I'm looking to spark some general discussion about how people design dungeon, specifically, how the planning process is set up. Do you draw out a map? Do you structure it around lighting? Do you think of cool encounters and incorporate them? I'm looking for any ideas to help streamline my dungeon creation.

I have two main ways i build dungeons.

1. I have a test/general building mod where i just mess around and make stuff i think might be fun or cool. Diferent ways to do puzzles, combinations of verious kits (cave and imperial ect)

2. layout design. se an image somewhere, or are inspired from another game and then go and recreate that place/idea.

to build a good dungeon comes down to setting goal and keeping them. What kind of dungeon is it, what monsters will be found there, how large is the place, consider all those things, write them down if need be, and stick to them. For the layout, plan out what you want in the dungeon, things like puzzles, how complex they should be, path complexity (straight path, or are there branches, alternate rutes, boss room, all this is helpful to have written down as guidelines.

I've only been dungeon building (caves etc) for a few weeks, but I tend to follow the same steps. I like to use water a lot. I'm a fan of waterfalls, small and large. I like to create water/streams in areas of caves that you can see but are blocked off by pillars or boulders. I'm also a fan of using the C cave pieces, which have a shaft going up high to place light beams down. I place trees, broken branches, shrubs etc at the top of the shaft so it looks like the ground above.

With my smaller dungeons, I like to create a funnel for player focus, which is the best way I can describe it. I like to have a central feature where the animal or loot/dead bodies may be. That could be an island cave piece surrounded by water, or just a raised area. Also I like to add a bit of mystery and sense of place in the world. Stick a skeleton on the ground with a rock on it's skull. Put a burned out lantern on a rock shelf with a journal of survival. Put Giant paintings on the walls... "How did a Giant get inside this tiny cave???" Things like that

A good tip for dungeon building; boulders, rocks, and rubble piles. Use them like crazy all over the place. Mushroom beds to. Break up the ground with dirt mounds, pillars. Just use every asset at your disposal to create the best "natural" cave you can. And don't be afraid to experiment.

Some of my work:

http://cloud-2.steampowered.com/ugc/595875439238520028/CDC785EA2ACF99E53F14ECF7101BEF59C71D3C07/
http://cloud-2.steampowered.com/ugc/595875439238523226/FC9C256EE3ABA3133E3855BA70D41C2C4766B8A1/
http://cloud-2.steampowered.com/ugc/595875439238527221/8C91FBF9640C6C2B95715476CE68E63E173F95DB/
^Early stuff.

http://cloud-2.steampowered.com/ugc/595875439238516796/8AACAE2FBA6AB4627A34E2FFFC5E61E838781E74/
http://cloud-2.steampowered.com/ugc/595875439238534235/248CC337C7A3BC828994991A587A3E390DD35424/
http://cloud-2.steampowered.com/ugc/595875439238531284/BF628097EC17C769611C2C20DE2A2938B32CE56B/

Edit

I didn't answer your first question. I don't plan much, but i have a general idea of how i want it to look, and just mess around with it.

I would always start with the mine tileset.