I like terrains that look realistic. Even with the game's default textures it is possible to make the terrain look a lot better than some of the AH1 era MA terrains we have. Just avoid geometrically shaped terrain (square mountains, straight line coastlines etc.) and put in a few rivers and lakes. Also taking the time to paint the textures where they should go, rocky mountains with snow on the top, farms in the river valleys etc.
One thing that irritates me about some MA terrains is that the designer has just used the TE's standard "make roads" facility to create all the roads and then not edited them. This creates all the map's roads and railways and routes them all due north of the bases irrespective of whether there is a mountain in the way. So you get roads running right up or along 60 degree cliffs. It ruins the suspension of disbelief when you fly over one of these.
I don't like terrains that lack CV action, CV furballs are always good fun. If positioned correctly CVs add a degree of unpredictability to an MA terrain. So put at least 3 CV groups in per side with ports near enough to the enemy that they will get used.
Another thing I dislike is big mountains between airfields that force players up to alt and that reduce the amount of action at that point. A player who does take the time to venture over the mountain often becomes loath to give up his alt and fight since he could end up trapped and unable to run home if things get bad. Better to put mountains either side of the direct route between fields to compress the action.
I don't GV but when I was making my map the feedback I got from GVers was to put SPs close together at a field. So for instance not one SP to the north and one to the south, but two to the south a mile or two apart.
Maps that have a large number of front line fields or SPs for players to choose from tend to suffer from a lack of action, particularly in off peak times. But too few bases to choose from can cause the map to become static and boring to win the war types. If you are going to have choke points don't put them on the front lines but a couple of fields back. Outside of the chokepoints I'd suggest giving players 4-6 fields/SPs to choose from on each front line at any point on the map. That gives some variety but doesn't disperse the action to much.
Bear in mind that with the 20% of bases needed to win the war rule that less than half a map's bases are likely to see any action. If you put fewer bases on the map it will get reset faster. Work out how many bases you want to be fought over on your map and then add a load of rear bases behind that to make up the numbers.
One last tip: before you spend a lot of time with the TE on an MA map talk about it to HTC. Send Skuzzy an email describing your map, maybe with a hand drawn map that shows the basic layout. This can save a lot of frustration later when HTC reject your work because the fields are the wrong distance apart or whatever. Also make a post in the TE forum describing it, there's a lot of experienced players there who can save you a lot of time going up dead ends.
