OVERWORLD

In video games, an 'overworld' can refer to either a usually outdoor section of the game—the opposite of interior environments which are often referred to as dungeons or levels, which are sometimes called the "underworld"&mdahs;or it can also be a general description for any place that connects the scenes of major importance in the game. The majority of overworlds are found in role-playing games (RPGs) ranging from ''Pokémon'' to ''Golden Sun'' and the ''Final Fantasy'' series, but have also appeared in platformers such as the ''Mario'' games. Other terms that are common for these areas of connectivity are "map", "world map", the name of the country or province, etc., and they will be the main type of overworld discussed in this article.

Contents

Types of overworlds

In ''The Legend of Zelda'' series

In role-playing games

In platform games

Music

See also

Notes and References

Types of overworlds

There are several different types of overworlds found in most video game genres.

In ''The Legend of Zelda'' series

One of the earliest console games to feature an overworld is the NES game ''The Legend of Zelda''. Gameplay in ''Zelda's Hyrule Field was virtually identical to that of its nine underground dungeon levels, offering a top-down perspective and including access to caves, bridges, mazes, shops, and waterfalls as well as lurking with dangers that range from enemies to tumbling rocks. Much of the immediate gameplay took place in the overworld, and the diversity of terrain (as well as the sheer size of the overworld itself) ensured that the player would spend as much time exploring and searching above ground as they would below. The overworld also offered a nonlinear gameplay experience;^[1] some believed this would cause the player to become confused and not know where to go, a sentiment which has endured as overworlds have become larger and more complex. ^[2]
''The Legend of Zelda'' series is well known for these massive overworld areas, most notably Hyrule Field, but other overworlds in the series canon have included , Termina, , and .
Monsters generally abound across the map in these games; the player (and characters) can see (at least most of) them, and most are easily defeated or avoided (as they don't constitute the main baddie base of the game). These monsters don't usually yield anything really helpful (only a few rupees or whatever at a time), but one notable exception to that stereotype is '', in the course of which accumulation of experience points leading to almost indispensable upgrades to hit points (HP), magic points (MP), and attack power (AP) is an extensive part of gameplay.
There are often important items to be gained or other things to be found in overworld areas, but the overall ''main'' purpose they serve is to connect more important places.

In role-playing games

Many games emulated ''Zelda's overworlds, especially fantasy-based RPGs. The most complete example in this category is the ''Final Fantasy'' series. In each of this type of overworld game, most of the action (or at least most of the plot-advancing action) takes place in towns, forests, dungeons, caves, castles (and the surrounding area), camps, fortresses, mass transportation systems, celestial bodies (e.g. the moon), etc. In the ''Final Fantasy'' series, the overworld is used as a "travel map", and changes to a closer perspective for direct gameplay or confrontation.
Many such games, including ''Pokémon Yellow'' and ''Golden Sun'', find the player encountering random battles—battles that consist of the player essentially "running into" an enemy or group of enemies that (s)he cannot see before finding himself/herself in the battle with no warning—while wandering the overworld (refer to Final Fantasy battle systems for more information). In other games, the player can the player can see the enemies and can most often choose which ones to fight, such as in ''Final Fantasy Mystic Quest'' and ''.
Whatever the type of battle, in most of these games, the characters will enter a special battle screen on which the action will take place. These battle screens usually take on the appearance of the portion of the overworld (town, castle, etc.) in which they take place (e.g. if the character(s) is (are) wandering around a desert or a forest, the battle screen will have the backdrop of a desert or a forest). These battles allows the player to "level up" by earning experience points, and they often yield currency or items as well.^[3]

In platform games

Though the ''Legend of Zelda'' was the first game to really feature an overworld with its North American debut in 1986, the genre of platform games didn't see overworlds in play until the release of ''Super Mario Bros. 3'' in 1990 (North American release). Since then, nearly every ''Mario'' platformer has included an overworld area, or at least an area of the game that serves to connect the major sites of action therein (e.g. Peach's Castle in ''Super Mario 64'' and Isle Delfino). The overworld idea spilled over into other platformers, including Kirby's Adventure to the Donkey Kong Country series, and it continues as a major feature today. It is likely that the overworlds developed for 3-D games, such as some of those listed above evolved from the world maps featured in prior 2D platform games, such as those seen in ''Super Mario Bros. 3'' and ''Donkey Kong Country''.^[4] This was in contrast to the previous system of gameplay, like ''Super Mario Bros.'' and ''Castlevania'' which involved the player simply going through levels in a linear order, but with no option to return to completed levels.

Music

In terms of game music, overworld themes are often orchestral in nature, and of greater length and complexity than other pieces in the same game, due to the amount of time spent traveling the overworld map. Since players will usually visit a single level or area a few times in a given play session, the music for any such section of the game will typically be shorter and/or less complex, and thus less time-consuming for the designers to produce. The overworld theme will often function as a main theme of a given game, often being arranged for specific scenes or situations (e.g, a 'romantic' setting will often see the overworld theme remixed to suit that setting).
An overworld map is often constructed so that the player is initially directed to certain areas of the game in a specific order; to that end, transport (e.g. an airship or boat) is often provided later in the game to facilitate faster travel between important locations.
Often, certain areas of the overworld map will be hidden from the players, or at least difficult to reach; these "secret" areas may contain difficult-to-obtain items, or they might simply hold "Easter Egg"-style novelties or other such diversions.

See also

★ Boss (video games)

Notes and References

1. Oldest School Long, Andrew
2. http://cube.ign.com/mail/2005-07-14.html
3. ''Golden Sun'' Instruction Manual: Traveling the Lands, , , , Nintendo, 2002,
4. http://www.pcworld.com/product/specs/prtprdid,16515230/specs.html