Thanks for the input, guys - it is much appreciated
@Rman: Hey man, good to see you around. You got me right at exploring outside the box a good deal, I keep resisting the temptation of following restricted patterns because they tend to turn something we love into something ultimately boring. Therefore I'm willing to produce a map that can be enjoyed in more ways than just interactions between the players; I want to create something which will sprout different interactions between the players and the terrain itself. Something which will invite different minds to do different things under different circumstances rather than following a ritual - after all, a good game IMHO is that which breaks everyday rituals in its simulated world, by many different approaches. Currently this map is in early terrain studying stage, and I'm thinking about the access each base has to another, including possible team setups. The only thing that's for sure about oil is that the white peaks dotting the valley will have resources, some of them will be accessible by ramps, some will be vtol-only, and most of the islands will have hover-accessible resources.
@effigy: Glad to hear that you like the idea! But regarding teamplay, I don't intend on restricting possible team configurations too much. The bases are reasonably spaced from each other so FFA will certainly be a must. 2x3 (west x east) is surely another potential, but I'm making the central base a bit more protected because I want it to be able to withstand simultaneous attacks from 2 players better than the others, so that a highly skilled player can go 1x2x2 using that position as well. I'll have to test it thoroughly to find ways for balancing it so that FFA games are fair.
@Bobnmike & themac: I'm going with an intuitively navigable logic for this map. Most oil resources are going to be positioned in near the natural attacking vectors from one base to another, and some will be positioned in obvious deviations from those paths - of course no one will climb the snowy peaks in the valley to attack the enemy, but it's intuitively correct to think that such a position would contain at the very least an advantageous view range. Also, the islands will be visible for those passing by, so everyone will know there's a reward in it for someone who researches hovers fast. Learning to properly play on the map, however, is going to take a while since there are many different corners in it
I'll be back with some updates next week!
-Fabian
)!
(That's a shout out. 
Interesting shift in gameplay to coordinated multi-vector maneuver. A taste of what gameplay could be with Commanders evolved to their original design specs and not throttled or crippled by '98 SW constraints. Check it out with some game buddies. 
