I need some advice

With the help of doom builder 2 and XWE I am working on a series of wasteland style maps... bu the problem is: What do I put in a wasteland?
these maps are for exploration and the player will be rewarded for exploring by finding stuff like armor and weapons, maybe even health? but the problem is still what could be out there? buildings? temples? caves? ruins? god I need some help.

you should check some youtube videos about Hexen, it has some good examples of wastelands/swamps/ruins you may use as inspiration.

What was there before it got wasted?
It could be a whole city that was abandoned.

Desert is small rocks, a few large rocks, some sand (not much) and hilly, with little vegetation.

Many wastelands are near mountains, with dry valleys, dry gorges,
mesas, flatlands with scrub,
low hills, interesting erosion, large boulders, canyons, ridges,
some mining, mine shaft,
waste piles from the mining,
tools and debris from the mining,
abandoned mining shacks,
abandoned mining towns ( booze, food, clothing shops, bathing and barber, women, gambling, shipping and stagecoach, horses ),
at least one source of water (spring, wells),
missionary buildings,
ranches,
any run-down building from some group wanting to get away from
everyone else.

thanks for the help on what to do, I appreciate the help guys, I think I will use some ideas from hexen and also stick to a theme of an abandoned town or city, thanks guys :)