Critique this Picture....

[Pat]

@ PLT I would suggust that you turn off the grid and I do agree with Robin about having to remove the minimize mark... A boarder would look great on this picture as well... my score would have to be around a 6.5/10

@ Robin hmmm intresting one car train there  Also the wind mill seems a tad bit out of place there in the city like that... The boarder there is pretty good there with the B&W effect!!! Overall effect of the pic is good and my score would have to be a solid 8/10

OK here is one from me,

[bob56]

pat,

nice pic! The shape is very well-made, it's not simple. I like the rocks surrounding it.

Suggestions: I don't think there would be trees in the top of the mountain. I dont know which lake this is, but if its the bear lake at rocky mtn. nat'l park, There wouldn't be trees on top in the snow.

Overall, 8.5/10

I would post a pic now, but i'm re-doing my plugins...hopefully next week!

[LE0]

pat:

8/10

The bit of snow looks out of place on the mountain, imo the land should be all snow covered or no snow at all

[vershner]

PLT - It's very gridded, but that's ok in a modern down-town city area. The layout is good. For a better image avoid showing the edge of the map (Photoshop it out if necessary). Switch the background grid off, and fill in the empty lots in the foreground.  6/10.

Rooker - Very interesting image with lots going on. I like the station. A few things don't look right though. The wind turbine looks very out-of-place, they're never built in the middle of towns. Also the pavement textures switch about too much.  7/10.

Pat - Nice image, very picturesque. The snow does look a bit odd on its own. A few of the trees are growing out of the rock.  8.10.

Here's my effort:

[Pat]

Thanks all for the critque on my last pic...  I will fix them peskie trees growing out of the mountain tops there... The caps I was trying for the snow covered look to give it the higher elevation look...

@ Vershner intresting industrial area you got there for sure... I like the use of JrJ sea walls and the pipe set there... I am wondering though the over all feel of the pic is it supposed to be a water treatment plant? Nice border around the pic! OK so my score here I would have to say 8.5/10


OK here is a newer pic from me with some new skills I was trying out on it....

[rootbears]

nice work pat. i like the use if the jeronij's plopable water to make a winding river. youve given me an idea 

[Simpson]

Nice picture Pat, I give you 8/10 

[bob56]

@vershner: I like the different water pools you have. It looks like a treatment plant. I also love those pipes. What are they? One suggestion is use different streets. If this is one complex, i would go with the gravel.

@pat: Like the river, very non-grid. SUggestion: the waterfall seems to go up? also it's a little choppy in the lake.

Here's a pic from me: One little town, shown in my MD...

[vershner]

@vershner: I like the different water pools you have. It looks like a treatment plant. I also love those pipes. What are they?

Yeah the idea was a big water treatment plant. The pipelines are a set by Herbst on the STEX.
I've got two versions, one with dirt bases and one with concrete, but only the concrete one seems to be around now.

[Nardo69]

OK; I'll try my luck here, too even though I cannot give you a fresh pic since my SC4 on my wacky pc is making tons of BSOD ...

@rooker1:
Robin, I like it.
I like how you connected that train stop to the road with that small street running around a parking lot for the station. The station a bir aside of the avenue is also great.
Two things I dislike:
1) the wind power plant. I cannot remember seeing one within seddlements (and there are lots of them in Germany)
2) I don't see any bus stops around - neither at the avenue nor at the small train stop.
Replace the wind power plant with nice busstops on both sides of the avenue and/or at the small station and I would gibve 8.4/10, so it is not more than 7/10. 

