I like it.  If it lives up to the high standard you've already set (GC II, SOASE) we're in for a good time.

It could look exactly like that when released, and I would love it.  That is a pretty impressive looking scene.

Great or Superb graphics can wait...  the most important parts of a game are the features, game stability, content, game balance and optional settings.   Few of the fantasy TBS gamers would place graphics in the top three.

Looks great, any chance of us getting our hands on it early? 

I think the fields need to be inside the walls for this particular town, since it's built perilously close to a cave that has "monster residence" written all over it.

But seriously, it's probably like someone said, all the structures beonging to a city are inside the wall. Think of it like a bunch of city-states united under a Channeller, if you like. A "Great Wall of China" like thing around every inhabited area might not be a luxury item in a monster haunted post-magical-apocalypse world.

I like the black outlines. They add to the whole children's-fairytale-storybook vibe, and they also give the important map features some much-needed visual "pop". My eyesight isn't all that great, and I find most newer games are so overly intent on being "photorealistic" that they let important elements get lost in the background clutter. (The latest Super Smash Bros. and Burnout games are particularly strong examples of this.)

I can see everything very clearly in this screenshot (except the fence/power lines) and I like that. Please don't change everything to be super-detailed.

Looks very nice.

I've only two little peanuts I don't like.

The power lines/fences are much too regular and thus look a bit silly/artificial.

The black lines are mostly fine, but when they're used at the bottom of the buildings/wall they make everything look like it is floating. I wonder if it would look better with improved shadows or more detailed grounds.

Else, it looks very good and is pleasing to the eye.

Oh, and I second the request for a higher resolution screenshot.

If you didn't say this was an ingame screenshot then I would have thought it was art. Looks really good though.

Am in agreement with most posts. I really like the artwork and if the game will look llike this (with a few tweaks here and there, eg slightly more detailed ground) then i will be very, very happy. My one complaint would be the outlines at the bottom of buildings, it seems to seperate them from the background a bit too much.

Are they shards or sources of metal at the bottom of the picture (outside the town, to the right of the gates as we look at the picture)? They certainly don't look like rocks.

this pic looks very very nice.

I can't wait to play this game. It's getting closer and closer to the Beta phase...

Keep up the good work.

Just so we're all on the same page, this is a shot taken of in-game assets then given some post-process love by the artists to recreate what we're shooting for (read: not a pure screenshot).

There's alot of work involved getting to this point (and beyond, of course) but the engine is really coming along    Glad we're shooting in the right direction!!!

You MUST keep that graphical touch.

so fresh... It reminds me think of the first days of warcraft3 and TF2 (well it does not look like the same, but it is as original as those two).

Looks great. Keep up the great work.

I like the artistic style a lot.  I was a little on-the-fence at first, but as more artwork and semi-screenshots have come out, I can see how it works well.  The style should lend itself to easy-to-see UIs as well, assuming UI placement and workflow is decent.

The most interesting feature displayed in the shot is the cave entrance just 'north' of the town walls.  The explorer in me wants to find out what's inside.

re: I agree that having the crop fields within the walls is odd.

Aesthetics aside, from a gameplay standpoint I'm curious about that strictly because I'm leaning towards a preference of having such resource nodes (if that's the purpose they serve) outside of the walls and (theoretically) more vulnerable to attack.  Not that you shouldn't be able to fortify such locations (either or both with combat units and fortifying structures such as a local guard tower), but not necessarily heavily fortified by a town/stronghold.

Also, I enjoy setting up logistics (e.g., supply lines) where the peasants get to cart wheat or what-not back and forth to a facility to process into foodstuffs (in this example).  Such mechanics tend to appease my desire for details, and add to a sense that the game world is 'alive'.

The artwork style itself is different enough to make it interesting.  I suppose I'd be happy with detailed 3D renders of units/structures/terrain.  But this more abstracted style is pleasant to look at as well.