Map Theme | How do you decide?

https://www.reddit.com/r/earthporn

https://www.reddit.com/r/cityporn

https://www.reddit.com/r/IWishIWasThere

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Imaginationland

Edit: not to be a cock, but looking around for inspiration as a start is usually super helpful, and then just go from there when looking for better references, narrowing down the theme.

Yeah what evert said, personally, even with a good theme you can make it boring or really cool, I know that is very subjective, but try to go for something that you've not seen much in a game before, or something iconic for what ever reason. A warehouse can be done ok, or done really well, but I doubt it would stand out as much as something like a telescope in a jungle like https://www.uvm.edu/newsadmin/uploads/arecibo3.jpg Location scouting for movies is a real thing, and it's no different in games - there is a skill to it, I've watched literally hundreds of documentaries about pretty mundane things (modern marvels, engineering and architecture) you'd be amazed how cool some of those areas you normally don't see are. Normal everyday locations and themes serve a purpose too, In the sense they prove a baseline for other levels to stand out - but I'm not sure I'd enjoy building those these days.

A trick you can do to add more theme to your level, is to take a pretty normal location and add a twist, like a plane crash, post earthquake/disaster, extreme weather etc, theme is so much more than a location, it's a story.

One final tip, it can be refreshing to find a theme that is more specific, a "City" is a huge amount of work to pull off, requires many assets and a lot of different sub themes, where as a power plant, sports stadium, warehouse or office is very manageable in terms of art, where you can reuse most of the art throughout the level without it becoming too boring, use tricks like different lighting and atmosphere to save time and give an area a unique feel, for example, a warehouse need's storage, utility rooms, car parking/garage entrance, office/staff room and toilets. You now have sub themes that fit your overall theme, the location should feel as if it would function.

How do you make a good layout when you have original theme ideas, that's my problem.

Quote from blackdog

How do you make a good layout when you have original theme ideas, that's my problem.

Everything is researchable, nothing is 100% original.

Everything has roots on something else.

Well, I didn't mean to be literal, "original" as per "there are many ideas that haven't been explored in CSGO" -- I assume that's the game being referenced, but even if not, any game has themes that haven't been explored in that specific community.