"Ah, design in its most primitive form," I hear you say. This is simple, traditional map layout on paper. You're required to simply draw out a top plan of your map. No snazzy, expensive software -- just plain old pencil and paper! But beware -- it's important to note that at the earliest stages of developing an environment the artist works pretty much hand-in-hand with the game designer in order to reach a mutual agreement of gameplay and aesthetics.
Now, I know what you're thinking … game designers are smelly, dizzy, and never know what they want. However, if you're like me, who tries his darnedest to avoid the stigma that comes with the proverbial game designer, you'll soon find that beneath all that baby scrawl, usually on a chewed-up Postie, there's real underlying gameplay genius. Ha! Just kidding, I love giving the designers a hard time. This is actually a crucial time for designers. They flesh out where spawn points, entrances, A.I. paths, etc., should be laid out. Revisions are almost always made to this paper design in the next stage of environment development.
Stage 2: Block World
This important stage involves the artist blocking out the map that he or she roughed out on paper with the game designer. It's basically the equivalent to the paper map, except in a 3D realm. Using the 3D software package called Softimage, we sculpt primitive shapes like boxes, spheres, and cylinders to represent platforms, rooms, and walls. This stage is again straightforward, quick and genuinely enjoyable. The primary focus of this stage is to have a primitive map up and running so you can run around and interact with it. Your main objectives at this stage should be to get a positive feedback on scale and size.
Stage 3: The Flesh Out
Once scale and size have been approved by all parties, usually by the design lead and the art lead, it's time to flesh out the block world you created with more intricate geometrical details such as door and window extrusions, etc. Ramps soon turn into stair cases, and boxes are fleshed out into more organic shapes which often include arches and bevels. The map at this stage of development should become far more organic and natural looking. It's worth noting that, at this stage of development, the designer has run around the environment several hundred times and is making his final revisions on his design plan so the artist doesn't have to go back and revise too much of his artwork (this can often prove costly and harmfully affect the overall schedule).
Stage 4: The Final Geometry With Textures
All the geometric details are carried through to a final stage where they are at their optimum standards for all platforms: Xbox, PC, PS2, and PSP. The geometry for the environments is then UV-mapped and textured accordingly. At this stage of development, you should be happy with the geometry and more focused on your color palates and your textures. You're trying to introduce the relevant colors that you want, and you're getting ready to introduce lighting which will give your models depth and volume.
