A map that is full of life , animated and interactive but without good arhitecture , well ,it works , but it can be better grin - . the hybrid is the best . Try building a hybrid .
Returning to my affirmations , a map full of life can beat a map with a masterpiece arhitecture . Why ? Imagine yourself in a big museum , with extremely good arhitecture and big , but without artifacts , sculptures , books etc ...
Life also = interactivity . Killing monsters isn't always fun . I'm not very good at making tips or tutorials , so here are some ideas :
1.Killing monsters with weapons isn't always fun . Try inventing mechanism that act as a weapon ( and I'm not reffering to the func_tanks , altough they're fun sometimes too) . For example : You're in a train and the train follows a line ( theoretically ... practically it follows some path_tracks) . Why put them near the line and not on the line ? Trust me , crushing monsters is fun .
2. Make monsters kill themselves . An example ? OK : You end up in a huge room with a huge pit . At the other side of the pit there is a swarm of houndeyes . Why not make some scripted_sequences and force them to fall in the pit ? ( in game it'll look like they come after you and then they fall) .
3. When I played Duke Nukem I saw a lot of scenes with explosions that damaged building , earthquakes etc .... try adding these in your level , too .
4. Inspire from the real world , not from other games. Inspire from your own childish fantasies , not from films . This makes your map more original . Example : Make some looped music ( there is a free program , called "magix music maker " and I guarantee it's good) . Find some Cd-player textures . Make a Cd-player and then add triggers , lights , the looped music , and a small sprite and you're done !
5. More ideas will come from my brain ......