My program calculates currently the 4096x2048 map I've found in the 2.3-dev. It will found a bit better base placement, but my athlon64 2.5GHz x2 will calculate it for 3-4 days.
Mattn: You want to port the current code to c++? I think it is a good idea, and not a big work.
BTaxis: Yes, you have right. Personally I like start with two bases, on Hawai and on New Zealand ;-) even it is a fallback in the game mechanics but I love this ;-) Starting base on Hawaii has a good effect: you don't need to raid the crashed ufos, because they are lost in sea. I don't like too much combat, particularly with the starting technologies, and can find enough research goals on the terror sites, too. To reach more combat in the starting phase of the game, we can start with the Sibera/South Africa/Portugalia bases with my placement.