I'm surprised the most visible flaw hasn't been much commented on...

[logintime]

... even though it's staring at you the entire game. I'm talking, of course, about the minimap.

Civ4 had a pretty decent minimap which gave you an idea of the terrain, the AI borders, their cities, forest cover, etc. It had the effect of being essentially a satellite view of the area, which was especially awesome in Earth map games.

But the Civ5 minimap looks like a mspaint splotch of embarrassment. There are no visual cues on it for what the landscape is like, not one. It's a big green blob floating in a bigger blue blob, with a couple snakey shades going on here and there to represent AI and player territory.

Honestly, when I saw the first preview photos of the game I thought the map was just their beta version. Surely they wouldn't release the final product with that ugly thing permanently in place in the bottom-right hand corner every game. But apparently, I was mistaken.

 

[Conspirator]

So true.

 

[Sullla]

I also thought that the minimap was a placeholder graphic in those screenshots... I also think it looks terrible. But people have already accused me of being a hater, so I've refrained from piling on the minimap.

 

[Centurio]

I'm not one to criticize the details of Civilization V, but this is a great point to bring up. Civilization IV had the best minimap in the series, easily. I prefer to have my map more realistic than stylized, since the whole reason I have one is to catch a quick glimpse of the world's geography...

 

[Black PrinceIV]

I think its just a matter of getting used to it. People here have spent 4 years looking at the Civ IV mini map and now that its very different people don't like it. I like the Civ IV map better currently but the way the borders played out in Civ IV is completely different from Civ V.

 

[Murky]

I think the UI in general has a lot of room for modding improvements. The minimap is a bit of a useless eyesore.

 

[Davor]

I agree with what the OP has said. I really do not find the art work that good in CiV. Be it for the mini map or the advisors.

Then again most Civ players do not care about graphics and care about game play. Alot of us do not like the game play, be it poor AI or what ever, so I believe we rather have good or great game play than to graphics so I believe that is why the mini map was never mentioned. We want good game play not perty looking graphics. (yes I said perty not pretty)

 

[AriochIV]

The minimap is definitely poor... among other things, you can't drag-scroll the main view by drag-clicking across the minimap like you could in previous games... but that's so far down the list of important problems with the game that it seemed hardly worth mentioning.

 

[DripInc.]

You know, this was the very first problem I saw in CiV when I saw trailers about it. At first I thought it was just a beta map, but to see it in the final game...wow. I like how the "Civilization V" logo disappears as you discover more of the world, but the lack of effort put into the detail of the actual map is just...sad.

 

[Dusk]

I'm surprised the most visible flaw hasn't been much commented on, even though it's staring at you the entire game. I'm talking, of course, about the minimap.

*cough cough* http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?t=381368

 

[pazmacats]

The minimap is definitely poor... among other things, you can't drag-scroll the main view by drag-clicking across the minimap like you could in previous games... but that's so far down the list of important problems with the game that it seemed hardly worth mentioning.

That was my main use of the minimap. Lots of interface optimizations from Civ4 are gone. Seems almost like they fired the guy who did this for Civ4. Vic5 is a huge step backwards in almost any direction...

 

[jpsdrum]

MINI MAP looks quite lame as is

 

[enfo]

The lack of drag functions suck, but I like the look of the new minimap. It fits the design scheme.

 

[Kiwi Tyrant]

There are no visual cues on it for what the landscape is like, not one.

No, you are mistaken. There are little triangle's scattered about that represent mountain's. You can use these visual cues to help navigate your unit's around, so they don't slam into them......

 

[j51]

I don't know about the functions of it such as dragging, but aesthetically it's way better. It tells you only what you need to know in such a small place (where the cities and borders are) in plain colors that don't bleed into the ocean. It's a lot like the London Underground map. It simplifies and distorts in order to clearly present very basic information. The main map and strategic view are there for terrain views.

 

[tinstaafl]

The thing i love the most about it is how the borders of India and China both are next to invisible, at least on my monitor.

 

[sourdiesel]

No, you are mistaken. There are little triangle's scattered about that represent mountain's. You can use these visual cues to help navigate your unit's around, so they don't slam into them......

 

[logintime]

The main map and strategic view are there for terrain views.

Except you can't zoom out to a global view on the main map and strategic view is... strategic view.

 

[Becephalus]

I cannot see what possible use having the terrain information on the minimap could serve. The scale would be too small to be helpful.

 

[Brawndo]

There are no overlay options either. Basically it's a mostly useless UI feature that takes up more of the screen.