@Pat(lake):
I just have a problem with all these large rocks around the lake. Not only that IMHO most MM rocks are way too big but also how did they get there unless someone with too much time, money and trucks brought them there? Less would've been more there, but the overall imprssion is nice - 7,5/10 

@vershner:
Yeah, I do like it if someone puts effort in creating and showing the "uglier", smellier and less pittoresque parts of moden cities!
Great Job with these bassins and the small kanal (IRL I trty to avoid them as they smell like foul eggs because of all that H2S) and the pipe connecting them, just great.
Did you made these lots by yourself - especially those in the lower right corner? They are not bad but too empty for, nothing that really catches my eyes.
Some crippled trees and bushes, fences, lambposts etc to get that emptiness away a bit and you're my man!
9/10 

@Pat(river):
You do know how to landscape!
The small river is sculped really nice with its swampy sided but before the waterfalls, either there is a solid barrier that creates a small lake before the falls or the whole river is sloped towards the big lake / sea IMHO.
Also, not a critique to you but in most situation I feel that the cycledog woods are too light (or maybe this is because I live(d) in the Black which Forrest is a rather "dark" forrest as its name says ... 
7/10

@bob56:
Overall: not bad - a rural landscape with lots of farming.
the purple fields are too ... colourful (there is no adequate translation for the German word "bunt") and that railway ...
If you had let it run through the whole map with one or two flagstops / freight stations it would have been nice. But a big bridge that crosses the river and leads only toward a loop with a small station - nah, there the engineer and railway fan in me shivers with disgust! 
6/10

Now my pic. Surprise, surprise, no skyscrapers but some railway ... 

so, here is mine:



And a nice anekdote for any kind of critics and being critisized

An Austrian comedian ( I don't remember his name) once said: "I am open for and appreciate all kinds of critiques given they are positive ..." 

Edit: This picture has lost in the SC4D picture competition but went into the SFBW HoF over at www.simforum.de ...

[mightygoose]

Vershner,

All the basic elements are present and with attention to composition & a better finish would be a very high scoring image indeed 7.5

I love your picture, it has great overall continuity to the theme, that theme is obvious to any observer, using the CDK vats inland is a very ingenious idea and the pipeline layout is well thought out and well executed, the only fault is the lack of traffic which drains much of the atmosphere, this is not helped by the increased saturation and bluish hue to the image, a desaturated look with a subtle brown filter would have compounded the industrial feel in the viewers mind. As a final note to composition there are no major elements present at the key focal points using the rule of thirds. [linkie] I am quite a harsh marker so don't be alarmed with my final score of 7.5.

Nardo69,

Solid effort but in need of some polishing 7.


A classic Nardo shot, easily recogniseable, I like the use of the Maxis structure for the farmhouse however the lack of yard space immediately around it loses some of the charm. I really like the use of the more obscure NAM intersection at the end of the country lane and the SAM is seamlessly integrated with the scene Interesting interpretation of the rule of thirds aligning it with the game grid (if that was intentional), however a few things catch my eye. The translucent care is a pet peeve, as the interface minimise button, both are easily fixed issues. The former with waiting a few seconds for it to vanish altogether and the latter with some simple photoshopping. While on the subject, your images are great but lack the crisp finish of a quick colour balance and contrast increase. Again your picture is also slightly oversaturated and the Palm trees present are a cardinal sin. Overall typical of your style, good subject matter and arrangement. 7.

[io_bg]

I give a 7.5 to Nardo's pic, some photoshopping would make it look better.
Here's mine:

[vershner]

bob56 - Nice rural scene, but I don't think it needs to be zoomed out quite so far. It would be nice to see it one zoom in so the details are more visible. At this zoom level the foam and shadows under the bridge look a bit off.
The railway loop looks unlikely. I don't think anyone would build a bridge and a railway just to service three farms. Overall 6/10.

Nardo69 - Very nice, realistic rural scene. Looks like the edge of a village. Only two small complaints: The big house should have some grounds around it. It looks a bit strange with the farmland right up against it.  Then the gardens of the small terraced houses are a bit too plain and identical. Overall 8/10.

io_bg - Great image. Almost faultless. The only improvement I could suggest would be to sort out those jagged square edges on the lower field. Either with some custom diagonal crops, or hiding them with trees and bushes. Overall 8.5/10.

[rooker1]

I thought I should jump in here and give this thread a little kick start again.

bob56-What is in the picture is very nice...the general feel of it is not.  By this I mean, the picture should have been cropped to get rid of the back ground game.
I can only give this picture a 5/10.  Sorry.

