Age of Empires 4 Minimap Timelapse and Pings
Several discussions have previously arisen about the excessive size of pings on the minimap, but I want to talk about the impact of this issue on minimap timelapses. Minimap timelapses are a concept familiar to me from other Age of Empires games. In its simplest form, it involves a sped-up version of the minimap, creating a fun and engaging video content. You lean back and watch as the colors, starting from a tiny dot, spread across the entire map. When the idea of creating a similar video crossed my mind, I searched on YouTube for some examples to draw inspiration from, but to my surprise, I found zero results for Age of Empires 4 minimap timelapses. So, I decided to try my hand at it myself. Here’s the timelapse I created for AoE4:
While creating the timelapse, I encountered several issues, which I will list below:
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“You’re Under Attack” Pings: In my first attempt, these pings almost ruined the entire timelapse. Eventually, I found a somewhat convoluted solution by first watching the replay from the perspective of the most isolated player and then switching to the perspective of the first player to be eliminated. However, this solution didn’t fully resolve the problem. Even the most passive player still receives multiple “You’re Under Attack” pings. Moreover, in a scenario where no player gets eliminated, it’s not possible to apply this workaround.
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Sacred Site Pings: The chaos during the capturing and neutralizing of Sacred Sites can be observed at the 30-second mark. The worst part is that the notification starts at 1 minute and 10 seconds on the timer. This results in three flashing huge pings that cover a quarter of the minimap.
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Minimap disappears: When the replay ends or the match finishes, the minimap disappears, making it impossible to determine the winner. This timelapse ended with the victory of the green player, But before the red player disappears or turns to gray, the minimap vanishes, leaving us clueless about the winner.
Keep in mind that I recorded this timelapse using the replay feature, which, in my opinion, provides the best outcome since we don’t have to deal with the constantly moving cursor.
In my opinion, AoE4 has the best minimap design and icons among the Age of Empires games. However, the issues I’ve mentioned create problems for minimap timelapses and can also be bothersome during regular gameplay. If there had been an option to show or hide these pings, I believe the problem can be solved at its root.
Thank you for reading.