Over World

Applies to: Action/adventure, RPG, real-time-strategy computer games

Problem: We'd like to have a nonlinear connection between our scenarios or levels, but it doesn't fit with our narrative to have the scenarios/levels be contiguous, so we can't use ContinuousWorld.

Solution: Have another game mode, which is travelling in the overworld; the overworld has hot-spots where you can enter into a higher-detail game mode, the scenario or level.

Consequences: Same consequences as ContinuousWorld. Travelling from one point in the world to another may be less boring than ContinuousWorld simply because you can get it done faster. Clever scenarios can unlock more of the overworld; doors on both sides of a mountain range could be connected, for example. Having two modes (ModesAreBad) could be an issue; the player has to learn two game systems instead of one. Often an overworld will have random encounters.

Examples: Super Mario World, Final Fantasy, Ultima 1 through 5, Dune 2 (showing it can be used for RTS)

CategoryHolisticDesignPattern?