Bernhard (Nardo69), Fantastic rural picture.  You truly are the Master of this Genre.  But....I wish you had cropped the picture to remove the minimize dash and added a border of some kind to add some finishing touch.  I do love the fact that it looks like you didn't do any terraforming.  I like the slight hilly look.  There also seems to be just enough movement and life to make it look more realistic.
I give this picture a......8/10.

io_bg....hmmm, very nice picture as well.  I see the minimize dash which is a pet peev of mine when judging these pics here.  And I would always like to see the members adding a basic border or frame, to just finish the picture off.  I don't like the jagged edges on the one diagonal farm.  Some trees along here would smooth it out a little. I also think some more trees, more varying types as well, would look really nice here too, but that's just my opinion.  Even still, the picture seem a little empty, like something is missing.  There is no real flashy focal point, unless you were thinking the road system there.
Anyways....I give this picture a 7/10.

And here's one from me so that you all can get me back now. 



Robin 

[straha]

Hi Robin!  I bet you knew I would post here!  Nice pic, though for comments, see the responses to your first post on this thread, as it's the same picture   I do so love your industrial areas, and as was said earlier, and this one is uncharistically clean.  I'd give it an 8/10.

io_bg  I like the picture subject, and I really like the elevated using ground hills and then the overpass rather than the standard ground to elevated pieces with the pylons.  In addition to the diagonal farm issue that has been pointed out, the rounabout seems out of place place to me, and the texture doesn't match.  Personally, and this is nothing against you, I think that roundabouts are way over used by too many people, and are not always used appropriately.  Border and minimize dash...7/10

Here is mine.  The things I already know that are wrong with it are no border, minimize dash, the plop water/river junction is not as good as I would like it to be, and to me, and at least one other person, (hint: Robin ) feel like there is just something missing.  What can I add to make the picture pop?

[rooker1]

straha....you are right.  It is the same picture, but I have fixed all the problems, I think. 

As for your picture....I have given it some thought and maybe you could add just a fence line, dirt road and some cows.    I have already mentioned what I don't like about it and you made that comment above.  But what I do really like is the river animation.  Incredible done.
I give this pic an 8/10.

Robin 

[just_a_guy]

Straha: I really like the rural feel of your image there. I kinda reminds me of california's central coast in the rainy season. Being that, Those areas usually have lots of fences and cows around the fields. Or maybe even a small pond so the cows could drink water? But overall, a really nice picture!

And of coarse, the animated rapids DO may the picture stand out a lot more !

[threestooges]

Robin: Your work with ports is always nice to see. There's a nice flow for the goods, from the truck to the loading dock, via forklift to the cranes to the ship. The realism seems there. It's dense, using the available land, without being so tight as to preclude movement. It may just be the harbors I'm familiar with, but I would expect to see a few plants in the water (or perhaps a bit dirtier water that obscures the bottom a bit). Also, some traffic on the roads as well as perhaps a bit of industrial variation across the way unless there's a reason for the repetition. 8/10

straha: I like that the trees are denser by the water source and that they thin out a bit as they get farther away. I also like the variety you used. Perhaps feather out the density a bit (not much though, it looks pretty good as is). Fences and such would add realism, but just to stick within the natural realm, I find it a bit odd that the river spreads out so much and then becomes rough. The upstream part must be really deep in order to handle that amount of water without having rapids (but that doesn't seem to show here) or the rapids area should look shallower. Difficult to do with the same pieces, but I think giving the upstream area a bit more visual capacity could help. Nice work though so far. 7/10

[vershner]

Robin: Very realistic industrial waterfront. I like the way it seems very busy, without being crowded. There are a few problems though. I think the water colour is too bright and blue. In the top-left corner there's a bit too much repetition, and the security fence in the bottom-left just stops, making it a bit pointless. Overall 8/10.

Straha: I think you could improve the picture by adding a bit more variety to the trees around the water, particularly on the left. Maybe a few dead trees, stumps, or clearings too.  If you're using Photoshop then maybe try some subtle lighting effects. Brighten one side of the valley, or add some cloud shadows. Another thing would be to add a few more animation frames so the water movement is smoother.  Currently 6.5/10.

[rooker1]

Here's an old pic from me.



Robin