The Map and Screen
When you enter a realm, most of what you see is a map. Learning to read it quickly is what turns a confusing wall of icons into a clear picture of your situation. This page explains the screen in concepts, so you know what you are looking at no matter how a particular realm is themed.
The world map
The center of the screen is the world map: a large grid where every colony and outpost in the realm sits at a fixed position. You can pan around it by dragging, and zoom in and out to move between a close tactical view and a wide strategic one.
Distance on this map is meaningful. Two points that look close are close, and a squad sent between them arrives faster than one crossing the whole world. When you are deciding whether a neighbor is a threat or an opportunity, the first question is always: how far away are they, in ticks of travel?
Your markers
Your own holdings are marked on the map:
- Your colony is your home base, your strongest single position and the heart of your economy.
- Your outposts are the points you have captured out in the world. They extend your reach and can take on specialized roles as you develop them.
Other players' colonies and outposts also appear, but only where you can actually see them. The map does not show you everything in the world by default. It shows you what your intelligence reveals.
Radar coverage
Around your colony (and certain outposts) is a zone of radar coverage. Inside that coverage you can see activity such as nearby squads and positions. Outside it, the map goes dark. This is why two players can be near each other and one knows everything while the other is blind.
Treat the edge of your radar as the edge of what you know. Intelligence covers how visibility, scanning, and scouting fit together.
The HUD and panels
Around the map is a heads-up display: a set of controls and tabs that open focused panels on top of the world view. You do not manage your empire on the map itself; you manage it in these panels. Broadly, you will find panels for:
- Structures, where you queue and track what your colony is building.
- Squads and military, where you manage your units and the orders they are carrying out.
- Intelligence, where you run scans and review what you have learned about others.
- Battle and reports, where the outcomes of combat are recorded for you to read.
The map answers "where is everything?" The panels answer "what do I want to do about it?" Good play is a constant back-and-forth between the two: read the map, open a panel, give an order, then watch the map for the result.
Reading the screen like a veteran
A practiced player glances at the screen and reads three things in seconds: where their own positions are, where the edge of their vision is, and whether anything inside it is moving toward them. Build that habit early. The map is not decoration; it is your primary source of information every time you log in.
See also: Joining a Realm for how worlds and their maps are structured, and Intelligence for how you expand and sharpen what you can see.