Since the themes of both classes overlapped I'll take the liberty of presenting them together.

For 3dsmax we had to model pieces for levels (like a corridor, if you will)

And in Maya we had to create the entrance to such a place.

Everyone was bound by a theme.

Which isn't the easiest to work with, but after much discussion, consideration and trashed ideas, I arrived at something I could possibly work with.

1. A Trench/underfield tunnel -  Since the 19th century had plenty warfare and the like, But I decided against this, since Trenches were an invention of the early 20th century, and I didnt want to create a too elaborate "what if" scenario that would allow for this invention.

2. A (ruined) crops field - The 19th century was still heavily dependent on fieldwork and a ruined field could bring for catastrophe. The era would be visible in the abandoned instruments sprewn in the way.

3. A (Public) Victorian garden, A la "Please do not step on the lawn." It's in the era, and rope could be worked into the fencework. Which is what I chose in the end.

Keeping the Groud flat wouldn't make sense if the ground was dirt. So I made minimal edits in the tile's vertex positions so in the right light you'd already see some changes without the need for normal maps (As I knew we wouldn't be using those this time)

Once my meshes in maya were modeled in such a way they wouldn't break anymore, I alternated between setting up lights, UV mapping, and texturing to keep my own sanity intact. However since the main piece of my entrance (The Archway) Had to be rebuilt up to four times, I didn't have enough time to fix all the issues with the UV mapping, and therefore the textures on several items appear wonky too. 

What I did learn, however, is to never, ever EVER EVER use booleans in modelling.