After not forging for what seems like 2 years. How do y'all come up with map ideas? I've tried to forge recently but can't come up with any ideas on what to make.
Check out other forge maps, Halo maps, levels from other games, pictures or photos of architecture or terrain. Sometimes just taking a walk outside and observing the things around you can spark something.
I'd say block out a bunch of stuff with primitives for raw gameplay purposes and then find a theme through said geometry. If the current geometry doesn't fit the theme well you can always simply start from scratch with the theme in mind. Also what chunk said
I'm lucky to have zero problems with coming up with themes. I've made a lot of maps and I still have 30+ things in my phone I would still like to build someday. Movies, books, architecture, history, other games, nature, documentaries, other cultures, foreign places you've visited, your own surroundings, google images, other maps or just your own imagination. Sometimes I just doodle with blocks and a theme rises from that alone. That sounds incredibly cocky but some of my maps really just came out of nowhere.
Everything suggested above is right on point. There is the method of building Form then Function or Function then Form. Whatever suits your needs. The struggle sometimes is getting both to work with each other. I tend to use the Form then Function method, cause I like making nice things lol. I also like scripting, so I like to see how far I can push scripting. I try to recreate either board games or simple video games. Also, I feel like there is always a way to script something as long as you keep trying different methods.
My ideas come from everywhere. Some are from playing Halo or other games. Some are inspired by old halo maps or maps from other games. Some are from watching movies or tv. Some are from walking down the street. And some I basically just pull out of my ass. I have no single way I come up with my ideas I just see or think up something, write down a basic list of things I plan to implement into a map, sketch out an idea of a layout and start forging. Sometimes it works out sometimes it doesn't.