CastleRock Design - GameStates and Map Usage

I'd like to give more insight into CastleRock's current goals, from a design viewpoint. While there is a playable "stable" version, a lot of the systems are place holder still. Some things were implemented so there would be an actual playable game, however they were going against some of the core game design concepts.

Very specifically the “overworld” or “travel game state” was never representative of what the final product would be. It was the very first system developed for CastleRock, and now the current travel system is being removed. The Tiled Maps (.tmx) were always placeholder with simple textures and broken collision detection. Over the last two months I occasionally explored alternatives including a 3d overworld. I eventually realized that scripted maps went against the “replayability” I wanted CastleRock to have. A goal for the players is to have different experiences and that would require some generated maps. Which unfortunately brought us back to the Tiled-Top Down view – the aesthetic I was trying to escape.

Now the Travel State, and Pause Menu State, are essentially being combined. Here are some mock ups of the Control State, which will let the player choose which area to explore, view party members and now the GUI elements will be consistent from character creation to combat or dialog.