Shroud of Darkness
You begin with only a small portion of the map revealed to you; The rest is covered in black. This black cover is called the Shroud of Darkness, and it may be hiding your enemies’ base, useful resources and more. The shroud is gradually removed and the map is gradually revealed when you send units to explore new parts of the map.
Fog of War
Areas that you have explored, but currently do not have any units or buildings in them, appear with a grey shading covering them. This is the Fog of War. Even if things change on the map, under the Fog of War you you will only see objects as they were when your units or buildings last “saw” them. For example, if trees are cut down or a new enemy building is built under the Fog of War, you won’t see the change unless you send a unit there again. Importantly, enemy units are not seen at all under the Fog of War.
If you have allies, you can see whatever parts of the map your allies have explored and vice versa.
Gathering Intelligence
When exploring the map, you should be trying to find:
- Treasures,
- Resources,
- Strategic areas on the map, such as river crossings,
- The location of your enemies’ bases,
- How fortified your enemies’ bases are,
- What sort of military units they have been training,
- and more.
All of this information can help you make the decisions that will make you victorious, such as the best direction to expand your base, and the types of units you should be training to counter your adversary.