User talk:Andon

The Minimap

The Basics

The Minimap displays a lot of information in a very small space. On the top of the minimap pane is the sector that is the current focus of the minimap, which is by default the sector that you are flying through or observing through the command view. The information in the Minimap is dependant on the team's sensors and probes, for if something is not eyed then it will not be on the minimap. Stations, once eyed, are essentially permanently eyed and will stay on the minimap until they are destroyed. Ships, however, only appear when they are eyed and will dissappear from the minimap as soon as they are no longer eyed.

Asteroids

When the minimap is expanded through the use of the arrow on the top right corner, it shows information about the asteroids in the sector. Regular asteroids are not included on the minimap, but Helium 3 asteroids and asteroids that a Techbase, such as a Supremacy, can be built on. While the information defaults to the sector the pilot is in, the minimap will show the asteroids that are in a sector that you hold the mouse pointer over in the minimap display. This is especially useful for finding sectors that have not been scouted yet.

Helium (He3)

Information about Helium asteroids is given in two places. The first information is listed as He3 followed by a number, and is at the very top above the asteroids in the sector. As you may notice, this is often a large number, and is not the number of Helium Asteroids in the sector. This is the number of units of Helium that can be mined from the sector. Keep in mind that each unit of Helium is usually worth about $80 and that miners can usually carry 90 units of Helium per load, making a fully loaded miner bring in about $7200. The second place that the information about Helium asteroids is listed is at the bottom of the asteroids list, below any tech rocks. The number beside this icon is the number of helium rocks in the sector, represented by the white asteroid icon:

Tech Rocks

Tech rocks are the asteroids that Techbases can be built on. There are three types, Uranium, Silicon, and Carbon. While in most cases there are rarely multiple tech rocks in a sector and it is even more uncommon for there to be more than one of the same type, the number of each rock is given next to its indicator.

An Expansion techbase can be built on a Uranium asteroid, represented by the orange asteroid icon:

A Tactical techbase can be built on a Silicon asteroid, represented by the green asteroid icon:

A Supremacy techbase can be built on a Carbon asteroid, represented by the purple asteroid icon:

Icons

In order to use the minimap effectively, you must know what each icon on the minimap represents. The icons that will be most important to most pilots are those found between the sector name and the minimap itself. These represent ships, bases, and the number of each that are in the sector. As with the asteroids, this information changes depending on which sector the mouse is over on the minimap.

Sectors

Sectors are the individual sections of the map, connected to other sectors through alephs. Sectors appear on the minimap as a circle, and are often filled in with one color or another. Aleph links appear as lines on the minimap, connecting the sectors together.

Sector Colors

The color of a sector on the minimap indicates which team holds it. A sector that is yellow is a sector controlled by the yellow team. Similarly, a sector that is blue is controlled by the blue team. A sector that is shown as empty is usually one that is not directly controlled by any team. However, a sector with an unspotted base in it will still appear to be empty until that base is spotted. Occasionally, bases from multiple teams will be in the same sector. In this case, the sector has one team's color surrounded by a ring of the other team's color.

Indicators

There are several important indicators that appear around or near sectors in the minimap. These let you know things such as where you are and where you clicked last on the minimap.

Ship Indicators

Beside each sector a number of colored squares will be shown, indicating the number of ships of each team in the sector. Like the sectors themselves, the color of the squares represent the team from which the ships come. While each square does not represent one ship, they do allow for the strength of each team to be estimated.

Yellow Arrow

The yellow arrow () above the sector is something that is always on the minimap, as it represents your current location, regardless of wether you are currently flying or in a base. This will move with you to whatever sector you fly to.

Green Arrow

The green arrow () to the left of the sector represents the last sector that you clicked on the minimap. It will stay on the sector until you click on another sector.

Red Arrow

A red arrow () will appear below some sectors on the minimap when you either have a constructor selected or are hovering over a station in the construction tab of the Investments (F5) pane. This arrow represents all of the sectors where that particular station can be constructed. For example, if you hover over the Build Expansion icon or have an Expansion constructor selected, then all sectors that have a Uranium rock in them will have a red arrow appear underneath of them.

Red Diamond

When you are ripcording, red diamonds () will appear under the sectors that your team has teleport receivers in. If a diamond is flashing () then it is the sector that you are currently ripcording to.

Warning Indicators

There are three warning indicators, with three corresponding levels of threat. The first level is when an enemy ship is detected in the sector. This is indicated by this red circle around the sector:

The second level is when either a friendly drone detects enemies in its sector or when a ship that can threaten one of your stations is detected in a sector that is not yours. This is indicated by this spikey red circle around the sector:

The third level is when either a ship that can threaten one of your stations is in one of your sectors or when an enemy capital ship is detected. This is indicated by this spikey red and yellow circle around the sector:

Piloting with the minimap

As covered previously, left-clicking on any sector in the minimap will engage your autopilot to take you to that sector. If there is a teleport receiver available in or closer to that sector, your autopilot will ripcord you there first. Ripcording will be covered in more depth in a later lesson. When you find an aleph to a new sector, it will immediately appear on the minimap. If you are in a scout, it is useful to select this sector to autopilot to, as any information about what is in that sector can help your team

Example Minimap

A: The icon row, showing 6 blue eject pods, 5 blue Advanced Fighters, 3 yellow scouts, 2 Yellow PT Bombers, 8 Yellow Heavy Interceptors, a yellow Heavy Troop Transport (AP), a blue Refinery, and a Blue Teleport Reciever.

B: The Sector name. In this case, it is the Torc sector.

C: The sector's He3. There is currently 78 units of He3

D: The sector's asteroids. There is no tech rock in this sector, meaning that one must have been destroyed earlier in the game, but there are four He3 asteroids.

E: This sector has a small number of both blue and yellow craft in it, making it only slightly contested

F: This sector is the sector currently occupied, and it was also the last sector selected by the pilot. It has bases friendly to the pilot that are at direct risk from enemy craft.