Base Is The Easiest Theme To Work With
I think it is partly to do with what details people put in maps, crates, pipes, girders, computer panels, wires etc. All these details are easy to create and visualize because they are modern day things. Also the ID base textures lock together like lego and they are easy to work with especially for scale. 

But to do other themes well is just as hard I think. It's all about scale. 128x128 is deceptively large. Sometimes I wish those textures were 96x96 instead. 

32x128x16?!?!

More like 32x96x8 I think. If you know what I mean. Which you might or might not. Which is obvious. 

It just always felt to me like that.

I agree with sock. The textures are very consistent and compatible to one another, they pretty much fit like Lego. And it seems the base (sci-fi) theme is more immediately accessible to authors than the more abstract ones. 

I think that the toughest thing about a base level is that you're kinda limited in the choices of appropriate monsters to populate it. Grunts, Enforcers and Dogs (and Scorpions if you're working with the Hipnotic add-on). That ends up limiting the type and amounts of weapons and ammo that you can use without unbalancing the gameplay. Obviously for a DM only map that's not really an issue. In addition some items simply look "Odd" in a typical base level. For example how would a PoP end up being there in the first place? A ring? Even the Quad is kind of out of place. The Armor is also kind of weird looking when sitting in a base level (it's got more of a medieval type thing going on with its looks). 

I have a hard time with idbase. I find ikbase on the other hand is a lot easier. 

For example how would a PoP end up being there in the first place? A ring? Even the Quad is kind of out of place.

I know, right? And what's with the player being able to carry like 8 weapons at once? Totally unrealistic... 

I'm just saying that the overall base theme tends to limit the choices that are available. Those things that I mentioned can all seem appropriate to the other map styles in the game. 

Hmm, I usually find that a small but very well thought out texture set gives strongest visuals.
I usually try to stick to 6 or so textures for most of the map... But I'm a bit of a less-is-more kind of guy so...

That kind of mentality only works well in games that allow you to do very abstract floorplans.
If you need a contemporary city you're going to need to throw a lot of diversity at it to sell.

Usually prefer textures that are fairly flat in terms of color and reasonably light to show of the light and shadow. Then again Alien style corridors are pretty cool also, I prefer those to look very methodological, using repetition a lot etc. 

idbase is one of the best examples of a low poly modelling saying: Let the texture do the work.

A single flat surface suddenly becomes a detailed panel in a military installation, and there's a bunch of other little alignment reliant textures that you can use that really make the set sing. There's also lots of easy ways of filling empty space and creating parallax in that space, which brings a lot of easy visual interest to maps without being unnatural. All with what are basically a bunch of cubes. 

Never underestimate the parallax effect! 

Knights of the Realm 

It's good stuff sock, though if I was in the model making business I'd be hella tempted to wait for capnbubs updated models to modify... :P

Could get those other ITS levels done in the mean-time ;) 

 

but all look good and suitably quakey. 

i agree to the fullest. 

Totally badass. Guess all that's missing for it to be complete is some sort of halberd knight... 

halberd knight What would a halberd knight look like? Crazy large sword manga style? two handed large sword resting on floor most of the time? Let me know what you think? 

 

If you wanted to give a knight a crazy huge weapon without raping the knight's vertex precision, you could export the knight + weapon as two seperate .mdls, and "bind" the weapon to the knight in the QC. 

Something like this minus the goofy armor. Long range, stab and sweep attack?

Large sword sounds cool, too (for Aramis?). Perhaps like Pyramid Head from Silent Hill: large, heavy sword. Sweep and overhead smash attack - slow, but extremely devastating. 

Well the knight and weapon can be animated separate and glued together in QC to solve bound box problems. I certainly like the idea of a really cool range weapon and they would make awesome statues to come to life!

When I was designing Lord Aramis (shield knight) I sort of imagined him like the Tower Knight from Demons Souls. 

Demons Souls and Dark Souls are two of my favourite games, halberd guys in DeS always mess me up though. Tower Knight was scary when you first met him, what I'd love in Quake is that every theme had a proper boss... I want to meet some kind of Cyber Shambler boss for base maps (I drew some sketches for when I learn modelling), a bad guy I call "Arch-Vore" which is a beefed up Vore who can revive enemies... A King Ogre (with a crown) with a double bladed chainsaw and cluster grenade bombs. But I can't model or code... :( 

I've got limited internet qbility right now, but search arne's kuwaiik drawings. Chibi style, but great stuff. I already made his exploding zombie.

Halbard knight? You've been reading fire and ice negke! I wouldn't make him slow though, instead give him knockback abilities like a q2 enforcer - it hurts when he hits, but knocks you back. If there's no room for you to fly then the end of his animation is the deathblow. 

not enforcer.