Usually I'm sitting in study hall doodling and something will come to me so I'll sketch it out and by the end of study hall I have a v1 planned. What about you guys? :]
I just had a random idea for a crypt map last night. It seems pretty good actually, so im going to forge it up. Fortress was inspired by Sanctuary from H2 mostly, my first good map Shrine was mainly just based off what i imagine a covenant "holy place" would look like. Sigul was based off Relic. Recreant was loosely inspired by Midship. Beaver Gulch was sort of a mix of Blood Gulch and Beaver Creek. I guess im mostly inspired by old halo games.
Like lots of people I suppose i just let my mind do the work and just randomly let my ideas flow. I will usually build stuff randomly for maybe an hour or two just talking to friends. Eventually i will find a structure that i think is cool and keep building on from there, then i get the inspiration from my first structure to keep going.
I get my inspiration from buildings and structures. I prefer to make enclosed maps rather than open maps as it makes it more challenging, so buildings are my main inspiration.
I can't really say I get my inspiration from anywhere in particular, I mean, most of the time I find myself inspired by other peoples crazy creations, but that's not always the case, I often get inspiration from other games I play on, and sometimes I even get inspiration from things I learn about in history or geography, like some old japanese building, or huge dam.
I usually start with one simple idea that popped up in my mind, like a fun-sounding element my map should have, and then I try to visualise it with Sketchup. If it turns out to be good, I forge it up and start thinking about a name and weapon placements and stuff. I also like to wander around forgehub and read some guides people wrote. Sometimes that brings ideas too.
Sometimes I will do sumthin on paper, or I will just think about it. Othertimes, I will get an idea for a piece of a map, and then just build around that. If you really want to create an intricate design, the Download sketchup and the map components, and you can make your design from there.
My inspiration comes from many places, although only a select few things even get started on forge, and most of them never get completed anyway. Sometimes they just pop, and like Dave said, sometimes things I learn in school inspire me. I thought of every way to remake the battle of Marathon, which we spent like 4 days on. Also shows and movies inspire me alot. I had an idea to make a District 9 map, although it just felt like Cops and Robbers, and a much shittier version of it if I may add that. OH! The shower too, I get alot of great ideas when im in there, im usually just too lazy or busy with other projects to get started on anything I think up though.
Whenever Im bored in class I jsut go to the back of my book and randomly sketch stuff out. and sometimes it just comes to me while im walking to school or just doing anything really.
Yeah, I prefer closed maps as well. But When I'm watching a movie or something, I can always find something that will give me an idea for the map.
I just go into Forge and try to imagine some really awesome map that gets in my mind. If it's a remake. I mean.. It's not hard to do If anything else.. I sit there frustrated blaming my mind for having a "Forging Block" rofl. But really, who else get's really pissed when they can't think of anything?
I also make sketches of my maps before I make them. I use graphing paper to make sure everything is the right size. It works perfect bc each square represents a square on the grid of sandbox. When it comes to my ideas for maps, well I don't know I guess they just come to me. If I concentrate, I can think of 2 or 3 map designs in less than a minute, but I guess that's why I'm gonna be going to college for game design next summer. Now my inspiration, I get it from you guys(the community). Yall are the main reason I make maps. Yall inspire me to keep going and to presue my dreams of designing multiplayer maps in the near future.