Influence map
A grid over the game world where each cell accumulates a value for who controls the area, smeared outward so that front lines, safe zones and choke points emerge.
Each unit stamps its influence into the cell it occupies — positive for your side, negative for the enemy's — and the value propagates to neighbouring cells with falling strength, much like a blur filter. The summed field is then read for strategic decisions: where the front line runs, which route is least watched, where it is safe to build. It is a utility-based representation of space rather than of a single action.
The technique comes from real-time strategy AI and was described early on by Dave Mark and Chris Miles, among others. Several layers can run at once — threat, visibility, resources — and be weighted together. A flow field can read straight off the map, so units are drawn toward weak points without individual pathfinding.