To the extent your radar reaches, objects like bots and base structures get minimally rendered in this far-off view as Centipede-style blips - red, blue, or green according to faction. This map-less, zoom-able approach works beautifully, giving you "grand-tactical" control that keeps you from losing your bearings when switching from game to map and just plain feels empowering.
In the UEF campaign, each map starts with your Armored Commander Unit (ACU) aka "supreme commander" teleporting in to kick start a base and begin harvesting mass and energy via extractors and power plants. Instead of build-status bars on structures, each of your upgradeable engineers displays whatever he's working on. Combine several and you can speed up the process, but at incrementally greater load on your delicate mass/energy ecosystem.
As you complete objectives, the map "expands" by coloring in previously blacked-out grid-space - sometimes four or five times a level, which forces you to change your tactics to accommodate slipperier terrain or shrewder enemies. It's a pretty clever way to manipulate the action and mitigate the potential for tank rushing, which is still, unfortunately though less frequently, a winning strategy here.
