Better levels?

Am I the only one who misses those old 3D map building kits like the ones from the old Pie in the Sky game engine? It seems like this whole drawing 2D top-down maps was something that wasn't necessary in the old days of designing levels because you pretty much did that in old level editors. Designing comfy levels just seemed to come naturally when I tinkered with stuff like Cartography Shop, Dele3D, and Radiant. I could measure, plan, work in units, and prototype super fast because they were designed for, well, level designing.

Now a days I see more people using 3D modeling tools like Maya to build levels, but it's just so slow. First setting up a good workflow and every package is different. I've also yet to find one with the best snapping solution and don't even think about using booleans. Being able to carve out any shapes you want without having to extrude, or worry about topology, now that's something I really miss. Makes me want to use the Unreal Engine. If only the exported geometry wasn't so awful.

Maybe I just need to develop the right workflow.