in a canyon carries a kilometre. Keep to the shadows, kill lights and cut floodlight wires, distract with a stone, a siren or burning grass. A knocked-out guard wakes up and talks, so bodies get hidden. Posts check in by radio: if a post goes quiet, the alarm starts. There are no vision cones on screen; enemies give themselves away with their voices and flashlights. A guard's or worker's uniform gets you through until someone looks closely.
The price
Arrest means losing the weapons and money you carry, then a fine or time in county jail: a court scene with bail, a lawyer or an escape. Death means hospital and a bill. Online it is the same system, but the deputies are real players, helped by AI patrols.
Source: design document, sections «Police and wanted level», «Stealth and night»; «Theft and robbery» tab, section «How it works today». The game is in development: what is described here comes from the design document and may change before release.