GAME FEATURE: THE STARMAP
Each issue of the newsletter will contain an element of the game explained in greater detail. This month's feature is the Starmap. Imperial Wars is played from the vast viewpoint of worlds and starfleets. The Starmap is the single most important feature of the game, and it grows and changes with the game. When a player first begins a new game, the starmap consists of only the player's homeworld. The early turns in the game are mainly exploration. As you move out into space, you will soon meet other players. Depending on your diplomatic skills, they may or may not share their maps with you.

[click on map to see larger/expanded version]

The Starmap is one of 3 main sections of a game universe that players will use. It is the most important because it allows a Starlord to view his or her entire empire and all the worlds that they are entitled to see. In the first incarnation of Imperial Wars for the Internet, this was a simple map of world icons connected by lines representing stargate connections. Double-clicking on a world icon took you down to that world’s screen view. The newest version is the next step in the progression of this part of the game.

Scrolling has been enhanced and the world icons are miniatures of the worlds they represent. Pausing your mouse over a world causes all of its statistics to be shown and a feature that allows you to see all of the orders you are currently considering for a world, including fleet movements to flash onto the screen. Most important, a filter bar has been added to the starmap. 10 preset filters let a player look at a combination of 5 preset filter choices in each of the 10 preset views. 6 of the filters are preset to show the information that a specific character might be most interested in. Such as a Raider who will want to know all the Raided and Ravaged worlds as well as all the worlds he owns, or a Philosopher who will want to see where the concentration of minions are.

Now that the starmap has these new features it can take its place as one of the most strategic tools in an Imperial Wars universe. Work is continuing on the starmap to further enhance it’s value as fleet plans and zoom levels will be added in future revisions.

(c) Copyright 2002, Intelligent Life Games^(tm)