Decisions (and a S.S.P as Svaelt put it)......

R'osity is currently refusing to show me any images...

At first glance I like the dark one. But then when I inspected it up close, I kind of like the light one better. All in all they are both great images. Very well done. :)

The light one has more interest for me. The dark one feels much more empty and bland.

Both of them are great in their own way. The dark one would allow citylights better i think . (If you have any, its hard to see) :) I struggle with these choises constantly myself. Always tough.

When Rochr speaks I sit up and listen. ;-) Do you add your lights in post, or as part of the model? I didn't add lights (lazy). The city has been deserted for a long time and the new colonists haven't found the fuse box yet.

If it's a deserted colony, I'd lean towards the darker image. Seems to portray that thought better. Nice work!

I can see again! Is that an upward pointing visible light on the center ship in the 'blue' image? Did you try messing with the edge softness, falloff, and gradient settings? It's got almost a laserlike sharpness to the edge definition and it's about the only thing where the additional haze/fog doesn't add to the image. You can always adjust the color to suit the city lighting if you go that way.

No, it's post work.

Drawbridgep, Yes, those are made in post. Heres a short one of how theyre done. Simply draw a few lines along the buildung walls, and use the eraser tool (size 1-2), and randomly erase parts of the lines. Just wave around, its a good way to avoid that sterile, uniform look. And if needed, add some outer glow to the lights.

Well!! You make it seem so easy! Thanks for the trick. Off for a steak and then back to play..... ;-)

When I look at the two images I want to combine elements of both together into one image. I like the way the light plays on the textures and shapes in the forground of the lighter image. It somehow looks more realistic to me, but the background doesn't quite look as nice as it does in the darker image. I'm not sure why, but part of the problem for me could be the uniformity and brightness with which the background fades out in the brighter image. The spacecraft color, lighting, and position looks better in the darker image. The difference in the images is kind of like comparing morning to evening to me, or summer to winter. :) Nice work!