I can believe you remember that. But it most likely is just a combination of things:
The -g# (for example -g5) indeed did let you select more levels. That is true.
BUT that never did benefit much, the buildings ARE predefined somewhere, and the slider just limits which part of that you see. The current implementation simply shows everything already, and the switch does nothing. Even in the old days “32” would not have done anything, but the max cap would have been met already earlier.
The distance slider when super large, could still be effective, but due to numerous reasons that was limited to current values. The biggest reason being that different bubble sizes for different types of units, and different unit capabilities would make the battle (or ‘campaing’, if you wish) engine unbalanced depending on which distances and units were active: thus bubble sizes and unit deagg distances is better kept static as they are.
What comes to the huge number of building, there were some concept pictures of how to generate buildings with random generator, or how to generate buildings based on the city textures. I estimate that the huge number of buildings you remember is this kind of concept or prototype art. It never was public, probably not working at all, as far as I know.
…Or else no-one just ever told me! :???: :oops: