I recently stumbled across this map seed (generated randomly when starting a new game) and I must say that I found this to be amongst the best I ever had:
67A839254FD
Lowland Lakes large
Featuring a large water body with inlets and some small islands not or barely accessible in the early game. Some hills and mountains nicely scattered across the map. Starting area is well suited for a smaller village but needs quite a bit of terraforming later on. After a few restarts to get rid of enemy camps, wolves etc in the vicinity, the map turned out to be a fair mix of challenge and nice options for an interesting expansion of my town.
I’d be very interested in what others have to say, so suggest you give it a try.
As of now, I will not post a picture of the map and my town - but what about sharing some pictures here of our creations and “town planning concepts” once the population of one’s individual town has reached, say, 400 or 500 (and/or Tier 3 or 4)? Would be fun to compare each other’s approaches to this map, and maybe a good inspiration for a refinement of one’s own approach. 
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I’m checking this map out now. It is intriguing! I love the mountain with plateau directly next to the starting area, but it’s a shame it’s not flat enough to place the town center right on it. Will need to start at the base, terraform the plateau, and then move the TC later on.
I really hope we get the water-based DLC sooner rather than later. Maps like this fill me with sadness. I love the lakes and it feels like such a waste to not be able to engage with them in any way beyond their aesthetic.
I’m concentrating on the achievements at the moment but will try to remember to have a look when I’m finally complete.
Exactly my thoughts but now that my town has grown I am considering a stronghold on top of that mountain rather than moving the town centre there. Might resconsider though.
At least we have fish and can build bridges to explore and exploit the islands (I play with the map hidden in the beginning) but yes, I do hope we get more options (boats etc.) soon, too!
Is there a need for tunnels?
I think this mountain may challenge my terraforming skills…! To create a realistic looking keep, the sides and the top of the mountain need to be flattened so roads can wind up to the summit. I have no idea how to achieve this… any advice?
I think it’s been hinted that 1.3 may have improved terrain tools. Hopefully we get those soon, which may be helpful for this map.
I like the idea of a stronghold up on the summit with the town center/town below it. Problem is only the TC can ring the bell to call in villagers, which is less useful when the TC itself is not at the top of a fortified mountain!
Is there a mod for tunnels? In case there is, then you can build tunnels but don’t need to with this map.
As opposed to many others, I don’t have a lot of issues with the current land flattening function. To the contrary, the devs designed it such that your settlers actually do the terraforming, other than in many games where this is a “god-like” feature. And terraforming is a tedious process, in FF designed close to many other principles, e.g. in production. The more miners you have, the more ore is being extracted at any one time. The same goes for terraforming. The more settlers are given land flattening as an assignment, the better and faster it works.
But yes, it does need time. With this map, I’d go step-by step with that mountain and flatten the area that needs to be terraformed layer by layer. I would go for the eastern slope with this as the western probably is to steep to produce acceptable results. Then do it layer by layer but yes, you must repeat this a few dozen times, and it will need a few years.
My town centre is still located in the original starting area, and production is placed along the western slope of that mountain (with a quite a bit of terraforming to get terraces).
My idea of placing a stronghold on top of that mountain is more for looks than feasible strategy/defence. That said, if you place your town centre there, then it will take your villagers quite some time to reach it - maybe too much time, with the enemy approaching fast.
In the photos, I blurred out the map for now so as to not spoil the map for players who would first like to explore it. (As I said, I never display the entire map when I start a new game. More fun to discover what is there as the game proceeds.)
And yes, my town is in urgent need of a beautification campaign, I know. 
Will post more but would like to wait for others to comment on that map and showcase their own approaches.
I think I saved a picture of a terraformed road over a hill, how can I post it here?
In your reply window, there is an upload button on top.
Thanks for sharing, your town is looking good! I love the little bridges across small islands - such a cute look.
It’s making terraces that’s the real terraforming terror for me, and I can see how the mountain would benefit from a terraced structure so that the town can wind around it up to the summit. Ah, it’s going to be an adventure… I’m stuck in study hell for the next few weeks, but once I’m done, I’m gonna relax with this map and will share what I come up with then 
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Still needs some refinement…
Firing range is the same as if on flat ground. Otherwise very nice.
