Possibly the largest change with the new UIv4 is the world map as a permanent background in fullscreen.

The existing UIv3 has a limited display area for the map, and it forces users with high-resolution monitors to play Illy with the actual game window significantly reduced into the corner of the screen.  The new UIv4 allows full screen gameplay at any resolution, including 4K! [If you'd like to see what the game looks like with the new UI in  https://assets.illyriad.net/uiv4/illyriad_4k_full.png" rel="nofollow - 4K resolution, click here! ]

The map is also significantly larger; and the enhanced networking and distribution technologies in the background mean that it's also significantly faster to display and navigate.

The map has a number of other features, including:

• A new mouse cursor, for a little extra polish!
  
  
• A 'cloth' background texture
  
  
• The map is actually viewable even if you aren't logged in (although, obviously, it won't display any data specific to your account, as you aren't logged in!); but this means you can now share map views etc outside of the Illy player environment, if you wish.
  
  
• Click and Drag to navigate around the map has been significantly improved
  
  
• You can use the Mouse Wheel to zoom in and out (the zoom anchor point is at the mouse cursor)
  
  
• Moving units now display with flags unique to unit type:
• Faction, Animal, Caravan, Trader, Gather type, Army Race
• Flag color represents political standing (Yours, Alliance, NAP, Neutral, War)
  

• Units’ direction and speed now represented by an arrow protruding from the flag.
  
  
  
  
• Length of arrow represents speed
• Once the arrow reaches the destination, a countdown timer is displayed at the end of the arrow showing time to arrival.
• Width of arrow represents unit size.
  
  
• Siege camps display unit flags above the camp representing the race of the sieging army. 
  
  
  
  
• Visual representation of a siege in action displayed with arrows originating from the sieging army towards the city under siege with an explosion visual. 
  
  
• Clicking a map tile brings up tile information and interaction options with the tile. 
  
  
  
  
• If the tile has sovereignty bonuses a red sovereignty icon displays below the tile picture, click the red icon for sov information.
  
  
• Region borders and names now displayed on map.
  
  
• There's a new locations dialogue box which we will be allowing you to bookmark specific locations on the map and quickly jump to them simply by selecting the location from the list.
  
  
  
  
• Map Options are available from a dialogue box, allowing you to change the visual appearance of the main map, toggling off and on various graphics, borders and labels.
  
  
  
  
• The Navigation Widget is located in the bottom right hand corner, and behaves as one would expect:
  
  
  • Zoom in and out by clicking on the - and + magnification buttons. 
  • Zoom displayed and controlled by slider below magnification buttons. 
  • Prestige account zoom limitation denoted by prestige icon on slider bar. 
  • Quickly move to coordinates by entering them in the fields below the zoom slider and clicking go. 
  • Minimap displayed below coordinate search bar shows current location with a red square.
  • Click on the mini-map to quickly move around the map: