Since the 3D level got included, I've tried to use it as 'normal' view. But I'll probably end up treating it just like I do the 3D level in GalCiv2--something for the occasional eye candy break.

And that's not just because I run on a weak rig and want the performance boost. The cloth map is an amazing improvement over the GC2 strategic map in terms of being nice to look at. Maybe it's just my crappy vid card, but I think it's better-looking than the 3D views. 3D for tactical battles seems fun, but otherwise, not so much...

After the start I play most of the time in cloth map level - only for upgrading cities or if I see new monster roaming around I view in 3D. The reason is, that most of the time the treasures or other things are easier to identify on the cloth map than in 3D (and I may be a bit old-school

It's good to know I'm not alone on this but also, kind of scary to think all this work goes into the graphics of the game and spell abilities etc etc.

Down the road, perhaps all spell style abilities and graphical flare can still happen on the cloth map.  Or a really dumbed down colorful 2d look instead of the 3d terrain as an option.  Not sure.  I only know that, the cloth map is where I spend a lot of time and - it's pretty boring after a while?  hmm...  Useful, but boring.  (obviously)

-AceQ

like most, I am doing a lot from cloth map and only zoom in for certain things.. (monster, city improvement and others)

I use a bit of both, but I actually prefer the 3D view most of the time because it feels more adventurous to me that way. Sure I could zoom out and instantly see everything around me, but it's also fun to wander around looking for things that may not be entirely obvious, which through a few plays makes it almost as easy to spot things as the cloth map (once you learn what goodies look like). I'm sure, just as in GalCiv, once i get a kingdom big enough I'll go more to the cloth map to get the quicker abstract of things going on, but let's not completely trash the 3D view. I don't think the 3D view has all of the eye candy activated yet either.

Nice idea.. maybe a toggle for the 'special' tiles similar to the icon for the resource tiles in Civ IV. This for sure could help

Agreed. There should be a banner or something similar to tell at a glance whose units are whose. TW is good at this, but I have to click things to even know what a unit is (or hover over it). I hope who ever does the UI has something in mind for this aspect of the UI.

I also prefer the cloth map because of the more easily available information on the faction a unit belongs and where the goodys are hidden.

More faction color ,especially on later armor, as well as more obvious goodys would make the 3D view much more usefull.

I'm about 50/50  .  I like the strategic view of the cloth map to see everything especially after I get a few towns.  I like to move on the 3d map and build just cause I like that view.   I like the fact that on the cloth map you can see what cities have units stationed there by the shield icon.  I guess it really comes down to preference.

I usually use the 3d map.

3D Map.

Though, due to the overall crumminess of the UI/HUD, I often zoom out to the cloth map to discern details.

Same here - I play on the 3-D map but either zoom out or switch it off for a moment to find quest objectives (that nice BRIGHT gold icon is nice)

I think some things that could be more apparent on the 3-D map:

-Icon of the nation's crest a unit belongs too (i.e. a stack from Yithril will have their nation's crest under the stack) and somewhere on the unit card when you mouse over the piece on the map (maybe as the background off the text portion of the card)

-Some of the goodie huts are hard to tell from just random terrain doodads.

-Wild Wheat is flapping hard to see on the 3-D map, make it taller or something. Fertile Ground could use some more green-ness or something. If there's some grass in the middle of a barren wasteland, it would stand the flap out big time.

-Quest objectives should shimmer or have that gold cloth map icon under them.

Gotta say this is something of a surprise to me. I thought everyone would like the 3D mode much better