Large Maps, what do?

[Merlin]

Serveral times the map loads, and I find it's big or high map. I also find that my guys are forced to play catch up to the aliens as they freely roam and murder civs. 'Small Town' was one of the worst ones, forcing my troops up 2 staircases while under fire and the scream of townsfolk easy heard.

So what do you do for the maps that basically favor the aliens?

[ShipIt]

Serveral times the map loads, and I find it's big or high map. I also find that my guys are forced to play catch up to the aliens as they freely roam and murder civs. 'Small Town' was one of the worst ones, forcing my troops up 2 staircases while under fire and the scream of townsfolk easy heard.
...

Afaik it makes no difference if you save the the civvies or not. On most maps, there´s simply nothing you can do to save them, especially because aliens seem to get after them as their primary target. If I get the chance, I use smoke to give them cover.

...
So what do you do for the maps that basically favor the aliens?

Personally, I spend spare time in an attempt to improve those maps. Or try to make better ones.

[H-Hour]

Afaik it makes no difference if you save the the civvies or not.

If the code is working as written when I last read it, there is a small effect on nation happiness. But you should really only be worried about cumulative effects over several missions. In my experience, the penalty isn't large enough to be concerned about the occasional mission where all civilians die. But if you're letting every civilian die every mission that might accumulate to a problem.

[Telok]

Electro lasers. You can stun civilians with no penalty.

[Visitor]

Usually, my problem with larger map is not civilians as much as having to play hide and seek for half an hour if not longer (if some alien will get stuck in some ridiculous place). Without goggles as they are right now I suspect I would be really not fond of playing on some maps. Hopefully, map-makers in the future will concentrate on more open, smaller maps (or bigger ones, but not requiring one to get through several floors of different buildings) for the sake of me being able to play quick, precise operations more often than painstaking campaign whenever I'll send some Phalanx troopers for a mission.

[FelixDrake]

(or bigger ones, but not requiring one to get through several floors of different buildings)

The aforementioned goggles do half of your work for you on such missions.  The other half?
Shooting them through the walls with EM rifles (bolters) or if you really want, coilguns.

As for saving the civilians, if the aliens can see/shoot only civilians, that's wh they will kill.
If you just winged said alien (for maybe 1% of his health) with a laser pistol/rifle, and they can see you behind partial cover, they will often target you first.
The same holds true to a lesser extent if they can see an ARMED phalanx soldier (they will often ignore zero items carried fodder).

Unfortunately, sometimes saving the civvies means giving the aliens soldiers to shoot at.  Also, yes, some maps, there are civvies that are just too dumb or badly placed to live.  The trick is figuring out HOW exposed you can let your soldiers be without them getting killed.