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You're in luck! The upcoming release has that particular screen expanded greatly. It was originally designed "back in the day" when screens were small. It took me a while to go resize everything, but now it (will be) assuming a much larger minimum screen size. I think you'll find usability much improved. I'm also adding several screens full of instructions on how to use the various parts of that customization screen. (And if you need any of those lists extracted, just let me know and I'll send you the master list.)
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I guess I can do that, I just thought you wanted to publish them in Chaos.
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This is the GTAC mapping screen.
This screen, when opened on the <Blank>> map, looks very boring. It shows you all the stars and coordinates and lets you scroll around to see different areas. But that's barely the beginning - there's so much more that you can do with it!
For instance, you'd probably like to make your home world look different so you can tell where you are. Here's where it starts to get interesting. Go to the "Map" menu item and select "Show New Information" and "Star symbols". That will bring up a complicated-looking screen. In the edit box in the upper-left comer of the window type "My Home", or in the list below it double-click on "MyHome" to put it up in the edit box. Now, in the pull-down boxes on the right side of the screen, make the following selections: Pen Color: Red, Brush Color: Red, & Brush Pattern: Solid. Now just click "Ok" and voilà - you have a red star for your home world!
You may repeat this procedure to color other stars as well (once you know something about those other stars). For instance, you might make all your colonies green stars so they're easier to see. You can even change the shape with the top-right pull-down, so maybe your production centers will be red squares. Charted systems might look good as hollow green circles so you'll know what needs to be visited next, or you might rather show the star's PV there instead of a symbol. (I suggest using the formula "Charted & Unowned" when displaying PV on the map.) Enemy colonies might be circles and enemy production centers could be squares and you could choose a different color for each enemy empire. You might decide that your Home World isn't distinctive enough with all these colors, so you go exploring on the "Background" sub-tab and find that you can make your Home World a red star on a square yellow background. And so on, creating a visual image that you're happy with.
Of course, this makes for a beautiful map, but who wants to do all that work every time you just want to look at the map? Well, you're in luck! Just use the Map > Save Map menu and give your work of art a name. (You may wish to save several maps with different names for different purposes.) Next time you want to look at this map, use Game > Open Map and choose it from the list. It will pop right back up for you. Better yet, any new information you've gotten will automatically be updated so your map is always current!
And there's more... You can use Map > General Settings to do galaxy-wide things like change the color of "space" or the "grid dots" or the default star symbol. You can automatically center it on a particular location (even a named one that may move around) or set the magnification factor to zoom in to particular areas or zoom out to show a galactic overview. You can also resize the mapping window itself to see more or less of the galaxy at a given magnification factor. You can even print the map if you'd like a "hard copy" to work with. To save your printer ink, anything black and white will be swapped but other colors will stay the same. If this creates awkward colors on your printout (or you only have a black & white printer), then you may wish to create and save a separately-colored map specifically for printing.
There is a menu choice (such as the one used above) for displaying stars and another one for displaying "Ships & locations". The latter is used when you want to map the location of things in addition to any star there, such as where your battle fleets are located or where combats have occurred. Only one Star symbol definition is normally used for any given location, but the Ships & locations may define a number of different symbols at one location and they can all be shown together. It is usually desired to place multiple symbols in different places around the central point so they will not overlap one another and be difficult to discern. And another choice is available for "Drawing Paths", so that you can show where your shuttle runs are or the list of places where you've sent your scout ships, etc. Yet another choice allows you to view "Territories and boundaries" to show background coloring of areas or drawing borders around areas (such as a particular distance out from your Home World).
You can also modify an existing definition by selecting Map > Change Shown Information. It will display your current list of "mapping rules" (similar to scripts). Select the one you want to change and press the "Edit Command" button. Don't forget to save the changes you make if you like them.
Adding or changing map information can be a complex process, so when you bring up the screen to work with that description, a new menu choice will appear with more detailed information about how you can go about making selections on that screen. Visit each of the available instruction items whenever you wish to know more about your available options on that subject.
You may also hover over a star to see its basic information or double-click it to get more details about that star and its history, including ships you have located there or nearby. You may even right-click on one of those ships to give it orders.
Even more things are planned for the future, so start having some fun with this customized mapping facility and see what it can do for you!
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Yes, those are the general instructions for using maps. But if anyone decides to customize a map there are new instructional screens available there as well to help you through several aspects of that process when you get there.
