How do you find inspiration for your maps?

For me, a lot of it comes from environments in movies, mostly sci-fi or fantasy, and especially stuff I thought was super cool when I was a kid -- something that gets me excited to create. I usually start with an idea of what I want the overall feel of a map to be (beautiful but dangerous? mysterious? dark and oppressive? gloomy?) and some of the main imagery that I want to use to evoke that feel and start building that imagery in the map editor. (For example, with the map I'm working on for Eternally Doomed -- which more people should totally map for, btw, I started with the idea of making something similar to Saruman's tower from the Lord of the Rings, but went from there with my own twists on it, such as having it sit atop a rock surrounded by an ocean of lava, and have an impossibly large interior that houses massive demonic libraries.) But besides that, I can't help but be inspired by other maps I've played and enjoyed, especially when it comes to gameplay. I don't usually seek out other maps for inspiration, but when playing maps I enjoy, they inevitably rub off on me, whether I realize it or not.  

10 hours ago, msx2plus said:

look beyond doom for inspiration.

along these lines, I've found exercise really helpful. if I take a long walk I inevitably get some ideas for things that I'm stuck on, or if I do some shorter and more intense cardio, it usually gets me pretty fired up to be productive and push through any mapping obstacles I currently have

9 minutes ago, Tango said:

if I take a long walk I inevitably get some ideas for things that I'm stuck on

for sure - i try to get an hour of walking in every day now and it's done a ton for my mental well-being in general, which trickles down very quickly to having more creative drive

4 hours ago, Egg Boy said:

Healthy mix of ripping myself and others off.

this too (sorry for double post, adding quotes to previous posts isn't so easy with edits) - don't be afraid to repeat others, and especially yourself. you learn so much through the iterative process. not every one will be a winner, but every one will be experience. done an idea and thought it was cool? do it again from a different perspective. i know the second episode of my current project is pretty much looking like a funhouse mirror version of the first (but better, naturally).

One of my podcasts was on creativity and inspiration. Might help :D
 

Short answer for me though is everything is a source of inspiration. That might sound facetious but I've made an arena that was inspired by the shape of a modem, and almost an entire map derived from motorway structural designs (with a soviet circus arena facade thrown in). I'm mostly inspired by things I see in the world. I find real world architecture to generally be more interesting and engaging than things like other games (but I do get ideas from things that I play).

Normally i take a look at other maps, and other games in general. Mostly i go to trailers to get any kind of feeling to map with, i often come back to this one in particular alot: 

1 hour ago, Tango said:

 

along these lines, I've found exercise really helpful. if I take a long walk I inevitably get some ideas for things that I'm stuck on, or if I do some shorter and more intense cardio, it usually gets me pretty fired up to be productive and push through any mapping obstacles I currently have

Absolutely. Getting blood flowing is so good for creativity. I like to spend the weekend camping, I always come back with fresh ideas.

Sometimes I dream of distinct Doom-esque areas and try to recreate them in the editor before they vanish from my memory. :D Otherwise I garner inspiration from other Doom work or sometimes just noodle around in the editor with weird overlapping layouts.

Playing maps I dig or from authors I like, drawing inspiration from other games, trying to replicate specific moods / feelings from books / tv / movies / photos / music and riffing off IRL structures or places as visual inspiration are the main ways in which I get the creative mapping juices flowing! The current trend of Twitter "insert-particular-game aesthetic-here" accounts is also pretty handy, haha! 

Recently I've been getting stuck into the The Joy of Mapping and Quake Mapping discord servers, as they tend to be good spaces for mapping discourse and idea brainstorming, alot of the WIP map shots in these servers are really neat, the pinned Doom Pictures 2021 thread scratches this itch too!

I usually find if I'm still stuck in a creative rut even after utilising all of these sources, that working out and exercising can push thru that feeling of mapper's block! :) 

7 hours ago, QuaketallicA said:

 

Great advice, I think I was trying to say something similar. I too am a fan of more 90s/vanilla-styled maps. I'd love to give yours a spin. Download link?

This has links to them all.

I'd say start later in the list as the first few are quite rough.

I'm not prolific by any means, but I have found that the most personal success has been from drawing inspiration from games in other engines, Build, IdTech 2, among more modern ones. Maybe looking at how door brushes are built in quake or how environments are telegraphed in a build engine game and then seeing if it's something possible in Doom and what extended features are needed and can be applied to achieve the same effects. 

How did i get inspirited to be a mapper?

Well to make a very long story short: I wanted to make maps for games, When i got into doom (late 2015 early 2016) i found YouTube videos on Doom wads, i wanted to make badass maps and someday to be in the big leagues with the top mappers of doom world. I'm still new and learning but hey at least i'm working on making a name for myself. 

I like to study building, city plans if I struggle with inspiration, they are quite similar what we see on builder in most cases, here few examples:
 

Sometimes my source of inspiration is random shape I draw on builder, other games I like or music what helps me set mood. Of course, I also play other mappers levels to see how they did that one piece and put my own spin on it. Taking frequent breaks also can help to reignite ideas you put aside when you're burnt out and incorporate them in your levels. 
 

My best ideas come from playing maps from other people and games other than Doom.  I'll find situations that I think are really cool and worth trying out in the editor.   Also a new texture set can do wonders for your creativity.   

I have answered this many times before, but the "fundamentals" for me to make maps is basically music, a theme and a basic idea/story.

Music being what inspires me to make the maps, while the theme and that story allows me to know what I want to do.

Usually, I choose a track first while making the map so it does not feel boring and I can get immersed when I am playtested, and I listen to that track on YouTube when I am mapping or a different, similar one (Same genre, media, etc.), although right now I am not mapping because school and I need to find the best moment in my schedule, probably thursday or friday. Really, I am already halfway, I should finish that one map.

As an example, I am using this one theme from Dead Space for my abandoned underwater facility map, although I think it is, on a way, more impactful if one listens to it when playing, it is up to one's choice.

typically i'll have a setup where two windows are open one being doombuilder and the other being firefox so i can watch videos n stuff while i map. i find that helps quite a bit, but if that's not helping then i have a big folder of screenshots from various maps (an inspiration folder, if you will wink wink nudge nudge) that i look through

I don't really have much of a plan when mapping; I tend to just wing it. I usually meddle around, trying to make a cool looking room or get an aesthetic down, then logically go from there. But as far as inspiration, I find music, or something that evokes atmosphere in some way, can really get me going.

I can imagine a fake screenshot from a non-existant wad that I plan to make it come true, and attempt to recreate it in Doom, with one or more themes, notably techbase, nature, hell and some more.
Or just take inspiration from the aesthetics of Pwads and/or Iwads, and gameplay? I try to think about a mixture of enemies, add one monster or any number I want, if the mish-mash of Demons seems to be bad, might recreate.

I don't easily lack imagination, because I enjoy taking inspiration from the good stuff.

Other maps, movies, real places. Sometimes you can find something that you really want to copy and continue as a separate map!

I look at better map creator's creations and imagine what I want to see in my mind's eye. I also enjoy making some random maps and stitching them together to see what kind abomination I can create.