Whats needed here?

[jrl2222]

I have a game that I am working on. Thats obvious or I woudn't be here right? Anyways I have a couple screens that I need help with.
This one I think is okay but needs a little something.

This is the one that needs help. Any ideas?

[sedriss]

Looks great! (bryce?)
It could need some more trees and bushes maybe.

[Ashen]

To me, the first one looks a little lifeless, a bit too clean. It looks like a 3D render - a good one I have to say, but just a little plastic-y. Maybe take the flags out of the image, and make them animated objects? Also, you could do the same for the drawbridge - have it raise and lower, rather than just hover there. Finally, the mountain could use some texturing.

The second one is just far too empty at the moment. Add details - A farmer in the field, a small market, some castles even had small villages grow up around them (I think, they do in books, anyway), even just some trees like sedriss said. Or, unless there's a reason for it, you might want to drop it completely, rather than put a lot of effort into a BG you don't actually need.

Then again, they look fine as they are, and I couldn't produce anything like them, so feel free to ignore everything I said.

[jrl2222]

They are animated objects and so is the background so the water ripples.
This was a quick shot.
Also as of right now the bridge goes down when clicked on you walk into the castle...which is not done yet so you just walk behind the wall and nothing happens.
Here is a couple updates along with an interior. All images will be animated in the game.
 

[Developer]

Awsome man! I tried bryce and made a lot of crap. lol

I might try 3Ds max Studio 7.

[Xadhoom]

I like the general design and modelling. What brings the scene down is the lighting. In 3d, lighting and texturing is just as important as good modelling, if not more in some situations. This scene could benefit greatly from some more dramatic lighting. As it is I see no shadows at all. Shadows make the whole thing more 3D and makes it *pop* if you know what I mean. More contrast in the lighting, perhaps a slight tint to it (perhaps yellowish or bluish instead of this dead grey), and let's see those shadows.

Wow, I sure said "lighting" a lot in that comment...

[jrl2222]

Thanks for the comments. I have to agree with you that adding shadows would make the images look more realistic but I tend to turn shadows off when doing images for games backgrounds. It brings up the whole issue with "why does the table that the hero is standing by have a shadow and the hero doesn't?"
Anyways maybe I will play with some soft shadows to try to make the images a little more realistic looking.