Great Isle (C-evo)

Great Isle is the name of one of the Predesigned maps that are downloadable with the free game C-evo.
Quite large at "375% size", it allows the standard number of players (15). Because there are 24 possible Starting Positions fairly evenly spaced around a large, almost circular, island, a player may find several very close rivals or find sparse areas capable of almost uninterrupted colonization for a few centuries.
The map is interesting, with very well-designed variety of terrain including numerous rivers and maybe a bit of a bonus for the first players to research Navigation. If you don't want to spoil the surprise, don't give in to the temptation to use the map editing function to get a sneak preview.
However, several of the starting positions are on forest or swamp (which is strictly illegal according to the normal map-editing rules), or on tundra, which is depressingly unproductive, and a few nations are so poorly placed that three of them starve to death by 3800 BC while several others need to irrigate before they can grow.
A further non-standard feature is that there is no Mercury, so you cannot score a proper win by building a spaceship.
Because of the arrangement of coastlines, a defensive stance can be fairly easily maintained using air units.
The original author of this article has tweaked a few dozen tiles to overcome the serious disadvantages and can probably email a copy to interested devotees.
Category:Maps (C-evo)