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1. Say Yes to Every Idea Say yes to every idea that comes into your head. Don't edit yourself for content or judge if the idea is good or not. Just brainstorm and allow free unjudgemental thinking.
Write everything down on paper. Ideas are everywhere. Carry a small notepad with you. Jot down everything that you think could be a possible idea. Every few days or so go through it and see if anything is worth pursuing further. Movies, tv, commercials, books etc. I also often use thesaurus and type in a descriptive word. The results give me more ideas to explore. Thesaurus also helps me to come up with names for the map. I always have a little sketchpad with me. My ideas usually come to me when watching tv. I always jot down thoughts and ideas down.
3. Collect Artwork Keep a folder on your desktop with images and videos you find on the Internet for inspiration. Keep textures, environments, characters, videogame screenshots, paintings, drawings etc. Anything that inspires you. Currently I have inspiration folder that is about 2 gigs.
Get yourself out of the way you usually work like. Use new tools, new pens, new media, go to new places and watch different movies then what you usually watch. Basically you want to get yourself out of the regular routine that you associate with. Someone on the forums said they use Google's Sketchup. Try that and see if its something for you. Sketch on dry erase board, block in your map in Maya or use legos. Shock your system and your workflow. 5. Incubation Walk away. When all else doesn't work, give yourself some breathing room. Don't force ideas. Don't force yourself to be original. Take breaks. Walk away from what you currently working on. Go workout, have sexy time with your girlfriend. Come back in a few minutes, or hours and try again with a clear mind.
6. Check To See If It Has Been Done See if it has been done before. Before pursuing the idea further makes sure someone hasn’t done it yet. Go on the forums, google and check out other websites to see if something similar has been done before. If someone did make it and created what you were thinking you can either make it better then what you found or move on to another idea. My advice is to innovate, not duplicate.
7. Ask Others My final advice is to ask others. Ask other like minded people who understand and know the process of level design and creating artwork. See what feedback they give and make your idea better.
If you have any more suggestions comment below and I may compile them together and put up another article featuring your ideas.
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If you running out of ideas and looking for something new, different to get you going here is a short guide for you. I would often hit my head on the wall for new ideas, trying to come up with one when inspiration hit was futile. So over the years I developed a basic system that works wonders.
2. Carry a NotePad
4. Try New Tools