Working with the HC models is tricky as I discovered when I made my intro cinematic and put the German HC in it. Don't forget, the models were intended to be used in a static scene, so they're not skinned all around. That's why they disappear when they're spun. In other words, they're great for cinematics, but not for scenarios since once the player spins the camera, the city disappears.
You'll also notice that rarely do the model's streets sit flush with a flat map. It took me a couple of hours of elevation adjusting to get the map ground to sit relatively flush with the model's streets - although there were many places I couldn't clean up very well. Of course you only have to do this if units are to walk on them. Don't ask me how ES did it, I have no idea. The best way to adjust the terrain is by switching on the grid lines, then use the smallest terrain brush on the slowest setting. Select the ground beneath the city streets and adjust upwards slowly until the grid lines appear over the streets but not so high that the grass peaks through. Having a unit nearby to walk around on it helps to see if it looks good. Do you best, since you won't get it perfect, take my word. Using a texture under the streets that sort of matches the colour of the streets helps since if it pokes through, it won't be as noticeable.
And one final note, and this almost made me give up the game until I finally discovered what was going on. If you put the model down and say fix the elevations like described above. Then place another unit down and go to select it, sometimes you'll select the HC model by accident and move it without knowing, wrecking hours of work. It took me a lot of frustration and angst working with them to learn their quirks. Best advise is to open the object info box and when you select something by clicking it, double check that indeed you have the right unit selected before you move something you'll regret.
Yes it looks great IMO, but it requires a lot of work. If you doubt how nice it looks, DL my cine and look at the German HC. A lot of work, but I am proud of how it looks.
[This message has been edited by ToMyBoY (edited 02-28-2006 @ 02:58 PM).]