I've been spending more time in the Cavern than usual of late - with the main purpose of observing how Cyan makes ages. Trying to be mindful of the subtleties in what makes their design great. So I had an idea. Since I'm down there making observations, perhaps I/we could create a list of tips on making ages good. None of the major stuff, just tiny things that make a difference. Here's a few things I've noticed so far:
1. It's not necessary to make every texture super detailed. Many of the textures in the city are quite stretched, and often blurry up close. Everything doesn't have to be MipMapped.
2. Camera regions are important. They make things more cinematic. Even the most well put together fan age, without good camera regions, can appear to be missing something.
Those are just a couple of things. I'll continue to post things as I notice them. But feel free to make additions. Eventually I'll put it in one big list. And if it's good enough, perhaps it could be put on the Wiki(?)