Hi redko, thanks for your message... and your work! Top notch, really!
Yes, possibly you're right: it would be impossible for the IL2 engine to handle such a detailed map, and even such a detailed 3D object, I believe! I'd been working with 3D FX etc. for some years and to reach a realistic level even for such a small island it would require millions of polygons, so I have to forget about it...
Anyway, talking about
the other Palau, I believe I did found out why I have a dir Palau in my MapMods/Maps/ beside yours: it shall be the repaint by vpmedia, since it contains just the load.ini and the online_load.ini files... Your repaint looks terrific, BTW, and far superior to any version. If you like here is another map image that shows where are the villages and the main airstrip orientation:
If I recall correctly, the original map has the airfield close to perfect! I also have one line in that vpmadia Palau/load.ini
AirField0 = land/Pacific/PalauField01.tga
but I cannot find this image anywhere, and it seems is not even registered as an error when loading the map in FMB and checking with the console... Another mystery!