[agracier]

IF...these maps were not populated but only had map textures and airfields??? The cities would not have buildings but only have the flat city and village textures.
Would flying on a map like that be appealing?
A map like that wouldn't be hard to make and shouldn't take too long.
What do YOU think?

I've tried doing that but the results have never been very satisfying.

It might be because I don't have the right type of textures - although I have tried it out with some of the French/UK/Dutch city/village textures - but mostly I think because for me at least, most missions (on the rare occasions I ever do fly) are for low flyers, taking place between 1200 to 300/500 meters (above 2000m my fear of heights kicks in ... ha ha). Flat textures of buildings just don't cut it in these circumstances for me, even though I am hardly insistent on details in the general sense.

Another little handicap to populating a China map is that in the case of Hankow, it is without any ocean area in a densely populated part of the world. Many maps have up to 25-50% ocean area, greatly reducing the area needing populating. That's why I sometimes think island maps are popular, aside from their historical connections.