Stuck in tileset development land

As the subject says, I've been in tileset development land for quite a while and I'm looking for some help.  I'll put it all in spoilers just in case though.

As I've said in my Dream Stones thread, I'm building a series of tileset which doesn't rely on the black outline to indicate solids.  Instead, I'll be using mainly atmosphere tricks to keep foreground and background separate. 

The last 2 images demonstrate the atmosphere trick as best as I've done it so far.  The first and second images are the original and a redo of a rusting industrial tileset.  I'm stuck on it.  I like the original, but it is too detailed and needs to be simplified. 

Also, on the last screen is a demo of a tank builder and I'm trying to decide if image 1 & 2 would be better served by rusted out tanks than large non-specific industrial structures.


And if you REALLY want a spoiler, here is my giant forest tileset which I included 1. for bragging rights and 2. because I'm trying to decide on the yellow ground.  I like how the outline is almost invisible until it overlaps with other ground so I can create cracks and overlapping sections.  I did the same in the 3rd image above, but I thought I would include this one as well.  The ground here will be almost identical to the ground of my wastelands tileset, seen with the rusting industrial tileset.


Thanks for your comments guys.

EDIT:  Hmmm... imageshack looks pretty sucky.  I may update this later and use a different service.

I prefer the industrial buildings in the first pick over the second, and I prefer them over being replaced by tanks. The buildings give a sense of abandonment. Tanks alone are obscure relics with no apparent purpose.

I'm not sure what level of detail you're aiming for. The adobe houses in the 3rd set are very simple, but the pipes and tanks are not. If you add more detail to the simple parts it might help. Add grime below the adobe windows. Bring the protruding beams up to the detail level of the pipes. You'll end up with a look like Saria, where minimal landscape was married with photos. I'd even say the juxtaposition has a dream-like quality. As to reducing detail, all I can think to do is to reduce the contrast and saturation. That will smooth out details without burring. Otherwise, you should start from scratch.

Specific criticisms:

• The girders/I-beams look great in the second pic, but the edges are too bright in the 1st and 4th pics. In the fourth pick the Tank appears to float over the beam rather than resting heavily on it. Since you have shadowing on them, I think the basic red shade should be enough to highlight the edges. In any case the value and saturation need to be closer to the average beam color.
• In the forest pic, I take that the straight line of moss across the big tree's roots indicates the contact area. These really ought to curve over the roots and so should Juni's path. The roots are rounded after all.
• The outlines in the third pic aren't distinct enough. They're barely noticeable and the buildings look flat rather than overlapping. The forest pic looks good in this regard.

Thank you very much for the input Ego.  Yeah, the detail level has been a problem for me.  When I made screen 3 I got excited about a minimum style, but I definitely agree that the industrial style in screen 1 is better than the remade one.  I wasn't sure because I had received some negative criticism about the industrial area that contradicted my own impressions and so left me a bit confused.  So, with your helpful insight I think I can start to get back on the right road.  I think I will begin to lean towards a certain level of plain, lack of detail, but combine that with areas of greater texture and detail.  I highly doubt I will be going photo quality though.  

Very nice input, thanks.

Well the only advice i can give is that in the giant tree to the right, well the roots just go straight down, i would think that they would curl over the edge, but it think egomassive already mentioned this.
Also tanks that are obscure relics with no apperant reason.. wouldnt that defiantely be in a dream ? But then agian abandoned buildings.. fit in this situation. And also this is based off your dreams.  So yeah..
Well i was no use 

Tanks, definitely. The one you've done on the last screen looks good. To ensure that they don't all look too similar, you could study photos of real ones to come up with varieties.

The new look works; it's easy to tell solids apart from background despite the lack of black outline. One thing that could perhaps make it better is to include a few more graphical details (cracks, stains, dirt etc.) on the solid surfaces; right now they look a bit plain.

I see smoke on the first pic. If you plan to incorporate that into the new design, I suggest using a custom object so it can be animated. Nothing breaks the immersion more than a static image for a normally dynamic object.

(Also, for future reference, you might get more feedback if you isolate the issues into clear questions -bulleted if necessary- instead of embedding them in paragraphs. And I recommend either attaching your screens to the post or using a better host; going back-and-forth between the image and the forum is a bit of hassle. )