motte

[choronr]

All that is here is made beautifully by the light and shadows.

[TheBadger]

First one is my fave here. Not sure why. I just like it.

[Dune]

That bald first test? You're kidding? Did I do all that work for the monkey's...

[kaedorg]

Sure he is kidding. From step to step, it is improvement.

[cyphyr]

Ok here's my penny worth for what it's worth.
I would have thought that the area close to the fort would have been considerably more cleared. As it stands there's plenty of cover to get close enough to set the place on fire. So maybe some tree stumps and wood piles. After all where did they get the wood from to build the fort in the first place? You know your local archeology/history of course so I bow to that.
Also it is very green, almost luminous. I'm not saying it is wrong, it just looks wrong if you understand my meaning. I'm often surprised how vibrant the colours are in Somerset (where I live) in the spring and summer and often they do seem unbelievable.
Looking forward to the next iteration.
Richard

[TheBadger]

Not saying anything bad about the variations and development.
Just something about the first one connects with me. Sometimes some renders just hit me harder when they are bare and raw, other times not.
There is a lot to be said for the energy and power of a first draft of something that can get lost as its refined and "cleaned", so to speak. Not here maybe, just sometimes.

Perhaps that the POF is a look-out tower from a period in human history of intense and unending violence, just fits better in a desolate land scape?

Lets play word association.... You say Roman. The first words that come to my mind are death, blood, pain... See?
But someone else may say, development, architecture, renaissances. But if you say renaissances, then I again think of death, blood, pain, and also nude. 

Anyway, the last image is very good too. I just liked the first one for some reason. I will make an appointment with a shrink when Obama care becomes aforadable

[Dune]

@ Michael; you're right, and I agree with your word game, but it depends on your mindset of course. No need for a shrink, a little happy deviation is all the better. Strangely, I like desolate landscapes as well, as well as dilapidated, broken buildings, ruins, dirt and smears of unidentifiable stuff on walls, smoke, you know. Luckily we do have a good health system 
@ Richard; You're also right, I was a bit carried away with the trees, but already realized it would be too much. Same with my earlier Limes image, these guys would have chopped every tree, not merely for firewood and building, but also for views at the enemy.

I heard from 'the boss' that I located the motte totally wrong. There you go. People who commission stuff and don't give accurate maps or descriptions of what they want, end up with the artists artistic freedom. But it's all changed again, hopefully for the good. Michael; here's your barren terrain again!

[TheBadger]

This one looks great Ulco.
You know, I saw this at lunch time today on my phone, which has a more advanced screen then my desktop. I have a great monitor, but its from 2009. I really noticed the difference in color/tone and light from your image relative to my desktop.
Now I really want to buy a new monitor... Which I can't right now. So thanks for that Ulco!

Also, it makes me wonder what comments I would make if I was looking at all the images in this forum on a newer screen. On the other hand, I have long noticed that scaling down even high quality and large renders makes a big difference, Like rendering 2x film, and then scaling down to film rez in post. So viewing a render on a phones small screen might be similar?
Sorry, off topic, I know.

[choronr]

Now that is looking good. Sometimes a more barren area combined with dense trees in the distance makes for greater depth.

[Kadri]

Now that is looking good. Sometimes a more barren area combined with dense trees in the distance makes for greater depth.

Yep.
They all look good but i like the last ones more Ulco.

[Dune]

Thanks guys. You know I'm never really satisfied with the photographic quality of my renders. I wonder how I could get more out of that. Maybe more AA (now standard 6, but I'll experiment again with those special settings that came by a while ago), or take more care in making the ground surface. It's hard to make believable heathland without objects. Maybe more GI? I'm putting so much time in getting together a landscape that renders are often done just at detail 0.65 and AA6 and soft shadows.  And again, that's easier if you're high up, but this a hard distance. Or it's just me.

A good screen is paramount and gives so much more pleasure working, go for it!

[otakar]

That ramp seems awfully steep. How'd they ever climb up, especially with a load? Or are there supposed to be some wooden steps?

[Jo Kariboo]

All is very good but I very like the last one !!!

[Dune]

That ramp is supposed to be steep, it's a 'staircase' of wood poles, and needed to get in in emergencies, but not for the enemy. And not for hauling up stuff. It's really a last defense tower. Although I'd fear for the worst if the enemy came with torches  That's probably why they later made them of stone, and even later made larger castles of them, with ring walls, housing, entrance porches, etc.

[TheBadger]

^^And later still, made a treaty.