Block
The city of Malton is divided into a 100 x 100 grid. Each element of that grid is a city block. These are the common unit to measure distance, as all movement takes place in increments of one block. Players can move to any of the 8 blocks shown on their map, though the number of blocks may be less if the player is next to the map edge.
A 10 x 10 set of blocks makes up a suburb. Thus, each of the city's 100 suburbs contains 100 blocks, and the city as a whole contains a total of 10,000 blocks. A city block either contains a building or empty space; see Building Types for a list of the various types of buildings, and Empty Blocks for the types of empty blocks. There are roughly the same number of buildings as empty blocks. Buildings are of strategic importance to survivors, as they can be barricaded and contain items that can be found via searching.
Each block has a name and a grid reference of the form [XX,YY]. The X values show how many blocks from the left of the map the character is, the Y values how many blocks from the top edge. The grid reference is not shown on the map, but can be viewed using the GPS unit. Both counts go from 0 to 99, and using the GPS unit allows survivors to find their position and calculate how many blocks in each direction need to be traveled to reach a destination. The locations of flares or feeding groans can be found by subtracting the west and north value, or adding the east and south values displayed in the message to the current GPS reading.
Building Types
Large Buildings
Large buildings, most notably malls, cover two or more blocks; these buildings can be entered as normal, but characters inside (human or zombie) can travel between the different blocks of the building without having to leave the building or make use of the free running skill.
The two power stations are also classed as large buildings, as are the mansions, stadiums and cathedrals. The ingame significance of these is far less than malls, as few items are found inside and the large building code makes them more vulnerable to zombie attack. Many are used for RP purposes. However, the presence of "portable" power generators and the currently redundant crucifix item in the game suggest to some that the plants and cathedrals will eventually have an important role.
Complexes
The two types of complexes, the two forts and the City Zoo, cover multiple blocks, but these complexes are simply a number of empty spaces containing one or more normal one-block buildings. The forts have 8 blocks of either empty or enterable fort land surrounding an impassable perimeter wall that can only be passed through the Gatehouse.
The zoo is a mixture of enterable buildings in open land. Several of its buildings are also islands because of this. The zoo is also of limited resource importance, and attracts players mostly because of its novelty and RP status.
