Hi all

It just occurred to me that I rarely use the mini-map. I think the minimap made more sense in a time where the main screen was not zoomable, like for instance the older civilization games. But now I find myself navigating with the aid of the main screen. If I want to move to some place else I just zoom out and zoom in on the location I want to go too. To make this even faster there could be a shortcut key to zoom out maximally and then zoom back in to the same level of zoom previously used.

For comparison (perhaps not an optimal comparison) I could mention Sins of solar empire which does not have a mini-map and where I usually zoom out and in to the new location.

The toggable information on the minimap (like rally-points, trade-routs etc.) could well be displayed on the main screen when zoomed out to the strategic view (i.e. when everything has changed to icons). I think that the information on the minimap is to cluttered anyway.

So, does it hurt to have the minimap there? Well I think that if it is not needed I much rather have a clean main interface.

Well, whats your opinions.