Finding Spec Crystal Locations Thread - Machines at War 3

In multiplayer and skirmish matches, I like to send my 3 soldiers out in the world to auto-explore the map. This is a really cool feature, but I've noticed that neither the mini-map nor main view show the locations of any discovered spec crystals unless I just happen to be looking at that location on the main map at the moment the soldier passes near the crystal. Otherwise, if the soldier walks by a crystal while I'm not focused on it in the main view, the crystal will not appear on either map.

Is this behavior intentional?

Steve

This is intentional, but I can see why it might need to be changed. Currently the game tracks which things you as the player have seen in the main view and shows you those things in the main view even if you don't have active sight of them. Perhaps it should be changed so that if any of your units see something (even if you aren't watching it in the main view), they are shown to you in the main view if you scroll to that area later. In real life your units are going to be reporting back the positions of things and then you can record them, especially a unique resource, so it makes sense that this should be shown on the minimaps if one of your units has discovered them.

I've played the game a lot since writing that post. The problem for me is that if I send out my 3 guys to explore, it's very likely that I won't discover any mining locations because my main view isn't traveling with them. And once I build some aircraft, it's fast to sweep through the entire map looking for mining locations, but since the fog of war has been swept away in large areas, it's difficult to know where to fly the aircraft. However, it's still worth sending out the 3 soldiers because they do find bonus ore.

Personally, I think that anything any unit finds should be communicated to the player on both the main view and the mini-map. For example, if one of my soldiers stumbles upon a mining location, text and an audible chime should let me know, and it should show up on the mini-map. When I scroll the main view to that location, I should see it there as well. I'm pretty sure this is how Age of Empires II worked.

Steve

Yes I agree, I changed it and the update is already live Go to the support page to get the latest full version emailed to you and let me know if there are any problems. I will also add text and audible alerts as well.