Collaboration on ideas is also incredibly important. The designers must be able to agree on something specific. Having some of the game set in a remote desert environment and the rest set in a frozen wasteland wouldn't make any sense. Everything should be exact and purposeful, it should fit the theme of the game and be easy to navigate. Collision meshes are used to stop people going into areas they shouldn't be able to get into, these are easy to make when the environment is inside a building or enclosed space because characters should not be able to walk through walls, however it is harder to emulate an end-zone when doing an outdoor environment however depending on the setting of the game you could create a reasonably realistic end of map area. For example, Far Cry 3, developed by Ubisoft is free roaming but ends with the ocean, which fits its island theme. Skyrim is mostly surrounded by mountains and games like Portal just have walls... or very big drops. The only game I could currently think of that doesn't seem to make realistic end zones are games like Silent hill where the road has a large crack to stop you passing - which is mysteriously cleared up after certain events, or tape across the road. In real life there would be nothing stopping you from passing, although I suppose I shouldn't be comparing a horror game with monsters and a "trapped" city to real life.
A games environment must also match its game play, you would expect a first person shooter to have a lot of objects placed in each map - places to hide, to scope and to take cover. You'd usually also expect a level of detail to fit the mood. Realism seems to give off quite a "serious" tone whilst puzzle games do not need the same level of detail, as it is not needed for the game play. The environments must mimic the tone of the game through its use of lighting and colouring. Child friendly games tend to consist of a lot of bright colours to keep them feeling happy, however a horror game would use darker and less saturated colours and specific lighting to try and give the player a feeling of fear and suspense. All of the above features give a game it's style.
Borderlands is a perfect example of a stylized environment which reflects the story and game play so well. The world of borderlands is created under a very specific style, it is almost cartoon-ish in its ways but still keeps its realistic roots. If a comic book could come to life this is how I would imagine it to look in 3d. The textures are a mix of both hand drawn and photographic, yet every object is surrounded by a border, making the environment fit its humorous genre. It also contains a lot of harsh shading/lighting and complicated level designs to keep its hectic and insane theme.
The maps are very expansive for exploration yet never seem to get repetitive nor boring, something i feel can happen with games such as Skyrim - where the environment is stunningly beautiful and realistic but repetitive and can get a bit dull.
Of course Borderlands was never originally designed to look how everybody now knows it. Gearbox head Randy Pitchford had proposed re-designing the complete art style of the game when the game was over half way through production. These changes were accepted and went ahead, as the original design didn't stand out from previous titles. I have to believe that Gearbox changed the style for the better, as the environments now feel very unique from anything else I had played.
Overall I feel a levels design has to be thoroughly planned to fit the games genre and story line. There is no point in creating large, beautiful scenes if there is no need to. Keep it small and precise, do not waste space, time or money on an un-needed area, to me a game seems more perfect when every detail is needed there and not there just because it could be there.
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