The maps for Ashes are being designed in a way that is similar to what we did with Sins of a Solar Empire. They are, in effect, a web.  However, since we take place on land, we decided to organize them as regions ala Company of Heroes.

Since our economic model is similar to that in Total Annihilation, we have some interesting map design options available to us.

Here is the way we're currently doing maps:

• You have your seed region which has 4 metal deposits. 
• This is attached to your "natural" expansion region which will have N resources (currently 1 radioactive and 2 metal is the thought). 
•  Your natural is then accessible to multiple regions.
• Other regions will have Y resources in them.

One of the first questions we'll be looking to answer is this: How many resources should be in a region.  This is not an easy question without a lot of play through (so don't answer until you've played a bit) because we have to carefully balance the amount of resources available. We want people to expand but we don't want the game to be purely about who expands the fastest (hence, your home region and natural currently have more resources than other regions).  But at the same time, it's "fun" and rewards better players if they have more resources to have to build on.

So what are your thoughts? How many resources do you like seeing in regions? What should be the ratio between external regions and your seed and natural regions?