Mini map?

I never used the minimap in Supcom because strategic zoom was so much more effective. But my concern here is that strategic zoom will only contribute so much, as you can't see the backside of the planet. Yes, you can put that in its own viewport, but there will still be some disorientation and confusion when trying to keep track of that stuff. And that doesn't include multiple planets/celestial bodies.

Whether a minimap is the best solution to these issues, I don't know, but they should definitely be taken into consideration.

You can have multiple viewports as they've said, so you could create a second view of the other side of the planet if you need it, and use that as your "minimap".

I already mentioned that this has its own issues, but since you aren't seeing them, I'll elaborate on just a few:

1. If the main camera is on your hemisphere, and the second view is on the enemy hemisphere, your view of the edges joining the hemispheres is very limited. If you move the secondary camera to view one of these, you'll need a third view for the other one. Plus another view if you want to see a full view of the enemy side. 4 views to see an entire planet clearly. It can be optimized down to 3, but all these views just for planetary awareness is a ton of clutter. Now what if you rotate the planet in your main view? Unless the other views rotate jointly, you'll be missing something from your view.

2. Viewing other planets. Your attention may be focused on one planet while something occurs on another. Once again, you'll need a multi-view solution just to get the full picture. Heaven forbid the enemy drops forces on another planet on the side that you don't have visual coverage.

A unified minimap system even fairly simplified, would alleviate issues like this. I'm certain it's not the only solution, and I'll be happy if a better one is implemented. But it's still something that should be considered, rather than dismissed with "Oh, it's okay. You can make viewports for that."

no mini? good ridins